Author: Derek

St. Louis, Missouri, 4 June 2011, 0907 hours local; Countdown: 6 months, 26 days

Evan Torelli froze in horror as the monster stepped out from the ruins of a store. The twelve-foot tall humanoid’s grey skin was pebbled and painted with red symbols. The monster’s red eyes glittered as they locked on Evan. Not like a human’s. These were more like when a bull decides it’s going to charge. An overly-wide mouth opened to reveal two rows of dagger-like teeth in a twisted smile. The monster let out a bellow of rage and swung a three-fingered fist at Evan. Part of Evan’s mind screamed at him to bring up his shotgun, but he couldn’t make his body move. He just watched as the fist the size of a turkey whistle down on him.

Evan’s ears barely caught the snarl. An instant before the monster’s fist crashed into Evan’s face, Jess’s dog pounced on the monster, dragging it to the asphalt. At least, Evan thought it was Jess’s dog. The animal was now the size of a mule. The monster flailed at the dog as it savaged the monster with claws and bites. Evan jerked backward as someone yanked the drag handle on his armor. Evan looked up to see Quentin hauling him back with one hand while the other held Quentin’s infamous warhammer in a loose but controlled grip.

"Billy, get clear!" ordered Mateo as the rest of Zombie Strike formed an arc around the monster. Mateo gave a hand signal and the team brought up their weapons. The oversized dog leapt off the monster, landing nearly twenty feet away. The monster struggled to its feet. The team opened fire. The monster howled in agony as bullet after bullet ripped through it. Black blood spurted from dozens of holes. The firing became ragged as various team members reloaded. For a moment, no one was firing at the monster. It tried to take advantage of the lull, and took a step towards Mateo. Its head snapped back as the heavy metal dart slammed into it. A second ripped a gaping hole in its chest. More darts ripped open its torso. After the eighth lanced through the monster’s throat, the creature dropped to the ground. Evan stood frozen, keeping the sights of the semi-auto Benelli on the fallen creature. He didn’t remember scrambling off the ground. He didn’t even remember when he started firing. One moment he was paralyzed with fear, and the next his shotgun was empty and smoking. The rest of the team looked back at him. Evan didn’t even realize he was thumbing in more shells until Quentin put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

"Evan, you okay?" Quentin asked.

"What was that?" Evan asked, his eyes still fixed on the monster’s corpse.

"We started calling them Red Gollums, but that ain’t quite accurate," Jim said, walking over to Evan and Quentin. "They kind of look like gollums, but they aren’t nearly as tough. Still dangerous though. Nice to see those new slugs worked."

"Yeah, nice shooting and all mate, but next time could you try and not shoot over us. Lessens the chance of a minor catastrophe," Slim said his tone biting. Evan felt his ears burn with embarrassment as he realized what he’d just done. He could have killed someone.

"Lay off Slim," Jim said defensively, "It ain’t like you haven’t done similar shots."

"There’s a world of difference between a precision shot with a specialized rifle and rapid firing a bloody smoothbore," Slim snapped back, "I’ll give him his due. That was very nicely done. He just needs to keep his situational awareness."

"Enough," Mateo said with a tone of finality, "I don’t need you chastising him until he hesitates to take a shot." Slim grimaced, but acknowledged the rebuke with a nod. "As for you Evan, try to be more careful. Those aren’t your hunting loads." Evan mimicked Slim’s nod.

"I thought we stamped out all of the Truth’s nurseries," Mateo said, turning back to the monster’s corpse.

"Maybe Alan had a few stashed wherever he fled to," suggested Chief Stahl.

"If that bugger’s here, I want another shot at him," Sport said, "I knew I tagged him the last time."

"Not a chance," Jim said, his voice full of promised violence, "I still owe him, and I aim to put paid to that debt." The sudden change in the cowboy made Evan nervous. He didn’t know who this Alan was, or what he’d done to Jim, but Evan didn’t want to be anywhere near when Jim caught up with this man.

"Dude, that guy’s survived two MOABs, gunshots, and getting too close to one of Sport’s grenades. The Steve thinks you’re overly ambitious," The Steve chimed in. The conversation stopped as the team stared at the medic. If The Steve noticed it, he didn’t show it.

"The Red Gollum certainly means there are sorcerers here," Tredegar observed. The FBI agent’s face became thoughtful. "If they’re still using magic to control the zombies or any other monsters, we might be able to find them."

"How? You got a magic detector in all that gear you’ve been lugging around?" Chief Stahl asked.

"No, I have an AWACS," Tredegar said cryptically. "Searchlight Three-One, Searchlight Three-One, this is Zulu Fox Five. I need to know if you had any distortion near my position." Tredegar paused as he listened. "Not jamming exactly. Like someone was waving a magnet over your monitor." Another moment of silence. "Excellent Searchlight. Thanks."

"I’m pretty sure our targets are here," Tredegar said, highlighting a building a few blocks from the Ed, the stadium the Rams played in.

"Care to explain?" Mateo asked.

"Oh yeah. Some scientist we tasked to help DOD and DOJ figure out some of the magic the Truth was using. He noticed that when the sorcerers were using magic, you could see some weird distortions in the EM spectrum. Showed up on radars and satellite photos."

"Okay, and the reason you didn’t bring this little tidbit to our attention?" Mateo asked.

"Hadn’t been verified," Tredegar said. "Besides, you’d need airborne radar or the big backscatter array to see the distortion. How often do we have an AWACS on station? Mateo, we need to move."

