The Arena

"I am reminded of a quote attributed to a US Marine, "We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them."

"Funny, but I am serious."

"So am I. Look, this Mama Yacine may know what happened to those three other guys. If she is evil the only way we are going to find her is to go along with this. If she is good no harm done, if bad we take her out."

"What about any zombies? How do we deal with them? If they are drugged they are not acting under their own will."

"That drug makes them no different than had it been a witch's potion, after all what are your potions but chemistry. Short of killing their master I know of no way to release the Zombies. They will still be Zombies but no longer enslaved. If their master tells them to kill you they will do their best to try and kill you. You have to defend yourself either by killing or disabling them. In many respects they are no different than a vampire's familiar. For most of them it would be a mercy killing. If you can disable them without killing them and not put our lives at risk go for it. But you cannot hesitate to kill them if necessary." He looked at his watch "We should start getting ready.

Carl opened his bags and started to prepare his gear. He had his helmet, chainmail armor, gauntlets, sword, battleaxe and shield. He also brought a few extras. Because of the possibility of having to deal with gunmen he brought his own firearms. A SOCOM 16, a variant of the Springfield model M1A1. Based the M-14 it had a shorter barrel but still retained the superb Garand action. Carl considered the AK designs overrated. While they were reliable most designs sucked in terms of accuracy. The Garand action, he felt, gave you the best combination of reliability and accuracy. He also had brought his M-1991A1 which he put in a thigh holster. He had seen the 9mm phase come a go followed by the 10mm .40 cal but he still liked .45 ACP although he did have a wheel gun in .44 mag for certain circumstances. Among his ammo he had one magazine for each weapon with silver bullets although he did not anticipate having to deal with werewolves but in Haiti it was a distinct possibility. He had a protective vest to wear under his chain male armor to reduce the injuries he might suffer should he actually get shot. Plus Aradia had put a magic symbol on it for additional protection.

Aradia had never seen his enchanted weapons and armor before. His helmet, chain mail shirt gauntlets shield and sword were black. Not a shinny metallic black but black as a void. Nothing reflected off of them. It was like they were shadows that could blend with darkness to near invisibility. The sword and shield were different in that they had a grayish outline along their edges.

Aradia also put her own gear on. She wore boots and black cargo trousers similar to Carl's. Her .40 cal was also in thigh holster. She had her protective vest along with a silver dagger and a wand. She also wore two amulets that provided general protection from magical attacks. Their effectiveness decreased with each attack and the strength of the attack.

She looked over at Carl and though about how strange he looked with the mixture of old and modern implements of war.

They sat down on the floor of the shack, back to back and pulled out energy bars and bottled water from their bags. Then it started to rain. For all the good the shack did they might as well have been sitting out in the open. It had more leaks than the Titanic. So they pulled out the ponchos Carl insisted they bring with them. As they sat on the wet ground with rain dripping on them Carl said only one thing "you gotta love it when it sucks" He could not see it but he felt her smile.

It was near midnight when Jean showed up and both Carl and Aradia were up and waiting for him. Carl found he could wear all his gear under the poncho without it being obvious as to what he was carrying. The part of Port- Au-Prince they were in was a place the UN forces rarely ventured into during the day and never at night so he did not anticipate any problems with local authority.

Jean had no rain gear himself juts a plastic bag he draped over his body. He had a flashlight to lead them with but it seemed to be on its last legs as its batteries were probably dying. It emitted a pathetic yellow light against the Haitian gloom so Carl gave him his mini LED light to guide them.

They picked their way through the still rubble strewn streets of Port-Au-Prince. They often had to climb and crawl their way through wreckage blocking the roads. All the while it was still raining and except for the illumination provided by the flashlight in the pitch black.

Carl really hated the rain, it made a pinging noise as it hit is helmet. He had a cover to put over it normally to eliminate that noise but he had neglected to bring it. Another defect of his helmet's design was it allowed rain to run running into his eyes. There was no visor to redirect the water. His poncho hood would have saved him from both those problems but it was hot and he was overheating.

