CHAPTER ONE.
all that remains

NOW.

Summer — 15 Years Later.

     THE BRIGHT AFTERNOON sun was beaming down on the Boston Quarantine Zone, golden rays of sunlight cascading over the tall buildings, accompanied by a pale orange hue seeping through the sky, and peaking over the horizon. However, with beauty comes the darkness hidden underneath. Clouds of gray and black smoke floated into the sky while trucks filled with the dead parked themselves on the outskirts of the QZ, burning those who were riddled with infection upon their arrival to the safe zone. It was a violent form of disposal, but the safest if it meant preventing the spread of infection amongst those who remained.

     The heat continued to beat hard against Ezra Windsor's pale skin, beads of sweat sticking to his forehead in the process. The familiar smell of burning flesh and rot wrapped in smoke flooded the boy's nostrils through the bandana covering the lower half of his face. The familiar smell was enough to make Ezra's eyes sting. The burning sensation leaving the boy with another reminder that no matter how many times he got stuck with a job as grotesque and as disheartening as this one, the smell was something he could never come to terms with. It was a constant reminder that death was everywhere, even hidden behind the walls that were meant to represent safety and solitude.

     This was never his idea of a good life. After running away from the only family he had when he was sixteen, believing he was better off without them, he spent months alone until he walked through the gates of the Boston QZ. FEDRA were anything but friendly, and after days of interrogations and observations, he was welcomed into the community, or at least their version of it. Ezra was forced to live under strict rules. If he were to break any of those rules then he would be forced to answer them with his life. If he wanted food, he would have to work for it, or he would starve to death as a result. He took any job he could, even one as tormenting as disposing of the dead.

     His life now wasn't any better than the life he had once before. However, he was still alive after walking through the gates of the Boston QZ all those years ago. The boy believed deep down that if he had stuck around with his mother any longer, he would've lost his life due to her reckless actions. At least he got to fight another day, even in the midst of a world as cruel and cold as this one.

     Ezra helped lift another dead corpse from the truck with the help of a known smuggler and friend, Joel Miller. After a few weeks in the zone, Ezra had spotted the man leaving the zone after hours alongside his partner in crime, Tess Servopoulos. At first, they threatened to kill him if he even thought about reporting them to FEDRA, but Ezra had swallowed his fear and asked if he could join them. He was a young sixteen, year old boy in need of a parental figure, or a purpose in the world. He didn't really know which one he wanted more. But Joel and Tess took the boy in, and it wasn't long before he had grown used to the life of crime. Hell, he enjoyed it because, well, it paid more.

     But it had been quiet for months. The group of smugglers never really had a reason to leave the QZ, other than Joel, who was determined to get his hands on a car to find his younger brother, Tommy Miller. It was a difficult goal they were all working towards for the man's sake and sanity. But to pass the time and earn themselves some sort of rations, they were stuck with picking up the heavy duty jobs. Even the ones that left a harrowing feeling that slithered up and down the boy's spine.

     Ezra and Joel dropped another dead body into the fire in front of them, the flames growing bigger, brighter, and a lot more violent with each corpse that fell into the burning flames. Ezra then pulled down the bandana wrapped around his face before he lifted his arm to wipe away the sweat from his forehead. And when he saw the truck drive away, he believed it was time to let the flames burn flesh and bone into ashes, but then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted another truck backing up into them. It made Ezra wonder how many deaths FEDRA were responsible for today, and how many more would follow after they were done for the day.

     Sighing quietly to himself, Ezra pulled the bandana back over his face before he opened up the back of the truck, lowering his gaze to see something that made his blood run cold. Ezra couldn't help but swallow thickly, his chest tightening in the process when he laid his eyes upon the dead body of a child — an innocent kid. There was no denying that Ezra Windsor had witnessed a fair share of horrors in the nineteen years he had been alive. But nothing could ever prepare him for this — for the day he would have to throw the boy of a child into the pool of violent flames.

     The boy wondered where the child's parents must be, and if they were alive or dead, and if they were alive, how they could've let this happen to their own son. Then he thought about how this could've been him — a victim who died at the hands of the cruel world if he didn't escape when he did. Ezra breathed out a sigh of relief as the thought crossed his mind, thankful for the second chance he got when he did.

     "Shit." Ezra cursed underneath his breath, stepping back from the truck why he ran a gloved hand through his messy hair.

     Joel was quick to notice the boy's change in demeanour and attitude. The man furrowed his brows in confusion for a moment before he turned around to glance at him, a puzzled look washing over his face in the process. "You good, kid?" He asked, his low voice ringing sharply through Ezra's ears.

     Ezra placed his hands firmly on his hips while he bowed his head down to look at the concrete ground beneath him, breathing heavily for a moment before he lifted his gaze to glance back at Joel, his eyes flickering between the man and the dead kid lying limp in the truck. "It's a damn kid, man. I can't...I can't do it." He informed, his voice beginning to shake.