"Remind me to talk with you again about relevancy of information," Mateo said to Tredegar. The FBI agent just shrugged. Mateo turned to the rest of the team. "Okay, by the numbers. We’ve got our target. Let’s get there in one piece." Almost as if on cue, dozens of hunting moans echoed through the streets. The zombies were starting to home in on the sound of the gunfight.

Zombie Strike Part 8 Chapter 84

St. Louis, Missouri, 4 June 2011, 0835 hours local; Countdown: 6 months, 26 days

Evan Torelli held on for dear life as the LAV crashed through the burnt-out wreck that was a sedan. The six-wheeled mini-tank jostled around as it sped around an abandoned semi tractor. The vehicle commander opened fire on a small group of zombies with a machine gun. The heavy bullets tore the undead into little more than decaying hamburger. Evan swallowed hard to keep his breakfast from coming back up. It all seemed so cool when they started out. Now Evan was praying he wouldn’t be tossed from the speeding LAV as the convoy raced down the highway.

As Evan was put into some cobbled up armor, Mateo announced the Marines reported some people that matched the general description of minions in downtown St. Louis near the river. Zombie Strike flew into Busch Stadium, which the Marines turned into a collection point for rescued civilians. The pristine fields were torn up to make room for dozens of tents and helipads. There were also four big guns sitting in right field. Chief Stahl told Evan they were howitzers. From the stadium, the team joined a convoy going out to rescue some trapped civilians near where the minions were reported. Jim and Evan were on the lead vehicle, which the Marines called an LAV-25, and the chief called a Baby Striker. The Marines didn’t seem to like that name for their tank. Evan leapt at the chance to ride on top of the tank. In retrospect, it wasn’t one of his better decisions.

The convoy of two LAV-25’s and four armored trucks turned down a side street. The cracks of gunfire echoed through the streets. That would be the civilians the Marines came out to rescue. They managed to barricade themselves on the roof of a fast food joint. As the convoy roared out of the side street, Evan saw a massive horde swarming the restaurant. The LAV screeched to a halt. The turret swung at the zombies at the front of the store.

"Evan, ears!" warned Jim. Evan turned on his hearing protection a bare instant before the big gun of the LAV opened fire. Evan felt the thundering hammer of the auto cannon through his entire body. If Evan thought the LAV’s machine gun tore apart zombies, it was nothing compared to the big gun on the tank. The Marines were using a new type of ammunition for the big gun nicknamed "Mini-Grape." Evan didn’t understand the name, but it essentially meant the gun was shooting out dozens of buckshot with each round. The zombies were shredded with all the efficiency of a food processor. The second LAV opened up at the back of the restaurant as the four armored trucks roared up to the store. A platoon of Marines stormed out of the vehicles, firing at the undead as they went. The horde seemed to melt away at the combined firepower.

"C’mon kid, time for us to start our mission," Jim said, pointing to where the rest of Zombie Strike was waiting. Evan and Jim slid off the LAV. As they approached, Evan nearly gagged at the smell. The two Brits were busily smearing everyone with a thick, sticky goo that was the source of the odor.

"What is that?" Evan said as Slim approached.

"Nasty Stuff," Slim answered.

"No kidding," Evan retorted, "I don’t want that stuff smeared all over me."

"Get used to it, boyo," Slim said, "This stuff keeps the zombies off of our back. Hopefully, long enough to find our quarry and stop them." Evan closed his eyes and tried not to breath too deeply as Slim applied the Nasty Stuff.

"Relax, you won’t notice the smell in a bit," Slim said, moving on to Jim. The cowboy stood nonchalantly as Slim applied the Nasty Stuff to his armor. Evan tried to choke back the stench as Mateo motioned for the team to gather around.

"The minions were seen on this street," Mateo said, highlighting a side street on everyone’s PDA. "From here, there’s a couple of good places to hole up. The warehouse and the office building. Everything else is too exposed to view for the minions. We’re going to try the warehouse first."

"Better pray they’re in the warehouse. Trying to root them out of the office complex will be bloody rough," Sport chimed in. There was a murmur of agreement amongst the more experienced team members.

"Jess, you and Billy are on point. Evan you follow them. Try not to shoot anything unless you have to. I don’t want to bring out a horde quite yet," Mateo said. "Remember people, we need to capture the minions to find out why the Truth is in St. Louis. That is why we’re here." The team members nodded at Mateo, and he motioned for Jess and Evan to start. They were maybe a hundred yards ahead before the rest of the team followed. There was something exciting and lonely about being at the point position. Well, Jess and her dog were the actual point. He was right behind them though. That counted, right?

Jess and Evan walked a few blocks before Jess stopped suddenly and leaned on one of the buildings. Evan rushed up to her, searching around for the ninja-suited minions. Jim said that minions could work magic. Maybe Jess was under some sort of spell.

"Are you okay?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, I’ve just been out of sorts since we landed in this town," Jess explained, recovering to her feet. "I don’t know why. The Steve said I wasn’t coming down with anything."

"You want me to take over?" Evan offered. Jess smiled at the teen, and Evan nearly forgot how to talk.

"No, I just get waves of vertigo. I’ll be glad when we finish this operation up," Jess answered, "Now let’s get moving before Mateo starts getting annoyed. Or worse, the chief." From the look on Jess’s face, Evan never wanted to get on the soldier’s bad side. The two smiled at each other. Jess took a step forward and froze. Her dog started a low growl. Evan searched for the threat. Evan was thrown off of his feet as the wall of the store next to him exploded. As the dust settled, Evan looked up at the twelve foot monstrosity. It screamed once and attacked.

Zombie Strike Part 8 Chapter 83