Aradia had said little during their journey, sticking close to Carl. She did not appear to have any difficult moving through the wreckage. She was still amazed by the devastation. She thought Detroit was bad but this defied description.

Jean also had said little during their travel till finally he announced "we are here".

Carl could see little although the rain had let up it was still too dark. The light only showed more wreckage around them.

"I must leave you now, you will be met by others" said Jean as moved to hand Carl back his flashlight.

Carl motioned for him to keep it and asked "When and who?"

"I don't know" Jean shrugged "My instructions were to bring you this far." With that he turned and trudged off with the both the light and the splash of his footsteps fading into the darkness.

"Well this is a trap" Carl thought to himself. It could have been a simple security measure like many insurgent and intelligence organizations run with one group working another and neither group knows much about the other should one be compromised but know centuries of gut instinct said ambush. He doubted that Jean was in on it. He was probably just some poor innocent guy hired to lead him here. He also doubted that this was laid out specifically for him and Aradia as they were not sure who was coming. It was simply a trap to get whatever good guys came along. The rain had reduced to a drizzle and he pulled his SOCOM 16 out from under his poncho and turned on the light mounted the rail. He really wished he had invested in some good night vision or even better thermal gear. That was most definitely going to the top of his to buy list.

He whispered to Aradia. "What are my three commands?"

"When you signal me to come, I come. When you signal me to charge, I charge. And when you signal me to run - I follow you and run like hell."

Smiling he whispered " good girl"

They both scanned their surroundings. As near as Carl could make out they were surrounded by high piles of rubble on all sides except for the narrow entrance he and Jean had come through making an open space of about 50 by 50 yards. There were three smaller piles of rubble set evenly apart in the open space. The surface he stood on was hard and not muddy or slick, just wet.

Carl switched off his light, backed himself up against one pile and sat down to wait. Around 0100 the rain eventually stopped. It was then that Carl heard the sound of shuffling feet and metal scraping on concrete along with what he thought sounded like the flapping of wings.. There were also the sounds of many somebodies or somethings climbing the rubble around him. None of these sounds approached directly at them but instead moved around them. He was tempted to use his light but decided to wait. He whispered to Aradia to remain still and quite.

All they knew, he assumed, was that they were in the confined area but not exactly where. Besides he wanted all the players in place before this show started. He needed to know the whos and whys. After a bit, except for the scraping of metal on concrete all the other sound stopped. The rain stopped and clouds were breaking up. Soon the area was bathed in the light of a full moon.

The moon's illumination gave Carl and idea of the setup, They were surrounded. He could see figures lined around the perimeter of the area with others in the wreckage itself, like fans in the bleachers of some stadium. There were more figurers silhouetted against the night sky standing on the top of the wreckage. Totaled, Carl figured they faced 100 to 2 odds. Well this wasn't the first time he faced such odds. As the song says this wasn't his first rodeo.

Quietly he shed his poncho crouching in the shadows as Aradia followed his example. The nature of his armor was such that he would have been almost invisible if it were not for the modern weapons he was carrying. He was an image in contrasts. His medieval armor and weapons mixed with his modern ones. His steel helmet, chainmail shirt, sword and battleaxe combined with a SOCOM 16 and automatic pistol certainly was a bazaar mix. His shield was strapped on his back so he could handle the SOCOM 16.

Aradia followed his example.

The quite was broken by a loud female voice speaking with a French accent. "Welcome to our humble home strangers , come out so we may greet you properly"

There was some chanting in a language Carl did not recognize; he assumed from the same person that "welcomed" them. Suddenly the three piles of rubble in the clearing burst into flames forcing Carl and Aradia to move from the one they were next to. These were not just piles of rubble but bonfires.

Forced out into the light they now visible to his enemies but he could also more clearly identify them. Most were Zombies. Others he was unsure of.