     Joel spared the boy one last glance before he peered inside the truck to see the lifeless child Ezra was gesturing towards. Ezra then watched as Joel scooped the kid into his arms, turning around before he walked towards the fire, a stern look plastered across his face and a cold glimmer in his eyes as he dropped the kid's body into the burning pile. But that wasn't what surprised Ezra the most. What surprised him was how Joel could dispose of a kid's body with zero compassion. The boy had known Joel for years, however, they always kept their histories to themselves. Joel didn't know what Ezra's life was like before he walked into the Quarantine Zone, and Ezra didn't ask about Joel's past prior to the world falling apart. Who they were before doesn't matter now. But Ezra would be lying if he wasn't slightly curious about who Joel was in the beginning, knowing there was a reason behind his cold exterior.

     Sucking in a sharp breath, shaking off his previous thought, Ezra took a step towards Joel with a thankful look glazed over his dark eyes. "Hey, thank you for doing that, man. Even when I think I've seen it all, this world throws something new in my direction." He spoke up, walking back towards the truck to retrieve another body.

     "I get it. You're still young. Some stuff is just too much." Joel reassured him, lifting the top half of a corpse while Ezra lifted the bottom half.

     "I just can't imagine how it feels like...to lose a kid." Ezra was thinking out loud now, and without noticing, he choice of words seemed to pull at a nerve within Joel. "Where were this kid's parents? Why didn't they protect him better?"

     Ezra couldn't help but be reminded of his mom. The boy was no younger than sixteen when he chose to ran away from his only living family member after he watched her leave his dad for dead years prior. He wondered how she must have felt when she woke up the next morning to see he was gone, nothing but a note explaining that he needed to be alone and he wouldn't be coming back. He wondered if she was angry at him for leaving her, or devastated that he was gone, and if she tried looking for him even when he asked her not to. Ezra thought about his mom a lot. Especially after all this time. But he could never go back to her, not after everything that she put him through.

     Joel released a sigh past his lips while him and Ezra dropped the body into the fire. "Ezra—"

     "I know, I know." Ezra muttered underneath his breath, cutting the man off when he realised it was a conversation Joel didn't want to fall deep into. "It's just hard not to think about, you know?"

     However, when Joel didn't say anything in response, Ezra knew he was better off dropping the subject altogether. This caused for the boy to part his lips to speak once again, a thought crossing his mind. "Have you got any word from Tess about that battery yet?" He asked him, curiosity laced in his voice while he spoke.

     Joel stepped back from the fire, shaking his head. "Not yet. I'm just hoping she can get the battery from Robert." He answered, folding his arms over his chest while both him and Ezra watched the fire burn bright.

     In that moment Ezra couldn't help but let out a scoff. "You guys seriously trust Robert of all people to get you the one thing we really need?" He asked Joel, his gaze shifting over to the older man once again, a twinkle of amusement glimmering in his eyes.

     "I know you don't like the guy..." Joel sighed, his eyes locking with Ezra's amused stare.

     "I hate the guy." Ezra deadpanned, correcting the man's words. "If I remember correctly, his goons beat my face in after a simple drop off." He reminded him, thinking back to the last time he was in the same proximity as Robert, which was why Ezra hasn't come face to face with the guy in months because Ezra was sure he would kill the man himself if he ever saw him again.

     Joel nodded his head in response to Ezra's statement. "Well, regardless of how you feel about the guy, he's the only one that can get his hands on what we need, and I need that battery, otherwise we're not getting to Tommy." He retorted.

     Silence quickly flooded the air surrounding the duo. Ezra turned his attention back to the burning fire for a moment before his gaze drifted back over towards Joel to see the man staring down at the ground, almost like he was deep in thought. Tommy was Joel's brother, and although they drifted apart over time, they were family, and that kind of bond was difficult to break in the eyes of most people nowadays. Now that Tommy had fallen off the grid, Joel was getting worried with each day that passed him bye, and after weeks of radio silence, it was time for them to travel across the country to find him themselves. Ezra just hoped they would find him safe and sound for the sake of Joel's sanity.

     "Hey..." Ezra spoke up, breaking the deafening silence between them both. "I'm sure Tommy's okay." He reassuring the man, hoping it was enough to calm his worries for now.

     "Yeah, me too." Joel muttered underneath his breath, earning a sympathetic stare from Ezra in response. Joel then lifted his gaze before he lightly tapped the boy's back. "Let's get back to work."

     A few more hours had passed by the time the buzzer echoed loudly through the air, signalling that the shift was finally over. Ezra breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned the shovel in his hand against the wall behind him before he pulled down the bandana from his face again, and removed his gloves. After retrieving his ration cards from the FEDRA officer, who were far from generous after the hours of work he put in for the day, Ezra found himself walking beside Joel through the busy streets of the Boston QZ, passing many faces, new and old in the process. They continued to walk down the street until they turned the corner to see a crowd staring up at something that Ezra Windsor had grown all too familiar with.

