I didn't ask for this.

One moment, I'm in class, listening to Mr. Harlan drone on about something pointless. The next, I'm not in a classroom at all. The walls around me are gone. The desks are gone. Everything is gone.

There's only this place.

The world we've landed in smells like rot and old dust. The ground is cracked, dry like it hasn't seen rain in centuries. The air feels… wrong. It presses against my skin, heavy and sharp, like it wants to choke me.

My classmates are scattered around, dazed and confused. They're staring at the sky, at the ruins that stretch as far as the eye can see. The ruins of a city, maybe—if you can call it that. I don't know. It doesn't matter.

I can hear the panic building, but I don't feel it.

Not yet.

I look at the others. There's Sophie, wide-eyed, her hand to her chest like she's trying to calm her breathing. She's always been the one to want to fix everything. To help everyone. It's useless.

Taro's near her, trying to keep calm, but his voice shakes. He's talking about something, maybe about finding shelter, but it doesn't matter. He won't last here. Too soft.

I don't know what happened. One minute we were in class, and then the next—poof, we're here. And the first thing I know for sure is that I'm not going to die because of some misplaced sense of duty or some idiot's need to make everyone feel better.

I'm here to survive.

No one's going to save us.

"Mr. Harlan, what do we do?" Sophie's voice cuts through the fog in my head. I glance at her. She looks lost. Pathetic.

Mr. Harlan's voice comes from the center of the group, loud and shaky. He's trying to be reassuring, but there's something in his tone that betrays him. "Stay calm," he says. "We're in another world. But there must be a way out."

His words mean nothing. He doesn't know what we're up against. I do.

This place doesn't have rules. It doesn't care about you. If you hesitate, you die. I've seen it before—people waiting for someone to fix things. For someone else to lead. For someone to save them.

That's a good way to die.

And I'm not about to die. Not here. Not now.

I take a step away from the group, moving toward the ruins that seem to go on forever. There's no time to waste. Every second we stand here, we get weaker, more vulnerable. I don't know how we got here, but that doesn't matter right now.

What matters is getting out.

I scan the ground for anything useful. It's barren. Just more stone and dead plants. But I don't give up. Not yet. If I don't find something, then I'll figure something else out. There's always a way.

I glance back. The others are huddling together, talking in low voices. They've already started making plans. Plans for shelter. Plans for food. But I don't need their plans. I need to be ahead of them.

I keep walking, moving farther away. I can feel the weight of the silence around me, and with each step, the feeling that I'm alone in this world sinks deeper into my gut. It's a feeling I've learned to trust.

Alone is better.

I find something. A rusted metal crate half-buried under rubble. I pry it open, and inside—there's nothing.

I curse under my breath, but I don't stop. I move on, searching the next pile of debris.

And that's when I find it.

A small pouch. It's buried under more stone than I'd like, but it's there. I don't waste time hesitating. I yank it free, ripping open the fabric. Inside, there's something that might help.

Food. Not much, but enough to keep going. A few pieces of dried meat and some strange, round berries. The kind of food that's good enough to survive. Not great, not luxurious—but it'll do.

I close the pouch and slip it into my bag. I don't look back at the others. They don't need to know I've found anything. Not yet.

The night will fall soon enough. I don't want to be near them when it does.

When I reach a quiet corner of the ruins, I sit down, away from the group. The pouch of food is my insurance. I need to keep my strength up, but I don't share. They wouldn't do the same for me.

The others don't understand what it means to survive. Sophie will try to comfort everyone, make them feel safe. Taro will try to lead. They'll keep talking about "working together," but they won't last. Not here. Not if they keep thinking things will just work out because they're "good people."

There's no place for that here.

I wonder what they'll think when they find out. If they find out.

Sophie will probably try to help me. She'll think that, if I just talk to her, maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe I'll want to be like the others.

But I won't. I don't need them.

I don't need anyone.

---

Night falls quickly. The sky is dark, the stars non-existent. It feels like the world itself is holding its breath. And there, in the distance, I hear something. A movement, maybe. The kind that sets my nerves on edge.

I glance at the others. They're still sitting around the fire they've managed to start, talking and laughing, unaware. They don't see it. They never do.

I can't afford that.

I stay in the shadows, my senses alert. I don't let myself relax. Not even when I think I hear the sound of footsteps approaching. Soft, uneven.

I won't let anyone else drag me down. I'm not going to wait around for someone else to make things happen.

The world is unforgiving, and I won't let it take me.

Not yet. Not today.