by J. B. Craig
“They do expire,” Pete said with a grin. “We’re just doing our part. Waste not, want not.”
He surprised a rare snort out of Maria as he began to grab fistfuls and shove them into his pants pockets. “Pete, we’re going to be here for a while,” she said. “You can come back and get more. You don’t need to hoard them.”
“I’m putting some in each of our bags, too,” Pete said. “Besides, not like I have much in the way of a get-well-soon present for your cousin. Might as well make sure I stock him and Kelly up.”
Maria snickered. “I’m not explaining to the people on the walls why you’re dropping condoms as you walk,” she warned. “That’ll be all you.”
“I’ll say ‘I’m a firefighter’ and flex a couple times,” Pete joked. “They’ll look at this body and realize - no explanation necessary.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a hot stud.” Maria shook her head, though she was smiling. “Let’s hurry, though? Our lives aren’t our own these days, and I...kind of really want to,” she admitted, the last all in a rush.
“Maria,” Pete said, reluctantly dropping his fourth handful back into the box. “I know you’re Miss ‘Trust-But-Verify’ - but I don’t think we need to patrol,” he admitted. “The school’s held this long without our help. I watched Spencer mow through a whole line of Locusts. And they sustained really heavy losses, where we only had a few serious injuries. I’m not saying they won’t come at us again - but they’re not coming back today, and no other group is organized enough to get through those walls.”
He watched Maria’s face, seeing the gears turn. He knew she hated to be wrong, would check every last possibility exhaustively - and if that was what she needed to be comfortable enough to relax, he would do it, but he also wanted to make sure that they didn’t get any interruptions. Sooner or later, someone would probably come looking for him to stitch a cut or change dressings, and before then he wanted to have some down time with his lady love. “Please,” he added. “I want to be able to take our time together.”
After a moment to think, Maria nodded and visibly relaxed, shoulders dropping and a big smile breaking over her face. “You’re right,” she agreed. “And I do too. We’ve got everything we need, right? Let’s go back upstairs. We can use the dorm room they assigned us - Ban won’t be able to be back in there for a bit anyway.”
As they headed upstairs together, Pete felt as clumsy as a newborn colt. He ran into a corner, a door frame, and nearly stepped on Maria’s feet when she ‘zigged’ and he ‘zagged.’ It felt like they were both suddenly much more aware of each other’s personal space bubble, with all the awkwardness and cautious laughter that clearing the air had brought.
Maria seemed to be doing a little better than he was, fortunately - it was rare that she passed up an opportunity to tease him, but she just smiled at his clumsiness and reached for his hand to hold. “Don’t you get shy on me, Pete Summerville,” she chided, pulling him to sit next to her on the small dormitory bed. “Like you said, we don’t have a ton of time before we’ll get bothered again, and I intend to make the most of it.”
Before Pete could so much as blink, Maria had seated herself firmly in his lap and was kissing him breathless. He could roll with that, Pete decided. He’d always had a thing for women who were bossy in the bedroom, and she didn’t seem discomfited by the fact that he was hard as a rock underneath her.
Maria kissed like she fought, like it was a battle she was going to win. As it got good to the two of them, the soft kisses and little nibbles turned desperate and messy. Pete went for the hem of her shirt, snaking his hands up under the fabric and enjoying the feel of her soft skin as he had a go at unhooking her bra. Between not being able to see what he was doing, and also having his neck kissed within an inch of his life, he sort of made a hash of it. Maria laughed into his skin at his frustrated growl. “Let me,” she said, taking pity on him, and stripped off both shirt and bra in one fluid motion.
Maria had a beautiful body - she often lamented her thin stature, but she was curvy in all the right places. Her olive skin was flawless, and her breasts were a nice handful, with cute brown nipples that quickly perked at a brush of his fingertips. She gasped as Pete swept his hands up the underside to cup them wonderingly. “Holy shit, Maria,” he marveled. “I love them even more than I thought I would.”
