Bloodbank

Seventeen

I gasped at his voice, still sluggish from nearly passing out. Nathan and Scott shared a look, and then placed the jugs on the table next to me, filling each blood bag with the concoction. A bang against the door, doubly as loud as Mason's knocking, which appeared to shake the very foundations of the bunker.

He was breaking down the door.

I attempted to stand up, desperate to get away from Mason and his inevitable entrance, but I staggered immediately and sent one of the jars, still half full, onto the floor, spilling the blood. Nathan gasped, righting the jar and saving a fraction of what was there. A puddle of blood pooled, stark against the dull grey concrete.

"Ebony, stop. Save your strength." Scott said, pushing me down onto the chair. My head swayed, and Scott ran into the bedrooms, grabbing our things at lightning speed.

"How are we going to get out?" I gasped. The only entrance, and exit, was where Mason was.

Another bang on the door.

I couldn't help but think of Nathan and Scott breaking into my bunker, all those months ago. Of the people they'd killed. Of how afraid I was.

My breaths came quickly now, hyperventilation bubbling up and out of my throat. I couldn't go back to being a blood bank, that lifeless, soulless existence.

Nathan stared at a spot on the wall, eyes moving from left to right as he re-evaluated the situation, visibly struggling to find a solution.

Another bang. The metallic noise reverberated more now, appearing thinner as they presumably dented the door.

"I'm scared." I flinched with each bang, shaking as the world still teetered slightly. Nathan's cold hand grasped mine, but his eyes did not reach me.

"Any time now, Nathan." Scott's green eyes pierced into Nathan, who hadn't moved. He held our supplies in a bag, ready and awaiting Nathan's inevitable plan.

Nathan gasped, eyes flitting to both of us.

"Air vents."

And a final clang was heard from upstairs as the metal door sailed down the staircase and landed mere metres away from us. 

Scott leapt into action, stepping onto the kitchen counter and ripping the extractor fan from the wall. A metal tunnel lay behind it, dark and unwelcoming.

"Nathan first," breathed Scott, holding a hand out to him and pulling him up. He swiftly climbed into the tunnel, shoulders narrow enough to comfortably fit in, and began to crawl forwards.

Scott held his hand out to me.

Footsteps began to descend the staircase, moving slowly but closer with every second.

"Now, Ebony." Scott said, eyes steel on me. I took a shaky breath and stood up, but the room immediately tilted and I found my face against concrete, hands slipping around for purchase in a substance.

I had fallen in the blood.

Shrieking, I flailed, the blood in my hair, on my face, between my fingers, on my clothes. Scott jumped off the counter and pulled me to my feet. Words refused to leave my mouth, I simply stared at my bloodstained hands.

The footsteps got closer, moving achingly slow.

Scott pushed me onto the counter, shoving me to safety, but my mind was ten paces behind my body and I staggered in a dreamlike state, the metallic scent following me into the tunnel.

Inside, every movement was amplified, the tunnel warping under my hands and knees.

Blood spread along the aluminium, creating trails of red behind me. I whimpered, closing my eyes and attempting to ignore everything and move ahead, towards Nathan, towards safety.