Sulfur and dust still clogged Ezekiel’s nose when the oily darkness retreated from his consciousness. Dirt was hot against his face and scrubs and bare forearms, almost to the point of blistering his skin. The air was scorching, an oven, lungs trying to seize as he panted into the gritty earth under his cheek. He cracked his eyelids open and got a peek of reddish dirt.
There was ringing in his ears, punctuated by metal singing against more metal. Where the f**k was this? Seattle didn’t have this kind of…anything. The office he shared with his fellow nurses didn’t either.
A grunt broke through the scrambled thoughts in his head. The crack of skin against bone followed. Something hit the ground close to him, the dirt spray hitting the backs of Zeke’s hands in sharp pings. Zeke itched to mo
