Mexico City, 28 June 2010, 0430 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 2 days

Jessica Montgomery suddenly became aware of the world. Part of that was due to the drugs wearing off. The bigger part was someone was shaking her. Violently shaking her. Sensations roared through her as her mind clawed back from the dark. She needed the person to stop. Her body was still banged up. She stopped herself from opening her eyes. What if it was Giant, one of those scary minions, or another bad guy? Did she really want them to know she was awake? Then her hearing pushed past the thrumming of her heart beat. Jess didn’t know if she wanted to laugh, cry, or murder her new boyfriend. Jess managed to let out a groan of pain. Mercifully, the shaking stopped.

"Jess, are you alright?" Billy asked stark fear in his voice. Jess tried to answer. She felt as Billy pushed the tube from her water pack into her mouth. She sucked greedily. The lukewarm liquid tasted wonderful. Jess opened her eyes. Billy, out of his armor, was cradling her in his arms. Any other time, Jess would have just laid back and enjoyed it. Right now, it looked like the two of them were trapped in a dungeon. The smallish room was made completely out of stone. The only light came from a flashlight Billy set up in the center of the room. One of the walls opened to another room or hallway.

"Billy, I love you," Jess said, reaching up to stroke the sparse stubble on Billy’s chin, "But if you ever shake me like that again, I will kill you in your sleep." The two smiled at each other. The sudden laughter from the doorway startled them. Jess snapped her head to see a man dressed in a minion’s ninja suit standing casually in the doorway. He wore his greying hair in a crew cut. Multiple scars crisscrossed his hard face. Jess wasn’t sure, but she guessed this was the minion who captured Billy and her.

"You are funny, little girl, I’ll give you that," the minion said, his Midwestern accent flavored with just a hint of Southern. The minion looked right at Billy. "If you two manage to survive this, you are going to have fun riding herd on this one." Billy gently slid Jess out of his hands. As the minion strolled into the room, Billy hopped into a fighting stance. The minion stopped and gave Billy a long studious look.

"Now is not the time for that," the minion said in a low and serious tone, "Even if you beat me, which is doubtful, you won’t be in any shape to protect her from the rest of my team, much less all of the rest of Mikhail’s forces. Think about it." Billy dropped into a defensive posture, but still kept himself between the minion and Jess.

"What do you want?" Jess asked, carefully feeling around her armor for any of her weapons. They stripped her clean. Every weapon and bit of ammunition was gone. The minion read her expression and gave her a sad, but knowing, smile.

"I’m here to make sure you’re both alive," the minion answered, "Mikhail is almost to the Key, and he needs you two there."

"What the hell for?" Billy asked, his Brooklyn accent rendering the words almost unintelligible. The minion stared at Billy for a moment, silently translating the word.

"Aztecs had a nasty habit of human sacrifice," the minion answered, "Some might be required to free the Key." The casual nonchalance of the minion chilled Jess.

"Who’s Mikhail?" Jess asked.

"The Great Champion of the Truth," the minion answered with just a hint of sarcasm, "You call him Giant." The minion walked back to the opening. "Two servants will be here in fifteen minutes to collect you. If you are not able to move by then, they will move you themselves. It won’t be pleasant." Without another word, the minion disappeared into the dark.

"Jess, are you able to move?" Billy asked. Jess sat up. She was stiff and sore. With effort, Jess managed to get to her feet. Surprisingly, she felt better once she stood up. A lot of the pain and stiffness seemed to melt away as she went through a simple kata.

"What’s on your mind, Billy?" Jess asked. Billy’s eyes glinted with malicious intent.

"Well, they did leave me my credit card," Billy said in a joking seductive tone.

Almost twenty minutes later, the pair braced as the two minions strode through the doorway. Billy was on all fours with Jess underneath him. As expected, the two minions froze in surprise. These two were regular minions with none of the professional precision her captors displayed. Both held their weapons in loose, casual grips. They weren’t expecting trouble, much less catching the two in what looked like some heavy fooling around. The weapons lowered even more as the two minions leered at the pair. Jess almost pitied them.