Maria burst out laughing as Pete happily buried his face in her tits. “Been dreaming about this moment?” she teased, stroking the back of his head with her hand, and he nodded easily, too turned-on to put on airs or get embarrassed. “Good,” she admitted. “Me too.”
Pleased by her soft noises, Pete dropped a quick kiss on each nipple, and then tugged one into his mouth, Maria moaning as he sucked at it softly. Encouraged by her reaction, he did the same to its twin, his hands roaming everywhere he could reach as Maria pushed him onto his back, stretching out on top of him. “Why are you still wearing - ah - so many clothes,” she complained, and tugged meaningfully at Pete’s shorts.
Pete quickly lifted up enough to pull his shirt off, and then proceeded to undo his belt and shuck his pants and boxers off like it was an Olympic sport. “Your turn,” he said, reaching up to give Maria’s sides a little squeeze.
He wasn’t expecting either her loud yelp, or the helpless giggle that followed. “Uh-oh,” Pete drawled, grinning up at Maria as she did her best to catch a breath. “You aren’t…ticklish, are you?”
“I hate you,” Maria said, and then laughed hysterically, eyes squeezed shut as Pete tickled her sides. “I know where you - ahaha- I know where you sleep, Pete!”
“Uh-huh,” Pete agreed, completely ignoring her. “Where else? Belly?” he guessed, and grinned broadly as Maria’s feet kicked as she laughed, narrowly missing his legs.
“I will gut you like a fish!” she threatened, giggling helplessly all the while. She reached up to try to get some of her own back, but it was no good - Pete wasn’t particularly ticklish himself, and he was just enjoying seeing her adorable, happy grin. He’d never seen anything quite like it from her, even when they’d been at school, and he thought it was high time somebody made her smile.
Finally, Pete relented, letting her gasp for air. “You’re the worst,” she complained.
“Sorry,” he said, without remorse. He tugged at the waistband of her athletic shorts. “Can I take these off you?” he asked. “I wanna take care of you.”
She nodded easily, and Pete hooked his thumbs underneath and tugged them and her panties (by the feel of the waistband, something lacy and probably cute; hopefully he’d enjoy those when they weren’t potentially strapped for time) down and off.
As nice as Maria’s tits were, her ass was magnificent. With their limited supplies and her naturally lithe figure, none of them had an ounce of fat on them, but all of the bike riding meant she was round and firm. Pete sighed with joy and gave her ass a gentle squeeze - and she reached between him and the bed to do the same, grinning wickedly. “I’m a butt girl,” she said airily. “Gotta get my fix.”
“Baby girl, you can have whatever you want,” Pete said. Resting a hand on her belly, he asked, “Can I touch you?”
“Yeah,” Maria breathed, so Pete slid his hand lower. She was a little fuzzy, but nothing he was gonna complain about when hot water was hard to come by, and when he touched her gently, he was proud to note that she was already a little wet for him. “Good,” he murmured, mostly to himself, and grinned when she closed her eyes and groaned, her hands squeezing his shoulders.
The angle made it hard for her to touch him, and the tiny twin bed made adjusting a difficult proposition, but Pete didn’t mind - he was a sucker for attention to his neck and chest, which she’d seemed to figure out as she kissed, bit, and licked her way around, exploring him. “Maria,” he sighed, and she nodded against him, briefly pausing in her ministrations to wrap her arms around him for a tight squeeze. “I’m here, Pete,” she said softly, and leaving one hand to touch her clit, he wrapped his other arm arou
nd her waist, keeping her close.
It didn’t take long to warm Maria up - whether that was from spending so long kissing earlier, or whether that was just her Pete didn’t know, but before long, she was nudging him expectantly. “Pete,” she said, looking meaningfully at the pile of condoms peeking out of his discarded shorts. “I’m good. You wanna go?”
“You wanna go, punk?” Pete said teasingly, and then laughed and winced as Maria slapped his shoulder. “Alright, alright, pushy,” he said, wiping his fingers on the sheets before reaching to grab one of the little foil packets.
