Author: Derek

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri; 31 December, 2011, 2320 hours local; Countdown: 40 minutes

Mateo Cortez’s war cry was drowned out as his team launched their surprise attack on the Truth. Mateo felt the bullet snap over his head before it struck Giant in the middle of the face. The seven-foot tall man stumbled to the side as his head snapped back from Sissy’s shot. It gave Mateo a precious few seconds. He sprinted at his nemesis with Quentin’s warhammer held aloft. The weapon felt alien in his hands as Mateo desperately tried to remember the rushed lessons from Quentin in the past six weeks.

Giant’s whip snaked out and tripped Mateo. The Zombie Strike field leader swore as he fell to concrete walkway. His armor protected him from leaving bloody streaks on the concrete, but not from the pain of the impact. Mateo felt as The Steve remotely triggered his armor’s dispensary released the infamous "happy juice" into his system. Giant loomed over Mateo as he stood back up. The mystical whip lashed out and wrapped around Mateo’s neck. Mateo’s hands grasped at the whip as he suddenly couldn’t breathe.

"You pathetic mortal!" Giant seethed. "You will doom us all with your selfish foolishness!" Mateo felt his vertebrae crack as the whip yanked him off the ground. Giant brought Mateo close so the two were looking eye to eye. Giant’s dark eyes flashed with fury. The Truth’s greatest warrior started to bellow something before a rolling explosion drowned him out. Mateo was whipped through the air as Giant turned to see half a dozen of the Truth’s minions consumed in a brilliant fireball that lit up Gateway Park.

"How? You have no magic!" Giant shrieked in surprised. The whip loosened allowing Mateo to gulp a precious breath.

"We called down the Hellfires on your people, Giant," Mateo said, reaching down for his handgun. Giant looked at him, clearly perplexed. Then another explosion ripped through the park.

"My lord, they’ve got air support!" screamed a minion, shooting brilliant energy beams into the night sky.

"Predators, to be exact," Mateo said, yanking his Sig out and bringing the weapon up. Giant turned back just in time for Mateo to fire an entire magazine into his nemesis’s face. Mateo’s body was wracked with pain as Giant unleashed a pulse of evil magic through the whip. There was another jarring pain that Mateo belatedly realized was him hitting the ground. As the stars cleared from his eyes, Mateo found himself a good thirty yards from Giant. Pain and confusion faded away as more happy juice was pumped into his body. Mateo slowly stood, testing his body with each movement. Satisfied, Mateo charged Giant.

Giant snarled and lashed out with the whip. Mateo ducked as the ancient leather cord snapped over his head. The power of the whip’s crack nearly knocked Mateo over. Mateo focused hard on his target and pushed himself harder. There was a flash of excruciating pain as the whip tore off his left bracer. Mateo smiled as he reached down and scooped up the warhammer. Still sprinting, Mateo barreled into Giant like a tackling dummy. The two crashed to the ground. Mateo rolled off his opponent and brought up the hammer. Just as with guns, Mateo aimed for center mass. The whip slashed at Mateo’s side as he brought Quentin’s warhammer down. Giant’s scream of pain almost covered the sickening wet crunch as hammer landed solidly on Giant’s chest.

"Matt, finish it!" screamed Chief Stahl, "We’re about out of time." Mateo looked over to his second-in-command, and then saw the Gateway Arch. The six-hundred foot tall structure was glowing and multi-colored lightning was dancing inside the arch. The Great Death was starting to push into this world. Mateo turned back to Giant who was staggering up. Mateo heard the gurgling gasps as Giant tried to breathe through collapsed or punctured lungs. Part of Mateo screamed for compassion, but it was beaten down as Mateo remembered what this man had cost him. Mateo strode over to Giant with a grim look on his face.

"Yes, Mateo, hurry and finish me," Giant said with a stoic look on his face, "I pray to the Flayed One that you’re right." The whip stopped dancing as Giant dropped to his knees. Mateo nodded once, acknowledging Giant’s courage. Then, with a mighty swing, Mateo decapitated him with the warhammer. Michael MacKenzie, the Great Champion Mikhail, the nemesis known as Giant, crumpled to the ground.

"No!" screamed Castle as he watched his closest ally and friend fall. The leader of the Truth had been in Collin’s care during the firefight against the minions and the gollums. Castle looked up at Mateo in rage. "What have you done?"

