Forreston FL, 8 July 2010, 1000 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 4 months, 23 days

Jessica Montgomery knelt down. It wasn’t easy in the long dark gray dress. It had been a long time since she’d walked these grounds. Longer than it should have been. Guilt added its unique flavor to her sadness.

"Sorry I haven’t come to visit," Jess said. She didn’t know what to expect. Talking to the dead always seemed so comforting. The granite headstone was silent. Maybe it was something that came with practice.

"So, I guess I came here to talk with someone," Jess said, "Things are so screwed up. I mean, I haven’t stopped thinking about you, but the pain wasn’t as bad. I found someone, and I thought my life was going to be so good." The tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. "Then. we went to Mexico, and we were winning, and then Billy died." The words spilled out of her mouth. She had to get them out before all of her pent-up sorrow finally released. Jess collapsed next to her mother’s tombstone. Deep sobs wracked her body to the point of pain. Jess kept reliving the horrific memories of seeing Billy over her impaled on Giant’s whip. His confidant smile. His last words to her as Quentin hauled her out of the room. The shaking and deafening roar as the bomb exploded. All Jess could do was feel the pain and cry.

Jess’s sobs stop instantly as she felt the danger. The dress tore as Jess leapt to her feet. A thick fog surrounded her and blotted out the sun. She felt more than saw the figure as it emerged from the fog. The large coyote sat down in front of her mother’s grave. It was easily the size of a horse. She could feel the power roll off of the coyote like a warm breeze.

"You!" screamed Jess, "Where was your precious pack when I needed them? When Billy needed them? Why did you let him die?" The animal stood silent. Its even stare incensed Jess. She took two steps and threw a perfect punch. She felt the shock as her blow slammed into the animal’s muzzle.

"That was not my choice to make," Coyote answered. The words echoed through her mind like thunder.

"Whose was it?" Jess demanded.

"Mine," came the answer. The single word drove Jess to the ground. Coyote spoke like thunder. This was an earthquake. Jess slowly turned around. The wolf stood twenty feet tall and larger than the trailer Jess lived in for a time. The air became electrified with the raw power of Wolf stepping into the world.

"It has fallen to mine to protect the Key," Wolf said, lowering the power of his voice, "My pack and my warriors are bound to protect the Key. Including sacrificing their lives for the Key."

"So why was it Coyote’s pack in Mexico City?" Jessica shot back with an accusing tone.

"I had a warrior, and it was not time to reveal the full extent of my obligation," Wolf answered, "And my brother always likes to have me in his debt."

"So why are you here now?" Jess asked, "We destroyed the Key." Wolf moved a tree-sized front leg to reveal a bright-eyed wolf pup. The pup locked eyes with Jess. A part of her mind opened up and she could feel the pup’s mind.

"It is time to foster some of my pack in this world," Wolf answered. The pup bounded to Jess. As the enthusiastic animal knocked her to the ground, Jess realized the pup was already the size of a large German Shepard. Warmth and love poured through the new bond between the two. Wolf, Coyote, and the fog vanished in an instant. As Jess looked around for the two spirits, Slim rushed to her side.

"Are you alright?" Slim asked, scanning the graveyard with his submachine gun. Then he noticed the pup. "Where did that come from?"

"Wolf," Jess answered softly. Something in her tone kept Slim from barraging her with questions.

"Okay," Slim temporized, "So what’s the bugger’s name?" Jess looked down at the pup at her side. Her grief wasn’t gone, but the pure love and joy from the pup made it bearable.

"Billy."

###Barcelona, Spain, 9 July 2010, 2030 hours local, Countdown: 1 year, 4 months, 22 days

The groaning drew Alan away from the window. He put the enchanting flamenco dancers out of his mind as he stepped into the darkened apartment. Alan looked down at the shattered figure in the center of the room. As much as Alan had tasted his god’s power, it still amazed him that this man was still alive, much less starting to awaken.

