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She looked at the Baileys’ dark, empty house. “I’ll wait on the sidewalk for you.”

The moment I entered the house the stench of blood and bowels hit me. The odor of death tended to linger no matter how much you scrubbed. I’d learned that after working to bring my parents’ bedroom back to a habitable state. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up and move then. There were enough empty places in town. But somehow I couldn’t abandon my family home. Now I felt I could walk away from this house without a backward glance.

I went through the downstairs making sure the appliances were off. I only glanced at the stains on the kitchen floor as I gathered the rest of the food from the mini fridge before unplugging it. Upstairs, I crammed all of Ashleigh’s possessions into her pack and a few of my things in a gym bag. Everything else we needed for the night should be available at next door.

Outside, Ashleigh stood facing the door, waiting for me, arms folded and shoulders hunched against the wind. Together we walked to the neighboring house. The Baileys had been good friends of my mom and dad’s. They’d had mutual friends, went out together, played cards, barbecued in one or the other backyard on summer afternoons. The couple had been like an aunt and uncle to me. Their kids were all older, when I was still in elementary school. Mr. Bailey had shared his love of astronomy with me and used to let me view the sky through his telescope. They’d been among the dead following the first attack. I’d helped the burial crew dig the pit where all the remains townspeople were placed.

Now, as I opened the door and turned on the foyer light, I remembered Mrs. Bailey rummaging through her purse for money to pay me for some school fundraiser item I’d delivered. A felt a pang of sorrow at the loss of her and of a world where there’d been school fundraisers.

“
Emily and Bob Bailey used to live here,” I told Ashleigh, feeling the need to give them some sort of requiem. “They were really nice folks.”

She nodded and offered an obituary of her own. “Lainie was the sweetest lady I ever met, caring and thoughtful. A motherly type. She really took care of Jeff in the short time he was with us. I’ll miss her.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
She wasn’t quite dead when I found her, you know. I had to finish it.” Ashleigh looked at me, pale eyes glistening. “It’s different when it’s somebody you know. Harder.”

“
Yeah.”

She paused then added, “You had to kill someone you loved, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “My mom.”

“
I thought so. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s not my business.”

“
No. It’s all right.” That night wasn’t something I wanted to talk about but maybe sharing my pain would lessen Ashleigh’s. “Like I said, my dad was already dying when I went into the bedroom. She’d finished him off. I ran outside but attacks were happening everywhere and I knew running away wasn’t going to help. I had to go back inside and stop her before she killed more people. I went to the shed, got my dad’s axe and went back inside.” I left it there. She didn’t need more details. “It was bad. Like you said, it’s a lot harder to kill someone you know. But there’s no point on dwelling on any of it now. Come on. Let’s get settled and make something to eat.”

This was the house where the rest of Ashleigh’s friends had been staying. All their stuff had been left behind. We dropped our bags in the family room until I had a chance to clear a bedroom. Or two. I wasn’t sure if we were sharing tonight or not.

We ate microwaved lasagna for our meal, sitting at the kitchen table and devouring the skimpy portions offered in the TV dinners.

“
Still hungry?” I asked afterward.

“
Starving. I have a craving for cheese curls and ho-hos. Junk food is comfort food my mom always said.”

We scoured the cupboards and came up with fat-free microwave popcorn and an unopened box of vanilla wafers. Either Mrs. Bailey hadn’t kept fattening foods around or the others had eaten the good stuff yesterday.

Leaning against the counter side by side, Ashleigh and I waited for the sound of popping in the microwave to stop. I bit into one of the dry cookies and choked it down. “I could go back to my house. There might be snack crackers and better cookies than these.”

“
I don’t care that much. Don’t go.” The soft way she said
don’t go
made the words an invitation which hung in the air as tantalizing as the smell of popcorn filling the kitchen.

My body tensed and desire gathered inside me in thick, heavy layers. This might be our last night together, our last chance to get close. I could feel Ashleigh fading out of my life even as I reached for her. I stopped worrying about whether getting physical was the right thing to do and pulled her into my arms. She curled her hands over my shoulders and leaned into me, her body snug against mine. I focused on her wide, clear eyes then her luscious mouth and bent to kiss her, a polite press of the lips at first that quickly grew deeper. I closed my eyes and sank into the kiss. She tasted of vanilla cookies and lasagna. Her tongue swirled sinuously around mine and I thought about pole dancing.

I was hard, my flesh burning like I had a fever and my heart beating faster than when I’d faced that zombie earlier. Ashleigh felt so good in my arms and it had been way too long since I’d been with a woman. And while my occasional girlfriend, Jane had been a nice girl, a comfortable girl, she’d never turned my blood to fire like this.

I lifted Ashleigh and set her on the counter, moved in between her legs which she wrapped around my back. Her hand curved around the back of my neck and she kissed me so hard it stole my breath. I tugged the strap of her tank top down her shoulder and kissed her salty-sweet skin. My lips skated along the edge of her neckline and over the swell of each breast. Pulling her top lower, I released one and nuzzled its softness, found the perky nipple in the center and sucked it in.

She moaned and hitched her hips forward on the counter so her crotch pressed against the bulge in my jeans. She ground against me and her whimpers nearly pushed me over the edge. Abruptly she pulled away from my grasping hands but only long enough to take off her top.

I gazed at her breasts for a moment before seizing another nipple with my mouth.
Soft. Warm. Soft.
My mind was reduced to its primitive state and only those two adjectives filled it. And a verb.
Need!
I rocked against her, but it wasn’t enough to ease the aching.

