Dying Time (8 page)

He
jumped
just
as
the
reindeer
flew
by
at
top
speed
,
with
the
zombies
only
a
few
feet
behind
him
.
Santa
looked
back
to
see
at
least
three
zombies
fall
all
five
stories
,
and
landing
with
a
thud
far
below
. 

“TAKE
THAT
YOU
ELF
EATING
SCROOGES
!
”
Santa
yelled
,
raising
his
fist
triumphantly
in
the
air
.  

As
Santa
flew
,
he
remembered
all
those
Zombie
movies
he
had
watched
back
in
1992
,
when
he‘d
caught
the
flu
.
Except
for
the
speed
of
the
zombies
,
they
looked
and
acted
exactly
like
the
movies
.
And
as
his
trusty
bat
had
shown
a
good
,
hard
hit
to
the
head
worked
wonders
,
just
like
the
movies
.
He
must
remember
to
congratulate
Twinkly
Bells
for
crafting
such
a
fine
bat
.

That
reminded
him
,
he
slipped
his
sleeve
back
to
check
his
arm
.
It
wouldn’t
do
for
Santa
Clause
to
become
a
zombie
.
He
breathed
a
sigh
of
relief
. 
He
was
only
bruised
. 
His
thick
seal
skin
coat
had
kept
the
teeth
from
breaking
through
.
Take
that
,
Animal
Liberation
Front
.

Now
what
could
he
do
?
Passing
out
presents
wasn’t
much
good
if
all
the
little
children
were
eaten
.
But
he
couldn’t
just
use
a
bat
all
night
.
He’d
never
really
enjoyed
baseball
. 
A
gleam
appeared
in
his
eye
as
he
thought
of
a
plan
.

He
reached
into
his
bag
,
and
did
something
he
had
never
done
before
.
He
thought
of
a
present
for
himself
. 

A
bright
light
came
from
the
bags
opening
,
bathing
Santa
in
its
brilliance
.
A
choir
of
angels
sang
a
single
wordless
note
as
he
withdrew
his
hand
.
He
raised
his
hand
high
over
his
head
,
and
stood
up
letting
the
wind
blow
his
hat
off
as
his
long
hair
flowed
out
behind
him
.
The
sheer
awesomeness
of
the
present
burned
his
mitten
off
,
but
left
his
hand
untouched
.
Muscles
bulged
as
he
tightened
his
gripped
,
and
roared
a
challenge
to
the
Gods
themselves
.

The
Katana
of
Tank
Killing
was
revealed
.

With
his
other
hand
he
reached
once
more
into
the
bag
.

No
angels
sang
as
his
fingers
encircled
the
cold
,
hard
,
metal
.
His
mitten
had
disappeared
,
destroyed
by
the
ferocity
that
was
engulfing
his
hand
.
Devilish
metal
guitars
echoed
across
the
sky
.
Lightening
struck
the
sleigh
again
and
again
.
The
God’s
tried
in
vain
to
prevent
the
perfect
weapon
from
entering
the
world
.
Santa
laughed
at
their
pathetic
attempts
,
even
as
the
ever
present
soot
from
the
chimneys
was
blasted
from
his
body
. 

He
pulled
forth
the
.
50
calibre
Desert
Eagle
of
Lightening
.

Holding
the
weapons
that
had
taken
the
skills
of
a
dozen
anime
watching
elves
,
he
flew
across
the
sky
,
and
yelled
out
his
challenge
to
the
Undead
horde
below
. 

**

The
survivors
speak
of
it
still
.
How
the
Undead
rose
up
to
feast
on
the
living
a
week
before
Christmas
.
Governments
and
armies
,
guns
and
missiles
,
faith
and
determination
had
all
failed
before
their
tireless
advance
.
Only
those
who
could
flee
or
lived
hidden
and
alone
could
survive
.

Then
on
Christmas
Eve
,
Santa
flew
from
the
North
Pole
.
This
time
instead
of
bringing
presents
he
brought
thunder
and
lightening
.
Flying
like
a
missile
across
the
sky
,
buildings
had
crumbled
,
and
the
earth
buckled
.
He
sought
out
all
the
zombies
,
no
matter
the
numbers
.
Flames
engulfed
them
,
and
the
earth
broke
open
,
swallowing
them
whole
. 

When
the
survivors
tried
to
reward
him
,
Santa
had
just
shaken
his
head
in
a
fatherly
way
. 
It
was
his
gift
to
the
world
,
he
had
said
.
But
from
that
day
onward
,
everyone
made
sure
they
were
good
little
boys
and
good
little
girls
.