Living Among the Dead

Ezekiel - Winter Blues

Day 35

Ezekiel's body shivered as a gust of wind attempted to knock him off his feet. The streets were covered in snow, and more continued to fall as he slowly walked along the path that led to the common people's tents. Most neighbors were huddled together with others in order to stay warm during the rough time. He stopped at one tent and peeked in, seeing two families huddled around a small and dying fire.

"Come to gloat?" the father of one family asked, recognizing Ezekiel as a soldier. He shook his head in response, and slowly moved his hand to his pants pocket. Pulling out a lighter, he tossed it to the father.

"Try to keep that fire alive. I'll make sure to bring over more firewood for you and others once I've finished checking the tents. The father was stunned at the gesture and gave a small nod. Ezekiel stepped back and continued walking, looking up at one of the apartment buildings where a group of soldiers were drinking and laughing.

He knew the lavish life he and the others got to live. Fireplaces, actual beds, the best clothing. It wasn't fair that these people had to suffer while the others got to cruise by. Ezekiel shook his head, noticing his girlfriend Harper and his boss Frank among the group of soldiers enjoying themselves.

"She's changed." Ezekiel whispered to himself. His hood blew off his head, leaving just a black beanie to keep his head warmed as he continued to walk, keeping his glove covered hands under his arms.

"How are we doing in here?" Ezekiel asked before seeing who was in the tent. Once he finally saw, his mouth basically dropped. It was just a lone woman, keeping herself warm with only a blanket. She sat in a corner, shaking violently as her body tried to fight off the cold. Without a second thought, Ezekiel took off the large black winter coat he had on and stepped towards the woman. He was left in only a blue thermal long shirt, and he felt the cold air attacking him from every direction.

"What... are... you doing?" the woman slowly asked, struggling to form a sentence as he jaw shook. Ezekiel wrapped the jacket around her and zipped it up. His brown eyes met hers and he gave her a smile.

"Just trying to help." he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You wait right here, I'm gonna grab some firewood so we can try and keep you warm."

. . .

About an hour later, smoke were coming out of the flaps for most of the tents. Each group of survivors had been supplied more firewood then they were allowed by Ezekiel. He sat in the tent with the woman from before, wearing a new winter coat he took from one of the "stores" that provided supplies to the people. The woman sat across from him, staring into the fire and still wearing the coat he had given to her.

"I'm Ezekiel." he said, breaking the silence.

"Natalie." the woman softly spoke. She brushed a strand of her almost black hair behind one of her ears and avoided eye contact with the mysterious man. "Why did you do this for us?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Ezekiel asked with a smirk. "We might be all that's left in the world."

"The others sure view it that way." Natalie replied sarcastically.

"The others have their heads up their own asses." Ezekiel responded, his mood dropping at the mention of them.

"It's good that you're not like them. The people are gonna appreciate what you did." Natalie said, smiling softly and finally looking up at him.

"I didn't do it to be liked. I did it so they had a chance of surviving the winter." Ezekiel said. "They are free to think whatever they like of me."

"Just don't let them take advantage of you. People are greedy when they get what they want." Natalie said, extending her hands out over the fire.

"And some are gluttons when they have everything handed to them." Ezekiel agreed, slowly standing up. He brushed off his pants and smiled at the woman again. "Stay warm Natalie. I'll be around again to make sure no one's burnt down their tents." With that, Ezekiel had left the woman's tent and began walking towards his apartment building.

. . .

A few hours had passed since Ezekiel became a "hero" to the common folk for keeping them warm. Despite it being dark out already from the snow storm, the moon was now high in the sky, signaling that night had washed over the city. Ezekiel was lying in his bed, still wearing all his winter clothes and refusing to use the fireplace that was off to the side, built into the wall. He slowly moved around in his sleep, clenching his eyes shut when a gunshot went off. His eyes snapped open and he felt his heart begin to race.

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself, turning over in his bed to see that Harper wasn't sleeping next to him. He shook his head, slowly sitting up when another gunshot went off. Ezekiel stood up abruptly and pulled on his combat boots, quickly making his way to the door and outside.

Once outside, Ezekiel saw a line of people sat against the same building where the executions of those with fevers were taken when the safe zone was taking people in. Men, women, and even children sat there, shaking and shivering as the cold night air did it's best to make them weaker than they already were. Standing outside the building's door was Frank, who had his hands on his hips.

"You're awake!" Frank shouted out, smiling as Ezekiel stormed towards him. "Where's your gear?"

"What the hell is going on Frank?" Ezekiel asked, looking at the line of people that were now looking at him.

"We're dealing with issues that had been taking place in the commons section." Frank responded, his facial expression becoming serious and his voice stern. Another gunshot fired and Ezekiel found himself flinching along with the innocent people who were lined up. One of them coughed, which caused Frank's head to snap in their direction.

"You mean that?" Ezekiel asked. "A cold?"

"A risk." Frank responded coldly. "Something we shouldn't take lightly."

"There are children here Frank." Ezekiel whispered.

"You think I don't know that? This is for the safety of everyone else in this place. I think a few children are worth that safety." Frank responded, staring down Ezekiel.

Harper emerged from the building, a streak of blood on her black military like outfit. Ezekiel's jaw dropped when he saw her step out of the building, pistol in hand. Frank moved out of the way as she grabbed the next man that was in line and pushed him towards the door.

"No! Please! I'm fine! I promise!" the man pleaded, continuing to be shoved into the building. Harper didn't even acknowledge Ezekiel as she entered the building.

"You... you have her doing this?" Ezekiel asked, looking back at Frank who was now back to standing in front of the door.

"I didn't have her doing anything. She wanted to help out. It's more than you've been doing for us." Frank spat at his soldier. Ezekiel scoffed, covering his mouth with his hand. He looked around for a moment and attempted to step into the building, but was quickly shoved backwards by Frank.

"Let me through Frank." Ezekiel said, staring at the ground.

"I can't do that. I know you Ezekiel. You'll compromise the safe zone." Frank responded. "Try to interrupt again, and you will regret it."

"Dammit man, move." Ezekiel said angrily, trying yet again to push by Frank. Frank stuck his hand out and pushed it against Ezekiel's chest, keeping him at arm's length.

"I warned you." Frank said, shaking his head. With his free hand he snapped his fingers, and before Ezekiel could turn around he felt something hard hit the back of his head and he fell to his knees and then dropped onto his face, blacking out.