12 November 2025

  Shimshal, Pakistan

  I can still hear the shots. Our military is trying to stop them.

  Some say it’s zombies.

  Some say it’s a civil war.

  Others say it’s an attack from India and China.

  I don’t know.

  I just want it to end.

  Life is still hard. I haven’t seen my parents since st night. I’m tired.

  Wait—what is that sound?

  Like an aircraft...

  Boom.

  My window shattered. Something on fire flew over my table and nded beside me.

  I looked at it—and screamed.

  It was a body.

  I recognized her.

  A girl from the parallel css.

  We had never spoken.

  And now, we never would.

  The door creaked open.

  I turned, hoping to see my mother, or father… or both.

  But it wasn’t them.

  It wasn’t human.

  It wasn’t a wolf.

  It was something in between.

  Like the werewolves from the books my mother used to read to me years ago.

  I tried to run.

  It was too fast.

  It grabbed my arm.

  It bit into it.

  I saw something white inside my flesh.

  I was changing.

  White fur began to grow across my body.

  That thing just stood there, watching me.

  Enjoying my pain.

  My bones were shifting.

  Breaking and reshaping.

  It hurt.

  So much.

  I started to lose consciousness.

  But something else was waking up inside me.

  Something… not human.

  The creature stood up and said something in a strange nguage.

  But somehow, I understood it:

  “Hi, 2048. I’m 1024. Remember me? Welcome back, bro.”

  And then everything went dark.