The alarm screamed, and Azri smacked it quiet with the clumsiness of someone who didn't really want to be awake. He groaned, rolled out of bed, and squinted at the morning sun burning through the curtains.
School. Again.
By the time he got outside, Mira was already waiting at the corner. She leaned on her bike, arms crossed, giving him her usual "you're late again" glare.
"You're hopeless," she said as he jogged up.
"Morning to you too."
"Morning? Azri, the bell rings in ten minutes."
He shrugged. "I like the adrenaline rush."
She rolled her eyes but cracked a smile. "One day you're going to miss a test, and then what?"
"Easy. I'll just fake a stomachache."
"That only works once."
They started walking toward school, Mira pedaling slowly beside him. Their conversations were always like this—half-banter, half-scolding—but it was comfortable.
"So," Mira asked, "you going to the arcade this weekend? They got new machines."
"Maybe," Azri said. "Depends if my parents need me for chores. They've been on this whole 'responsibility' kick lately."
Mira smirked. "Imagine you being responsible."
He grinned. "Terrifying, right?"
The rest of the morning passed in its usual blur. Teachers lectured, students whispered, Mira aced another quiz, and Azri doodled in his notebook until lunch. By the time the final bell rang, the day already felt like it was dissolving into the same routine as every other one before it.
That evening, with his parents upstairs watching TV, Azri wandered into the basement. Dust clung to everything. Old shelves leaned under the weight of forgotten boxes. His phone flashlight cut through the dimness as he shuffled around.
He was searching halfheartedly when he froze.
On the wall, a cockroach sat, twitching its antennae. Azri's chest tightened—he hated them more than anything.
He snatched a baseball from a nearby crate and whipped it at the roach. It darted away unharmed. But the ball didn't bounce back.
Instead, it punched straight through the wall with a hollow crunch.
"…What?" Azri whispered.
Grabbing a baseball bat, he pried the ball loose. His flashlight beam vanished into the hole as if the darkness inside swallowed it whole. His stomach tightened.
He swung again. Then again. The plaster cracked, dust filling the air.
"Azri!" his mom shouted from upstairs. "What's that noise?"
"Uh—project stuff!" he yelled, smashing harder.
The wall split open, revealing a hidden door.
And when Azri pulled it open, his life stopped being normal.
The neighborhood was unrecognizable. Houses collapsed in on themselves. Cars sat overturned, eaten away by rust. Grass and weeds choked the sidewalks, growing wild in every direction.
Even the city skyline in the distance was nothing but jagged, broken teeth—skyscrapers snapped in half, bridges hanging like torn ribbons.
It was like the whole world had ended, and he was the last one left to see it.
Azri's breath hitched. His throat felt dry. Panic clawed up his chest. He spun in place, searching for signs of life—anything. A light in a window, a moving figure, even the bark of a dog.
Nothing. Only silence.
"Hello?!" he shouted. His voice echoed against the ruins, then faded into emptiness.
The quiet pressed in harder, crushing. His legs shook. His instincts screamed to go back, to run to the door and slam it shut.
But he didn't. Not yet. He needed to know.
He staggered through the empty street, broken glass crunching under his shoes. Time blurred. Maybe minutes passed, maybe hours. His phone's battery crept lower, the flashlight beam weaker.
And then—when his adrenaline finally wore thin—the ache in his stomach hit him. A sharp, empty gnaw.
He muttered bitterly, "Great. Adventure in the unknown and I'm starving…"
"A burger would be nice..."
That's when it happened.
A faint pop.
Azri froze. Slowly, he turned his head.
Hovering in the air, just inches away, was a burger. Steam curled from the patty. Melted cheese dripped onto the bun. The smell was unmistakably real.
His stomach twisted tighter, but his heart pounded harder.
He whispered, "No… no, no, no. That's not possible."
The burger floated, Then dropped to the floor.
Azri stumbled back. His voice cracked, almost pleading. "What the hell is this place?"