Maria plucked it out of his hands, opening it carefully. She held his dick in a firm but careful grip, and slid the condom on. “You okay?” she asked.
Pete stared up at her in confusion. The gorgeous love of his life was hovering over him with a hand on him, her breasts nearly tickling his chin. “Yes?” he said, uncertain.
“Don’t sass me, I was just checking,” Maria grumbled - though she didn’t seem truly upset, so Pete guessed he’d passed. Without further ado, she lifted herself up, and Pete helped to hold himself steady as she slowly sank onto him. “Ahh,” she sighed as she was fully seated, and smiled down at Pete. “Feels good, babe. Feel good for you too?”
“Yes,” Pete burst - that was an easier answer. Fireworks were exploding behind his eyes as Maria began to ride him; he could only pray that he didn’t come too fast and ruin their moment.
As Maria took charge, Pete fisted his hands in the sheets. The feeling of her around him felt incredible, a steady, warm pressure. He’d been pretty pent-up and she probably had been too - each time he hit inside her just right, she squeezed so tight, and he could feel her body shake.
Maria’s orgasm seemed to take her by surprise - her eyes flew open wide as she reached up with a hand to quickly muffle a scream, pulsing around Pete. He wanted so badly to give her another one before they were done, but he couldn’t last more than another few thrusts past her - he was bone-tired, and it felt so incredibly good. He came with a shout, not bothering to disguise it, and Maria gave him a little gentle pat to his shoulder as she tucked her head in his neck, breathing hard.
It felt so good to lie there with her that Pete found himself nodding off, Maria still curled up on top of him. He took in a sharp breath and sat up with a start, accidentally jostling her, and she looked up at him groggily. “Stop moving,” she complained, rubbing her eyes. “Tired.”
Pete chuckled. “Be right back,” he said, and quickly cleaned himself off, throwing the used condom in the trash can. By the time he got back, Maria had re-claimed his spot, dead asleep in a full-body sprawl. He looked at her, looked at the small sliver of bed next to her, and huffed a fond laugh as he slid into the opposite bunk instead. He was a little disappointed that they didn’t have a larger one to share, but it didn’t take long for sleep to come upon him anyway, lulled into finally resting by the sound of her soft breathing.
31. The Next Wave
As the summer heat swelled, the weeks suddenly passed Maria by quickly. Between kindling her budding relationship with Pete and looking after Bannon - and, of course, his constant companion Kelly - before she knew it, they had made it to the middle of July.
Bannon’s recovery had been slow but steady - his lungs bounced back surprisingly quickly, but his ribs that had been caught in the blast and were taking a little longer to heal. Pete pointed out that he wasn’t helping himself by re-injuring the ribs showing off to Kelly. Still, he was back to the point where he was up and around all on his own steam, barely favoring the injured side. He was nowhere near back to his typical climbing speed, but he had badgered Pete into helping him install a pull-up bar into the drywall so he could at least begin to build his arm strength back up. Kelly was dutifully impressed, though her rapier wit would bring her cousin back down to earth whenever his head got too big.
Maria couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her little cousin so happy. Ban had some of the student soldiers help him set up the HAM radio, and had been checking in with his father and brother about once a week. Their conversations were short and coded, but both Uncle Timmy and Reid quickly ribbed him over his ‘sad cow eyes’ for Kelly. The group learned that things had finally settled down for the Gibson Peninsula.
Apparently, Reid was continuing to make a name for himself in the thick of the battle for Baltimore. Fort McHenry, famous for holding out during the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ had become a bastion of hope in the city. While the cannons from The War of 1812 had been replaced with Howitzers and mortars, they were holding, and Reid and the Dragons were running both search-and-rescue and extermination missions there. The Fort was once again flying the flag under fire, and had held through siege after siege.