These zombies were not slow moving mindless creatures driven only by hunger. They were fully functioning humans (maybe a little slower moving and thinking) mentally under the control of another. The zombies just stood there looking at him. Their dressed was varied, most the rags many in Haiti were forced to wear these days. They had armed themselves with machetes, knives, clubs and debris from the wreckage like rebar and broken bits of pipe.

The non zombie ones were further away and harder to identify as they were on top of the wreckage. He did notice that one person was dressed different from the rest. A red scarf on her head and red gown covered the rest of her. She held staffs with a large round object on the top. He turned to face this person. "I assume you are Mama Yacine".

"I am" the figure responded and she started down the pile of debris a stop half way between two poles sticking from the wreckage. Six of the other beings also descended down the debris stopping the same distance while others stayed in the dark higher up. The bonfires caused shadows behind them to dance around plus the moon was now bright enough to create its own shadows higher up in the debris. Carl stepped forward. It was then that he realized that what he thought were just poles sticking from the wreckage were crosses stuck upside down. Nailed to each one, also upside down was the body of a man. Stripped naked they had been horribly mutilated. They had been skinned and then each limb, at the ankles, knees, wrists, elbows and shoulders had been carefully separated from the rest of the body while still leaving it attached by some ligaments and tendons. He then noticed that one of the men was still alive. He could see eye movement and shallow movements of the chest.

Moving closer Carl got a better look at Mama Yacine. She was not tall maybe only 5' 5" or 5' 6' at best . Her skin was a uniform dull gray, even her lips. He could not judge her build or her hair color covered as they were but her eyes we yellow orbs that lacked a pupil.

He got a better look at the staff she was carrying and saw that the large round objection was topped with was a human head with an expression sheer terror frozen on its features.

"Well, I guess that answers what happened to the wizard and slayers who came here earlier "thought Carl.

Aradia had moved closer with him and was able to see the head on the staff and the bodies on the inverted crosses. He heard a retching sound followed by the splash of a wet substance hitting the ground.

Without taking his eyes off of Yacine, he asked, "You going to be OK Rad?"

"Yes " she said with some embarrassment

Mama Yacine spoke. "You have notice the fate of my previous visitors no doubt" as she stroked he hair of the head mounted on the staff. "I do hope you will not give us as much trouble as these three, it will be easier on you" She smiled showing a pair of fangs.

"A frickin hybrid" said Aradia

"Easy kid" Carl said while he thought to himself "Part witch and part vampire, this is turning into a real soup sandwich"

Hybrids were not very common and mostly were vampire with some other being such as Wizard vampire. There were debates as to if a hybrid had to full powers of both identities or only partial powers of each. Carl's own experience lead him to believe that any vampire form had full power of both because vampire powers were part of the being itself they were not learned, they were instinctive as opposed to Wizards, Witches, Paladins, Slayers and hunters. All of them may have some inborn talent but they have practice and train constantly to learn and maintain them. They could be said to be perishable skills; use them or lose them.

Nobody had the ability or time to be both a powerful wizard and a powerful Paladin for example. Such a person could be accomplished in the battle skills of a Paladin but only a mediocre wizard, a powerful wizard with mediocre battle skills or somewhere in between. There were rumors and myths of combination vampires-slayers/hunters. Vampires that in effect hunted their own kind but Carl had never met any.

One combination that was impossible was a Vampire-Paladin. A vampire's bite was ultimately fatal to a Paladin. A Paladin would not turn but die. No Paladin has ever turned evil. Two in all of history had gone rogue turning more into vigilantes and having to be dealt with by the forces of good but out and out evil, no.

Mama Yacine then gestured toward the one opening into this makeshift arena. Rubble and debris fell from the sides blocking it. There would be no quick exit from this game.

Looking at Mama Yacine Carl eased the safety off of the SOCOM-16, he had already selected his targets. "Shall we get this show on the road then?"

Mama Yacine looked at Aradia and said "She is young and I sense her fear. She is smart enough to be afraid. " Turning to Carl she raised an eyebrow and said "You have no fear" it was a statement of fact not a question.

