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Saff let out a frustrated exhale. "Nothing. We need to keep going."
This time Maddie stopped in her tracks, holding her firmly in place. "Don't be an idiot. I can feel you struggling."
If she had the energy, she would have argued relentlessly against that point. Struggling wasn't something she did. But she was too exhausted to argue, so instead, she just stood there, catching her breath.
"We need to keep going," she repeated in a voice that was meant to be stern, but instead fell flat.
And as if to make a point against her, the scattered droplets instantly turned into a light, steady rain.
Maddie leaned her cane against her hip and removed her hand, turning her palm up in the air. Saff watched the small droplets beat against her skin. Then, after a moment, Maddieturned to her, making a face that told her she knew she’d just won the argument.
"Fine," Saff grumbled. "I'll watch out for somewhere we can stop for a bit."
Maddie nodded, a pleased smile adorning her face. Saff rolled her eyes.
They’d reached a neighborhood lined with houses that all looked the same—white paint with black tile roofs and red brick driveways. They were cleaner than the houses closer to the city and also cleaner in general than most. She could imagine them before the end of the world, with their pristine yards and bright white paint. But now that paint had been scuffed—the yards wildly overgrown.
By the time they reached the end of the street, the rain had begun to pour.
“No more looking,” Maddie said in a frustrated tone, shoulders hunching around her neck, as if that would somehow protect her. "We need to go in somewhere. Now."
Saff looked up to the left at the next house. It was a little smaller than the rest, which was good. That meant fewer places where zombies could be lurking inside.
"Here," she said, turning them towards the house.
They walked up the driveway, then Saff spotted a wide wooden fence to the side yard. She led them there and slowly unhooked the latch with one hand hovering over the knife on her belt. She pushed the gate open and tensed, waiting for what might be on the other side.
Trash cans and pool equipment. Then further ahead, the side yard turned and twisted, blocking the rest of the backyard.
"Walk behind me," Saff said, repositioning herself to stand in front of Maddie and moving her hand to her other arm. "There's some stuff on the ground."
She led them carefully around the pool equipment until they reached a side door to the garage. A small window sat at the top of the door, and she pushed up onto her toes, peering into the darkness. She dropped back down to her heels, pulling the knife out, fully prepared for anything that might be prowling behind the door.
Carefully, she turned the doorknob, and the metal let out a low creak against the wood. Then she nudged it open and held the knife up as the inside of the garage was revealed. It was too dark inside to see much of anything, but the unlocked door was at least one good sign that there weren't any humans still there.
"What's going on?" Maddie whispered behind her.
Saff reached down into one of her pants pockets to pull out her small flashlight. "We're going in through the side door."
She shined the flashlight into the dark, mostly empty garage. There were no cars, and the cupboards above the long workbench that ran against the wall were all open with some items left behind, strewn out onto the bench and floor.
Another good sign.
That probably meant that all of the humans had left the house before any would have gotten the chance to turn.
She stepped through the threshold, finally escaping the onslaught of rain. "We're in the garage. I'm gonna look for supplies."
Maddie gave a small nod, releasing the tight grip on her arm.
Saff walked the perimeter of the garage, scanning each open cupboard and down each shelf of the workbench. The light trailed over cans of spray paint, power tools, and an entire corner filled with soccer equipment. She continued, flashing her light to the other side of the garage. There were some fishing rods stuffed in the corner, leaned up against the cabinets. And if it were any other routine search, she probably would have takenthem.But this wasn’t the time to gather anything that wasn’t an absolute necessity.
She moved the flashlight down the rods, tracing them to the ground, and then stopped.
In a small group on the ground, sat four electric lanterns neatly aligned, as if they’d been set out to pack in the car as the owners fled and had simply forgotten about them in their haste to leave.
Saff picked one up off the floor and turned it over, finding the switch. Light illuminated the garage. She knelt down beside the rest of them and tested each one, all of them yielding the same result.
"Saff?" Maddie called out in a whisper.