Her hands tangled in my hair, holding my head to her breast. She tugged me away and muttered breathlessly, “Condom.”

I’d seen some in her bag when I packed her things and I’d had a “just in case” box in my room. I hadn’t really expected to need it during my summer break that had never ended but sprawled into fall and a new way of life.

I picked her up and carried her to the living room. It felt like a dream—a very earthy, realistic dream—as I set her down on the floor and we stripped. Ashleigh was beautiful, lithe and lean with small, high breasts and dark, up-tilted nipples. I could’ve stood there feasting on the sight of her for a while but she held out her arms to me as she lay back on the couch.

After swathing my cock with the necessary armor, I lowered myself over her. Our bodies slid together, warm and living. All thoughts of death were dispersed by the sensation of skin against skin. I pushed inside and her heat swallowed me. For many long minutes we thrust against each other, slow and easy, then faster and more urgently. She moaned as she bucked beneath me. I was reduced to grunting and rutting like an animal, basic and primal. Then sparkling bits coalesced and exploded in a shower of bliss that rained through me.

I collapsed on top of her hot body, panting and boneless, feeling the best I’d felt in a long time. This was what I’d desperately needed—to feel alive again.

“
Was it all right?” I murmured against her neck. “Did you finish? Do you need me to do anything else?”

She sifted my hair between her fingers. “You’re so sweet. Not many guys would bother asking. Yes, I came and it was good.”

The warm glow percolating through me told me it had been, but the woman’s experience was a bit of a mystery. I knew sometimes they exaggerated or faked to stroke a guy’s ego. Ashleigh sounded satisfied so I believed her.

We lay quietly, sweat drying on our bodies, the room growing darker as the sun set. The faint light from the kitchen cast the hollows of Ashleigh’s body into shadow. I ran a hand over the curve of her arm.

“
Will you come with us when we go?” she asked.

I was silent for a moment even though my impulse was to shout
hell, yeah
. “I don’t know. There are things I have to consider, people depending on me here.” I slid my hand to her wrist and felt her pulse. “Daylon’s in a big hurry to leave, but you don’t have to. You could stay here. We could go later if we decided to.”

It was her turn to pause as she traced idle circles on my back with her finger. “I’d feel… I guess disloyal to Daylon and the others if I bailed on them. We’ve been together for so long, depended on each other, kept each other alive. You know how it is.”

“
Once you’ve been in the foxhole with people it’s hard to leave them behind.”

“
That’s right.” She tapped a rhythm on my spine with her fingertips. “On the other hand, I’m really tired of traveling. It would be nice to stop and rest. And I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“
Me too. With you,” I mumbled, feeling as incoherent as an athlete trying to give an interview. “We hardly know each other, but I’d like to.”

“
And to have more crazy hot monkey sex,” she added. “That’d be nice.”

I smiled as her chest vibrated with laughter. Why couldn’t life always be like this—a quiet moment in the aftermath of good sex? No bloodshed, no danger, just peace.

The bubble burst as Ashleigh turned serious. “I’ve been thinking about Maureen all afternoon. When we tell her what happened today, she’s going to be terrified that she’s infected and it’s just not showing. If you could know or not know you were carrying a time bomb, would you choose to know about it?”

I lifted my head and looked into her worried face. “I’d want to know the truth. Wouldn’t you?”

“
I’m not sure. It’s scary enough facing death without knowing you might turn afterward. I think I’d almost rather be ignorant. But we have to tell Maureen. God, I dread it.”

“
It won’t be easy.” I rose from the couch, held out my hand to Ashleigh and helped her up. “Still want that popcorn?”

“
More than ever. Let’s get snacks, crawl into bed, watch a movie, drink wine and screw all night.”

“
Can’t think of a better way to spend the evening.” I followed her to the kitchen, my gaze riveted on the sway of her bare ass.

We cleaned our dishes, grabbed food and a bottle of wine from the Baileys’ collection and went to the master bedroom. Clothes were strewn on the floor and a half empty backpack sat on the bed.

“
Tanesha’s stuff,” Ashleigh said. “I’ll miss her. She was funny and smart-assed. We met her before we left Vegas. She always butted heads with Daylon. Told me once he reminded her of her big brother, always trying to boss everybody.”

She cleared the bed and plumped up the pillows while I checked on the generator. I was so damn happy to be having a date night with Ashleigh I didn’t even cringe when she picked
The Princess Bride
from a cupboard full of DVDs she found.

“
This was my favorite movie when I was a kid. I used to watch it over and over.” Ashleigh turned on the TV and inserted the disc into the player. “My mom and I didn’t spend a lot of time together. She was always at work or on a date with some new guy or hanging out at bars or someplace. The girl next door would babysit me. But I have one memory of watching this movie with my mom, laughing and saying the lines out loud. She could be a real bitch, but sometimes she could be a lot of fun too.”

I felt guilty for every time my dad had tried to spend time with me and I’d shown no enthusiasm. I didn’t like swinging at pitches or tossing a football. I avoided helping him work on the car engine. He hadn’t understood my interests either but at least he’d tried. But I’d been too young and ignorant to realize having a parent who cared was pretty special.

I climbed into bed beside Ashleigh and we leaned against mounds of pillows, eating popcorn and getting buzzed on expensive wine. I’d never been more content. It was ironic to find such happiness in the midst of chaos. Or maybe it was because these moments were stolen from a world in tatters that made them seem so special.