"Go, tell Mr. Castle that Mikhail is awake," Alan said to one of his assistants. The girl nodded and sprinted out of the room. Alan watched as Mikhail’s body continued to knit itself back together. Those new Truth-Warriors brought Mikhail to Barcelona in pieces. Alan took one look at the fragments of what had been the Truth’s greatest warrior and was sure Mikhail was gone. He didn’t understand why Castle looked so confident as he ordered Alan and his assistants to lay out the body. That was, until Mikhail’s body started coming back together. Mikhail’s eyes snapped open as Castle walked into the room. Mikhail tried to rise, but his weakened body collapsed under his effort. Castle locked eyes with Mikhail and shook his head. Mikhail let out a long breath and settled back. Alan walked up to Castle.

"If he keeps at this pace, he should be back up in less than a month," Alan said. Castle didn’t say anything for a moment. He just stared at Mikhail.

"Good, he will be needed," Castle answered. Absent-mindedly, Castle drew a sphere of pure obsidian out of his pocket. Alan’s eyes were drawn to the baseball sized gleaming black glass.

"In the meantime, I have another assignment for you," Castle said, turning to Alan. He held out the dark sphere to the Truth’s top sorcerer. "I need you to open the Key."

###London, Great Britain, 10 July 2010, 2100 hours local, Countdown: 1 year, 4 months, 21 days

Collin DuBois was ushered into Simon West’s library. The lord who owned the house before Simon had been a voracious reader. His extensive and valuable collection of books came with the house. Collin would have been more impressed if he thought Simon had actually read any of them. Simon sat in an overstuffed leather chair that looked like it had come out of an old bankers’ office. The handsome crime boss leisurely held a snifter of brandy and smiled as Collin stepped into the room. It took all of Collin’s self-control not to reach out and snap the man’s neck. Simon seemed to relish in Collin’s internal torment. The two men stared at each other in silence. Finally, Collin broke the silence.

"Why did you ask me to come here West?" Collin demanded.

"Your employers wanted to speak with you," Simon answered cryptically. He laughed at Collin’s confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Collin asked.

"Oh wake up, boyo. Why would I care about what your group of zombie killers were up to?" Simon asked. Simon let out an evil laugh as he saw understanding dawn on Collin’s face. Before Collin could respond, Simon held up an envelope.

"Here are your instructions," Simon said, handing the envelope to Collin. Inside the envelope was a cell phone. Collin pressed the redial button.

"Sergeant DuBois, who I am is not important," the American said. The voice was cool, controlled, and professional. "On the phone are three photos. These should be considered proof of life." Collin opened the messages. His sister was strapped to a bed. The morning’s Guardian was placed on her chest.

"Your sister will not be harmed as long as you do what we want," the voice continued, "Further, Mr. West has agreed to release her of any and all debts. In return, we want you to kill Kenn Blanchard."

Zombie Strike Part 6 Chapter 44

Mexico City, 28 June 2010, 0515 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 2 days

Jessica Montgomery watched as Giant let Billy slip from his whip. The immense monster of a man looked almost offended by Mateo’s challenge. The minions escorting Giant immediately fell behind their seven-foot tall champion and brought up stubby assault rifles. Billy didn’t even slow down to take a breath. As soon as the whip came off, Billy crouched and rolled next to Jess. The two sat in mirror crouches with their submachine guns aimed at the minions. The Zombie Strike team stared down their enemies. It was just a moment of quiet and calm as the two forces measured the other. The picture of her foster father, her boyfriend (oh my God, he looked good), and her friends training weapons down on the four minions and Giant seared itself into her mind. Without warning, the calm was broken.

The Steve and Sport darted forward towards Jess and Billy as the rest of the team opened fire. Jess felt the snaps of bullets as they streaked around her. Her mind immediately realized the actions. Recover under fire. Jess didn’t have a chance to fire her own weapon before she felt The Steve jerk her back. By the hair. Jess gritted her teeth and tried to lessen the pain by scrambling backwards with The Steve. Sport was using Billy’s drag handle, allowing Billy to cover the four’s retreat. The Steve half-tossed, half-slid Jess behind Quentin.

Giant and the minions fell back into the room holding the Key. Two of the minions were trading gunfire with Zombie Strike team. Bullets shattered the rock of the doorway and the sides of the hall. Jess frowned. The hallway was wide open. The only cover was the small bits of the wall from the team’s entry. None of the team had been hit yet. Either the two minions weren’t the professionals she thought they were, or they were just delaying the team. Considering how the two were using the sides of the doorway, Jess was guessing the minions were delaying the team. Delay wasn’t something the team could afford. Fortunately, Quentin was gracious enough to have brought her rifle with him.

