by Michael Todd
Angie shook her head. “He said to hold off. Apparently, Katie is on her way there, and he is sending in the military as backup. She’ll probably be done by the time they get there.”
Juntto relaxed a bit and shrugged. “Disappointing, but that’s fine. I’m getting ready to fight a different kind of battle anyway. I found the one-on-one gaming, where you fight your opponent and if you win you keep fighting until you beat everyone or you lose. I can do this, right?”
Angie nodded, chewing a bite of her hot dog. “Mmhmm. You got this. I mean, these kids play more video games than anyone should, but you are definitely up there on that scale.”
The loudspeaker over their heads crackled. “Up next at Gamer Station 8 are...Juntto the Warrior and Myles Cofield. Please report to your station.”
Angie got excited. “Oh, that’s you. Let’s go.”
They pushed through the crowd and Juntto showed them his badge. Angie moved to the spectator area to the right. Juntto strutted forward, ready to face his opponent. As the crowd cleared, he paused, seeing a twelve-year-old kid standing there ready to fight. Juntto cleared his throat, trying not to be too cocky. He walked up to the kid and bowed slightly to him. “It is an honor to fight against you, Myles Cofield. May the best man win, young warrior.”
Myles looked at him for a second through his thick round glasses and chuckled. “Yeah...whatever. You too, man.”
They took their positions, sitting down in two black gaming chairs right next to each other. They would be playing a head-to-head in Destiny, something Juntto had done many times with Angie. He knew the game like the back of his hand. The staff started the game and stood back, letting them begin. Immediately Juntto jumped into competitive mode, playing his heart out. The kid next to him was just as focused, smashing the buttons at record speed.
Juntto gripped the controller tighter and tighter as he picked up the different guns and found some hidden ammo that wasn’t in the version of Destiny he had played. No matter how hard Juntto tried to get one-up on the kid, he was getting his ass handed to him. The kid was faster, more agile, and seemed to know exactly where Juntto would be at every move. Juntto was starting to panic. He couldn’t lose his very first video game competition, and definitely not to a twelve-year-old kid with a bad attitude.
He glanced to the side and then back at the game, secretly growing two extra fingers. He held the controller low in his lap and began to mash the buttons like crazy. Myles’ eyes grew wide as Juntto pulled ahead in kills and made his way to the next save point. Juntto leaned forward, tapping his feet on the ground. He had two more save points to go, and with every mash of his fingers, he pulled farther ahead of the kid.
A small crowd had formed in the spectator area, watching the large screen as Juntto’s character took down twelve enemies with a solar grenade he had found. The flashes moved across the screen, and the foe dropped. Juntto hissed excitedly as he made a mad dash for the last checkpoint of the competition.
Both Myles and Juntto stood up, smashing buttons as the last few seconds of the game ticked by. Angie cheered for Juntto. She was slightly suspicious of how he had gotten so much better so fast but figured his adrenaline had kicked in.
Juntto leaned toward the screen as he slammed his character into the checkpoint. The game stopped, and Juntto’s name flashed across the screen as the victor. He dropped the controller to the ground and threw his hands into the air, quickly morphing them back to normal. He screamed loudly, beating his chest. “I am victorious!”
Everyone else cheered too, making it even worse. He ran around the small space slapping hands and then stopped in the center. He stretched one arm into the sky and pointed upward while doing the same dance he’d seen performed at the last football game that he watched. He brought his arm down and bent his knees, flapping them in and out.
He brushed off each shoulder. “I am the champion. Juntto is the master of all things. Warrior King!”
Suddenly a group of Security came rushing toward him, shaking their heads. The main security officer leaned into Juntto. “You can’t celebrate like that. There are not only other games going on, but come on, man. Your opponent is just a little kid.”
Juntto stopped and looked over the kid who was kicking at the ground with his shoe, tears in his eyes. Juntto sighed and nodded. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. I have never won one of these things before.”
Juntto walked over to the kid and stuck out his hand. The kid stopped and shook it, looking up at Juntto. “That was really kick-butt playing, dude. You have fast fingers.”
