Read Online In the Midst of Tribulation by Mary Griggs - Free Book Online Page A

bathroom."

"Last time I checked, towels were portable."

"Whatever. Did you want some help or not?" he asked.

"Sure. You remember the secret room?"

"Through the pantry?"

"Yeah."

"Totally."

"Think you can get into it on your own?"

"Not a problem."

"I've basically turned it into a wine cellar. Can you go down and bring us up a bottle?" She glanced at Piper, who was taking the stones out of a handful of olives and chopping them. "You want to see something really cool?"

"Trust her, it's the bomb." Cody's voice broke on the final word and he blushed.

"With such a buildup, how could I refuse?"

Cody was nearly dancing in place. "Excellent, come into the pantry." He stood at her shoulder while she washed and dried her hands. "Come on."

"Hold your horses. I'm coming."

Practically dragging her into the small room at the end of the kitchen, he asked, "See anything out of the ordinary?"

She looked into the well-appointed pantry. Along each wall, from floor to ceiling, were wire shelves packed with brightly colored mason jars filled with different fruits and vegetables. She hadn't seen anything like it in ages. Her grandmother's larder might have been comparable but that was when she was a child, many years ago. Not seeing anything obviously out of place, she turned her attention to the tile floor and the back wall where a mop, a broom and other cleaning supplies hung. Having studied everything, she shrugged. "No. What's the big deal?"

The young man brushed by her and pulled a thin piece of metal wire out of a jar of junk on one of the upper shelves. Making a production of rolling back both sleeves, he went up to the back wall. Concentrating, he counted down six holes on the pegboard that covered the wall from floor to ceiling. Gently, he guided the wire into the sixth hole and pushed. He both heard and felt the click as the locking mechanism disengaged. Bending over he counted the same number of holes up from the bottom and repeated his motion with the wire. Stepping back, he laid his palms against the wall and, with a little pressure, a portion of the wall opened.

Piper gasped as a doorway appeared. The opening was completely dark. "You're right, that's pretty neat," she said, grinning at him.

"Oh, you haven't seen everything yet." Cody beamed at her. He looked around briefly before calling out to Jay, "Is there a flashlight, candles or something?"

Jay answered from the other room. "Feel around for a shelf about shoulder level on the left side. You'll find a couple of those forever lights."

"Forever lights?"

"They don't take batteries. You shake them to build up a charge."

"Oh." He pulled out the clear plastic light. "Got it." Cody shook one of the flashlights and handed the second to Piper. After thirty seconds of shaking, he turned his on to reveal a flight of stairs leading into the basement. "What kind of wine do you want? Red, white, or sparkling?"

"It's after the apocalypse, boy. There aren't that many options." There was laughter in her voice. "Okay, okay. See if you can find a Shiraz."

"One bottle of red coming right up." He looked at Piper. "You want to see what's downstairs?"

"You bet I do," answered Piper. She followed him down the steep stairs to a fairly large room. She shone her light over the undecorated concrete walls. Directly under the stairs and behind a curtain, she saw a small sink and toilet. Next to the stairs, stacked floor to ceiling, were cases of prepackaged meals from military surplus. She hadn't been much of a fan of MRE's when she was in the Army, but the familiar packages were a comforting sight to see.

Along one wall were two pairs of bunk beds. Three beds high, she could see that at least six people could sleep comfortably in the room. Each bed was made up and had an extra blanket at the foot. The far wall was covered with a tall wine rack that was at least eight feet tall. "This is incredible," she whispered into the silence.

Cody had been watching her explore the space. He