Goodbye, Saint Nick

She was starting to grow tired of the crunch of snow beneath her boots. An hour of following deer tracks produced nothing but a half-eaten corpse and a pair of lethargic Howlers that—thanks to their recent meal—barely put up a fight as they were dispatched. 

Dara pulled her arrow from one’s temple groan. “Don’t suppose we can salvage anything from the doe, huh?”

Knelt by the corpse, Kole hummed in thought as she looked over the damage. “I mean… they only got the butt end, maybe if we only cut from the ribcage up… no, wait, there’s a bite there too. I’m gonna say this whole thing’s no good.”

One by one, snowflakes drifted down to settle on the doe. As they turned their eyes skyward dark clouds blotted out the sun, and an icy breeze chilled their bones. With nothing to show for their efforts and nowhere to go, the two pushed forward into town. They’d been on the road for days with little rest; they needed food and shelter—fast.

Quick glances through shattered windows told them this town they’d wandered into was picked clean, ransacked in the early days when the dead first started to rise. Dust and old blood coated every visible surface. Door swung on creaking hinges if they weren’t ripped off entirely, and every window in sight was shattered. They were too open, too exposed. They’d die from hypothermia if nothing came to hunt them in the night. 

“Don’t suppose we could find some granola bars or something in one of these places,” Kole sighed. 

“Probably not. Doesn’t look like anything has been here in ages.”

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Kole pulled a leathery strip from her bag and tore it in half, offering one to her partner. “Here, we still have some of these left.”

“Oh joy.” Dara took the piece and scowled. “I was hoping we were out of the weird fruit jerky.”

“Sadly no, this is all we’ve got. Well, this and a can of beans but it’s kinda hard to eat beans on the road.”

“Let’s get off the road, then. And soon. Where the hell are we…”

They reached a roundabout at the center of town, overgrown with weeds and tall grasses, with one large sign at the center pointing to the right.

“This way to the Bucatiera Mall!”

Beneath it, a tattered banner that read “Hugherdy Relief Outpost: Accepting volunteers and donations indefinitely.”

They stood shoulder to shoulder, sharing warmth as they mulled over their options. In the first few months of the outbreak, people flocked to outposts in the hopes that the military and police would save them from the Howlers. When the Howlers began to form herds and migrate, however, none of the outposts lasted. Wave after wave of the dead tore through walls, depleted bullets, devoured the living. 

One year into the apocalypse, the outposts became notorious deathtraps. Any survivors abandoned them, along with any hope that life would return to normal.

Dara knew that some outposts still had untouched supplies. Boxes of rations that wouldn’t spoil for decades. Medical supplies that would steal someone from death’s grip. Survival kits, camping gear, weapons yet untouched. It could be a treasure trove if it wasn’t still overrun.

“This might be worth checking out,” Dara said.

“I thought the outposts were a no-go?”

Shrugging, she knocked an arrow and tugged at the string. “They are, but it’s not like we have many other options. If it looks dicey we’ll move on.”

Hesitantly, Kole nodded. Together the two made their way down the street, passing dilapidated cars and snow-covered bodies, with a growing sense of unease rising in their chests. On the horizon the two story mall came into view, and the tents and canopies of the outpost rose from the ground. Military caravans and concrete barriers blocked in a camp extending from the mall’s front, taking up a large swath of parking lot. Some of the barriers had been toppled or broken, and two of the giant trucks were charred, but overall it wasn’t the worst they’d seen. It honestly looked pretty untouched in comparison. 

“Ok, so far so good,” Kole chirped.

From the camp a cacophony of screams and wails echoed. A small pack of Howlers clawed at the air as they stumbled out of their tents, searching for their next meal. When they spotted the girls they let out a shriek and surged forward as one.

“You just had to say it.” Dara fired off an arrow and prepped another. “You had to jinx it!”

“See, this is what I get for being optimistic!”

Another arrow fired and plunged into the skull of a Howler with a missing arm. The one behind it was unfazed as it charged ahead of the rest, locked on to Kole as she raised her bat. She swung low, catching it in the legs and sending it toppling to the ground. Another swing to the back of the head and it was dead.

“Y’know, all these Howlers probably turned away other scavengers!” Dara shouted. “Maybe there’s something here for us!”

“OR maybe this IS the last group of scavengers and all we’re getting is a workout!”