Juntto smiled. “Thank you, young Myles. You fought valiantly, and in time, you will grow to be a mighty warrior. You will conquer many lands and know many women.”
“Okay, Warrior King.” Angie grabbed Juntto’s arm before he could say anything worse. “Why don’t you come enjoy a victory hot dog while you wait for your next game? Myles, you did awesome.”
Myles smiled at Angie, and the two walked over to the side. Angie slapped Juntto on the arm. “You can’t act that way. Think about how that kid feels! He was brave enough to come play at a major convention. You made him feel like crap.”
Juntto sighed, taking a huge bite of his hotdog. Angie looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smirked. “But I have to say, you were really badass. That was some of the best playing I have seen in years. Seriously. I don’t know if anyone has played Destiny like that before.”
Juntto immediately stood up taller. “It was the light grenade. That was what crushed it for me. He would have caught up if I’d had to fight all of them by hand.”
Angie shrugged. “Gaming is a mixture of talent and luck. You have both. I’m so proud.”
Juntto chuckled. “If you wouldn’t get arrested for kissing a teenager, I would give you a kiss.”
Angie winced. “Yeah, we don’t need that. Besides, it would be like kissing a kid. That’s worse than Frodo, even if he does have giant hairy feet and is two feet shorter than me.”
Juntto laughed. “It was worth a try.”
Katie stood in the middle of the street, slightly perplexed as the paradegoers marched around her. So where is this incursion? All I see are candy canes and creepy elf children.
Pandora sniffed and paused. Uh, Katie? I think you should take another look. I don’t think these are just regular elves and candy canes.
Katie took a hard look at the people hurrying around her. Suddenly there was a chorus of screams from the spectators. Katie watched as the characters turned from jolly-faced humans to red-cheeked infected in the blink of an eye. They were no longer singing happy carols and skipping down the streets. Instead, they were hissing and growling demons, infecting the crowd right and left.
Katie gasped. Holy fuck, they’re infected. It’s like a wave of infection. What the fuck?
Pandora groaned. Instead of sending demons to fight, they are sending the demons to infect these people. I need to separate. Are you cool with that?
Katie nodded, staring wide-eyed as an elf launched itself into the air, knocking over a Christmas Tree on stilts. Yep. Totally cool with that.
Pandora stepped out of Katie and grimaced, looking around her. Santas, elves, snowmen, and everyone was snarling and growling. Pandora stuck her foot out as a small elf came barreling past her, growling and screeching. It tripped and tumbled down the street. “No running, tiny human-elf-demon thing. Why do I feel like if there was a Christmas in hell, these are the kind of bullshit shenanigans that would go on? Only they would be falling into the lava pits right and left, propelled by a helping elbow from yours truly.”
Katie shook her head. “We need to fix this. They are going to infect everyone.”
Pandora nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think this calls for some serious angel shit.”
Katie took a deep breath. “I agree. Then we exorcise everyone we can get our hands on.”
Pandora clapped her hands, and the two stood side by side. They looked at each other and then thrust
their arms into the air. Lightning crackled across the sky and thunder clapped as swords appeared in both their hands. Armor covered them, and their eyes glowed bright blue. They both sheathed their swords and Pandora began to chuckle.
Katie grabbed an elf by the head and yanked the demon out of it, then laid the kid carefully on the ground. “What in the world could you possibly be finding humorous right now?”
Pandora threw her arm out, her hand going right in the chest of a candy cane. She yanked the demon out and tossed it upward as it screeched and flashed out of sight. “We are like some twisted fucking She-Ra cartoon.” Katie was surprised. “You know She-Ra?”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Uh, duh. When I was out of your body one night and you fell asleep, I binge-watched like three seasons from the eighties. Pretty sweet.”
Katie’s mouth dropped open as she stared down the street. Pandora wrinkled her forehead and followed her gaze. Standing in the middle of the street was a Santa Claus with shimmering red eyes, using his horsewhip to slap the hell out of a non-infected Mrs. Claus, who was trying to get away.
