The Undead That Saved Christmas Vol. 2 (7 page)

And only love could allow him to do this.

He jammed his left hand down into the zombie’s face. It shook its head, as though to shoo away an insect, and then realized what was in front of it.

The zombie grabbed Kevin’s forearm and clamped its teeth down on his wrist.

“Mother fu - ”

Kevin pulled his hand away, holding his wounded wrist in his right hand while blood oozed between his fingers. It hurt so badly he nearly rolled off the top of the wall. Already he could feel the virus creeping through his blood stream, racing for his heart. It felt like somebody was jamming a red hot copper wire up his veins.

He didn’t have much time. Maybe thirty minutes, but probably less.

Kevin rolled off the wall and trotted back to his apartment. Once inside, he washed the wound with hot water and wrapped it in a towel. It was already starting to smell like death. His head was soupy and walking to the chair in the center of the room was hard.

But he made it.

He dropped down into the chair and turned it to face the door and waited for the pain to stop.

* * *

This felt absolutely glorious.

Mindy had spent the day cleaning herself up, scouring off the stain of more than a year of living down among the dead. Now, her hair was washed and brushed. Her legs were shaved, her skin soft and fragrant from cocoa butter, still a little pink from her bath. The Sexy Elf costume showed a lot of leg, and a lot of bruises and cuts, but those would heal. If her heart could heal, her legs certainly would.

She felt better than she had felt in a very long time. She couldn’t remember a time she’d felt this good, even before the world died. Mindy Matheson had come back from the dead, and love had done it for her.

And it was glorious.

Now, she picked her way carefully through the rubble-strewn streets. The dead were out - the dead were always out - but there weren’t many of them around at the moment.

Then she saw the sign, and she smiled.

It’s all for you, Mindy Matheson.

I love you.

I want to be with you forever.

She couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She sprinted up the stairs and down the hall to his door.

Slightly out of breath, she knocked on the door.

No response.

Maybe he was out getting stuff, she thought. More candles, maybe. Or, God help her, even a bottle of wine.

She turned the knob and swung the door in slowly.

“Kevin?”

‘
Twas a Season of Zombies

By Rebecca Besser

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

No one was breathing, not even a mouse!

Zombies had come in and feed on the living,

Ending quickly this season of giving.

Bones had been littered about without care,

And one zombie cracked open a skull on a stair.

They moaned and they ate what they could find,

With no thought but to consume in their undead mind.

Blood splashed presents sat under the Christmas tree,

That would never be open with anticipated glee.

For all was now silent along the snow covered street,

Because all the families provided fresh meat!

Story Art Cover

By Ian Kobe

www.squidsicle.com

Dedication

For Del Howison

Author Bio

Kelly Dunn
is a freelance writer who lives in the shadow of Los Angeles. Her short fiction has appeared in the horror anthologies
The Dead That Walk
and
Midnight Walk
, and in the horror publications
Necrotic Tissue
and
Aberrant Dreams
. Her first novel, written with the help of her alter ego Savannah Kline, is entitled
Beloved of the Fallen
and was published by Ulysses Press. Kelly is also the editor of the Rainstorm Press horror anthology
Mutation Nation: Tales of Genetic Mishaps, Monsters, and Madness
.

Emergency Rescue

By Kelly Dunn

Momma is a sad-face, standing at the window. I say, "I hungry, Momma" and pull on her shirt but she won’t look at me ever. She is quiet. Maybe it is the snow. I can hear it falling. It shines on the ground and in Momma's eyes. Pointy sickles are sharp from the roof.

The Christmas tree has sickles too, tin-sicles. That's what No-no says. The tin-sickles are shiny, too. I go away from Momma, past the pretty tree. There's twinkle lights with colors on it. I know what colors they are. They are red, and blue, and yellow, and pink ones. I know that from school. At school we get burritos and sometimes hot dogs. Declan at school bit No-no. He ran and bit! Declan bit lots of the kids. Declan is bad.Now it is Christmastime! No Declan. No school. . Momma got mad at No-no. Now she is at the window. No-no is lying down on the floor. His face turn green when the lights blink on him.

