The village of Redencion, Panama, 3 February 2011, 1120 hours local : Countdown: 10 months, 28 days

Former Chief Warrant Officer Eric Stahl followed Father Rodriguez into the church. He felt a wash of unfamiliar energy as he crossed the threshold. For a moment, Stahl felt warm, cold, blissful, and alone all at once. It was perhaps the weirdest sensation he’d ever encountered. This, after over a year fighting the undead and their minion masters. The chief looked back at the others as they walked through the threshold. Cortez, McLintock, the Brits, and the cowboy, Collins passed through without any sign of discomfort. Tredegar looked queasy, but stepped through without an issue. The Steve looked as if someone hit him with a live wire. He actually flinched as he stepped into the church. The strangest one was the girl, Montgomery and her pet dog. They just stood at the threshold.

"Come on Jess," Cortez said.

"Um, I can’t. Neither can Billy," Montgomery said, motioning to the dog. Father Rodriguez turned around in surprise at the comment. The tiny priest studied the girl for a moment and then shook his head.

"I am sorry, Little Wolf," the priest said. Stahl could hear the capital letters as he addressed Montgomery. "I wasn’t very specific when I called down the blessing on the church. I was trying to protect my flock, and I only asked for believers to be allowed in."

"I believe in God," Montgomery protested.

"Yes, but your loyalty is to Wolf, and you are bonded to one of his sons. That takes precedence," the priest explained. "I will try to modify the blessing on the church, but it may take some time." Father Rodriguez sounded contrite over the incident.

"Don’t worry about it," Montgomery said, "Billy and I will keep watch outside." Before anyone could stop her, Montgomery and Billy trotted back out into the town’s plaza.

"Mountain, go with them," Stahl ordered. He didn’t want the girl out there on her own. Granted, that dog of hers was scary, but the chief would feel better with one of the other shooters out there.

"The Steve, Chief," Mountain corrected. He cocked his head suspiciously at the door way before bulling his way through. The medic let out a yip as he went through the invisible barrier. The boy may not be right in the head, but he was solid enough. Plus, it kept the medic from making another stupid comment to the priest.

"Father, Zombie Strike killed eight of the vampires so far," Tredegar said, "That leaves another fifty-eight in this world. According to the papers you sent, we need to move quickly to kill them before they grow too powerful." The priest nodded absently as he led them out of the narthex. The sanctuary was crammed with people. The pews were pushed to the sides so that they could spread blankets on the stone floor. Several of the people rushed up to Father Rodriguez as he led the team across the sanctuary. He blessed them in Spanish and sent them back to their families. The chief felt the villagers’ suspicious eyes on them as they walked. It was obvious they didn’t trust heavily armed men, especially those walking on sacred ground. Behind the sanctuary was Father Rodriguez’s quarters. It was a plain affair, true to the spirit of Jesuit order. The team crammed into the small space as the priest sat on his small cot.

"How did you seal the tear?" Stahl asked after everyone was situated.

"I didn’t. Others did," Father Rodriguez answered cryptically.

"Who?" Stahl pressed.

"The ones chosen by God to complete that task," Father Rodriguez said, as if that explained everything. "You have been chosen to remove the host remaining on this Earth."

"Chief, stand down," Cortez ordered. Stahl traded looks with his team leader. The chief nodded slightly. He didn’t like it, but orders were like that sometimes. He’d talk it out with Cortez later. "You were saying Father?"

"Thank you, my son. The ones you killed were the weakest of the host. The others fed on some of my flock before I could banish them. Unfortunately, I could not destroy them. They have their link to this Earth, and that is all they need. That, as they say, is the bad news. The good news is that this host is supposed to be the eyes for the rest of them. Spies, if you will."

"Why does the Truth need vampire spies?" asked McLintock, "They have plenty of human ones." Father Rodriguez looked at the big man quizzically.

"No, the host holds no loyalty to Xipe Totec or the Flayed One’s chosen acolytes," Father Rodriguez answered.

"What?" Cortez asked, surprised, "Is this something from Satan then?"

"No, Lucifer follows the plan set out by God," Father Rodriguez said, "This host is beyond the realm of God or man." A cold, unsettled feeling ran down Stahl’s spine. As he looked at the faces of his teammates, Stahl could see they were just as uneasy about the priest’s words.

"So how do we stop them?" asked Tredegar. "Your notes aren’t very clear on that matter."

"Until they change, you can kill them by inflicting many deadly wounds on them. Their corporeal bodies cannot take the stress. Holy power will also cause their Earthly bodies to immolate and destroy themselves."

