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He rummaged through a pile of junk in the warehouse they found along the road. He wasn’t expecting to find much but was surprised when he spotted a bag of fireworks. He quickly put them in his bag.
“Find anything?” he heard Carol ask.
“Nah,” he replied.
“Yeah, same here,” she sighed. He made his way over to her. “Well, it was worth a try,” she shrugged.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Come on, let’s get back on the road.” They placed their gear on the bike and climbed on. Carol wrapped her arms around his waist. He kicked the bike into gear and they were off. They’d been traveling for weeks. Just the two of them. They’d finally done it. Set off for New Mexico. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to feeling her snuggled up against him. She felt like home and he never wanted to be away from her again.
“What’s that?” Daryl was pulled from his thoughts by Carol’s question. He looked in the direction she suggested. There was a lake in the distance and a brown object on the shore.
“Let’s find out.” It wasn’t long before it became clear that the object was a small row boat. He parked a little distance away and shut off the motor. A walker, attracted by the sound, shambled its way toward them from a tree line nearby.
“I’ve got it,” Carol said getting off the bike and pulling out her knife. She swiftly plunged the knife into its head and pulled it back out. She made her way back to him while cleaning the knife on her pants. “What?”
He knew she had caught him watching her with admiration. “You’re amazing.”
“Oh stop, it was just one,” she admonished, but she was smiling. He gave her a lopsided grin and pulled her in for a kiss.
“I’ll never get enough of you,” he breathed into her neck. When he pulled away to look at her face, she was blushing.
“I’ll never understand how I got so lucky,” she said in a whisper.
“Stop,” he tutted. “I’m the lucky one. Now how about we see if this old boat still floats.” He walked toward the boat to inspect it. As suspected, there was quite a bit of wear and tear, but not any major holes that he could see. One oar was in the boat and he found the other off to the side in some tall grass. It was in rough shape but still usable. He sat in the middle and put the oars where they belonged. “Give me a push”
“Alright,” she laughed. “But you’re on your own if it sinks”
After rowing for a bit and no water getting in, he determined it was safe. He rowed back to shore to get Carol.
“Grab my bag from the bike, would you?” She looked at him suspiciously, but did as she was asked. She climbed into the boat with the bag. He rowed to the middle of the lake. The sun was starting to set. Insects and frogs began making their symphonies. It was such a serene moment. He could almost imagine they were a normal couple on a nice date. He unzipped his bag and pulled out the fireworks. Carol gave him a shrewd look. “I thought you didn’t find anything.”
Daryl shrugged. “I wanted to surprise you. It’s time we had a bit of fun,” he winked at her and handed her a roman candle.
“You don’t think it’ll draw attention?”
“We’ll be fine. We can handle whatever comes our way,” he assured her. He saw her relax a bit.
“You’re right,” she chuckled. They each lit their candles. Daryl’s was a dud and he watched as Carol’s first shot sputtered and barely made it a foot. The next shot made it a little further and the next further still, but none of them made it as far as they should. They were both laughing. “Well, that was exciting,” Carol said sarcastically.
“What do you expect from decade old fireworks?” he said, still laughing.
Carol snuggled into him. “Thank you.” He put his arm around her and squeezed tight, then placed a kiss on her head. He wished this moment could last forever.