It is cold. My tummy is noisy. I go into kitchen and get out the Cap'n Crunch. There are two bowls, one is only mine and one is for No-no. No milk, but I fill them full. Full of Cap'n Crunch. I take No-no his bowl. "No-no, eat," I say, but he doesn’t eat any. He doesn’t cry. He is only one eye open, like a pirate. His face looks funny now. On his jammies there is red and purply from where Momma hit him. He walked funny but he fell down and now he won’t get up. No-no is sick. I eat the Cap'n Crunch in the bowl. After I go to the corner that’s where we play Emergency Rescue. The guys are there.

I get the best guys, the G.I. Joes and medics, all the soldiers and the Indian chief, and the tank, too. All of them. I bring them to No-no. No-no is a big boy now. I am big too but he is bigger. The guys can help him. No-no is on the floor and I put some guys on top of him and then the tank next to him. I put lots of guys around No-no. I make a big circle. They are guards. They can shoot bad guys. Like when the soldiers march-marched down the street. To get the bad guys.

"No-no all your guys are here," I say. No-no kind-of smiles. The soldiers are his friends but the smile hurts him. I touch at his hurt face. He sticks out his tongue. "Uhhn," he says. He bites at my finger, justa tiny bit. No-no growls, tough. He is funny. I laugh.

Momma turns around. She is a mad face. "BE QUIET. WHY CAN’T YOU BE QUIET?" That what Momma says. She looks so mad and I scared. I try not to cry 'cuz big boys don’t cry ever but I cry. Momma is moving to where I am with No-no and all the guys. Momma has no shoes and she steps on some of the guys. Momma screams and fall down like a belly flop. Her hand touches No-no and he screams loud.

 "No-no!" I say. "No-no!" He is hurt and Momma hurt, too. The noise comes up and out my mouth. I scared.

Momma gets up. Her hand hurt. Out goes her foot and Momma kicks me in the side. I fall down. Hurt. No-no screams so loud. She kicks No-no too on the floor. He is so loud my ears hurt. I get up. I run to Momma and hold her arm. "Momma don’t," I say. Momma hits. I lay on the floor, quiet. The pretty tree shakes when Momma bumps it. She is picking up No-no's hair. He screams but she is louder.

"JONAH," she yells loud. "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT." Over and over. She shakes him but he still screams. I hear her breath it is hot like fires.

Momma is pulling No-no's hair and he is going along behind. It hurts him being pulled by his hair. The Christmas tree lights blink on, off. I follow Momma and No-no. Momma pulls No-no down the hall and through Momma's room, to the baffroom. She shuts the door. I am outside but I can’t get in. I sit next to the door.

No-no cries and cries and I hear Momma's mad. She yells and hits I think. I hear the water. No-no is hurt in there and I touch the door. Momma is still making angry noise. The water splashes. Maybe it is a bath for No-no but sometimes the water is too hot. Sounds come out of me I can’t help it. There is lots of splashes but No-no doesn’t cry now. But he's hurt and I can’t see him. My nose is stuffy but I try be quiet. I listen. I want my soldiers and my medics but I sit still.

I hear Momma breathe. She is scared I think. I hear more water and her loud steps and I scared and I think she might come out the door. I run and go under Momma's bed, but I can see, looking out. The baffroom door opens up. Momma carries No-no. No-no's mouth is open. His face is hurt. His arms and legs flop around. He is all wet. Water drip-drips on the floor.

Something is wrong with No-no. Momma is still mad. I can see that. She holds No-no and walks out of the room. I hear the backdoor open. She goes out. I get out from the bed and creep to where I can see out the window. Momma takes No-no outside. Then she puts No-no down. Down on the ground.

