A Zombie Christmas Carol Read Online Free PDF Page A

more than anything terrified Scrooge. 
    “Money, my dear Scrooge, money,” he said with a sad laugh.
    “We were already near the Bank having completed our transaction a few moments before.  As we left, we saw the first of the walking dead enter the street.  Do you remember them Ebenezer?” he asked.
    Scrooge nodded as he lowered his head though it was hard to tell if it was out of deference, fear or shame.  In Scrooge’s case, it could have been all three!
    “The Yeomanry cleared the road quite quickly and the survivors, for want of a better word, were chased and cut down as they tried to disappear into the dark alleys of London.  This was nothing however compared to the march on the Bank.”
    “Yes, the Bank, I remember it,” said Scrooge as the memories of the day appeared in his mind.
    “Though we had seen the first part of the attacks in the city we chose to not help.  Maybe we were right to do so. The militia did as fine a job as we could ever have done.  It was not long afterwards that the sea of undead arrived.  This time it wasn’t a few score, it was a myriad, thousands of them and even as the young, the feeble and the helpless were consumed by the walking dead we chose to rush back to the Bank to protect our funds from the looters and the dead,” said Marley as he stared intently as Scrooge.
    The ghostly apparition adjusted his position pulled on one of the many boxes chained to him.  One of them bore the marks of the Bank itself.
    “Yes, of course.  That is no secret though.  We had deposited substantial funds earlier that day and there was a strong, no, a certainty that the calamity to fall upon London would result on a possible loss of our equity still held at the Bank,” said Scrooge.
    “But of course that was not why I died and you lived that day, was it?”
    “Go on, if you truly known what happened, tell me.  How did you die Mr. Marley?” he cried out, half expecting another groan from the shade.
    “My time is limited Ebenezer and I am here to give you a final chance to avoid my fate.  I will say this only once so listen and listen well.  The National Provincial Bank was already being ransacked by undesirables when we arrived.  If you recall we forced our way inside using our sticks with great effectiveness.  Once inside we found the workless and poor busy taking what we considered the fruits of our labours,” he said.
    “Yes, that is true and what a ghastly sight it was too,” answered Scrooge.
    “Ghastly?  These poor wretches were simply trying to take something before the monstrous horde overwhelmed the whole of the city.  Many of them had already lost family members as they tried to escape and just need a little money to buy food and clothing.”
    “Overwhelmed?  Humbug!  If you remember, the Yeomanry arrived in short notice and after a bloody and rather decisive battle were able to halt their progress and stop the attack.  This was merely an excuse for the wretched and lazy to steal from others the things they were unwilling to earn for themselves!”
    “I do not have long old friend.  It is simple.  You and I were both inside the Bank when the looters rushed in.  We fought them off with our sticks and were doing a damned good job until the creatures entered.  They came inside and that is when we saw the box.” 
    “Yes the box, you remember it?” asked Scrooge.
    “Of course, it is the box that was my final downfall,” said the Spirit.
    “We fought them for a long time, even when the soldiers arrived we fought until we were able to reach one of the doors.  The fight was still going on when I ran back to pick up the box.”
    The creature turned its head to reveal a scar on its temple.  “This is where I was struck,” he said.
    Scrooge stepped closer though he was suspicious of the Spirit and its motives.  He could see the injury it was pointing to and it certainly appeared to be in the same place that he was struck, though it was a good number of