Short Stories Collection

Bleed Black

The night echoed with the screams of agony, pain thick in the air. Explosions could be heard in the distance, closer and closer, little by little. Gunfire blasted nearby, bouncing off of the brick walls and damp asphalt of the alley I was currently in.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

I kept myself hidden, my back pressed against the hard wall of the building. My eyes roamed the street to my right, what I could see of it anyway. Holding the butt of the cigarette to my lips, I took a long slow drag as I listened to the world around me. It was crumbling, ripping at the seams.

Two men ran passed the entrance only feet away, their shirts slashed and streaked with a greenish tinge from the blood that oozed steadily from their wounds. I watched them disappear from view with vague disinterest as my thoughts were already straying away.

Genetic engineering had gone above and beyond the original ideals and theories. From curing diseases to being able to tell the severity of a criminal just by the color of their blood. I hated how the world government had decided to control and segregate all of us in such a way. Who was it that made the choice of which crimes were the worst? Didn't reason and intent have any say in these things? Biologically the body couldn't determine such things. So who was responsible for building the invisible wall between the people.

It used to be the color of someone's skin that caused the social issues. Now it was the color of our blood. And once revealed, that's all anyone could see, nothing more nothing less. The reason behind such choice became null and void.

I shook my head in disgust as I took one last drag from my cigarette before stubbing it out on the heel of my boot. For such intelligent creatures, humans were probably the most idiotic and irrational of all. Pathetic really but who was I to say? No one, at least as far as they knew. My story didn't matter to them or their's to me. To each their own.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk, scanning the street carefully. The smell of smoke and the flicker of light from a fire caught my attention and I made my way there. This wasn't my fight, but I had had my fill of the tyranny from the so called council and any war with them had become mine as well. Minutes later, the sounds in the night grew louder until the sight before me mirrored what I heard.

Blood everywhere;green, orange, yellow, reds, in all shades; bodies dead or broken littered the ground as far as I could see. Those still standing were hidden behind objects, returning fire, taunting their opponents.

I slung my gun from my shoulder and after another quick assessment began to unload on my desired targets. When my clip emptied I looked down, my shirt drenched in black.

Own it.

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A/N: Word Count 500

This was written for the Aim to Engage GothicaLit Prompt - Pitch Black

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~SM~