"If holy power can kill them, why didn’t you bag any?" Collins asked. It wasn’t accusatory, just a simple question.

"I had a choice. Kill a few of the host or protect my flock," Father Rodriguez answered. The cowboy nodded in appreciation.

"Okay, so we have to do this the hard way," Cortez said. "Not the first time. Father, do you know where the vampires are?"

"I can do better than that," the priest said, digging into his jacket. He withdrew a tarnished locket wrapped with a silver chain. "Let this swing on its chain, and it will lead it to you to the host. When you get close, you must wrap the amulet and hide it away. If you don’t the host will know you are close as well." Father Rodriguez handed the amulet to Cortez. The team leader reverently tucked the amulet into a pocket.

"Boss, you need to get out here," Mountain said, over the radio, breaking the solemn atmosphere. Instinctively, the team gripped their weapons.

"What is it?" Cortez demanded.

"Giant’s out here, and he brought along some friends."

Zombie Strike Part 7 Chapter 69

Ten miles south of the village of Redencion, Panama, 3 February 2011, 1000 hours local : Countdown: 10 months, 28 days

Former Chief Warrant Officer Eric Stahl pointed his M4 at the biggest of the five creatures as they strode out of the tree line and onto the dirt road. They all walked with a precise steady nature. It reminded Stahl of tigers stalking their prey. The primitive part of his brain was screaming for him to run and flee. Stahl suspected the moment he tried, these creatures would pounce.

"How are they walking in sunlight?" Quentin McLintock asked, transfixed by the creatures. "All of the lore surrounding the vampire says direct sunlight will kill them."

"Let’s try and figure that after we kill them," Stahl said, "Cortez, we could use a hand up here." Mateo Cortez, the Zombie Strike field team leader, was busy helping the team members in the truck flipped by the first vampire. Cortez’s head popped out from behind the vehicle. A string of low curses followed. Cortez was almost as good at coming up with new swear words as a SEAL chief petty Stahl worked with once.

"Jess, see what you can do," ordered Cortez, "Keep them busy for a minute." Montgomery hopped on top of the overturned MRAP. Her SCAR was already up as she drew a bead on the big vampire. Three against five were not good odds. Stahl hoped Cortez knew what he was doing.

"Everyone, focus on the big one," Stahl ordered, "Then roll to the one to the left." A radio click meant Montgomery was ready. McLintock just nodded. The suppressed SCAR gave its distinctive cough as Montgomery placed a 7.62 mm NATO round dead center in the vampire’s head. The vampire’s head snapped back from the impact. The sudden jerk caught the creature off-guard and it tried to keep from falling over. Stahl opened up with his M4.

An M4 would have burned through a standard 30-round mag in a few seconds. Stahl quit using those after nearly running out of ammo on Corsica. He was using a new quad-stack 60-round magazine. The M4 chattered for nearly ten seconds as he dumped every round into the vampire’s torso. The rounds Zombie Strike were designed to cause maximum damage by shredding as much tissue as it could. Stahl was tearing huge chunks out of the creature as he kept the burst stitching across the vampire’s torso. As soon as the M4 went dry, Stahl dropped the magazine and slapped in a fresh one. The vampire took two steps towards Stahl. Then, it burst into a flash of intense heat and flame. The four remaining vampires paused.

"Chief, get down!" Cortez yelled. Stahl dropped into the dirt. Someone fired one of the team’s XM25’s. The rapid thumps were distinctive. Less than a second later, Stahl felt more than heard the string of explosions. He felt a couple of fragments whistle past him. That must have been Sport. That Brit found his calling with the grenade launcher. It was kind of scary how close he could drop those airburst grenades without killing friendlies. Stahl was on his feet as soon as the explosions dimmed to echoes. The other four vampires were reduced to scorch marks on the dirt road.

"Chief, you two alright?" Cortez asked. Stahl looked over at McLintock. The big man was already poking at the scorch marks. Crazy eggheads. Almost as if to prove the point, Tredegar trotted past the chief to join McLintock.

"Yeah, we’re good to go," Stahl answered. "What about the truck?"

"Well, it works, but we can’t flip it back over." Stahl looked over the wreck. The MRAP was lying on its back about ten yards off the dirt road. "Even if we could, we don’t have anyone to drive it."

"What about the Panamanians?" Stahl asked.