The room plunged into darkness as Billy snatched the flashlight off the floor. He launched himself at the left minion. Billy was scary fast when he was in full armor. Out of it, he was terrifying. Humans really shouldn’t move that fast. Billy slammed into his target, driving the minion to the stone floor. The other minion tried to twist to bring his gun on Billy. It was too late. Jess was already in motion.

Jess rolled to the side and leaped at the minion. The minion staggered from the sudden blow, but he out-massed Jess by a good eighty pounds. The minion lunged at Jess with the barrel of his gun. Jess parried the blow and stepped closer. She hammer punched the minion in the neck. She felt the sharpened plastic of Billy’s credit card slice through the fabric and sink into the minion’s throat. The minion dropped his gun as both hands clutched at his bleeding neck. Jess snatched the weapon off the ground and slid back. Her part was done. Billy came up from behind and finished the minion off. The flashlight came back on and illuminated the room.

Jess looked at the two bodies as Billy efficiently searched them. She felt numb inside. Why had it been so easy this time to kill the two minions? Shouldn’t she feel some sort of regret? She remembered feeling regret and guilt when she killed the narcos shortly after the team landed in Mexico City. Billy forced a gun into her hands. Without thinking, Jess examined the weapon. She stared at the gun in surprise. It was her MP7. Billy handed her a half-dozen magazines, knife, and finally her Kimber. Even slipping her beloved handgun back into its holster broke her unease.

"Look at me, Jess," Billy said softly. Their eyes met. His dark eyes were warm. "I need you to stay with me. I can’t do this without you." Jess felt herself harden. Billy was right. She couldn’t let him down. The two crept out of the room. Beyond the room was a long hallway. Billy motioned for the pair to the left. The two hugged the smooth stone wall as they hallway narrowed to an iron door. It was a single slab of rusted metal. Jess couldn’t see how the door even opened.

"Maybe we should knock," Billy suggested. Jess shot him an evil look. The door snapped open with an ear-wrenching screech. A gollum launched out of the doorway. Billy grabbed Jess and half-tossed her to the side. The gollum pounced on Billy. The creature lashed out with blow after blow. Billy parried most, but Jess heard the meaty thwacks and grunts of pain as a few of the strikes landed. Instinctively, Jess jumped on the gollum’s back. The creature howled. She felt fingers dig into her arms as the gollum tried to yank her off. She squeezed tighter as the gollum bucked and jerked. Billy took advantage of the sudden opportunity. There was a glint of steel as Billy drew his knife. Billy darted in. His hand snatched the gollum’s stone medallion. The creature had the barest of instants before the blade effortlessly sliced through the leather cord holding the medallion around the gollum’s neck.

Jess let go as the gollum let out an ear-shattering howl. The source of its invulnerability was now gone. Billy dodged two blindingly fast punches and planted the knife cleanly into the gollum’s chest. The gollum froze in mid motion. It still horrified Jess every time she watched one of the gollums wither away into a skeleton. Billy and Jess turned to the sound of applause. Giant and the four minions that captured Jess and Billy were standing in the door. Amusement danced among their eyes as the five clapped. Giant stepped forward.

"Well, that was much faster than I expected," Giant said, "And you’re right Frank, they are covered in their enemies’ blood." Jess looked down ashamed. The minion’s blood was splashed across her.

"Everything is perfect," Giant mused to the gathered people, "All of the pieces are in place. Now is the time to retrieve the Key." Jess snapped her weapon up and fired a burst into Giant. This time, he didn’t even stagger or grunt in pain. The whip lanced across the distance in a blur to wrap around Billy’s neck. Giant didn’t even look as the young man clawed at the whip. Giant looked only at Jess.

"Stop this stupidity," Giant boomed. "You will come along and play your part, or I will kill the young wolf-cub." Jess hung her head. Billy was too important to her. She couldn’t have his death on her hands. Not when they just managed to get together. Giant saw the defeat on Jess’s face and let out an evil laugh. Then, the hallway shook like the earth itself was having a seizure. Smoke and dust filled the hallway and for a moment Jess couldn’t see anything. As the smoke and dust settled, Jess could see she was surrounded by the familiar forms of the Zombie Strike team.