"Hopefully, saved this world," Mateo muttered. He nodded to Collin. The tall Brit yanked Castle up to his feet. "It’s time to do your part Castle." The Truth leader looked completely confused. Mateo and Collin traded knowing looks. Mateo walked over to the ritual site. The Guardians were floating next to the stand with the obsidian orb. Behind them the Gateway Arch grew brighter. The lightning was constant. Mateo could see the beginnings of the tear between this world and the world of the Great Death. Mateo took a deep breath and stepped onto the center golden pedestal.

"I am the Chooser," Mateo announced.

"You are the Chooser," the Guardians echoed. "Fulfill your duties on the path."

"I choose the Champion," Mateo said, "The spirit wolf known to his friends as Billy. He is the Champion of his pack." The spirit wolf dropped the corpse of a minion and trotted over to the pedestal to Mateo’s right.

"I choose the Betrayer," Mateo continued, "The man known as Collin DuBois. He betrayed his friends and enemies to continue down this path." Collin handed Castle over to The Steve and stepped onto the pedestal to Mateo’s left.

"I choose the Undecided," Mateo said, "The man known as Eric Stahl. He has chosen no deity to protect and guide him." Chief Stahl slung his weapon and stepped on to the pedestal at Mateo’s far right. Mateo looked back to Castle. The leader of the Truth looked smugly pleased.

"You don’t know what the fifth person is, do you Mateo?" Castle asked. "It wasn’t in any of the prophecies you stole from me. Only someone deeply steeped in the mysteries of the Golden Ritual would know it." Mateo smiled.

"I choose the Prophet," Mateo said, watching as Castle’s smug face fall into disbelief, "I choose Juan de Castilla, known as Castle, the acolyte of Xipe Totec."

"How?" Castle demanded, as The Steve marched him over to the pedestal.

"Quentin was leading a team of the finest Mesoamerican authorities backed by the best cryptologists and computers the American government could provide. Prophecies are little more than mystical codes. They brute forced it." Still in shock, Castle stepped onto the pedestal.

"The five have been selected," the Guardians intoned, "Now the Golden Ritual may begin." The energies under the arch pulsed angrily.

Zombie Strike Part 11 Chapter 119

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri; 31 December, 2011, 2300 hours local; Countdown: 1 hour

Mateo Cortez watched as the Truth’s minions constructed the site for the Golden Ritual. He hoped none of his nervousness showed through his impassive facade. He looked down and read the notes on his PDA. Quentin wrote most of them. A small pang of loss echoed through Mateo as he remembered the gentle, giant scholar. Mateo hoped they were correct. If they were wrong, the best outcome would be St. Louis turned into nuclear glass and the America’s heartland subject to some nasty fallout. The worst would be the conquering of the world by an army of inter-dimensional vampires or a human-sacrificing death cult. The worst part was that in all possibilities, he wouldn’t be there to protect his daughters.

Mateo had been pretty sure that Quentin had been wrong. As he sat silently across from Giant, Mateo had been planning the man’s death and resigning himself to dying in the nuclear fires. He understood Collin’s decision to help the Truth in those bleak hours. Then, his team returned from wiping out the vampires’ advance guard and the last puzzle piece fell into place. It felt like Quentin looked down from heaven and drew back the curtain on the path. Mateo hoped Quentin was still smiling down on the team. They were going to need every bit of edge they could get.

The site was actually quite impressive. The Truth’s minions and remaining gollums cleared an area maybe four hundred yards in front of the Gateway Arch. The minions were using a gold-flecked powder to draw several interlocking designs. The whole thing was maybe three hundred yards wide. From the recon feed on Tredegar’s computer, the site reminded Mateo of the Nazca lines in South America. Five gold pedestals were placed in an arc maybe fifty feet wide in the center of the ritual site. At the focal point of the arc was what looked like a golden book stand. A baseball-sized orb of obsidian was resting on the stand. A pair of minions stood guard over the orb.

"Are you sure about this Mattie?" Collin asked softly.

