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

Michelle, come on out.”
    “Michelle, come out,” the voice called.  “I promise, I’m not going to hurt you or your friend.”
    “Will your dog bite me?” Michelle called back.  “He seems mighty mean.”
    “No, he won’t.  I promise.  Come here, boy.”  The dog responded to the voice and darted behind the flashlight.
    “Okay, I’m coming out.  Just please don’t let that dog bite me.”  Michelle slowly stepped out from the trees and walked up next to Benjie.  The flashlight beam dipped away from the couple and a middle-aged man slowly emerged from the darkness.  He was wearing a worn and faded maroon Texas A&M ball cap, a dark rain coat, blue jeans and brown tactical boots.  As he came forward, Benjie could see a lever-action rifle in the crook of his arm.  His dog followed closely behind; its ears pointing forward and its tail locked in place.
    “Don’t worry, Rhino won’t hurt you.  Unless you go off and do something silly.”  The man crouched slightly and bent down, picking up Benjie’s shotgun.  “I’m just gonna put this in the bed here real quick.”  He stepped back towards the truck, easing the weapon down onto the deck of the truck bed.  “So, what are y’all doing out here?”
    Benjie continued to study the man.  He noted his full face and dark features.  There was something familiar about him.  Something about his voice.  “We were headed to Rome—”
    “Ah, not a good idea,” the man interrupted.  “Things there are kind of…well, let’s just say it’s not a good place to be right now.”
    “I know,” Benjie said as Michelle stood in silence, fixated on the dog.  “They had some kind of road block set up just outside of town.  They had the state patrol, the cops…even the damn National Guard out there.  They were stopping everyone and trying to take their cars and their property from them.  Some people made a fuss about it, but they just shot them and took their stuff anyway.”
    “Yep, all in the name of ‘quarantine’ or trying to keep the city safe from infection.  By the way, what’s yall’s names?”
    Benjie raised his hand to shield his eyes from the rain.  “I’m Benjie and this is Michelle.”
    “I’m James.”  James pointed down at his dog.  “And this is Rhino.  So I take it you got away from the road block?”
    “Barely.  A bunch of guys showed up and this big gun battle started.  People were getting shot and killed…and then they started coming back to life.  It was awful.  Michelle and I hightailed it out of there.  We made off for the woods and we’ve been out here for the past two days.  We were gonna try to maybe follow the highway back home, but we didn’t know if we wanted to risk being seen by anyone because of what happened at the road block.”  Benjie looked at the man’s face, trying to place him.  He was sure that he knew him from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite make the connection.  “Say, don’t I know you from somewhere?  You seem awful familiar.”
    “I was just thinking the same thing.  But no, I don’t think I know you.  Anyway, you guys are lucky you got away from the place.  The commander of that guard unit stationed there is the cousin to the commander of the state patrol barracks for that area.  They decided to close off Rome to any outsiders.  Now, all those inbred bastards are running the show.  Of course, the wife of the guard commander is the sister to the Chief of Police, so they got all the support they need to run that whole town.”
    “What about the mayor?” Michelle asked.
    “Executed,” James replied bluntly.
    “What?” Benjie exclaimed.
    “Yeah, executed, along with a bunch of other folks who didn’t want Rome to be locked down.  That guard commander said he had the authority to do all of that because of martial law.  I’m telling you, they got that place locked down tight.  Almost every road is either barricaded or manned by a road block.”
    “What