Living Among the Dead

Moses - False Prophet

Day 20

Moses breathed in deeply, feeling his arms aching from dragging around the large pieces of steel that the soldiers and other workers used to make the fence that kept out the undead. Marcus stood next to him, drinking a bottle of cold water despite the weather. He handed what was left of it to Moses who gladly accepted and drank the rest of it.

"Come on guys. They're watching." one of their fellow workers said. Moses looked back towards the building turned watchtower. Two soldiers stood in the window, overlooking the workers progress.

"Right behind you Elliot." Marcus said, moving quickly to help start pulling more steel to the desired point. Moses pulled his beanie down further onto his head and moved with the two, helping to drag the somewhat skinny piece of steel across the ground.

"Doesn't everyone get paid the same anyway, no matter the amount of work done?" Moses asked, looking over at Elliot. In the few weeks Marcus and Moses had been there, Elliot was immediately friendly with them and became an "acquaintance" of theirs during the work hours.

"Ha! You believe that bullshit? They obviously play favorites. Why do you think I work twice as hard as anyone else?" Elliot asked. He stopped pulling the steel for a moment and scratched his black goatee with the tan colored worker gloves he had on.

"Favorites? How?" Marcus asked.

"By watching us and seeing who doesn't question them." Elliot said, getting right back to pulling with the two others. Moses looked back up at the watchtower window and saw the two soldiers chatting with each other now, not paying attention to any of the workers.

"Right there is good. Bring over that last piece and you'll be done for the day men." one of the ground soldiers spoke. The three stepped away from the piece of metal while another crew jogged over to it and began to set it up for the building process.

"So why don't you call them out on it? Go to Frank or something?" Moses asked, pulling the last piece of metal off of the supply truck that it was on.

"Me? My word means diddly squat here. I have as much say as those supply drivers." Elliot said with a smirk, hitting the side of the truck that was used to drop off the metal.

"Where the hell do they get this stuff anyway?" Marcus asked, taking another moment to straighten out his back. He moved his arms around in circles, loosening them up.

"Other safe zones that have gone down. We're one of the few remaining supposedly." Elliot said. Moses and Marcus facial expressions both turned sour at the thought of more people dying and becoming apart of the undead army that plagued the earth.

"Come on. Let's get this over there and get our credits." Moses said, bending down and starting to pull it on his own. Elliot and Marcus soon joined in and helped him drag over to the same spot as before.

* * *

The sun was setting, signaling the end of all work duties for the people in the safe zone. Marcus and Moses had already retired to their tent, both laying on their cot with two opened cans of food on the ground next to them. Moses was staring at the ceiling of his tent, his arms wrapped around himself trying to keep his body warm. Marcus was wearing a large hoodie along with a jacket over that.

"I feel like it's colder than it's ever been before in the city." Marcus spoke up, breaking the silence between the two.

"Just wait till night." Moses said. "I'm not cuddling to stay warm, even if it's life or death."

"Asshole." Marcus said with a soft laugh. He sniffled, his nose a bright red which stood out. He let out a small cough and then wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"I can't believe this is what the world has come to." Moses whispered, loud enough for his friend to hear.

"We should've been more prepared. Somewhere, there's a dude in a bunker laughing at all of us." Marcus said, pulling the lone blanket in the tent over him.

"I always thought it would've been you." Moses teased.

"Oh yeah? Even with how paranoid you were?" Marcus retorted.

"Hey! I had good reason to be paranoid." Moses defended himself. Silence filled the tent after his statement, and an awkward tension began to grow. "I... did things that could have had people come after me..."

"I know. We've talked about it." Marcus quietly said.

"Working for the mafia? Like come on. Anyone would be insane." Moses said.

"Moses, I get it. I know. It was a dumb joke on my part." Marcus said, coughing lightly again.

"No. It was all dumb decisions by me to start things off." Moses continued, standing up from his cot. He rubbed his head and closed his eyes, trying to push the memories of his past out of his mind. "There are some things you just can't unsee."

"I'm going to sleep." Marcus said, sniffling again, and then turning onto his side. It was clear he was trying to end the conversation so Moses couldn't keep the self-hate party going on. Moses shook his head, stepping out of the tent and slipping his hands into his pocket.

* * *

"Amen." a quiet group of people all said in unison. Moses stood in the doorway of the designated church building created by the soldiers for the people who wanted to continue practicing their religious ways. Standing at the front of the sermon, was the odd man people were calling The Preacher, who had spoken to Moses a few weeks back.

"You can always flock to God. Don't forget that." The Preacher said as the people began to leave the small building. The Preacher stared at Moses who moved out of the way, letting the people out.

"I see the prophet has come again." The Preacher said, a small smile forming on his face. He closed the bible that was in his hands and stepped toward the entryway. Moses stepped into the prayer room and looked at the foldable chairs that were set up in an arc-like pattern.

"I heard the noise and thought I would check it out." Moses said, walking by a table that had multiple candles set up.

"Or perhaps my words bounced around your head and have been digging at you." The Preacher said, placing the bible down on another table that had a large cross on it.

"Nope. Definitely not." Moses said, raising an eyebrow at the mysterious man.

"My words remain true. You are to lead the flock to safety. Away from the owners that keep them down." The Preacher said, slowly sitting down in one of the seats, keeping his eyes on Moses.

"The owners?" Moses asked, turning to look at The Preacher. The Preacher just shrugged his shoulders slightly, keeping that small smirk he had when Moses first walked in.

"I can guide you. Help you. I just need you to tell me you need it." The Preacher said to him. Moses scoffed, walking towards the center of the prayer room where he imagined the Preacher stood to speak to everyone. He looked over at the table with the cross and shook his head.

"I never was much of a religious man." Moses said, turning to look at the Preacher again. "I don't really think that's gonna change now."

"It will." The Preacher said. "It's destiny."

"You live a good life." Moses said, pointing a finger gun at the man. He turned, walking towards the exit and leaving, while the Preacher didn't take his eyes off of him.

"You'll be back. You will." The Preacher spoke to himself, standing up slowly and moving to the candles, blowing them out one by one.