To Hear the Wind Howl

The howling wind went unnoticed by most, as it was a constant in their lives. The wind always howled.
During the day.
At night.
Through sunshine and storms, the wind always howled.
So why pay attention to it?
But then came the day when the wind stilled.
The silence was unnerving. It chilled all who strained their ears to hear any hint of the missing wind.
But there wasn't even a breath of breeze.
And in the stillness, people noticed an smell.
It was faint at first, merely making noses scrunch in unconscious dislike.
But the stench grew, until no-one could ignore it.
Was was that smell? How long had it been there, unnoticed because of the wind?
Why had the wind ceased?
When the stench began to overwhelm people so much that they fell unconscious, people started to worry.
When the stench-stricken failed to awake, that worry turned to panic.
Bunkers were formed as quickly as possible, though figuring out how to keep out the Stench took precious time.
Others set out to find out why the wind had stopped blowing, braving the Stench in order to carry out their search.
As years passed, the people fell into their new roles.
Wind-seekers, Scent-cleansers, and Ruin-runners all worked in relative harmony to keep what was left of their world running.
In the stillness, all secretly strained to hear the wind howl once more.