Dust in the Wind

Chapter 4

There's Beauty Everywhere

"Ez, how much farther are we going?" Aqil looked around as he asked. They weren't in the nicest part of the quarantine zone, and it was past curfew.

"Stop being such a scardey cat." Ezra looked back at him with a smile.

"If dad finds out, we're both dead meat." He was visibly nervous as he followed after her.

Ezra stopped in front of the warehouse, unlocking the door and letting Aqil inside. She closed the door behind them and walked over to pull the grate open.

"Ez...where are we going?" Aqil watched as Ezra jumped down into the trench.

"Outside the wall." She answered simply. "I wanna show you something."

"Don't just skip over that like you didn't just say we're going outside the walls!" He stopped at the edge of the divot. "Ez." He spoke up again when she didn't respond, walking into the tunnel. "Ezra." He called out another time, not getting a response. He was forced to jump down and follow after her.

"I propped the door open last time I came through here." Ezra finally spoke after Aqil caught up. "So I could bring you along."

"Ezra, this is a really bad idea. Who knows what's out there?"

Ezra pushed open the door she had left slightly ajar. She walked over to a workbench and picked up a backpack that Cohen had set up for her. She also took a pistol and held it up for Aqil to see. "I know what's out there, which is why I'm bringing this."

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Ezra had brought Aqil to an amusement park not far outside of the zone. They didn't even have to break in, as there was a hole large enough for the both of them to squeeze in. Ezra had taken Aqil to the Ferris wheel, where she started to climb.

"Okay, this is an even worse idea, Ez." Aqil sighed, tired of yelling at her. He was thankful they hadn't run into any of the 'infected' Ezra talked about but didn't want to push it.

"Come on, Aqil. The view will be worth it."

Aqil sighed deeply before reluctantly following after her.

"Have you heard about the infection in the zone?" Ezra called back to him, a good bit ahead of him in the climb.

"In our zone?" He looked up at her in surprise. "You--you mean infected like zombies like you said there are out here?"

"Yeah." She stopped, looking back at him. "They've been killing people to keep the rest of us from turning." She stated matter-of-factly.

"How do you know all of this, Ez? Are you sure it's even true?" They both hung at their spots a moment.

Ezra began climbing again, looking ahead of her for handholds. "Cohen told me. He knows a lot of what's going on in the city. We have to leave soon, he says."

"I think you're putting too much faith in this Cohen guy, Ezra. He sounds like he's bad news."

"He's not a bad guy. He's very helpful. He gets me things from out of the zone whenever I do jobs for him."

"You work for him?!" Aqil practically yelled out.

"Hush." She shushed him. "And yes. He has me smuggle things for him. Usually from one side of the zone to the other."

"That's a really bad idea, Ezra. What if you get caught?"

"I won't." She stated confidently, taking the last step to pull herself into one of the carriages. She held her hand out to Aqil and helped him in as well.