Free The Raid: an Eden short story by Keary Taylor Page B

before, the
figure in the dim light lifted a hammer and hurled in our direction.  It caught
Tye’s shoulder and time seemed to slow as I watched him fall backward into the
dark.
    Out of shells, I pulled my handgun from
my belt as I leapt out of the beams toward the enemy in the dark.
    One, two, three, four shots I fired and
finally, I heard a body crash to the floor with a scraping of metal.
    “You okay?” I asked in the dark.  We
were plunged in darkness the moment I stopped firing.  I didn’t lower my weapon
though.
    “Yeah,” Tye groaned and suddenly a beam
of light danced on the ceiling when he clicked the flashlight on.  He climbed
to his feet, favoring his back.  I saw pain in his face as he searched the room
for the body.
    It was lying not seven feet from me.  It
laid prone, that broken leg sticking out at a grotesque angle.
    Tye came to my side, pointing the flashlight
directly at it.  The light reflected back at us off of its gleaming metal skull. 
The skin that should have been on its hands was completely gone and it looked
as if someone had clawed the flesh off its back.  A grimy, silver spine rose in
bumps and valleys and ribs held in ticking, pulsing organs.  A few seconds
later, they stopped and the body was completely still.
    “What was it doing out?” Tye asked,
wincing as he shifted his pack back into place.
    “They’re not supposed to come out at
night,” I said, shaking my head.  “That’s the most cut and clear rule when it
comes to the Bane.”
    “There isn’t much that’s cut and clear
about our world anymore,” Tye said with weight in his voice.
    “What the hell?”  Graye suddenly burst
through the open doorway, his rifle held at the ready.  Bill followed him half
a second later.  “What was that thing doing awake?”
    “You’re going to wake more of them up if
you don’t tone it down,” I said, fixing him with a severe stare.
    “Sorry,” he said, his volume instantly
dropping.  “But seriously, what was it doing out?”
    “I don’t know,” Tye whispered, quieter
than was probably necessary.  “But I think we’d better speed things up.”
    We didn’t jog anymore when we got back
to the alley.  We sprinted.
    Graye was puffing by the time we stopped
at the back of the clinic.  Pulling the window up, Tye, Graye, and I squeezed
inside while Bill took watch.
    The building had always been hit and
miss in the past.  Sometimes its halls were lined with sleeping, inactive
bodies, sometimes it was clear.  We were finally catching a break that day.  It
was empty.
    Tye stuffed Graye’s pack full of latex
gloves, antibiotics, hand sanitizer, and a dozen other things I didn’t even have
names for.
    We were out of there in less than two
minutes.
    Our last stop was the general store.
    And it was the most dangerous one of
all. There were several hundred Bane standing inside, silent, and empty.  Unaware
of the destroyed world just outside.  Just how they were supposed to be at
night.
    Knowing it was stupid to split up, we
moved as a soundless group through the aisles.  Our first stop was for basic
needs: toothpaste, soap, girl things.  Our packs were starting to bulge.   
    The last thing we needed before we could
go home was clothing.  We weren’t animal enough just yet to run around naked,
but going shirt shopping wasn’t the safest activity.  The entire clothing
department was filled with Bane.  They stood between racks, in aisles, almost
like they were going for a leisurely shop when the machine inside them made
them stop caring about everything.
    I stepped between two of them, watching
their eyes to make sure neither of them would wake, being even more careful to
not let my skin brush theirs.
    Because one touch was all it took.
    One touch to steal your humanity.
    I winced every time a hanger made a
noise as I pulled an item of clothing off.  But none of them turned, none of
them woke.  The rest of my crew worked quickly as well, grabbing