One Drop Of Blood

5

Harvey let out a small groan. His back had gone stiff and was hurting from laying on the firm floor nearly nonstop for the last day. Looking through the trash they had found a few random bags of snacks, a couple of cans, and two bottles of soda. Ray had tried to set up something to catch rainwater but so far it remained dry. Every so often a distant crash or the sound of bloodshots fighting broke the silence.

Most of the bloodshot attacked one another, their goal to purely kill and destroy. Sometimes they would work together in order to gang up on someone who hadn't been infected yet. They specifically seemed to group together if they had the same type of blood on themselves, such as if two happened to get the blood from a single victim on each of them. They didn't know quite yet what caused them to work like that, it could have to do with the scent.

Fed up with the numbing boredom, Harvey lifted himself off the floor. He walked over to the barricaded windows and looked out. Ray noticed this and quickly became alert.

"Harvey? What are you doing..?" He spoke cautiously. He had dealt with hysterical patients before and knew the signs which Harvey was showing. The constant worry mixed with the paranoia settling in. His eyes darted back and forth between the gaps in the shelves. He clenched one of them with pale, shaking fists. "Harvey I need you to step away from the shelves so we can think about it, okay?" Harvey turned towards him, before swallowing heavily and nodding. Ray led him away from the blockade, maneuvering himself in between them in the process.

"What are we going to do Ray..? It's a dead land out there.... Are we going to die too...?" He looked up towards him with tears threatening to pour down his face. His own eyes became watery as well as he pulled the crying boy into a hug. Maybe they are doomed. They could be the last survivors for all they knew. Though really, being the last survivors would have been mercy. Humanity has a tendency to make the worst of itself when it hits rock bottom. We've seen it repeat itself throughout history. With the donner party resorting to cannibalism, The shirtwaist factory workers trampling others to save themselves, the Bhopal gas tragedy killing thousands for the sake of greed.

It's written into our genes. People only look out for themselves and they don't care who they have to kill in order to survive. This situation will only add to one of humanity's greatest tragedies, but really it's all still the same. Blood needlessly shed.

Someone had seen the barricaded store and locked onto it. They saw Harvey peek through the cracks and realized there were survivors inside. People that could be used. The woman laughed from her rooftop position as she motioned for her red eyed brother to come over. He lunged for her but before he could attack her arm she grabbed him by the neck. She tied a rope around him to secure him before lowering him to the ground and letting it loose. She picked up some rubble from the edge that was falling apart before throwing it towards the store, diverting the bloodshots attention.

Harvey sighed, lowering himself back to the floor when suddenly one of the remaining windows shattered, sending the glass over the shelves. Ray quickly covered his face and pulled harvey down to the floor. A large thudding sounded as the shelf heaved forward. He instantly reacted, pushing himself against the flimsy structure to try and stop the attacker. While Ray did that Harvey pulled the knife from his pocket and dropped the sheath to the side. He shoved himself against the shelf and swung the knife towards the bloody hand that was reaching through the hole.

It didn't pull back even as the knife split open its fingers. Harvey swung again, this time slitting the wrist. With a yell Harvey jumped back and fell to the floor. On the other side the bloodshot fell to the ground, growling weakly. Then his jaw dropped when he saw Ray had been splattered with the blood. They both stared at each other silently, not sure what would happen.