No-no is in the snow now. I wonder is he cold. Momma bends down. She covers him up and I can’t see him. She gets up and goes away and comes back. She digs in the snow. She is there a long time, with No-no. She stands up. No-no isn't there. Momma is coming back in. I scared. I run to hide. I go under Momma's bed and then up in the bed where there is a hole. She can’t see me there.

"CALEB!"I hear the shout, it is very loud. It is very small in the bed. Fuzzy stuff is tickly my nose but I stay quiet. I scared. I want No-no and my guys and my Mister Bear. But this time I don’t cry. Got to be quiet.

Momma wants me. "CALEB!" That's what she says. But Momma is mad. She is in all the rooms and then in this room and she is looking under the bed. I see her eyes. They are mean. But she can’t see me. She goes in baffroom. I hear more water but she is quiet in there. When she comes out, no more mad sounds. I stay hiding. It is a long time. Momma is out, I don’t know where. My tummy hurts. It is dark. It is Momma's bedtime.

 Momma is in this room now. Moving around. Now she is getting in bed. I wiggle out of the hole in the bed but I am quiet on the floor. I wait a long time 'cuz I still scared. But then I hear Mommas breath. Momma is sleeping now.

I crawl on the floor. No-no is outside. I crawl till I am at the backdoor. I can reach the doorknob now, I am big. I open and go out.

Outside there is all white. It is so cold. I can’t see where No-no is. I look and I touch the snow. "No-no," I say, but not loud. The snow is shiny. Something moves and I scared but there is No-no, coming up under the snow. I dig and I dig and then I help him sit up. His face is not nice. Why? It is blue and big. His eyes have no shine. Big eyes and I scared. Then No-no gives me a hug, a snowball hug. So cold. But he is No-no still.

"No-no you are hurt," I say. No-no doesn’t talk. He shows me how to dig in the snow, like a snow house. He is in the snow house with me and it is a little warm. I hug No-no and sleep.

I wake up and No-no is there in the snow house and there is a noise. The door opens and shuts. It is Momma. "CALEB!"

No-no puts his hand on my mouth. It is so cold just like ice. I be quiet. I need to go baffroom. The door shuts. Momma is inside. No-no helps me get up from the snow. I want to run up inside but No-no doesn’t want me to. I can tell. I go baffroom. Can’t help it.

We are quiet and No-no walks and I follow, like follow-the-leader. No-no goes to the front steps. Under is a dark place. He wants me in there. I hide. No-no goes. It is like hide-and-seek and No-no will tell me "come out" sometime. When it is okay. I be quiet, but in my head is the song,
Better WATCH OUT, better NOT CRY
. Because Santa says be good.

Inside is the Christmas tree and I want to see it. But Momma was mad at No-no and mad at me. She won’t talk. I guess we are bad. But I am going to be good now when No-no comes.

It is a long time. It is
very
cold. So cold I cry. It hurts. Sometimes I sleep and then I am warm. Momma is inside but I am hiding. There is more snow from the sky. I am looking like Momma out the window. I won’t move. It is a long time. Then there is No-no.

No-no walks funny but he is No-no, I can tell. There are some guys with him. They are big guys. Hurt. They walk funny, too. They look not nice, with holes. They are monsters I think. But No-no is not scared. They are coming to the house. I think they are No-no's friends. Not bad guys.

They are closer and I scared. I am under the steps but No-no comes up with the guys. He looks in and I come out. No-no hugs me and it is all right. The guys won’t hurt me. But they are big. The biggest one is like a giant. I saw giants in the book at school. His clothes look like a soldier, like G.I. Joe. There’s holes in the clothes. Maybe bad guys got him. I can see stuff like blood and guts but it won’t fall out. He sees me with his no-see eyes. He says "nnnuh." No-no hugs me tighter. The tall one only has some teeth, like No-no. He pats my head and his guts move. I will call him Mister Insides.

There are some others. Well maybe one, two, three, ten guys. Lots. But nice. They want to go inside. It is all right now. I am not cold but I am hungry. No-no walks up the stairs. The monsters follow like follow-the-leader. The door won’t open but they go and go and then it is open and they all go in.