"I told you P stood for Plenty," The Steve said. He sounded so far away, even though he stood less than three feet from her.

"GIANT!" bellowed Mateo, "It’s time to finish this."

Zombie Strike Part 5 Chapter 42

Mexico City, 28 June 2010, 0100 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 2 days

Jessica Montgomery felt an odd peace as she walked with her foster father. They were about a hundred yards away from the rest of the Zombie Strike team and the members of the US Army anti-zombie force. Mateo was still finding his way back to faith, and he was reluctant to pray for guidance in front of his team. Jess didn’t understand Mateo’s thinking, but she just accepted it. The two found a pocket in the wreckage of a building. Mateo opened his forearm bracer. He couldn’t just call Kenn Blanchard, the Zombie Strike commander and oft-times chaplain. Most of the communications satellites in Earth orbit were destroyed by the so-called "Champions of the Truth" when they used a lot of the space junk circling around the earth into orbital strikes. Fortunately, MacKenzie and Winston, the insurance firm that supported Zombie Strike, planned for this type of emergency. Jess waited patiently as Mateo navigated the series of relay stations M&W set up.

There was movement out of the corner of Jess’s eye. Jess spun as she brought up her MP7. Zombies were plentiful in the ruins of Mexico City. She snapped on the weapon-mounted flashlight. The form in front of her wasn’t a zombie. Jess froze as her eyes climbed up and up to meet the dark eyes of Giant. Zombie Strike’s nemesis lived up to his name, topping over seven feet tall. He seemed to have an athletic build, but it was hard to tell from the ninja-style outfit Giant had adopted. None of the team had ever seen more than Giant’s dark eyes glaring out from the balaclava-style face mask. Jess aimed her her weapon at Giant’s face.

"Curse you!" Giant bellowed as the high-powered flashlight shone into his eyes. One hand grasped at his face. He lashed out with the whip in the other hand. A thunderous crack blasted across Jess. Her flashlight shattered and the pocket went dark. Jess’s instincts took over as she triggered a burst at the darker than night form of Giant. The muzzle flash lit up the night with an almost strobe-like effect.

"Mateo, it’s Giant!" Jess screamed. Another thunder crack and the MP7 was torn out of her hands. Without pausing, Jess drew her Kimber. Jess was momentarily blinded by Mateo’s weapon light. Just long enough for Giant to dart in and drive a massive fist into her stomach. Her lungs emptied in a great whoosh. Jess slammed into a wall. No, it wasn’t a wall. It was the ground. Giant’s blow sent her airborne. She gasped for air as she struggled to her feet. Pain made everything a bit hazy. At least Jess kept a hold of her pistol.

"I am getting annoyed with you, Mateo," Giant said as he brought the whip down. Mateo twisted to take the blow across his back. The armor shattered. The move kept his carbine from being snatched. Mateo countered by bringing up his weapon and emptying the magazine into Giant’s torso. The huge man screamed in pain as twenty 6.8 mm rounds punched into him. The two men staggered back. Giant was clutching at his chest with one hand. The whip twisted in the other like a cat’s tail. Mateo changed magazines. His movements were stiff and jerky. The blow from Giant hurt him. Jess brought her pistol up and double-tapped Giant in the head. Giant’s head snapped to one side. The whip lashed out. The thick leather wrapped tight around Jess’s throat. Jess dropped her Kimber as both hands clawed at the whip. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were on fire.

"Don’t Mateo," warned Giant, looking over at Jess’s foster father, "Or she will die." Giant strode over to Jess. She saw where Mateo’s burst shredded Giant’s outfit, but there was no blood or any other sign of injury. As Giant neared, the whip loosened. Wonderful air filled Jess’s lungs. Giant bent down to look Jess in the eyes. She knew she should be afraid. Whether it was because of the pain that wracked her body or the dizziness from the sudden rush of oxygen, one thought dominated Jess’s mind. Giant wore a lot of cologne, and it wasn’t even good cologne.