A crack of the bat. The twang of the bow. Two more fell.

“Oh come on, babe, imagine the possibilities.” Dara abandoned using the bow in favor of simply stabbing an arrow into one of the Howler’s eyes. “What if there are peanut butter cups in there? You love those!”

Kole chuckled as she downed another. “You really think, with the impending apocalypse, the military stocked up on peanut butter cups?”

“They could have, you never know!”

Shaking her head, Kole sized up the last of the pack as it hobbled forward. She twirled the bat in her hand as she let it come to her, and in her distraction she failed to see that the one she felled wasn’t quite dead yet. With a growl it clamped onto her leg, pinning her in place as it tried to take a chunk out of her boot. The Howler still on its feet took the chance to knock her onto her back. Blackened teeth chomped onto her bat, screeching against the metallic surface as she did her best to block it. 

“Outposts… suck!” She grunted, kicking the one still on her leg. 

With it knocked free Dara plunged a knife into the back of its neck, and worked on prying the other away from her girlfriend. She wrenched its head back with a fistful of hair and stabbed it through the temple. Slack jawed it slumped to the ground, sinking into the snow. 

She surveyed the bodies again. The Howlers were well and truly dead, that she was sure of. A thin blanket of snow was already covering the first few that attacked, and turning pink with the blood that seeped through. Panting, Dara turned to Kole and offered her a hand up.

“You bit?”

Kole stood with a wince and looked herself over. “No? No, I’m good. Hit my head and my ankle hurts like hell, but no bites. I’m ok.”

Dara pulled open her coat, checked her sleeves, even took a knee to inspect her leg more closely. “Are you sure? Let me check just in case, we still have time if –”

“D.” 

She glanced up as a hand touched her cheek.

“I’m ok, I promise.” 

Dara searched her eyes for any trace of fear or uncertainty, but found none. She eventually relented and stood again to pull her into a hug.

“I love you,” she breathed. “And please don’t scare me like that again.”

“Heh, no promises.”

When they parted, Dara slung one of Kole’s arms over her shoulders and helped her limp into camp. Beneath the layer of powdery snow it almost looked serene. The trash and blood that littered the ground was buried beneath sparkling white. The moisture left every tent and tarp with a dewy sheen that caught the little bit of light still left in the sky. Every plastic wrapped crate and sealed box held the promise of fresh supplies, and the deeper they went the more they found. Banners similar to the one that led them to the mall pointed towards the entrance, indicating that the medical wing was set up inside. 

“Let’s go patch up your boo boos before we start checking these,” Dara said.

“Lead the way, D-dog.”

“D-dog?”

“I’m trying something new ok? Roll with it.”

They entered the mall arm in arm, stopping just inside the entrance. 

“Hey, plug your ears for a sec.”

Dara raised a curious brow but did so anyway. Kole whistled sharply, and listened to it echo throughout the mall. 

Silence.

“... I think we’re good,” she whispered. 

They hobbled further until they found an empty cot. Kole sat and began to pry off her boot as Dara rifled through the many boxes and containers around them. A box full of pills, an abundance of bandages and sports wraps, even bags of saline. It was still well stocked, all things considered. She gathered all the basics and, quick as lightning, patched Kole up.

While Kole relaced her boot around her wrapped ankle, Dara took a look around the mall. Most of the stores appeared untouched, undamaged, with some still sealed behind metal gates. Not far from the medical area an enormous christmas tree, decked to the nines with lights and ornaments, towered to the second floor. Paper snowflakes and lanterns hung from the ceiling around it, while red and green garlands adorned the surrounding balcony. All around the first floor there were aged signs of christmas specials, stockings hung in the intervals between stores, flyers advertising family events and charity drives. 

“God, when’s the last time we did christmas…”

“Eight years, give or take?” Kole sidled up beside her, arms crossed over her chest. “Only four if you count that one year we gave each other brand new knives.”

Dara’s expression fell as she recalled a time before the world fell apart. Indulgent dinners and floors littered with wrapping paper. Gift cards and santa hats adorned with tiny bells. Hot cocoa by the fireplace as she played with the puppy she’d been given.

She had to bury that puppy not long after.

“It’s really been that long, huh,” Dara mumbled. “Guess they didn’t have time to take all this down.”

“Can’t worry too much about out of season christmas decor when you’re fighting for your life.” Kole scratched the back of her head as she looked around. “Does it bother you? Seeing all this?”

