Below Zero

-Chapter 5-

After I finished explaining what had happened above the raging flames with the mysterious figure, a mixture of worried and vengeful looks spread across the small crowd of people who had helped put out the fire moments ago. Just then, Matt tapped my shoulder signaling that it was time to return to our shelter. We were going to need our rest, because tomorrow we had to work in the Chambers, where all of the food is grown with dug up soil and watered with ice that is melted by sitting in a Warm Zone for a day or so. I learned all of this just a few months ago when I had finally reached a position of reasonable level of the town knowing and appreciating my presence here. After we got back to the Shelter, the lights flickered off and the overhead blinds slid open to provide a small amount of light for the dark hours of the night.

The next morning, I managed to get up before Matthew did, so I decided to cook the two of us breakfast. With there still remaining a little bit of bacon, I cooked that along with some wheat crackers and half frozen milk. The smell of cooked meat had lingered to Matt, and he awoke with a jolt, shouting the word fire. As I ate my food, I just sat there and chuckled before he realized his dumb mistake. He sat down in a dull anger and grumpily ate breakfast. Afterwards, we changed out of our night clothes and put on our daily work outfits.

The brightly lit domed glass rooftop of our gardening station for today was bursting with something that now stood out in our bland and frozen world; color. All around me, the green leaves of fruit trees and vegetable plants bloomed with an explosion of a beautiful green. Somehow, the local researchers had used a method of a reasonably close town's to keep some bees alive and thriving. This helped the plants tremendously. Along the edges of the large roof, rows and rows of different grains were grown to be harvested to be turned into bread, or even fed directly to the small amount of cattle the local farmers had miraculously kept alive through breeding and such. That meat was mainly used for the wealthier members of the town, but most of it went to the food reserves we had in case of disaster. Although, some stale and unwanted meat did manage to fall into the hands of hungry people like Matt and myself.

Once we were done with our shift for the day, we headed down to shop. Once we got there however, we noticed people inspecting the site of last night's incident. I walked up to one of the workers and asked what they were doing.

"We may have found something. Something very....strange."