     The boy was no stranger to the cruelty he had witnessed at the hands of FEDRA, and even now he didn't even flinch or allow his stomach churn as a form of hate and disgust at the sight of the people with bags over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs. He had grown so used to the endless string of death and torture that it almost didn't phase him anymore. But it was never a pleasant sight to witness either. Something as simple as being seen with a Firefly, or staying out past curfew was punishable by death. Each person standing on that podium in front of Ezra had committed an offence so small that they would be forced to pay with their lives. That was the part that made the boy shuffle uncomfortably.

Ezra then scanned his eyes aimlessly around the crowd until he set his gaze on a familiar face — a FEDRA soldier who Joel and himself had been in cahoots with each other in order to get the merchandise that they desperately needed. The pair exchanged a few lingering glances before Ezra nodded his head, turning around to nudge Joel gently. "Hey..." He whispered to the man, gesturing towards the FEDRA soldier in the distance, both of them watching as he nodded his head into the opposite direction. It was a clear indication to follow him.

Joel was the first to walk through the crowd to meet the FEDRA soldier in the distance, followed by Ezra who trailed close behind the older men before he stopped. "Hey, I'll keep an eye out in case anyone thinks about sticking their nose where it doesn't belong." Ezra volunteered, earning a few nods of agreement from the other men before they walked off into a far corner together.

     Ezra leaned against the brick wall behind him, a quiet sigh escaping past his lips while he looked ahead at where the public hanging was taking place. The boy folded his arms and shuffled around uncomfortably once again, watching as each person was placed into a tight noose that hung around their necks. He could see each of them shaking uncontrollably as they were slowly met with a swift death. He could even hear the gasps and sobs coming from the crowd while they watched each person die right in front of their very eyes.

     There was this foreboding feeling that latched onto the boy's spine while he watched each of them die. He wondered what must be going through their head while they struggled to hold onto their last and final breath, and if suffocating to death really hurt as much as he thought. Ezra thought about dying a lot. Not in a suicidal kind of way. But he believed where he was surrounded by so much death day after day, he was just as curious to know how it felt to have your own life leave your body without the strength, or the power to stop it. It was a reoccurring thought Ezra Windsor experienced time after time following his father's untimely death.

     "Hey, do yourself a favour." The familiar sound of the FEDRA soldier's voice flooded the boy's ears, causing for Ezra to turn around to see him and Joel walking back over towards him until they stopped by the open chain-linked gate. "Stay off the street for the next few nights." He then proceeded to warn them, his choice of words being enough to catch Ezra's attention within a small matter of seconds.

     "Why?" Ezra questioned, shrugging his shoulders while he furrowed his brows together in the process.

     "Fucking Fireflies been blowing shit up all week. Two of our guys got shot this morning." The FEDRA soldier responded, seeming almost displeased. The Fireflies were always causing trouble for the military. That's why Ezra didn't sign up to join once he arrived at the Boston QZ. He didn't want the responsibility of taking out a group of dangerous terrorists. "Boss has got us working doubles. Guys are jumpy and tired. It's easy to make a mistake in the dark." He elaborated further, a sincere look burning bright in his eyes.

     Ezra let out a shaky breath. "Good to know." He muttered underneath his breath.

     The FEDRA soldier spared Ezra ans Joel one last lingering glance before he walked away from the pair. "Stay safe." He called out to them both.

     "Yeah, you too." Joel whispered lightly, looking down at the ground while he kept his arms folded over his chest.

     Once he knew they were alone, Ezra decided to speak up. "So, how did that go?" He asked curiously, hoping for some sort of good news. God knows they needed a good outcome after the long and agonising day they've had so far.

     "Well, if we keep it up, we might be able to get our hands on a truck sooner than we thought." Joel answered truthfully, sounding optimistic.

     Ezra sighed, a small smile ghosting across his lips. "We just got to hope Robert comes through with our battery." He added.

     "Yeah, well, I'm sure Tess has it covered." Joel replied, nodding his head. "But I'm going to head over to see if they've heard anything from the tower yet. You coming?" He then asked, changing the subject.

     Ezra shook his head in response to Joel's question. "I think I'm gonna head home and get some rest for a bit. I sure as hell need it." He declined.

     "Well, I'll see you later, kid," was the last thing Joel said to Ezra before he walked away, leaving the boy alone.

     Once Ezra knew he was alone, he turned around to face the brick wall behind him, lifting his gaze to see a quote painted across the wall in a bright yellow. It was one that Ezra Windsor had heard so many times before, and more than ever after he moved into the Boston QZ. It was a infamous quote used by the Fireflies, telling him that, "When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light." It was enough to make Ezra let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head while he walked past the building with the same quote smeared across the wall, his lips parting to speak.

     "Fucking Fireflies."

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authors note.
A very short first chapter I know! But I really wanted to begin by exploring Ezra's life 15 years after the events of the prologue and show his bond with Joel since he plays a crucial part in Ezra's life and is very much like a father figure to him after losing his dad. But the ending to this chapter is going to transition nicely to where the second chapter is going to start...who's ready to see the return of Vienna 👀

Until then I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll update again soon!!