"Sure? No. But Quentin and Jess poured over the prophecies we stole from the Truth. Quentin was reasonably sure about it. To be honest, I’d rather trust Quentin than Castle," Mateo answered. Collin simply nodded. In the short time since the combined Zombie Strike-Truth team returned from dealing with the vampires, the two men mended their relationship. It helped when Mateo revealed their plan to his former second-in-command. It was a gamble, but it paid off. Collin leapt to help with the plan like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood.

"Everyone’s been briefed," Chief Stahl informed Mateo as he casually strolled up to the two men. Mateo half-expected the chief to go ballistic when he found out Mateo brought Collin in on the plan. Instead, the chief simply nodded as if he was checking off a list of things the team needed to do.

"Any issues?" Mateo asked.

"You need to talk to your daughter," Stahl said. Mateo nodded and walked over to where Jess leaned up against Billy. The spirit wolf was now the size of a Clydesdale horse and glowed with pulsing power. She looked up as Mateo approached. She’d learned to mimic Mateo’s expressionless face, but he could see the tension in her body.

"I hate you. Quentin and you both," she said flatly. Mateo sat down next to his foster daughter. He wrapped his arms around her. She resisted at first, but finally relented and leaned into him.

"Since this whole thing started, everyone’s been so worried about me fulfilling my destiny. They should have been worried about you. Of all of us, you got the worst role of all. I wish I’d seen it before it was forced on you."

"You’d still let it happen," Jess snarled.

"You’ve been spending too much time with Sissy," Mateo observed. He continued before Jess could interrupt, "She hates me, and she has every right to. I pushed her too far in order to win. I knew it, and I did it anyway because I was trying to stop an evil man."

"So why is it different with me?" Jess asked.

"First, because you’re my daughter and I love you. I can’t tell you how proud I am of the woman you’ve become," Mateo answered. Jess looked down, and Mateo could almost see her ears glow pink with sudden embarrassment. "I also learned that some sacrifices aren’t worth the cost."

"So how come-" Jess started before Mateo laid his finger on her lips.

"Because sometimes they are worth they cost," Mateo answered, a sad look in his eyes. Father and daughter silently wept as Billy curled around them protectively. The three of them just sat there for a while, ignoring time as best as they could.

"Matt?" a cold, feminine voice said, breaking the spell. Mateo looked up at Sissy O’Connell.

"What’s up?" Mateo asked in reply as he stood up.

"Those funny old men just appeared," Sissy said, jerking her thumb behind her. Mateo looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"It’s almost time. Go get in position," Mateo ordered. The female sniper unslung her L96 and ghosted into the darkness. Mateo gave Jess a quick peck on her cheek before striding over to the growing group.

As Quentin guessed, the Guardians had appeared. The path was nearing its end. It would be their duty to witness and guide the mortals through the Golden Ritual to harness the power of the god Xipe Totec. It would be the Guardians that confirmed who was to fulfill each of the roles. Mateo and Quentin’s plan rested on when the Guardians would make the confirmation.

"It is time Mateo," Giant said smugly as he approached. The Guardians hovered wordlessly as Castle, Collin, and Chief Stahl stood by. Stahl and Collin nodded imperceptibly at Mateo.

"You’re right. It is time," Mateo said. Something in his tone must have alerted Castle. The leader of the Truth suddenly looked concerned. "It’s time I killed you Giant."

"Haven’t you figured it out? I am invulnerable to your pathetic weapons," Giant roared with frustration, "Even if you could kill me, I am the Champion. I am one of the five for the Golden Ritual."

"Been thinking about that," Mateo said, reaching behind his back and pulling the strap. "One of the things we learned in that sojourn across Europe is that the roles aren’t set until the moment of the ritual. I’m thinking right now isn’t the moment. As for killing you, that took a bit longer to figure out." Giant lashed out with his whip. In one fluid motion, Mateo, yanked Quentin’s warhammer and knocked the whip away.

"You think that hammer will do anything to me?" Giant snarled, "It hasn’t yet."

"Normally, no. Then, I remembered how I killed Xipe Tzin," Mateo said. Giant’s eyes went wide as he realized what Mateo was saying. "A warhammer alone couldn’t do a damn thing to you. The hammer of a slain hero. That’s another thing altogether."

Mateo and Giant bellowed their battle cries an instant before the entire ritual site exploded in gunfire.

Zombie Strike Part 11 Chapter 118