Twas the night before christmas...with Zombies

Twas the night before Christmas….with zombies

A disturbing holiday poem by J. R. Wagner

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Many creatures were stirring, eating two dogs and a mouse

The stockings lay strewn and bloodied by the fire

A struggle had taken place, apparently dire

The children had woken to the screams by their beds

One single thought had entered their heads

…zombies

When Mama came limping and moaning down the hall

And Papa crawled toward them having no legs at all

Out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

Screams and smoke and gunfire did shatter

The window as Timmy ducked avoiding the glass

While Gina reached for her .9 allowing no dead to pass

The moon on the blood strewn across the white snow

Gave an ominous look to the situation below

When a sound cut through the eerily silent night

The thwack, thwack, thwack of chopper blades joining the fight

It landed out front raising snow like a storm

Timmy and Gina  an to the window to shout, to warn

One-by-one men ducked out beneath the deadly blades

M1’s tightly gripped as they looked through the haze

A few shots fired, several men down

the area called ‘clear’ then his foot touched the ground

The children both smiled as he lifted his hat to his head

Yes, you guessed it, Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead

As dry entrails took flight like birds fleeing from prey

The presence of Rick let the children know this would be a special day

Rather than through the front door, Grimes jumped to the roof

His .357 reporting as walkers fell with an ooph

Then, with a whoosh followed by a deafening blast

They knew Shane Walsh and his RPG had made it at last

Debris dropped down what remained of the flu

Followed by smashing and bashing from you know who

Snakeskin boots were the first to drop in

Followed by county issued pants, shirt and his gold star pin

A bundle of guns he had flung on his back

He looked like a dystopian peddler opening his pack

His eyes, dark and weary, his jaw set tight

His cheeks were striated always ready for a fight

His perfect white teeth smiled up at the kids

Unable to hide the guilt for the things that he did

He cocked his hat back revealing more of his face

Blood splatter and gore were all over the place

The children relaxed having seen it before

Grimes was a legend, a gift to help settle the score

The hilt of a dirk he held tight in his teeth

And the dust cloud from his entrance circled his head like a wreath

He was thin as a man, ever they had seen

Food can be scarce unless one is keen

He was formal and terse as he moved, shoulders set

Not believing the children already dispatched the threat

A wink of an eye and a twist of his head

Told the kids not all the walkers were dead

He spoke not a word but went right to his work

Removing the shotgun and ArmaLite AR-18 with a jerk

Cautiously stepping into sister Jennie’s small room

Then gunfire and screaming and boom, boom, boom

Rick stepped slowly back out from the fight

Clutching his side with one hand the .357 in the right

His face was pale, his eyes cold and distant

The problem, the kids knew exactly in an instant

Timmy and Gina, holding her .9

Made their way to the chopper –double time

Looking back at dust-off toward the house where Rick lay

He’d been bitten, you see, and needed to stay.

As the chopper lifted and rose past the trees

A bright star reminded the passengers, it’s Christmas eve

Merry Christmas, said Shane gripping the mesh

The kids gave an odd smile then feasted on his flesh

To my Walking Dead buddy: Iris. Merry Christmas,

Love always,

Daddy

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