Free Erin M. Leaf by You Taste So Sweet

of them sat there for a minute, listening. The only sounds were the engine cooling down and the birds chattering in the woods. The brook that stretched the length of the campground ran clear—no debris other than the tumbled rocks at the bottom broke the water’s flow. No one else was here. Sunlight spangled over the ragged grass growing up between worn tire-tracks—it had been a long time since anyone had been here. It looked just like he remembered it.
    “ I think we’re good,” he said, opening the door and getting out. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the crick in his neck from driving, then grabbed the shotgun Dillon held out.
    “ Wait up, Ben,” Dillon said, getting out of his side of the car. He shut the door, then leaned down and spoke through the open window. “Would you mind staying with the car?” he asked Lark.
    She had her hand on her door, but nodded and settled back against the seat. “Sure.”
    Ben lifted an eyebrow at Dillon who shrugged slightly.
    “We need someone to bail us out if we have to run for it.”
    “ Let’s hope that we don’t have to run for it,” Ben said, not liking the thought of more driving without any rest. “We need to eat and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to sleep sometime.”
    “ Food sounds good,” Dillon said lightly. “We have canned carrots and canned beans. Yum.”
    Ben rolled his eyes. “We also have hot dogs. They should still be good.” They’d cautiously raided an abandoned gas station earlier in the afternoon. The freezer had enough ice in it to keep some of the food from spoiling. “Someone must have planned ahead with that place.”
    “ Yeah, well, they won’t be needing the food now,” Dillon said, walking ahead. “It was definitely abandoned, and quickly, too, from the looks of it.”
    Ben grimaced, thinking about how on edge he ’d been as they’d looked through the place. They’d had to stop. They needed the gas and supplies, but he hadn’t enjoyed walking through it, worrying about Lark and Dillon and the possibility of zombies around every corner. Kind of like how I’m feeling right now, he thought, slowly walking down the campground until he reached the bathrooms.
    “ We should go in and check,” Dillon said quietly.
    Ben sighed. “Yeah.” He started forward, alert to anything out of the ordinary, but all was quiet. When he opened the door, Dillon kept his shotgun raised, but the place was empty. They checked every stall and the showers. “It’s clear.” He looked up at the windows at the top of the cement blocks that formed the walls. There was metal fencing outside every one, heavy gauge. Enough to keep out anything short of a tank. “I bet they put the metal there to keep bears out.”
    Dillon nodded. “It’ll work to keep zombies out, too.”
    Ben felt some of the tension that had lodged in his spine slowly unspool. “We hit the jackpot. Finally.”
    “ We sure did.” Dillon tucked his shotgun under his arm and idly turned on a faucet. A stream of clean water came out. “Whoa. Water’s still working. I was afraid to hope.”
    Ben tried the hot water. The pipes coughed a little, but then the water warmed up and poured out, steaming. “I’ll be damned. That’s still working, too.”
    “ The place must be on its own power grid or something,” Dillon said, sounding tired.
    “ I don’t care why it works. This means we can all have hot showers,” Ben said, smiling. “Let’s go tell Lark.”
    ****
    A few hours later, Ben stretched his legs out in front of the campfire. He was clean, full, and sleepy. They’d pitched their tent near the car for safety. Dillon had strung up a line of cans along the tree line to alert them to zombies. They might be deadly and strong, but they were dumb, thank God. They’d probably walk right through the makeshift alarm.
    “ I’m ready to hit the sack,” Dillon said, yawning. He tossed the stick he’d been using to poke at the fire into the coals.
    Ben watched