Page 44 of Amaros
Chapter Twenty-Three
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ZOE AND GRACE LASTEDa full ten minutes before they grew tired of waiting in the dark garage.“I need to use the bathroom,” Zoe said.
“Me, too,” Grace agreed.“I can’t sense anyone in the house, so it should be safe enough,” she added.
They quietly climbed out of the truck.Zoe grabbed the cooler that contained their provisions.“The door is over here,” she said, seeing faint light glowing around the edges of the door.
Grace was right behind her as she made her way over to the door.It was locked, but the electricity was out, so they didn’t need to worry about an alarm.“Let’s hope the house isn’t full of bodies,” Zoe said, then yanked the door open to break the lock.
“I can’t smell anything rank,” Grace said in relief.
They stepped into the kitchen to find it was outdated, but tidy.The back door had a small door for their pets to come and go.There were no signs of humans or animals as they searched both floors.
There were two bathrooms, one on each level.Zoe used the one upstairs and Grace used the other one.They met up in the living room when they were done.
“This place is nice,” the teen mused, looking around at the ancient, overstuffed couch and matching armchairs.“The furniture looks a hundred years old, but it’s in good condition.”
Brown, with huge mustard-colored flowers, Zoe wasn’t sure which decade the couch and armchairs had been popular in.The carpet was a deep shade of purple that clashed with the pale green curtains.Photos of the family who’d owned the house hung on the walls.The same couple were depicted over and over, growing older with each one.They were probably in their eighties in the most recent one.
“I’m betting the couple who lived here were raptured,” Zoe guessed as she sank down onto the couch and placed the cooler on the coffee table.Their only concession to modern times was the large flat screen TV mounted on the wall.“What do you want to watch?”she joked.
“Anything but the news,” Grace replied with a fake shudder.
Zoe hadn’t spotted any piles of clothing, jewelry, fillings or anything else that might have been left behind by the lucky chosen.The elderly couple must have been at their local church when they’d been taken.A lot of religious people had been compelled to head to their places of worship, or so it seemed.“It’s almost peaceful here in the suburbs,” she said.
A scream immediately sounded from further down the street.
“Yeah, there’s hardly any murders going on around here at all,” the kid said with her usual eyeroll.
Zoe got up and checked the front and back doors to make sure they were locked, just in case.“We should be okay here, as long as we’re quiet and we stay out of sight,” she said when she sat back down.
Grace had opened the cooler and was chewing on an energy bar.She tossed Zoe food and a bottle of water.“It’s not coffee, but at least it’s wet,” she said.
After her snack, Zoe was bored enough to explore the kitchen.“Let’s see what goodies they’ve got,” she suggested.
“Sitting around is getting old,” Grace agreed.
They raided the cupboards, but avoided the fridge.Any formerly fresh food would have perished and they didn’t want to stink up the house by opening the door.
“Score,” Zoe said when she pulled a plastic container of home-made cookies out of the pantry.“They’re still fresh enough to eat,” she said in delight when she cracked it open.“Mom used to bake cookies all the time.She taught me how, but I guess I won’t get the chance to do any baking now.”
“My mom taught me how to pick pockets and scam money from people,” Grace said dourly.
“They’re both useful skills,” Zoe said lamely.
