A Message in Blood
"B-blo… blood…" The words quivered on the general's lips, weak and shattered, barely above a whisper above the stifling quiet that had consumed the command post whole. For one moment, it seemed the world had stopped, holding its breath. All eyes, wide with shock, swiveled to the package that had landed on the earth floor seconds before. It rested there, hideous and accusing, swathed in dirty, heavy cloth, but from between the folds oozed steadily a dark, shiny liquid, slow and purposeful, catching the fading light of dusk like a hard mockery of the sun. A staff jutted out sharply, stiff and accusing, a pointing finger directed straight into Gary's command.
