Ghost Cities

(Wind...) (A swinging street sign...) (Car alarm slowly dying...) (Radio static...) "...Anybody out there..." "...Please answer..." "...Anybody..." (Silence.) ------------------------------------------------

Every damn street got ghosts now... Not the kind you see... The kind you feel. The playground's empty. The swings still moving. Like somebody was just there a minute ago. Store windows shattered. Traffic lights still changing colors for nobody. The silence feels heavier than the buildings around me. I found a family picture blowing through the street... Picked it up... Wondered if anybody in that photograph was still alive. This whole damn world turned into a memory overnight. ------------------------------------------------

Ghost cities... Concrete full of echoes. Ghost cities... Where every heartbeat used to mean something. Ghost cities... We're still walking... But nothing feels alive anymore. ------------------------------------------------

Smoke hanging low... Ash falling like snow. The smell of burning steel never really leaves. Saw names spray-painted on broken walls... "IF YOU SEE MY SON..." "WE WENT NORTH..." "DON'T GIVE UP..." Every message... A piece of somebody's soul. Sometimes I catch myself looking over my shoulder... Not because I'm scared... Because I miss hearing another human voice. How the fuck did the loudest planet become this quiet? ------------------------------------------------

Maybe cities don't die... Maybe they just wait... For laughter to come back. For music to come back. For children to run through these streets again. ------------------------------------------------

Ghost cities... We're carrying their stories. Ghost cities... We refuse to forget. Ghost cities... As long as one of us survives... This world still has a heartbeat. ------------------------------------------------

(Faint footsteps...) "Movement..." "...North side..." "Wait..." "...Those aren't people..." "...Take cover..." (Distant alien screech...) (Heavy cinematic impact.)