"I should just kill you," Giant told her in a low voice, "Coyote has decided to look out for you, and he’s spoiled enough of my plans today. I don’t know what he wants with you, but leaving you to run around would be dangerous." The whip tightened and Jess gagged as she frantically tried to get air. "Shame to kill you so young." The whip warmed, like a comfy blanket. Jess felt tired. Maybe if she just went to sleep, all of the pain would stop. She could dream of Billy.

The war scream pierced the night. Jess’s eyes snapped open just in time to see Billy’s armored form crash down on Giant. Giant slammed to the ground under the force of Billy’s speeding mass. Quentin emerged from the darkness and brought his warhammer down on Giant’s whip hand. Jess could hear a sickening wet crunch. Giant didn’t let go of the whip, but it slid off of Jess’s neck. She fell to the ground. She couldn’t move. She was barely conscious. She was more injured than she thought. Giant grabbed Billy by the neck and hurled him across the pocket. The young warrior crashed into a portion of wall. He wasn’t moving. Jess wanted to panic, to feel something, but she couldn’t push past the haze. Quentin swung his warhammer. Giant caught the speeding hammer in his bare hand. He wrenched it from the surprised Quentin’s hands, flipped it around with a contemptuous ease, and shattered Quentin’s prosthetic leg with the weapon. Giant searched around for more people to destroy.

The pocket exploded with sound as five automatic weapons opened up. The black costume was shredded, and Giant finally bled as the fusillade tore into him. Mateo and The Steve closed on Jess and Quentin as Sport, Slim, and Collin quickly changed magazines. The brief pause in the fire was all Giant needed. The whip came down with a deafening roar. The Zombie Strike team members were thrown to the ground by the wave of pure force. Giant launched into the air and flew towards the earlier battle scene. Collin and Sport scrambled up to their feet and ran after him. The Steve appeared over her with his infamous devil-may-care smile. He plugged a couple of wires into her armor. After a couple of seconds, he shook his head.

"How’d you manage to go and fry all of your electronics?" The Steve asked, "Quentin, are you good enough to help me?"

"Yeah," grunted Quentin as he dragged himself across the ground.

"Cool, we need to get her armor off," The Steve said. The two carefully removed her armor. The Steve did a quick examination. Jess gasped as a sharp pain shot up from her leg. "Relax for a second. The happy juice will hit in a sec." Almost as soon as the words were out of The Steve’s mouth, Jess’s haze vanished and everything came into sharp focus.

"Drop him there boss," The Steve said. Jess turned her head to see her foster father carrying the limp form of Billy in a fireman’s carry. Gently, Mateo laid down Billy.

"Jess?" Mateo asked curtly.

"Would be better if we could evac her, but I can get her going," The Steve said. He almost sounded happy about the prospect of doing a quick patch job. The medic snaked over to Billy and checked his PDA. "This one will be fine once we reset his armor. It locked up when he hit that wall. He’s already coming around."

"Get them both prepped for evac," Mateo said, "She’s already been through hell. He’ll be worthless if he’s worrying about her. I’m going to help Collin try and bring down Giant." The Steve gave Mateo a thumbs-up. Mateo gave Jess one last sad look before sprinting back towards the sounds of the battle.

"Well, it looks like you and your new boyfriend are going to get to sit the rest of this one out," The Steve said without a hint of sarcasm. "About time too, we were getting sick of you two dancing around." Jess felt her cheeks heat. Did everyone know about her feelings for Billy before this mission?

"Give it a rest Steve," Quentin said.

"+The* Steve dude," The Steve reminded Quentin, "And you owe me twenty bucks. I knew this would get sorted out before the end of summer." Jess closed her eyes in complete embarrassment. They were taking bets on her love life? Why couldn’t she just be unconscious like Billy?

