Deadman

I walked carefully up to the storage room. The panther costume fit snuggly, and I was slightly hunched down in order to emulate its former occupant’s height. It was night, and I hoped that the darkness would help to obscure my general shape. I walked boldly straight to the outbuilding, getting a nod from one of the guards which I returned, the other stopped me though.

“Hey Jer,” he said, blocking my way not in an aggressive way, but more like he wanted to talk to me.

I waved.

“Hey, you still seeing Julie?”

I nodded.

He sucked in air through his teeth. “Shit man, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I saw her making out with Rob under the bleachers yesterday.”

I paused, then placed a furry paw on my face and leaned forward putting my other hand on the wall.

“Fuck Jer, I’m sorry,” the guard gave me a pat on the back.

I waved him away and made my way toward to storeroom.

“It’s alright man, take all the time you need.

I nodded without turning to face him and made my way inside the rest of the way. I didn’t exactly do Jer any favors when I’d snapped his kneck, but at least I’d saved him that bad news. I’d remembered other teenage deadmen in Pott’s when I was young who’d wished for death when that type of thing had happened to them. I’d never had that problem, it all seemed more trouble than it was worth.

The room was large, with rows upon rows of lockers, and a row of showers on the far end. The showers were no longer in use, and instead the entire place had been made into storage. I started opening lockers. Finding flags, sets of the armor I’d seen the panthers wearing, the occasional gun or club, and even some of the leader’s outfits, but not my primary target. I made my way further in and found a set of crates. I cracked one of them open, and inside I found it to be full of those odd shaped explosive balls I’d encountered before. I nodded and slipped off my pack, that was exactly what I’d been looking for.

I started to load the pack, one ball at a time, careful not to touch any of the dials or buttons on any of them, which was a challenge while I was wearing the panther costume. I wasn’t sure of how they worked, but based on what I’d seen I’d need to turn a dial, to use as a timer and go from there.

I heard a door open, and looked behind myself to see the guard I’d spoken to earlier.

“Hey Jer, I’m just checking up on you, are you-?”

He looked at me, at the bag full of explosives, and back at me. He raised his rifle. “Jer, Jesus buddy, calm down. There’s no reason to do something you’ll regret. She wasn’t even a varsity cheerleader.”

I carefully placed the bomb in my hand down and placed the panther paws on my face before my myself shake slightly.

The guard sighed, and lowered his gun. “It’s alright man, you’re gonna get through this. I mean, Prom is still a month away, I’m sure you could find someone to go with you by then. The mascot is one of the most important positions after all. Without you the ceremonies wouldn’t-” He placed a hand on my shoulder.

I whipped up, grabbed either side of his head and slammed it onto the ground. There was a squelching noise as his skull shattered and compressed, but I’d put significant force into the strike and so he was killed instantly. I half wondered if I’d put so much force into the blow because I was unsure of how the outfit would inhibit me, or if I just thought the guy seemed a decent sort and I didn’t want him to suffer. Either way, I finished packing up the explosives, and made my way back out of the storage room.

The other guard was standing there, half asleep, and leaning against the wall. He yawned as I walked by and gave me a nod. I returned it, and kept walking.

“Is Bill still in there?” I heard the guard ask.

I turned and nodded.

“Bastard, probably trying to sleep off the last part of the shift, I better go wake him.” The man turned to walk into the building and I grimaced beneath the mask. I was trying to do this smart, minimize the damage and get out clean, but clearly, it wasn’t meant to be.

I followed behind him quickly, and just as he was looking confused at the corpse of Bill, I froze him, and snapped his neck. I sighed. Three corpses when there didn’t even need to be a single one. So much for subtlety. I took off the panther head and the rest of the costume. I’d be better off sneaking around the usual way. Then I dipped my hand in the blood and wrote, ‘EDEN #1’ on the wall. I wasn’t sure that it would amount to anything, but it took little effort, and if it led to some conflict it would be worth it.

I slipped out of the building and crept around the city until I reached the nearest exit part of the wall. It was the middle of the night, and the guards at the walls were as lax as the ones at the building had been. I waited until there was a gap in the patrols and ran up to the wall, leaping over it without much difficulty. The bombs were heavy, but I was able to carry them gently enough that I wasn’t too worried. It would be a different story if I started getting fired on, a stray bullet and there was a chance I could be evaporated by the ordinance in my pack.

I wondered briefly why the different human tribes didn’t ever try to attack Eden themselves. They clearly had easy access to explosives from somewhere nearby. Based on what I could see of them, my assumption was that they were too tied to ritual to think of using them in that way.

I walked until near dawn when I decided to take a short rest. I’d been awake more than twenty-four hours and would need my energy for the next part of the plan. I kept my pack close and my shotgun to my side as I fell asleep propped against a tree.

I was blessed with a dreamless sleep, had been ever since I’d gone through the strange mists outside the R.A.S. bunker. If it was a side effect of the gas, it was one I was grateful for. Even if I still woke up with the scars on my back throbbing, at least the reasons they were there weren’t fresh in my mind first thing in the morning.

I stood, got my goods together, and got back to walking. I hadn’t heard anything that night. No signs that the Panthers had begun searching for what happened, or rounded up a search party. I had made camp a ways off the straightest path toward Eden, but if they had headed that way I was certain I would’ve heard something.

I put it out of my mind, and by midday I was back near Eden’s gate. Just like when I’d left, I took the long way around through the deadzone to get back to the other side, smelling for patrols or anyone approaching. Once I was behind the gate, I pushed deeper into Eden territory, finding an area that seemed isolated. I dug a hole and placed half of the explosives carefully inside, covered them with a tarp, and buried them. I wouldn’t need all of them for the first part, and may need to be able to move quickly after I was done. I moved about a mile further from that and buried a small pouch filled with the data storage devices, my books, and several other non-essentials. I wasn't sure what kind of fire I'd encounter, and needed to make sure I could still complete the mission that had brought me across the Cut in the first place.

I memorized the spot, and made my way back towards the front gate of Eden, sticking to the deadzone. Once I was there, I found a small rocky outcropping that gave me clear line of sight to the wall. I took a breath, and started laying out the bombs in front of myself. The Gate was more than one hundred yards away, with the furthest portion being even further than that. I wasn’t a perfect shot with my rifle, and throwing was quite different from shooting, but I was hoping the explosive power, and number of bombs I had would make up for any of my own deficiencies.

I started cranking the timers, starting with additional time on the furthest and making my way down to the closest, then I lifted that one, aimed for the furthest part of the wall, where I saw the gun emplacement, and threw it with all my strength. It flew in a perfect spiral, but I didn’t wait for it to land, instead I moved to the next bomb and threw that one, aiming for the next gun emplacement, then the next one. By the time I lifted the fourth bomb, the explosions began. My aim had struck true, and the first gun emplacement was destroyed, then the second one, the third was a little off target, but evaporated the wall beneath the gun, bringing it down. I didn’t take the time to enjoy it, just finishing throwing the ones that remained, and watching as sections of the wall came tumbling down.

When I threw the last one, I paused, and dropped to the ground, trying to avoid being spotted. The wall was in chaos. Parts of it were completely brought down, the guns were demolished, the gate itself in flames. No one was looking in my direction, instead, they were sending brutes out of the gate to search for their attackers.

I rolled off the rock and moved further into the woods to make sure I wouldn’t be spotted. One target down, two to go.