Seeing the buzz-cut guy’s body hit the deck, they couldn’t help but stumble back a few steps, hands and feet jittering.

  Everything was just so darn strange.

  The group glared at the woman on the ground and barked,

  “Was it you, lady? What kind of voodoo did you pull?”

  Billy Jean and the others were lurking in the shadowy corner of the aisle.

  These yahoos hadn’t even clocked them.

  All their focus was glued to the scrawny woman sprawled on the floor.

  “It must be her doing. Take her out and avenge Oligay.”

  A woman with a low ponytail was seeing red.

  The dead dude was her beau.

  “I’ll do it.”

  A sleazy fella stepped up, eager to impress.

  He had a thing for the ponytail chick and saw this as his big chance.

  He snatched up a long steel pipe from the ground and stomped towards the woman.

  “Yah...”

  He swung that pipe like he was going for a home run, aiming to crack her skull wide open.

  But the swing screeched to a halt mid-air.

  Then, like something out of a horror flick, the pipe started to twist and curl.

  The sleazy guy freaked out and tried to let go, but his hand was stuck like glue.

  “Ah...”

  A scream ripped through the silent supermarket.

  “Ding, ding...”

  The pipe, now a twisted pretzel, clattered to the ground.

  The sleazy guy was clutching his mangled arm, writhing in agony.

  His pals’ faces drained of color, eyes bugging out in shock, lips quivering like leaves.

  “AAAAH... A ghost!”

  The ponytail woman shrieked and spun on her heel to run.

  The others were right on her tail.

  Suddenly, when the ponytail woman reached the turn, she skidded to a stop.

  “Run! What gives?”

  Her buddy yelled as he caught up.

  But instead of hauling ass, the ponytail woman backed away, eyes locked on something in horror.

  At that moment, three figures emerged from the gloom.

  The runners screeched to a halt.

  When they saw Billy Jean and Michael Joke, a glimmer of hope flashed in their eyes.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  But when they laid eyes on the mummy, an icy chill shot up from their toes to their scalps.

  It made them shudder.

  “Y-you... are you people or spooks?”

  Their voices quaked.

  Billy Jean flashed them a grin.

  “Do I look like a ghost? I mean, c’mon, look at me.”

  They eyeballed the drop-dead gorgeous Billy Jean and shook their heads.

  “Indeed, I’m not a ghost.”

  Billy Jean let out a chuckle.

  “Then what about it...”

  The group’s gaze shifted to the mummy.

  “As for it! Well, I can’t make any promises.”

  Billy Jean’s tone was cheeky as hell.

  Instantly, the group’s hairs stood on end.

  Looking at Billy Jean, they begged,

  “Save us. We’ll give you anything.”

  “I can have anything I want, really?”

  Billy Jean’s voice was all innocence.

  The group nodded so fast their heads were a blur.

  If she asked for all their supplies.

  Sure, they’d be reluctant, but they’d hand them over.

  Compared to their lives, it was peanuts.

  A devilish smirk tugged at Billy Jean’s lips.

  “Can I have your lives?”

  In a flash, the group’s expressions went from pleading to horrified.

  “You... um...”

  Before they could even blink, an ultra-thin wire zipped through their heads.

  One by one, their eyes popped open in disbelief and they dropped, kicking and screaming.

  The wire, which had shot out from between Michael Joke’s fingertips, was floating in the air, not a trace of what it had just done.

  “Michael, why’d you steal my thunder? I was about to drop the bomb, scare the bejesus out of them, and then use my bone spurs to slit their throats and watch them bleed out. That would’ve been so satisfying!”

  Billy Jean huffed, clearly ticked off.

  Michael Joke: Uh... Was she always this twisted?

  “Thank you for saving me. Thank you.”

  The emaciated woman dropped to her knees and kowtowed like crazy to Billy Jean and the others.

  Then she wobbled to her feet and was about to scram.

  “Wait.” Billy Jean called.

  The woman’s spine went rigid, and she sank back to her knees, begging,

  “Please let me go. I’ve got kids waiting for me at home. I won’t touch that pack of biscuits again. I didn’t take squat here. Please have mercy.”

  “Don’t freak out. I’m not gonna off you. I’m saying you can take all the supplies here.”

  The woman’s head snapped up, eyes wide as saucers, staring at Billy Jean in disbelief.

  With that movement, Billy Jean and the others finally got a good look at her face.

  It was a mess, like she’d been hit with sulfuric acid.

  “Sorry for spooking you.”

  The woman ducked her head again, hiding her face with her hair.

  “You can take all the supplies here. We won’t give you any grief.” Billy Jean said.

  “Thank you. Thank you.”

  The woman sprang to her feet, snatched up a bag, and started loading up the food the group had scrounged.

  Truth be told, there wasn’t much.

  A few packs of soda crackers, some measly candies, plus a lone ham sausage.

  And the pack of compressed biscuits she’d found.

  The food wrappers were grimy, but the woman didn’t care.

  She packed them up like they were gold.

  “Thank you. Thank you.”

  After another round of thank-yous, the woman limped away.

  She kept her head down as she shuffled past the mummy.

  The mummy seemed to sense something and craned its neck to watch her go.

  It cocked its head, like it was deep in thought.

  Then it shook its head and turned away.

  The woman, who’d been making a beeline for the exit with her head down, also whipped around to glance at the mummy.

  There was a flicker of doubt in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head and pushed on out of the supermarket.

  “She won’t make it through the night.”

  Michael Joke said, staring after her.

  “Nonsense. She’s fine.” Billy Jean scoffed.

  “Her forehead’s dull, her eyes are puffy, and there’s a deathly pallor in her eyes. She’s got one foot in the grave.”

  Billy Jean shot him a look and sneered,

  “Fine young man, why not do something good instead of playing psychic.”

  Michael Joke: Billy Jean clearly wasn’t buying it.

  She stepped over the bodies and pressed on into the supermarket.

  Fortunately, the stuff she was after wasn’t exactly hot commodities.

  She managed to score what she needed:

  a mask, shades, and a baseball cap.

  Billy Jean told the mummy to slap them on, and presto, 99% of its freakishness was masked.

  She wrinkled her nose as she eyed the mummy’s tattered rags.

  It still needed a new outfit.

  But after circling the supermarket, she came up empty-handed.

  There were no adult duds for sale.

  At that moment, she zeroed in on Michael Joke’s threads and her eyes lit up.

  Although the mummy was all bones, it had long limbs and was about the same height as Michael Joke.

  So his clothes would fit like a glove.

  “Michael, strip down. Quick.”

  Michael Joke’s face went blank.

  “Take... take them off?”

  “Yes! Lose the whole ensemble.”

  Michael Joke eyeballed Billy Jean, who was getting impatient, and glanced around.

  “Here?”

  “There’s nobody else. Why the stage fright?”

  “It...” Michael Joke looked at the mummy.

  “It’s not human. Don’t sweat it.”

  “...” Michael Joke’s world view took a hit. He didn’t expect Billy Jean to be so cavalier.

  With a face like thunder, he gritted his teeth and said,

  “Billy, forget it.”