Pandora groaned. “Ho ho ho. Today, kids, you’re going to find a ball gag and some handcuffs in your stocking. Santa done joined the S & M circuit.”
Katie shivered. “Oh, God, the bowl full of jelly!”
Pandora covered her mouth, gagging. “No, fuck this. Come here, Santa. I got something for you.”
Both of them bolted straight for Santa. Katie slapped the whip out of his hand as Mrs. Claus ran off. Pandora jumped in front of him and snarled. “You never whip a lady without consent. Fuck, you will never learn.”
She slammed her fist into his chest and reached around, pulling hard on the demon. It was a strong one, holding tightly to its position. Finally, with a tug, Pandora ripped the demon out of him. Unfortunately, the demon was so strong that it took Santa’s heart with him. The heart hit the ground and bounced down the street, and Santa fell in a heap.
Pandora sent the demon back to hell and wrinkled her nose. “Uh-oh. I’m definitely going to get coal in my stocking this year.”
Katie shook her head and turned to walk away, not wanting to look at the pile of Christmas joy lying bloody on the ground. As she took a step, something grabbed her ankle. She looked down to see Santa, still face down, his hand grasping her ankle. “Holy fuck! This is creepy even for me!”
Katie yanked her ankle away and they backed up. They watched as the dead Santa slapped his blood-stained gloves on the asphalt and raised his body back up. His face was slightly greenish in tone, his eyes clouded over, and his head lay to the right. Blood dripped down his white beard and he opened his mouth, letting out a hollow screech.
Katie grabbed Pandora’s wrist. “Can they do that? Did a demon just infect a dead body?”
Pandora shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it, but shit, I don’t know what to believe anymore. This motherfucker is a zombie Santa.”
Katie pulled her sword from her back. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen the movies. I know how to kill him.”
She stepped toward him and stopped, watching his legs wobble toward her. Pulling the sword back, she grimaced. “Sorry, Santa. No more milk and brains for you.”
She swung her sword, severing its head and sending it bouncing down the street. It was the only way that she could kill him, but she knew she would be having nightmares for years on that one.
6
“All right, let’s get our shit together and move out,” Wilson said, standing in the connecting hotel rooms where his team was staying.
Everyone moved with purpose, no one stopping even for a second to complain. They were professionals, former mercenaries and military who were not Damned but were the best in their field. They had been meticulously chosen by Wilson and Red, making sure that they would be trustworthy and up for the task. They didn’t ask many questions, and Wilson liked that, but they all seemed to have the same goal in mind. Their plan was to move around the country, fighting demons and proving that the world didn’t need Katie. So far, they had done just that.
Wilson leaned against the wall, watching them move like worker bees. He hadn’t heard from Mr. Belly in a day or so and wondered what the strange little man was up to. Wilson knew Belly was the reason he was free from prison, and that he had other plans he had yet to divulge. He tried not to think about it, though. What he had him doing was perfect. Katie was a nuisance, and because of her, his military career was over and he had spent a long time rotting in a jail cell, fighting off common criminals. Wilson truly believed he should have been hailed as a hero, but instead he had been treated like scum.
One of the soldiers came up, holding his knife. “Sir, do I need to secure this for any sort of flight?”
Wilson smiled. “I’m not positive. Go ahead and do that just in case. Actually, all of you secure your weapons for secret transport. We don’t want anyone asking any questions. A seven-man team found with demon-killing weapons might blow our cover. This is a blackout, and that means no one outside of us and my contact will ever know it happened. Our mission is to show the world that Katie is not only unneeded but reckless and dangerous to our society. She does what she wants, and alienates the world leaders as if they know nothing about wars and enemies. It is imperative for our society and the future of this world that we get a grip on this and move forward in a safer and more productive manner for the people.”