"PALISADE TWO!" Jess yelled over the gunfire. Quentin dropped down to a kneeling crouch, which was still almost as tall as Jess. As she unhooked her rifle, Slim fell in next to Quentin. The team hugged the walls of the hallway and stepped up the fire. She only needed a few seconds. Jess stood up behind Quentin and Slim, extending her rifle in one smooth motion. The sliver of the minion’s face filled her scope. She applied just a bit of pressure. The hallway thundered with the sound of the rifle’s report. The doorway was splattered with bone and blood. The assault rifle clattered to the floor. Jess was cycling the bolt when the other minion stopped firing.

"Illuminators!" ordered Mateo. Sport and The Steve were at the doorway tossing in the baseball sized devices. As soon as the Illuminators landed, their tiny lights brilliantly lit up the room with sterile white light. In an eye blink, Sport, The Steve, Collin, and Mateo were inside the room. Billy leapt into the room and jumped out of Jess’s view. Her heart clenched as she clearly heard Billy’s war whoop followed by the unmistakable screech of a gollum. Billy found a target. Slim led Quentin and Jess into the room. Jess followed Quentin as he loped into the room on his replacement prosthetic.

The room was an almost exact replica of the room Xipe Tzin built when the Zombie Strike team confronted him over a year ago. Jess hadn’t been part of the team then, but she recognized it from the file Mateo had made her study. This one was bigger though. The room was maybe a hundred feet wide and two hundred feet long. The walls and floor glittered as the Illuminators’ light reflected off of the white ceramic tiles. Running through the middle of the room was a trench maybe forty feet wide. Three ten feet wide stone bridges spanned the trench. On the other side of the trench, in the center stood an obsidian obelisk decorated with Aztec carvings. Either that was the Key, or the Key was inside it.

Jess heard the moans as soon as she entered the rooms. Easily two hundred of the walking dead bore down on the team. Jess slung her rifle and drew her Kimber. Two zombies went down with single shots. Quentin opened up a bit of area with a long burst from his ZKC. Jess kept it open while the big man changed magazines. Jess shot a quick glance at her foster father. Mateo and The Steve were busy with another part of the horde. Sport was using one of the corpses as a shield as Collin traded gunfire with the minions. The minions were holding the right-most bridge. Giant was on the other side of the trench and walking to the obelisk. Where was Billy? Jess did a presidente drill across the front of the zombie horde. Eight shots, eight zombies down. Jess made a quick gauge of their situation as she fed another magazine into her Kimber. It wasn’t looking good for the team.

"Mattie, we need to fall back," Collin said, echoing Jess’s thoughts, "We’re about to be overrun."

"No," Mateo answered curtly as he dropped another pair of zombies.

"Mattie, we’re past crush," Collin argued.

"No," Mateo answered with a cold, calm voice. Each member of the team knew that tone well. Mateo’s rage was humming through him. In anyone else, that rage would make him reckless. In Mateo, the rage focused him and strengthened him.

"Billy, finish playing around and get up here," Mateo ordered. Billy leapt up out of the trench. A gollum jumped after him. Billy ruthlessly lashed out with a metal rod. The tip of the rod shattered the gollum’s medallion. Before the gollum could react, the rod crashed down on its head. Without its divine invulnerability, the gollum’s skull shattered. Without even a moment to enjoy his victory, Billy danced through the zombie horde. As Collin often said, the boy was magic. The diminutive Apache slipped through the gaps between the zombies, occasionally widening a gap with a savage strike from the metal rod. Billy slid around Quentin to stand next to Jess. He gave her a smug smile. She punched him in the arm before dropping a crawler that got a little too close to Billy.

