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on keeping on. There’re still the rest of us that expect you, trust you, to make the right decisions to get us home.” She shifted and pressed herself close to him.
    He liked the warmth that spread from her body to his. “You going to be alright?”
    “Right as rain. I’m one tough bitch and you, of all people, should know that by now.” Sarah sounded confident. “We’re all more worried about you. If you can’t make the tough decisions, who will?”
    “You,” he teased. He didn’t exactly feel better about the events of the past day, but it did feel as though he’d broken through a wall.
    “Fuck that. I don’t want that kind of responsibility.” She leaned up and kissed him. She then sank back down to rest against his side.
    “I don’t know why anyone would. It’s a mighty heavy weight to carry.”
    She sighed softly. “Go back to sleep, asshole. I want a good morning treat.”
    *
    Percival pointed at a spot on the map. It was the location of a dealership according to a brochure they’d picked up from the visitor center for the town on the way in.
    “This is only a couple miles from where we’re at and possibly has stuff we need.” Percival knew better than to expect any working vehicles to remain, but if the pumps had been shut off there might still be diesel gasoline left.
    “The cars’ll be useless. Jimbob outside said they were all gone. He’s a trustworthy mate, and been quiet since he arrived.” Roy Joy fidgeted, staring at the map.
    “It doesn’t mean other things of use won’t be there. Campus still needs diesel for their generators. Don’t dealerships have their own gas pumps?” Percival sat back from the table in the central hall.
    “They do, but we had difficulty finding anything more than a drop our first month out,” Andrina said.
    “The places we checked then were the commercial places. The dealership pumps have likely been turned off the entire time.” Karl picked the slide of his pistol off the table and reattached it to his pistol. “There’s also this gun shop just a block away.”
    “That’s prolly been looted already.” Evan directed a laser dot to the map and traced a circle around a block. “There’s still the rest of the shopping district here.”
    “It’s the other side of the town, kid.” Karl worked the slide of his pistol a few times before setting it on the table. He started pressing bullets into a magazine. “It’s probably still laced with zombies too.”
    Percival’s mind went to the department store they stayed in the night before. It had been near the shopping district. It had been surrounded by zombies when they snuck in to search it. “It’s too dangerous. We pick a place further from the area.”
    “Such as the opposite side of town. Correct, Mister Polz?” Andrina asked.
    Percival nodded. “It’s dangerous and we’ve already seen that most of the buildings over there are pretty smashed up. In our experience, smashed front windows usually mean even less inside.”
    “Whatever,” the youth muttered.
    “Are we decided then?” Percival asked from his seat.
    “Jimbob says—“ Roy Joy was cut off by Sarah.
    “Yeah, we’re good to go. I also think we should keep this spot as a safe-house for searching this town. We’ve done it in other places.”
    Percival nodded. Keeping this place secure as a safe-house would mean splitting his team up, but that’d never been a problem before. “Unless there’s some objection, I’m going to second that.”
    Percival looked slowly around the table. No one voiced an objection to Sarah’s suggestion. He waited a handful of seconds before saying, “Right. Roy Joy and Andrina, you’re on guard duty then.”
    “I want to go—“ Roy Joy’s voice took on the quality of a whiny teenager.
    “We’d be honored to hold down the fort,” Andrina said, cutting off Roy Joy.
    “Thank you.” Percival stood up and collected the map. “We leave in half an hour.”
    *
    Percival felt uneasy. It had