Bereavement

Epilogue

Requested epilogue. Enjoy! (I wrote this in one sitting so hopefully it's okay.)

ZEKE POV

In the aftermath of the battle, I help with the bodies, since that is a job that most of the soldiers here want to avoid.

The win was bloody, but it was a victory nonetheless. Eventually the Bureau surrendered to us, and we forced the leadership out. It will be a lengthy process to restore order and have new leaders elected. Luckily I am going to have nothing to do with that process.

The Bureau soldiers that left earlier on to join our side now sift through the rubble and return to their apartments or the dormitory. The opposing soldiers do the same, although they throw glares in our direction as they do so. All I have to do is flash a smile and wave at them to make them confused and get them to stop. It would not wise to anger an army that you just surrendered to, so I don't know why they're trying to.

"What are you up to, Ezekiel?" Amar asks me as he approaches me. George, Tori's brother, trails behind him.

"Lining up bodies," I reply. "What does it look like?"

"Well, once you're done, you should come with us to get some food."

"We'll see. I don't really feel hungry right now." Not after seeing the damages of war. How could I possibly eat with gruesome images of bullet-filled bodies in my mind?

Then I notice that someone is not with them: my best friend, who I have not seen since we split up in the middle of battle.

"Hey," I say. "Where's Four?"

Amar and George both look at each other and shrug. I frown, something I don't do often, before I go out to search.

"Four!" I call out. No answer. Everyone throws me strange glances and goes about their clean-up work. I expect to see him standing amidst all the soldiers, helping out like the Stiff he is. I expect to see his head rising high above the crowd because of his height.

But I don't. The longer I search, the more I become worried. I ask around, "Have you seen Four?" and get shakes of the head. When I think all hope is lost, I head over to the opponents' side of the battleground.

Bodies are still spread across the floor over here, and I quickly scan their lifeless faces to see if any of them belong to my best friend. They don't, and for a moment I am relieved, but then I see the tattoo lining the back of someone's neck.

"No," I gasp, almost slipping on blood when I run over to the body. "No, no, no, no!"

Four is lying on his back, his face tilted to the left so that his tattoo is showing. His chest is littered with bullet holes that are evident even through his black shirt.

"Oh my God, Four," I groan out, pressing my hands onto my knees so I don't fall over.

I don't want to see his face, so I don't look. I keep my gaze trained on the ground and peek up at the tattoo through my eyelashes to make sure what I'm seeing is real, that my best friend is really gone.

"Excuse me, do you know this man?"

Looking up, I notice a man standing on the other side of Four's body. His arm is in a sling, and a little girl is in his other arm with her head buried in his neck.

"Yeah," I choke out, my eyes finally tearing up. My delayed reaction is strange. None of this feels real. "Yeah, he's my best friend."

"He saved my daughter. He ran to her and shoved her out of the way of gunfire and took the bullets himself," he tells me.