"This isn't my first time "Carl smiled in reply. "besides, I have never been accused of being too smart."

Nobody said anything further. There was the sound of the bonfires as they crackled and hissed with the wet wood. There was the wind as it pushed the clouds away and whistled through the debris causing the zombies' loose clothing to flap.

Carl moved first. He whipped up his rifle and put one bullet each into the heads of the bodies pinned to the inverted crosses. Mercy killings if you prefer. Only one was still alive but he was making sure. In the blink of the eye he was then emptying the remaining rounds in his magazine at Mama Yacine. He figured he got about 10 rounds into her before two zombies threw themselves into the line of fire. He was sure at least two more rounds went through them and may have hit her.

Carl was knew the bullets could not kill her but he figured they would hurt like hell and piss her off. He was right as he was rewarded with screams of pain and lot of cussing, in French, English and some West African language he was only a little familiar with.

"Why do you do that? Bullets cannot kill her " yelled Aradia.

Carl smiled and said "but I bet it hurt like hell and it made me feel better."

Then the Zombies charged. He did not have time to reload as the zombies started to come at him. He shoved the muzzle of the rifle into the mouth of the closest one with enough force that it exited the backs of its skull he then released it, making a mental note to himself to look into the practicality of a bayonet. The six other beings with Mama Yacine turned out to be vampires also. They assumed bat like forms; torsos of a human with long claws at the end of their hands and feet; bat like wings with a span of about of about eight feet to 10 feet, Their mouths filled with extremely long fangs and teeth. The entire form except the wings was covered with a fine layer of grayish brown fur. They varied in size with the smallest about the same size as Carl and the biggest topping eight feet in height.

Carl had unslung his shield and drawn his sword as he turned to run from the zombies closest to him and charged toward those furthest away buying himself space. His feet splashed in the pools of water as he ran quickly to the opposite end of the open space. The zombies were not much slower. They may have not been physically or mentally impaired very much but they were no warriors. They were also relative poorly armed with machetes being the only real weapon among them.

Carl knew he could not afford to be cornered because despite their lack of skill he would soon be overwhelmed. He kept moving though the zombies rank never allowing them to surround him completely. He also made use of the bonfires to keep them off his back. Carl used his sword in slashing attacks instead of thrusts so the blade would not be slowed down buy being imbedded in the body. The sword could easily pass thought necks and limbs quickly and was only slightly slowed by a body but he tried to keep those slices to just opening the stomach cavity instead of having to cut through ribs and vertebrae.

His shield also was in constant motion. When not deflecting and blocking the attacks of the zombies the shield's edge was smashing into their throats faces and skulls. Being ambidextrous has its advantages.

Aradia and Carl had kept some distance between them as they planned. He need room to swing his sword without fear of hitting her and she need space for some of her spells so has not harm him.

As the first wave of Zombies charged at her she gestured at the ground and the rain water rose into the air. She chanted thee words and the water turned into shards of ice . She raised her hand s over her head and then moved them forward in a throwing motion . A strong wind came up and took the shard of ice so they cut through the approaching zombies like grapeshot from a civil war cannon. As a second wave approached she created a whirlwind around her that knocked them back. She was attempting to herd them into a corner

Mama Yacine and the six other vampires were not just sitting back while all this was going on

Three times Carl's armor had glowed with different colors, all indications that there were attempts to cast spells or some other magical attacks against him and that his armor had defeated those attacks. The vampires circled overhead looking for an opening occasionally swooping low but staying just out of reach of his blade. As a vampire swooped in on Aradia she would send a blast of wind to knock it back.

Carl knew he could not keep this up forever; even he would grow tired so he made use of Mama Yacine's unintentional gift of fire. He broke free of the crowd of zombies and ran between two of the bonfires. Using his ability to control fire he had flames move across the ground from each bonfire to connect with the next two for a wall of flames blocking the separating the zombies from Aradia and himself. This would buy them a few seconds breather has the zombies had to move around the ends of the bonfires.