The population is 109. Nobody knows when it'll go down or who the next victim will be. Your fate has been decided for you and you can only sit in fear, praying to live one more day.

I can’t say when this started, who's controlling it, or just why it’s happening. All I know is that your name determines the way you'll die – and you do your best to avoid it.

My name is Petir, meaning, “Thunder and Lightning", and I've been alive for seventeen years. It’s been easier because you don’t see lightning as much as you do water or fire.

There’s nothing easy about watching your family die one by one, having the unfortunate luck of surviving. There's only me and Mavis left. His name means "Song", one of the unpredictable ones. You hear songs every day so he's lucky he even made it to nine.

Right before mom died, I promised that I would protect Mavis. I don't break promises, that's the only thing I'll keep forever.

"Mavis?" I call as I walk into his small and cluttered room. Books are stacked from the floor to the roof and posters cover the walls. He's sitting on his bed, reading a book, and wearing his sound-proof headphones.

He sees me and removes them. "Yes?"

"It's time to see Zira. She says you’re coloring today. Excited?"

Mavis yawns and hops out of bed. "Hardly." He puts on his jacket and his shoes. "I think I would rather… die."

"Didn't I tell you to stop saying that?" I scold but he ignores me, leaving the room. I follow close behind and the two of us make our way out to the damaged and destroyed streets of Ulcupa.

The buildings are covered in posters from “The Doubters”, a group of people that think there’s a way to stop the declining population. "Take a stand! We won't cower any longer, we will not die! Join us and fight back!" The poster reads.

They’re just a stuck on the first stage of grief, pretending to not be afraid, but when their time comes, they cry like the rest of us. We're all the same here. it's impossible to be different when there's only 109 people alive.

After a while, we make it to the PTC (protect the children) building. All of the schools, hospitals, and churches closed about five years ago. There was no longer any reason for anything.

However, some people thought that children deserved some sort of functioning society, so PTC was created a year ago. They have one person for a group of kids. Mavis sees Zira. She helps him a lot, even if he thinks otherwise.

"Come here, Bug." I grab Mavis' hand and take his headphones off. "You'll be good, right? I'll see you in an hour."

"I'll be good." He whispers. "And, I'll see you if I don't die."

"Don't say that." My voice holds a mild amount of anger. He knows how harmful the things he says are. He doesn't understand the full concept of death and since I'm unwilling to tell him he provokes me. I’m only trying to protect him.

"I'm sorry, Petir." He hugs me. "I will see you."

“Good, Bug. And, remember if you get a bad feeling, put your headphones on, okay?" I say.

As soon as he's gone, that feeling is back. It follows me as I walk back home and whispers in my ear. "Hello, Petir. Did you miss me?"

Loneliness has been with me my entire life. It's always followed me. It's everything I see, every word I speak, and every breath I breathe. It's harder to escape than death.

“You look lonely.” Clouds form words. “Are you ready?” It asks. “We're ready for you.” I take a deep breath and count the amount of steps I take.

100, 101, 102, 103,104, 105, 106, 107— I'm stopped by someone, a woman. She grabs me by my shoulders and exclaims, "You have to run! There isn't much time!" And, before I get the chance to react, I hear thunder and rain starts pouring.

“We're all going to die!" She cries. “Save us!" Then, she disappears down an alleyway.

Gray clouds appear effortlessly and send bold streaks across the sky. The sound rings in my ears and fear consumes me. This is how I die.

I start to run, lightning guiding me. I make it to the PTC building and run inside.

"Mavis!" I yell. "Where are you!?" I search every room, making it to the last room and finally seeing him.

He's sitting in a chair and staring blankly at the wall. Zira is on the floor. Her time came.

"Mavis!" I hug him tightly. "Are you okay?" I ask. He doesn't respond, he doesn't look at me or hug me back. I notice that his brown eyes are dull and lifeless.

Slowly, I remove his headphones and blood begins to seep from his ears. "No.." I can hear the loud song that plays from his headphones. He falls out of the chair and hits the floor. It takes everything in me to not lay down beside him and cry.

I run out of the room as he bleeds out. I run out of the building and then down the street. I can still hear the thunder, but for some reason, I'm not dead. Mavis is.

I run until my legs give up on me and I collapse. I'm unable to tell whether it's tears or rain dripping down my face.

"No.." I whisper into the ground. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to die. "Just take me already!" I shout, and as if the universe is responding, a bolt of lightning strikes me.

Everything is black and I can feel my heart stop. But, somehow, I'm still breathing and I’m still alive.

"We've been waiting for you, Petir." There’s a familiar voice but I can't see anyone. "Finally, you decided to show.".

Population 1̶0̶9̶. 107