The whole team had stopped and were listening to Wilson. He could see the motivation building in their faces. That was what he needed—the group to be so strong in their belief that they were doing what was best for the world that they never stopped to question any of the actions he assigned them. He needed them to be loyal to a fault and live in the shadows, believing they were the good guys. Wilson didn’t care who was a good or bad guy in the whole scenario. He just had his sights set on Katie.
The sound of the hotel phone ringing brought him from his thoughts. He walked over and picked it up, carefully putting it to his ear. “Yes?”
The front desk clerk spoke in a cheerful voice. Wilson let out a slightly nervous breath and nodded. “Yes, I understand. Send him up. I’ll meet him in the hallway.”
He hung up the phone and cleared his throat, then turned and walked out the door. He stood in the hallway staring at the short-pile carpet, the kind every mid-level hotel had. The patterns when stared at were almost dizzying and he blurred his vision, letting thoughts of Katie’s demise continue through his mind.
“Mr. Smith?” a voice said, startling him.
Wilson looked up, almost forgetting he had given a fake name. “Oh, yes. That’s me.”
The kid smiled and passed over two bags. Wilson took a hundred from his wallet and gave it to him. “Keep the change.”
The kid smiled and turned to leave. “Thanks, man. Enjoy your tacos.”
Wilson looked at the two full bags of food and went back into the team members’ adjoining rooms. “I know you guys are packing, but go ahead and take a quick break. I just had lunch delivered. I hope you like tacos.”
The guys, all looking famished, dropped what they were doing and raced over. Wilson handed them one of the bags and chuckled, then left the room, walking across the hall to knock on Red’s door. She yelled to him from inside, and he carefully pushed the door open. “It’s Wilson. I brought you something.”
Red poked her head around the corner. She was brushing her long red hair. Wilson had forgotten what she looked like when she wasn’t all mission dressed and ready for action. Her eyes dropped to the bag of tacos and she smiled. “I was just thinking about how hungry I was. Come in and sit down.”
Wilson did as he was told, putting the tacos on the bed. He took a seat at the desk as she opened the bag and pulled one out. There was a tingling in his chest as he watched her dive into her food. Her brightly painted red lips smacked together, gleaming in the low-lit hotel room. He cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his chair.
Red swallowed her first bite and Wilson watch
ed as her tongue ran over her lips. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “This whole mission reminds me of how much I fucking hate demons, infected, and Katie in fucking particular.”
Red stopped and smirked. “Well, while you’re sitting there, why don’t you forget about all that and focus on the real reason you came here: to watch me eat.”
Wilson opened one eye and grinned, then sat up and crossed a leg over his knee. Red was absolutely right; she was the perfect distraction.
Pandora was sweating, leaping over unconscious bodies in the streets as she yanked demons out of the chests of infected parade-goers. Katie was diagonal from her, doing the same thing. They were trying to exorcise as many as they possibly could. They were everywhere, though, turning faster than either could get their hands on them. Finally, they stopped and looked at each other, exhausted. Katie knew what needed to be done. She hated it, but they had run out of options. She nodded at Pandora and pulled her sword from her back.
The two angels raced forward, slicing off heads as they went. Katie tried to be as clean with the cut as possible, wanting to end each life without much suffering. They moved quickly through the crowd, coming together at a break in the parade.
Pandora shook her head. “This is bananas. Talk about a Christmas Massacre!”
Katie groaned. “And I thought a Christmas Massacre was when you burned the damn ham. Not zombie fucking Santa Claus rising from the dead being followed by his tiny elf children with beady red eyes.”
A tuba blatted and Katie and Pandora both looked around. Pandora raised her sword in front of her. “I thought band members were geeks?”
Katie shrugged. “Apparently these geeks are bloodthirsty animals.”
Pandora groaned. “Well, hope they can play their clarinet when it’s lodged up their assholes.”
The band swarmed, swiping at them. Katie pulled her sword close to her chest and flipped it upside down. Raising it high into the air, she roared, light coming from her eyes and mouth. She slammed the tip of the sword into the concrete, creating a circle of energy that burst out, mowing the infected down like dominoes.