The young students who survived one of Pakistan's worst terrorist attacks returned this week to the school where the massacre took place, but without 150 of their classmates and teachers.
Their loss was starkly illustrated in a photo posted by teenager Talha Munir Paracha on the first day back at school.
An earlier image shows Paracha with three of his friends. On Monday, Paracha and another student recreated the photo, but with a gaping hole where their two slain friends should have been standing.
According to BuzzFeed News, the earlier image shows students Rafiq Bangash on the second left, and Muhammad Yassen on the far right, both killed in the Taliban attack.
Yassen was a "bubbly" 14-year-old who loved cricket, cars and photography, his British cousin told The Daily Mail.
Bangash's loved ones set up a Facebook page in his memory that has garnered over 10,000 likes.
Taliban gunmen stormed the army-run school in Peshawar on Dec. 16, leaving classrooms strewn with bodies and Pakistan reeling in horror.
Though the Taliban targeted children, on Monday the survivors had a powerful retort to the violence. Ahmed Nawaz, a 15-year-old badly wounded in the attack, told the Associated Press he would return to school to send a message to the militants: "We are not scared of you."
H/T BuzzFeed News
Here are some ways to help children receive an education in Pakistan. See more here.
The Malala FundAfter surviving an attempt on her own life by the Taliban, Malala Yousufzai created a foundation focused on empowering girls through education.
The Citizens FoundationThe nonprofit is one of the leading organizations in the field of education in Pakistan, having established 1,000 school units nationwide since its inception in 1995.
DILDevelopments in Literacy educates and empowers underprivileged students, especially girls, by operating student-centered schools. It also provides professional development to teachers and principals across Pakistan.