October Lovin...

"Cowboys in Mexico? " I shook my head and took another swig of the bottle to wash down the slightly chemical lingering taste of the deep fry combined with condiment. Nice, cleared the palate amicably and I settled the bottle into the sand, twisting it carefully so that it wouldn't fall over.

"And so much drama." Maria nodded. "Families never approve, somebody's always plotting with somebody else, just... you know... drama."

"How bout you?"

"Me?" Maria snorted, again toying with a piece of food before taking a bite.

"Yeah, do you approve, disapprove, think I'm nuts, what?"

"Oh, all of the above..." She spoke around the morsel, before swallowing and continuing. "Right now there's this thing going on and somehow I'm on the edge of it, and I'm looking at it. Like a party that I am invited to but I'm really nervous about going to because I don't know anybody there."

"Well, you met Nikki."

"She's still hanging out with you?" Maria asked brightly, looking at me. "That's right you said... sorry, was just thinking about other things at that moment and it went right in one ear and out the other."

"Yeah, her husband never called." I shrugged. "So, we figured why not continue back at the cabin. They're all still having that drama I talked about back there."

"Yeah, I not looking to walk into a huge fight." Maria looked up again. "Can't see the moon. Getting nice and dark around here."

I took the hint and pushed myself a little closer to her. The cool sand moved easily under me and I soon felt her hip pressed against mine as we sat close together. I let my arm slip around her waist, and was delighted when she snuggled into my arm. Her body was warm, but I could feel the slight bumps on her skin that indicated a slight chill.

"That sweater's a little itchy." She noted. She sniffed at me gently before curling her head against my shoulder. "So, I think I can deal with it."

"Deal with it?" I asked, not quite following.

"Deal with the fact I want this." Maria said directly. "I have a daughter, and she means the world to me. She told me I was happy today. That means a lot. If it means I have to make arrangements to make it happen, I'll make the arrangements."

"You don't even know me, Maria." I said simply, trying to focus on the fact. "I could be..."

"Nope, I already have seen how you act under pressure, a couple times. Totally somebody I want on my zombie apocalypse squad. Don't tell me you never did that with your unit? Which guys you'd kick out immediately if a zombie apocalypse happened."

"Oh I wouldn't kick anybody out." I immediately countered.

"Parker. Kick out that pendejo in a second." Maria nodded. "Guy can't run, can't do proper radio procedure, can't fill out his paperwork right, and has done it for years. Also thinks he's better than everybody and if you don't listen to him you're disrespecting him. GONE."

"Ouch. Brutal." I commented dryly, admiring the feel of her breast as it pressed against my side. "So how bout you, what do you bring to the zombie survival table? I mean if you really want in here."

"Oh I'm totally the driver." Maria shrugged.

"Ok, that's good for the first two years, so what about after gas goes bad?"

"Huh?"

"See, gasoline goes bad after a couple years. So, unless we're willing to go Mad Max or set up a refinery..."

"You've thought this through?"

"You have a lot of time on your hands in Iraq." I shrugged. "So, yeah, unless you've got a society running that has constant refined gas you can tap into, a driver's really... not that useful."

"Hmmm... well, you are going to need somebody who knows what they're doing with a kid. Sounds like you don't have grandparent backup on either side." Maria pointed out clearly.

"Ah, see, now you're speaking much clearer. Yeah, I mean, we've got nobody on our squad right now who falls under the Den mom category. Maybe Carla... should check with her."

"Ok, fine, I can think of a really good reason to have me along."

Maria craned her head up at me and her hand came around my face. She pulled me in for a tight kiss, and her lips pressed against me. First thought that ran through my head was the remembered taste of hot dog, before I stopped thinking about it and began kissing her back.