"Whatever," Quentin said, "You’ll have to wait—" Quentin’s words stopped. There were two loud thwacks. Jess opened her eyes to see Quentin and The Steve slumped over. Large darts that kind of looked like syringes protruded from each man. Out of the darkness stepped four minions. Two carried F2000’s. The other two carried what looked like air rifles. Unlike the minions Jess fought before, these four moved with practiced efficiency. They reminded Jess of watching Collin and The Steve slink through the jungle on Skull Island.

"Get these two secured to the stretchers," growled one, pointing to Jess and Billy. He acted as if he was in charge of the quartet. "Make sure to put them under, but don’t kill them." One of the minions with an air rifle opened a pouch at his waist and produced two syringes and a bottle of clear liquid. The lead one crouched over Jess.

"I don’t know why you’re so important, but be glad," the man said in a Midwest American accent, "Mikhail said to be especially careful." Jess was still trying to figure out who was Mikhail when she felt the jab of the needle. In a few seconds, everything went black.

Zombie Strike Part 5 Chapter 41

Mexico City, 28 June 2010, 0010 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 2 days

Jessica Montgomery’s world was finally falling into place. As she kissed Billy Shakespear, she knew in her heart that she had found her one. The one person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. She didn’t care what Mateo said or what anyone else. This finally felt right, and she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite true.

Jessica was jerked up into the air by the drag handle on the back of her armor. Incensed, Jessica was ready to let her foster father have it. He had kept Billy away far too long. Her tirade died as she looked into the dark eyes of Quentin McLintock. The former linebacker held Jessica up to his eyes. They sparkled with amusement and warmth. Jessica felt her face go crimson with embarrassment. How would this look to Billy? And all of the soldiers?

"Could you do us all a favor and finish this later?" Quentin asked in a calm and warm tone, "We’re in the middle of trying to stop the bad guys." Jess didn’t know whether to be angry because he was treating her like a child – or even worse – because he was right. Jess hung her head and nodded in meek agreement. Quentin set her down gently. Jess turned back to say something to Billy, but he wasn’t there. Jess searched frantically, and quickly found Billy talking to The Steve. Billy had an embarrassed look on his face, but the two were too far away for Jess to hear their conversation. She followed Quentin to where Collin was talking to the minion.

The minion’s ninja costume was cut away to reveal a very beautiful woman in her early twenties. Jess squelched a tinge of jealously as she looked at the woman’s stylishly cut blonde hair and exquisitely formed pale face. The minion was lying on a stretcher with an IV in her arm. Her left leg was stripped of the tight black cloth. Blood soaked bandages were wrapped around the knee. The minion moaned in pain. Jess felt a pang of sympathy and guilt. This woman nearly killed her, and had killed others. Still, Jess was the one who pumped three rounds into the woman’s knee. It was hard watching someone in excruciating pain that you caused.

"Giant might be powerful, but he knows nothing about how to properly conduct an operation," Collin DuBois said as he joined Quentin and Jess. The tall former SAS commando matched Quentin’s dark skin, but where Quentin was a gentle giant, Collin was a wiry and cold professional. Collin sounded as if he was insulted.

"Don’t we want him to be sloppy?" Jess asked.

"To a point," Collin answered, almost reluctantly, "On the good side, he has not a lick of operational security amongst his team. On the bad side, he keeps lashing out at us with small forces when we annoy him. At least if he was acting like a proper professional, we would have an idea of what to expect."

"Quit whining about it and tell us what she knows," Mateo commanded as he stepped into the group. Mateo spared Jess a quick glance. The warm look threw her for a loop. She nearly missed Collin’s answer.

"Some of what we already knew," Collin answered, "The cabal was responsible for all of this destruction." He motioned to the ruins of Mexico City. "Our enemies are called the Champions of the Truth. A bunch of babble about bringing back Xipe Totec. They’re following the same bloody prophecy Quentin and Jess were nice enough to translate for us. Giant’s heading for a temple near the center of the city. According to the prisoner, an artifact called the key is there. She even had a nice little map in one of her pockets." Collin unfolded a printout with the directions.

"Any chance this is just a fake to throw us off from what’s really happening?" Mateo asked.