Sadly, there had been no sign of Aunt Sally, but they had a lot of dangerous areas of the city that still remained to be cleared, and Reid hadn’t given up hope that he would find her. As the areas surrounding Baltimore began to turn to peace, Reid suspected that his mother was safely ensconced with friends in one of the safer neighborhoods outside the city, possibly in Catonsville or Dundalk.
If Rock Harbor was listening in, they had no way to know. Part of Maria longed to finish their trip every time she walked to the far side of campus, the Potomac glistening in the summer sun, but even she admitted that she’d been allowing herself to delay asking the group if they would be ready to leave soon for ‘one more day,’ which had gradually turned into a week.
While Bannon’s recovery and his happiness had been primarily on her mind, Maria had to admit that they had also become a huge part of the inner workings of St. Mary’s College. Maria and Bannon had become ‘command staff’ and attended all of the daily briefings between the Commandant and Sergeant Spencer, along with a few of the ROTC senior officers, including Kelly. They had learned from their scouting teams that a probing attack had been launched against PAX NAS - they had held easily, but when the survivors turned looking for an easier target, they had set their sights on Chief Jones and the rest of the ‘crossroad warriors’ of Saint James. The Chief had lost a few good men and women, but they had held the line, and Stella had sent word ahead that the attackers seemed to be moving towards the college.
The troops were on full alert with those even on the off-shift sleeping in boots with locked and loaded weapons near them. After Bannon had moved out of the infirmary, he ended up moving into Kelly’s dorm with her, so Pete and Maria pushed the beds together and were sleeping together regularly, weapons at the ready.
The night the attack came happened to be Bannon’s first night back on watch. In the middle of the night, he came into Maria and Pete’s room, and shook the bunks. “They’re coming, and I think it’s a feint from the east,” he announced. “Pete, you know where they’ll need you. Save lives tonight, brother.”
Maria gave him a quick kiss, he grabbed his med kit and jogged out the door. “Maria, we need to cover the west,” Bannon said. “Their eastern assault is too weak; something’s fishy. Bring your weapons, water and ammo and follow me. We’re going to check it out.” He tossed Maria the camo stick, and she knew what to do.
Though Bannon’s limp was more pronounced as he hurried, he still moved quickly. He and Maria jogged out to the library, the tallest building on the riverside at the western edge of campus. Bannon looked at her load-out and said, “Good thing we got more ammo. You’re going to need it.” He handed her his own M16 and all of its mags. “Figure out how to get to the roof of the library, and don’t hit me, Cuz - I’m going swimming.” He gave her a shark-like grin - as much as he detested violence, Maria thought he was pretty terrifying when he was defending them. “Sorry, but I need to go light. Can I have your pistol?”
Maria handed it over, and Bannon stuck it in the small of his back as he took off towards the water, she to the library. As she got to the roof, she had a clear view of the harbor, and could see a rowboat with six men rowing in. She saw a shadow leave the treeline - Ban
non was swimming towards them, mostly underwater.
Up on the roof, Maria was too far to have a very accurate shot, so she instead unloaded ten rounds into the center of the boat. She scored only two hits - one man fell overboard, and another screamed as he fell sideways - but they were forced to slow as the four remaining oarsmen dropped, two paddling and two more reaching for their weapons.
Maria had been able to take cover behind a stone crenellation, and the men in the boats were taking potshots, forcing her to be cautious. Though some rounds hit within a few feet of her, Maria watched carefully and kept her eyes on her cousin’s progress. As Bannon got close to the enemy boat, he ducked underwater, and she didn’t see him for about a minute as the seemingly unaware crew paddled right past him. In an instant, he threw something into the boat and quickly sprinted away - just as the boat exploded, the flailing attackers forced to sink or swim as they looked around frantically for their assailant.
Maria quickly distracted them with harassing fire. One invader who had kept his gun above water shot back, chipping some marble and brick, but treading water didn’t seem to be an effective shooting platform. After a moment he instead focused on getting his teammates onto dry land.
