"We're all going to die before we reach the camp." Tommy stepped closer to the other college students.
A boy popped from behind the rainbow-colored RV and screamed, "boo!"
Tommy screeched and gasped. "Marcus, Stop that!"
"It was funny." Finley broke out in laughter.
"Don't encourage him." Tommy moved his blond hair out of his large eyes and shoved his thick glasses back on. He stared at the haunted house. "I'm scared," he said to himself.
Rotted McMansions on the tree-lined street appeared as if they came from nightmares. Salt covered the lawns.
A few growls filled the air from inside, but the zombies didn't leave.
The older home, transformed from a Saltbox House, was the only dwelling not touched by the plague. Zombies refused to enter. Even after sixty years, the scent of the sea lingered, a warning to the zombies.
A zombie screamed from the house next door. "Eat you." Sunken eyes stared out at a gap in the wall where a bay window used to be. The starving zombie pointed at Alice. The smell of fruity Zombie Dust filled the air.
Fragments of glass covered the rose bushes.
"Go away!" Alice picked up a clump of salt and tossed it. The zombie flinched and stepped back.
Tommy turned to the saltbox house again. He stared at the spray-painted door. 'Do not enter. House is haunted by my grandmother's murderous ghost.'
"We need to ransack the place before the looters come, or worse, the zombies. There is a ghost, and I need you and Finley to guard the RV," Alice said.
Finley laughed. "You don't believe that."
Alice shrugged. "And I didn't believe in zombies either."
"Did you have to paint that sign on your door?" Tommy asked Alice and her younger brother, Marcus. "It makes this even creepier."
"Grandma's ghost protects us." Alice rushed to the house.
Marcus was the youngest in the group, no older than nine. He spoke softly. "It's really haunted by our grandmother, but I'd rather see Grandma than the zombies." Marcus followed his sister. "I want you both to wait outside. It's not safe. Grandma doesn't like uninvited guests."
"Why did you let the kid talk to you like that? We could help." Finley shoved Tommy.
"It's okay. I'm waiting for a couple of friends and my new girlfriend." Tommy rubbed his arm.
A zombie leaped at him from behind a tree. He grabbed the mounds of salt and tossed it.
Finley kicked the zombie. "You're so obnoxious that Alice and her brother want you eaten out here, and I'll laugh." Finley gagged. "The girl you like isn't coming. You're a loser. Didn't she say that she'd rather her face get ripped out by zombies than be with you?"
"Shut up," Tommy said. "She said she loved me back."
"You're a freak." Finley approached the house.
"Marcus told us not to enter!"
Finley didn't listen. He ran his fingers through his blond hair and shut the door behind him.
Inside the House
Alice threw her brother's soft leather jacket at him. "I already placed the gardening tools, books, and seeds in the RV, but we will need food while everything grows."
"How will we keep safe?"
"Grandfather says there is a hidden salt mine near the camp. But even if there isn't, Grandma will protect us." She turned to the door.
It slammed open.
"Finley, I told you to watch the RV. I don't want Tommy killed."
He laughed. "It's better if he dies. We all know that." He stared at the valuable supplies and a painting of their grandmother.
The painting's brown eyes followed him.
"Just because I turned him down for a date doesn't mean I want him dead.
"Are you sure?" Marcus threw the jacket on and opened the hall closet. He located the backpack and emptied it of school books, wadded-up paper, and old gum wrappers.
The kitchen and living room were in one open room.
"Yes, I am positive, but I was his fourth choice," Alice said.
Marcus grabbed his backpack and tossed a can opener with tins of canned food and granola bars. He rummaged through the fridge and located crusty bread and hard cheese. "Did you find the tents and sleeping bags?"
"Already packed and yurt, too. Thank goodness Grandpa was prepared. He's already at the camp with the army privates, but he wants to swing by Aunt Vena's for more food. I told him all we'd find is Zombie Dust."