"Possible Mattie," Collin answered, "I rather doubt it. Morphine isn’t as good as sodium pentothal, but it makes do in a pinch." Jess didn’t understand what Collin was saying, but the evil smile of his face frightened her a little. Mateo didn’t seem fazed.

"It does sound like what the Coyote told me," Jess said. By this time, the entire Zombie Strike team had congregated around Collin. All of them were staring at Jess with incredulous looks. She quickly looked down and desperately wanted to shrink into her armor.

"Who told you what?" asked Billy stepping in front of her. His voice was urgent. As Jess looked up, she saw Billy was anxious.

"The giant coyotes that saved me," Jess said, completely confused. Why was Billy acting this way? "One of them told me that minion would tell us where to go and that we had to stop Giant before daybreak."

"Coyote’s Pack?" Billy asked. Jessica could hear the capital letters in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess, why?" Jess asked. Billy didn’t answer her. He just reeled back and began muttering in a language she couldn’t understand.

"Would you mind explaining what’s going on to your team lead?" Mateo asked, his voice starting to get that tight control that signaled Mateo’s growing anger. "I thought you said that the dogs were nothing to worry about."

"I thought they were Wolf’s Pack, not Coyote’s," Billy answered. The team all looked at him in confusion.

"Start at the beginning Billy," Mateo ordered. The short Native American nodded, but he still looked like he was in shock.

"Look, I’m sure some of you have heard some of the old Native American legends, and you know that some of the tribes worshipped totem animals," Billy began, "Well, the totem animals are real. They’re a bit more than Earth spirits, but not quite gods. My family have been spirit warriors for the Wolf for a very long time. Wolf sometimes allows some of his pack to come into the real world to help his warriors in time of great need. That’s who I thought Jess was talking about earlier."

"But it was Coyote, and not Wolf," Quentin said, "Why is that so bad?"

"Where Wolf is the warrior, Coyote is the trickster," Billy said, "The two are brothers, but where Wolf is noble, Coyote is disreputable."

"Wait a second, I thought the crow was the trickster," Quentin said.

"Crow is, but he’s the brother of Eagle," Billy answered, "Look, it gets complicated to explain fully. The point is that if Coyote’s Pack is here, he’s playing his own game. His goal may or may not be the same as ours."

"But they saved me twice," Jess protested, "And they called me Little Sister. Why would they do that?"

"Um, probably because you’re Wolf clan," Billy answered nervously. Jess felt her eyes go wide in astonishment. How was she Wolf clan? As far as she knew, there wasn’t a drop of Native American blood in her.

"So can we trust anything from Coyote?" Quentin asked.

"We can’t answer that," Mateo snapped, "Slim, are you good to go?" Slim nodded with a fierce determination in his eyes. "Good, I want you and Sport to find which of those Humvees are in the best condition and get them ready to move. Quentin and Billy, help the soldiers finish securing the scene. Collin, The Steve, I want you two to squeeze out every drop of intel you can from that woman without killing her. I’m going to make a phone call, and when I get finished, we’re going after Giant." Jess followed Mateo as the team broke up to their assigned duties.

"Mateo, I uh—" Jess started, and then trailed off. How was she going to talk to her foster father? He turned to her and smoothed back her hair. Before Jess could react or say anything, Mateo kissed her on the top of her head.

"Jess, don’t worry. It’s going to be alright. Just do me a favor and concentrate on the mission," Mateo said calmly and warmly.

"You’re not mad?" Jess asked.

"Oh, I’m furious, but I’m not sure if I should be angry with you, Billy, or myself," Mateo answered, which just confused Jess even more. "We’ll work this out when we get home. Right now I have to make a phone call."

"To who?"

"To Kenn," Mateo answered, "We’ve been bouncing around to every other spirit’s tune, and I’m sick of it." He reached under his armor and pulled out a small medallion. "I haven’t really talked to God since my divorce. I think it’s about time to ask Him for some guidance." There was some deep emotion in Mateo’s voice that touched Jess.

"Do you want me to pray with you?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I’d like that" Mateo answered, "Thanks."

Zombie Strike Part 5 Chapter 40