"What Panamanians?" Cortez asked in response, "They all booked when they caught sight of the vampires. I’m going to have Jim drive. I want to get up to the village quickly." Stahl nodded in agreement. The good news was none of the team members riding in the flipped vehicle had been injured. The team spent about fifteen minutes dragging gear to the other vehicle. Well, all except Tredegar and McLintock. Those two were examining the documents they’d got from the priest. They still hadn’t come up with a good intel by the time the team was ready to move out.

Stahl stayed on the heavy machine gun as Jim Colllins carefully drove the truck up the mountain trail. The chief manned the fifty-cal on the basis he had the most time with the weapon. The truth was, until he got some definitive answers on the vampires, he wanted the biggest gun he could find to kill them with. After a few miles, the forest was cleared for farmland. Stahl counted about six or so small spreads. It looked like little more than subsistence farming. At least it wasn’t coca. Stahl hated dealing with narcos.

Another few miles, and the team drove into the outskirts of Redencion. Most of the houses were solidly built, if somewhat primitive. The villagers may not have much, but they knew how to use what was available. These weren’t shanty-town people. Assuming any were still alive. The streets were deserted. There were no sounds or signs of life as the MRAP rolled down the main road. There weren’t even any animals. Stahl looked towards the town’s center. For a moment, he could have sworn there was a spotlight on the church. It just seemed to glimmer.

Collins gunned the MRAP into town center. Stahl saw two more creatures slamming themselves against the doors of the church. Collins saw them as well and swung the MRAP alongside the church. Stahl had a clear line on the vampires without shooting into the church. The two creatures were focused so intently on the church they ignored the big metal vehicle and the gun atop it. With a grin, Stahl pressed the big machine gun’s firing paddle. The big fifty caliber bullets easily shredded the vampires. After a few seconds, the vampires finally screeched and burst into a flash of flame.

The team was out of the vehicle and taking up positions around the church before Stahl finished firing on the two vampires. They braced as they waited for the next onslaught of creatures. The doors of the church swung open. Every weapon was trained on the darkened opening. Out stepped what looked like a miniature version of a Catholic priest holding a cross in one hand and a bottle of clear liquid in the other. The priest gave the Zombie Strike team an appraising look.

"You took longer to get here than I expected," the priest said in unaccented English. The voice sounded old, but flat with no emotion. It unnerved Stahl.

"Sorry?" Cortez said, unsure if he should be apologizing or demanding one.

"My apologies," the priest said, "It was a comment, not a criticism. I am Father Rodriguez. Please come in. I’m sure you have many questions for me." The priest’s head turned towards Stahl. The man’s black eyes bored into Stahl. The former soldier felt ice shoot down his spine. Stahl had the distinct feeling the priest had been waiting for him to arrive in this village. The chief shook his head. That was just ridiculous.

"I appreciate the offer Father, but I think we need to make sure there aren’t any more of those vampires in the village first," Cortez said. The tiny priest waved his hands dismissively.

"Oh don’t worry. Those two you destroyed were the last two in the village. The rest are out in the jungle," Father Rodriguez said.

"And you know this how?" Stahl asked, suspiciously. Something about Father Rodriguez was ringing every warning bell in his mind.

"God told me," the priest answered, matter-of-factly, "Or more to the point, Metatron told me."

"The bad guy from Transformers?" The Steve asked.

"No, the archangel Metatron, the Voice of God," Cortez corrected, "Metatron does the speaking because the true voice of God would destroy the mind of a human."

"Cool, just like Cthulu!" the irrepressible medic replied. There was a long moment as the entire team just stared at The Steve in either shock or disbelief. The Steve ignored it all with his trademark brilliant smile.

"Please excuse The Steve. His mind to mouth filter isn’t always the best," Cortez said.

"Believe me Mateo Cortez, I know quite a bit about your team," Father Rodriguez said enigmatically. "I have been tasked by our father to answer many of your questions." Stahl could feel the undercurrent in the priest’s voice. His fight or flee instincts were screaming at him to run from this priest and the village. He couldn’t flee, so that left fight. The chief slid down the side of the MRAP and strode over to the priest.

"Perhaps you could answer the big questions. How many vampires escaped into our world, and how are we going to seal the crack between our worlds?" the chief asked, trying to keep his voice calm. The priest gave him a knowing smile.

"Those aren’t your big questions, Eric Stahl, but they are important to the team," Father Rodriguez said. "To answer your questions though, the crack, as you called it, has already been sealed, but not before sixty-six of the creatures escaped into our world."

Zombie Strike Part 7 Chapter 68