Elevation was a novella, really more a short story that read like a Christmas story. It's a mug's game to try to figure out an author's intentions but King certainly seems to be more insistent in letting us know that we don't have a lot of time on earth and that we should be nice to each other. You could finish this story in one day. A man discovers that he's losing weight and can't explain why. He also decides to help some new neighbors who don't want his help.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.