"Billy grab the four block from The Steve," Mateo ordered, "As soon as you have it, get across the bridge and destroy that obelisk! Collin, keep those minions off Billy. The rest of us will fall back and form a line to cover your retreat. Billy grabbed the book-sized explosive from The Steve and stood next to Jess as he looked for his opening. Billy sprinted into the horde. As Billy leapt off the line, something primal took over Jess. She darted into the horde after Billy. Every instinct and bit of training screamed at her to stop and go back, but she couldn’t. It was almost as if she was trapped in her own body. The horde of zombies blurred around Jess as she followed Billy through the walking dead. She could see what Billy saw every time he danced in to fight the zombies. Small gaps looked big enough to drive semi-trucks through. The zombies acted more like statues than animated corpses. They just couldn’t move fast enough to catch her. Before she knew it, Jess was through the horde and charging the bridge. What was happening to her?

As Billy neared the obelisk, Giant noticed the two Zombie Strike team members. The whip in his hand danced in anticipation. Billy shot into the air. Giant’s eyes twinkled with amusement. Jess slid down on her knees and unslung her rifle. It wasn’t an aimed shot, but with a distance of less than fifty feet, she didn’t need to aim much. The heavy .338 Lapua round slammed into Giant just as the whip lashed out at the airborne Billy. The whip’s tasseled tip passed within scant inches of Billy. Jess smiled as she scrambled to her feet. Billy landed, rolled, and slapped the explosive at the base of the obelisk. The bomb’s adhesive backing set with the strength of concrete. Giant and his team weren’t getting that off anytime soon. Not before Zombie Strike triggered it. Giant cracked his whip. The room shook with thunder. A wave of force tossed Billy and Jess away from the obelisk. Her rifle slipped out of her hands. Jess watched helplessly as the weapon slid across the tiles and plunged into the trench. Something flickered in the corner of her eye. Jess rolled to the side as Giant’s whip cracked the tiles next to her. Billy sprang off the ground, kicked off the obelisk and drove himself into Giant’s midsection. The surprise blow knocked Giant off of his feet. The two rolled across the tile floor. Billy stood up first.

"Jess, activate the block!" Billy yelled. Jess scowled as she scampered to the bomb. She wasted precious seconds as her memory dug up the procedure. Her fingers danced across the buttons. Four-four-three-nine-seven. The readout blinked and a friendly, lethal green light told her the bomb was active. Jess whirled to call Billy. It was time to go. Giant loomed over Jess. His dark eyes burned with a terrifying rage. Jess took a step back and felt the cold obsidian at her back. There was nowhere to run. Giant’s arm snapped back. The whip tensed into a rigid lance. Jess didn’t even have a chance to take a breath. Giant attacked.

The instant before the tip of the whip struck her chest, it bounced to the side. Pain flashed as the whip lanced cleanly through her left arm. Jess heard the tip smack against the obelisk, and then she felt a surge of power course through her. The next thing she knew, she was lying on the tile floor. Giant looked a little shaken, but it didn’t last long. He took a step towards Jess. Screaming in Spanish, Giant thrust the whip at Jess’s prone form. There was a blur of motion above Jess. Billy materialized between Jess and Giant. Giant’s whip lanced through Billy’s midsection. Jess watched in horror as blood quickly soaked through Billy’s clothing and pooled under him. Giant tried to yank out his whip, but Billy held it in place. Jess felt her entire body go numb.

"I don’t think so," Billy grunted out, "You’re staying put." Jess watched as Billy struggled against Giant. Each tug opened the wound, spilling out more blood.

"How are you doing that?" screamed Giant as he tugged furiously. Billy laughed.

"Jess, there’s a knife across the small of my back," Billy said over his shoulder, "Take it." Jess gingerly drew the blade from its scabbard. It was a plain knife with a simple wooden handle. As soon as the knife was in her hands, she could feel its power. She looked angrily over at Giant. Mateo was right. It was time to finish this. Before Jess could take a step towards Giant, two powerful arms encircled her.

"Took you long enough," Billy said to Quentin, "Get her out of here."

"Vaya con Dios, my friend," Quentin said sadly. The two men shared a look of goodbye. Quentin lifted Jess up.

"No!" Jess screamed as she struggled against Quentin. "Billy, I won’t leave you. Quentin, let go of me." Jess struggled, kicked, and bit. Quentin ignored it all as he stormed across the bridge.

"Love you babe," Billy yelled as Quentin hauled Jess through the door. The next thing Jess heard was the explosion.

Zombie Strike Part 5 Chapter 43 – Epilogue