Free A Glimpse of Decay (Book 3): Lost in Twilight by A.J. Santiago

next to each on the wet grass and leaves.
    ***
     
    “I can’t believe it’s been raining this much,” Michelle complained.  “When you need it to rain, it’s always dry, but when you need a sunny day or a dry night, it comes a raining.”
    “Hopefully it won’t last long,” Benjie said.  “Hey, wait a minute…do you hear that?”
    “What?”
    “Listen.”  Benjie craned his neck to better hear the noise coming from the road.  “Sounds like a car…no, more like a truck.  Look…over there.”  He pointed towards the highway.  “Looks like a car or something is pulled over on the side of the road.  You can see its lights.”
    Michelle struggled to see through the dark as she wiped away the water from her drenched forehead.  “Yeah, I think I see the lights.  Think we should go and see who it is?”
    Benjie thought for a moment.  He remembered their conversation about not trusting anyone, but he knew that their situation wasn’t the greatest and they were both worn out, hungry, cold and wet.  “Yeah, let’s go and check it out.  Hopefully whoever it is, they’ll be friendly.  Just stay behind me.”  He reached out and took Michelle by the hand as they both crawled out from under the tree.  Sloshing through the wet grass and mud, Benjie stopped and told Michelle to hunker down.  He could clearly hear the engine of the vehicle.  It was a diesel.
    He lowered his shotgun and held it behind his back as he stepped out from the trees.  He saw an older red Dodge truck with oversize tires; the engine rumbling away and its interior dome light on.  It was parked on the shoulder with the passenger side tires on the grass.  As he walked closer to the vehicle, he saw that no one was inside of it.  He made his way to the back of the truck and was about to peek around to the driver’s side when he heard the cocking of a gun.
    “Just hold it right there, mister,” came a voice from the darkness.  “Don’t make any sudden moves, and don’t do anything stupid.”
    Benjie froze.  He could tell that the voice was coming from off to his left.  He turned and got a blast from a flashlight right in his eyes.
    “Whatever you got behind your back, just put it down on the ground in front of you…nice and slow.”
    Benjie gave a quick thought about making a run for the trees but decided against it.  He didn’t want to draw any attention to Michelle, so he complied and placed the gun on the grass in front of him.  He heard the sound of footsteps walking up to him, but the bright beam of the flashlight prevented him from be able to see anything.
    “You got anything else on you?” the voice asked.
    “Nope, nothing.”  Benjie knew that he still had his pistol tucked into his back, but he wasn’t going to give away the last thing he had to defend himself with.  As he tried to shift his eyes to see who his adversary was, the bark of a dog startled him.  He looked over to his left and saw a large white German Shepherd.  Its nose was pointing at the trees where Michelle was hiding.
    “Who else do you have with you?” the voice asked.
    “Nobody.”
    “Bullshit.  My dog senses someone out there.  You better tell them to get out here or else my dog is gonna go in there and drag ‘em out.  And that won’t be pretty.”
    “Look, mister, we don’t want no trouble,” Benjie pleaded.
    “Neither do I, but you’re the one who was snooping around my truck.”
    “I didn’t see anyone in it.  It was strange that it was running by itself.”
    “You ever heard of someone pulling over to take a piss?  Now, have whoever is in there step out into the light.  I just want to see who you have with you.  I ain’t looking to hurt anyone.”
    Benjie could hear the determination in the man’s voice and he decided that it wouldn’t be wise to test him.  He looked out to the trees and reluctantly called, “Michelle, come out here.”
    “Just one person?”
    “Yeah, just one person.  Come on,