Wind whistled through the open doors, and she tugged her jacket tighter around herself. “I… I don’t know. It shouldn’t but… I just, I can’t believe how much time has passed. How long we’ve just… wandered, like this, trying to survive. When the outbreak started I never stopped to think about the life we’d leave behind… is this it? Is this all that’s left for us?”

Dara wandered towards a sign pointing further into the mall, advertising “Photos with Santa” at the North Pole. Her hands traced over the cardboard Santa sadly, swiping a line through the thick layer of dust. His jolly smile felt like a taunt.

I avoided the end, but you can’t escape it!

Kole took Dara’s hand and wrapped it firmly around the bat. Before her girlfriend could question it she rapped her knuckles on Santa’s chest.

“If it bothers you, take it down. All this stuff? It’s all dead, just like the Howlers. They’re all stuck here when they should be moving on. The dead deserve to sleep.” Kole motioned to the bat, then to Santa. “He deserves to sleep too.”

Dara studied the bat in her hand, dented and worn with years of use. She studied the Santa standee, preserved in time, untouched in all the chaos. If there was one thing she understood, it was that good things don’t last. She took a step back and widened her stance. The bat swirled once, twice, three times as she wound up.

“You had a good run, Saint Nick, but you don’t belong in this world, not anymore. You’re too good for this place.” Dara flashed a pained smile. “I’d ask if this’ll put me on the naughty list, but I think I know the answer.”

She remembered all the people she’d left behind over the years. She remembered the first days when her family ignored countless stragglers on the road, desperate for help and pleading for mercy. The groups she’d stolen from, the people she’s hurt, the living who died by her hands. She knew she wasn’t evil, but she couldn’t claim to be good either. Dara had accepted that a long time ago. 

With a hard swing the cardboard crumpled, folding in on itself and putting Santa’s face between his feet. She swung once more and sent the cutout flying, watching it drift down to the base of the large tree. Dara broke out into a fit of giggles as she handed the bat back.

“That was kind of… it was…” 

“Cathartic?”

“Yeah! Yeah, cathartic.”

Kole smirked, setting the bat on her shoulder. “See why I stick with this stupid thing now? It’s satisfying, right?”

At Dara’s enthusiastic nod, Kole’s smirk became a devious grin. “I have a fun little idea if you’ll indulge me.”

“I’m listening.”

“Well you see,” she popped her hip and glanced toward the rest of the mall. “We’re probably never gonna leave the states, not any time soon anyways. But I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see the North Pole. What do you say we take a little trip while we have the chance?”

Kole reached out with her free hand, and Dara gladly took it. They linked arms and made their way toward the “North Pole”, glancing over the stores as they passed. No signs of disturbance, no inhabitants living or dead. It seemed like the mall had avoided the worst of the outbreak. 

The photo area was a small wooden cabin too small to fit a person, more akin to a child’s playhouse than anything else. The floor was lined with white felt, with a long red carpet leading up to a large, red, ornate chair. Behind the chair was a pine tree speckled with white paint and glitter, with a large stack of presents beneath. There were foam snowmen and fake reindeer scattered around the space to add to the atmosphere, and a tripod knocked to the floor in front of the chair. 

Dara picked up the tripod and folded it down to a more manageable length. “Not quite a bat but I think this’ll work just as well.”

“As long as you can swing it it’ll work.” Kole motioned to the scene with a bow. “After you, m’lady.”

“Well, I guess chivalry isn’t dead yet,” she joked. “Thanks, hun.”

Tripod in hand, Dara strode up the miniature cabin and knocked on the door, making sure it was actually empty inside before striking the wall. From there the destruction truly began as both girls took out years of anguish all in one burst. The cabin caved in as the roof was smashed. Empty gifts were crushed flat. The tree was left looking like it barely survived a wood chipper. In all the destruction the only thing left untouched was the chair.

“That chair is dope as hell,” Kole had said. “I want that chair.”

When it was all said and done, it looked like a herd of Howlers had torn through. Dara and Kole were coated in white fuzz and glitter, giggling on the floor as they sprawled out on the fluffy carpet. As far as they were concerned, death didn’t loom beyond the walls. The world wasn’t freezing over outside of this mall. Here, they were safe. Here, they were free.

Here, they were happy.