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She looked up and saw Maddie looking toward her. Then she realized Maddie's eyes could probably pick up the light of the lantern in the dark.
"I found some lanterns we could use," Saff answered, grabbing them and walking back to her. "Do you want to hold one?"
Maddie offered her a small smile. "That's okay. The lights really only help as markers in the dark, so I can use them to help show me where I am in a room or where something else is in a room if it has a light on it."
Saff nodded, tucking them under her arm. "I'm gonna go in the house now. Do you want to hold on to me?"
"Um," Maddie paused, still gazing down at the lantern light. "No, that's okay. I'll use my cane. But can you—can you stay near me inside? Just until we make sure there's no one else in there?"
Saff nodded. "Yeah."
She walked a few paces toward the door she assumed led into the house. Maddie followed behind her, swinging her cane in a wide arc as she walked. Again, Saff repeated what she’d done at the previous door, carefully turning the knob and pushing itopen while she held her knife. And again, the door opened easily into silent darkness.
"There's a step here," she whispered back to Maddie.
The hallway they entered quickly ended after a few feet and expanded into what appeared to be a large living room that led to an equally large kitchen on the right. She continued walking until she hit the tile floor of the kitchen.
The scene inside the house matched the garage. Generally clean, but all the cabinets were left open and emptied, with some small worthless items strewn about the countertop.
Maddie cleared her throat, and Saff turned around to look at her. She’d stopped where the kitchen had begun, and now stood leaning against her cane, her eyes still glued to the lantern in Saff's hand.
"So, what's the verdict?" she asked. "Is it safe enough to stay in until the rain stops?"
Saff glanced around the kitchen, leaning her head forward to look into the next room in the entryway leading in from the front door. Branching off from the entryway was a set of stairs.
"I need to check upstairs," she answered. "But yeah. Seems fine."
"Great," Maddie said with a satisfied smile. "When you're done with that, can you show me where a bathroom is?"
Saff stared at her for a moment. "You know the toilets won't work, right?"
"Yeah,” Maddie grumbled, “but do you have a better solution? Because I'm not about to go pee outside in the rain."
Fair point.
"Okay," she answered slowly. "Do you want to go upstairs with me or wait here?"
"Well, how certain are you that there isn't anything hiding down here to kill me?"
Saff shrugged. "Fifty-fifty"
Maddie laughed—a real laugh. And Saff continued watching her. It was the most relaxed she'd seen her, and she wondered why, when everything had seemingly gone wrong. They weren't just injured and exhausted and far from what either of them would consider home, but now they were also cold and soaking wet.
"You know," Maddie said, still smiling. "You go ahead. I think I'll take my chances down here."
Saff watched her. For some reason, it was so different from anyone else she’d seen since the outbreak. It felt almost—normal.
“Just,” Maddie continued, her smile slowly fading away. "Don't, uh—" she cleared her throat as the seriousness returned to her voice. "Don't take too long."
Saff blinked the feeling away, shaking her head slightly. "Yeah."
She turned to leave the room, but then stopped. She reached out and left the rest of the lanterns on the countertop in the kitchen, clicking one of them on.
Then she turned and walked into the next room.
This one was definitely worse than the others. Shattered pictures laid strewn about with broken glass littering the wooden floor. But still, there were no signs that anyone might still be living there.
She moved through the room into the entryway, then walked up to the front door and clicked the deadbolt in place. It wouldn't do much if anyone really wanted to get in, but something was better than nothing.