"It's too bad about her." Finley took a knife out of his pocket. He swung it at the boy. "I'm taking your stuff and leaving your bodies. I'll just tell Tommy that the ghost gobbled you up. My brother is so stupid, he'll believe you. But I plan to kill him before we reach camp! My girlfriend plans to meet us outside. He thinks she likes him."
Alice stepped back. "Please don't do this."
Finley laughed to himself. "It's my girl's idea and I love it." He stared at a painting of their grandmother.
She floated out and grasped his arm.
Slowly, Finley's fingers transformed into salt. Pieces of him broke off.
Her voice was a small wail. "They told you not to enter. At least Tommy listens. Their parents tried to kill them too, and I turned them into salt when I was alive."
"No, this can't happen! Tommy will come in and save me." Finley's hand fell off.
"Your brother can't hear you, and you are planning to kill him, anyway." Grandmother floated above him. "You can save yourself."
"We need to chop off your arm." Alice fumbled for a knife in her pocket.
Finley shrunk back. "Don't touch me!"
"All the salt around town is from me," Grandmother said. "I needed to protect the living."
"But I am alive," Finley said.
"You're dead by your choices." Grandmother smiled and floated.
Alice picked up the knife. "Let me slice it off. It's the only way."
"I am fine." Finley shrunk back and formed into a lump of salt.
"We need to keep this from Tommy. He'll freak out." Marcus bent over the mound of pink salt.
"Gather the rest of the supplies like nothing has happened." Alice opened the pantry and rummaged through it. "I located the pemmican. We can make soup with that and live for months." She shoved blocks made from dried meat, fat, and dried fruit in her backpack.
"I already found something useful. The only thing left is Zombie Dust, and I don't want to be infected and get high..." Marcus paused. "Are you sure that we won't be turned?"
Grandmother spoke. "Don't be silly. You have to take the Zombie Dust or bath salts by choice."
"It's funny that the former name of the drug is so close to what stops them," Alice said.
Grandmother faded.
Alice ran to the living room, poured hard candy into the bag, and tossed a coin jar inside.
"Money's worthless, even gold." Marcus grabbed more food.
"Grandpa says the pennies are still valuable," Alice said.
Growling filled the air.
Marcus and Alice ran out of the house.
A girl stood beside Tommy. Her brown hair fell over her freckled skin.
"Where is Finley?" the girl asked. "He's cute."
Marcus tried to change the subject. "I am shocked that there is a girl! But she'll probably kill him."
Alice grabbed the girl's arm and examined her. "She's clean; no weapons on her."
"Come on, where is my brother?" Tommy asked.
"Don't ask," Alice said.
A woman ran to them. Auburn hair reached down her back. She appeared beautiful, but the lingering scent of Zombie Dust clung to her skin. "Finley is supposed to meet me here. He ran off with the loot!"
"He tried to," Alice said.
"I need a body to feed on before I rot like the others. I don't care about the salt. It can't stop me!" Claws extended from the beautiful creature's fingernails.
Alice kicked her and yanked her auburn wig off, exposing patches of decomposing flesh.
"I'm going to kill you all and take the RV," the beautiful creature said.
"But I thought you loved me," Tommy said.
Alice kicked her again, but their ankles touched.
"It's a lie. Why would I be attracted to you?" The once-human woman transformed instantly into a lump of salt and fell apart.
"I did this on my own," Alice said. "The more they murder, the faster it takes, but there is usually a way to stop it. But the salt dolls have to want it."
"Is my brother dead? Was he planning to kill me? That lump of salt was my girlfriend." Tommy stepped back.
"Yes, but I tried to save him," Alice said.
Tommy wept, and Alice hugged him.
Marcus opened the door to the RV. "We need to leave before nightfall."
"We'll visit Grandma's spirit again when it's safer." Alice helped the others inside, and she drove down the road.
The RV turned at the unsalted road.
Zombies chased them like rabid dogs after a car. In a couple of hours, the mountains would be in view.