We didn't talk the rest of the day, driving in silence until we hit the outskirts of Washington DC. Edward finally slowed down as we started to encounter cars stopped in the middle of the road. He maneuvered around them expertly as he headed towards the Mall and all the big main monuments. The city was quiet and eerie, like every other city we'd been through.

"You know anyone around here?" I asked softly, my voice slightly raspy.

He shook his head. "No."

"We don't have to stop."

"You may never get another chance to see it."

I nodded. The unspoken truth was weighing down on us. There was no guarantee that we'd make it through this alive, that anyone would. We didn't know if the infection was restricted to us or if the rest of the world was done for.

He pulled Winnie to a stop on a small side street and we sat in silence. The rain was letting up but it was still falling. The heavy gray clouds were making the dusk fall faster and even though it was still relatively early in the evening, it was pretty dark outside.

"Let's sleep now and we'll do the touristy thing tomorrow when it's clearer."

I nodded, too tired to argue. We split a can of pork and beans, dashed outside to urinate under a small awning and then crawled into our small nest to sleep.

I cuddled against his chest, nestling my nose against his throat. "Thanks for not trading me today."

He stroked my hair with one hand, the other holding me close. "You're my family, B. No one fucks with my family."

I nodded, my eyes closing and the darkness of sleep taking me under.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Edward and I did our regular checks, ate a breakfast of canned pears, and set out, a set of keys in each of our pockets and a bat in one hand. We were wearing our padding and our long sleeves. We probably looked like fat freaks, but we were relatively safe and we were content. We made our way up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. There were dark stains on the white stone and remnants of bodies around the base of Lincoln in his chair. I looked up at it for a moment, then turned and wandered around, reading the words carved into the stone walls.

"I came here once in 8th grade," Edward said after a moment. "Class trip. I got my first kiss right over there."

I turned my head and looked in the direction he was pointing. I grinned and walked over towards it. "Here?"

He grinned and nodded, following me. "Right here." He rested one hand on my hips and reached up with the other, pulling my mask off and kissing me lightly before replacing it and pulling me along behind him.

We walked around the reflecting pool, stopping to look at the World War I Memorial, then the Korean and the Vietnam Memorials. I pulled him off to the side and we found a path leading to the Jefferson Memorial. It led through a little wooded area so we were tense but we made it through alright.

I stared up at the statue of Jefferson now, thoughtful.

"Do you think that we'll ever have a 'normal' again?"

"Who knows. We'll create our own normal, that's for sure."

I sighed. "Lie to me, Edward. Tell me everything will be wonderful and perfect again someday, that I won't have to wear a face mask and sports pads when I want to pee, that I can take a bath more than once every three months or so."

He chuckled softly and took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. "Fine. Someday, we'll get back to normal. You'll go to college and I'll be writing for a paper again. You'll have a small apartment somewhere that's perfect for a college student and you'll have tons of guys hanging all over your every word and none of them will be worthy of you."

I grinned and nodded. "Better."

We wandered back to the Mall, looking up at the Washington Monument and then heading back towards Winnie, pausing at the World War II monument as we went. I leaned against Edward as we looked at it. The fountains had long since stopped and the water was scummy and nasty. It smelled awful and mosquitoes were buzzing around, inevitably finding ways through the layers we were wearing to bite our skin.

"Do you think they'll build a monument to the survivors?"

"Maybe. It'd be easier to remember the survivors than those who died."

I wandered over to the place where Texas was engraved on a stone pillar. I reached up and touched it with my gloved fingertips. Edward was running his fingers over the wall of stars.

"We should go," he said after a while. "It's getting late. We'll sleep tonight and drive on tomorrow. We're about three hours from Philadelphia."

"Let's just go tonight," I suggested, slipping my hand into his as we started back towards Winnie. "I'll drive and you can sleep."

"I'll stay up with you. You've had less sleep than I have the last couple of days."

I nodded and yawned, proving his point. He chuckled as we walked, looking around. "Did you ever see the movie The Exorcist?"

"Yeah. It scared the shit out of me."

He laughed. "You know it was filmed here? The steps the guy fell down aren't too far, about two miles or something. You wanna go try to find them?"

"Fuck yeah!" I exclaimed excitedly.

He laughed and helped me up into Winnie before running around the front and climbing in as well. We drove for a bit, peering around corners as we looked for the gas station marking the bottom of the steps. I squealed when I saw it, bouncing in my seat and tapping on the window. Edward laughed again and pulled into the gas station. We looked around, grabbed our bats, and climbed out. We walked over to the bottom of the steps and looked up at them.

"They look steep."

He nodded and looked up it, hefting the bat in his hands. "I dare you to go up."

I raised my eyebrows and turned to face him. "You dare me?"

"I do." The corner of his mouth quirked up into a small smile.

"I'll do it if you do it."

"Ok."

We both stood, staring up the steps.

"Ladies first."

"Age before beauty."

"I'll be right behind you to catch you."

"I'm sure you will be."

We kept staring.

"Ok, here's the deal."

I turned to him, my eyebrows raised. "I'm listening."

"We just tell people we did it."

I grinned and stuck out my free hand. "Deal."

He shook it, then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we headed back to Winnie.

"You know what I've always wanted to see?" he asked, pulling back out onto the street.

"The Eiffel Tower. No wait, the moon."

He grinned. "The President's rooms in the White House."

"Ooo… me too."

"Wanna check it out? Maybe spend the night there? We can get up early and head to Philly, spend the day seeing shit there, then drive straight through to Portland."

"Oh my god we could sleep at the White House." Suddenly, the AZ didn't seem so bad. I'd completely forgotten the fact that not only were normal people's houses and stores and buildings vacant, so were rich people's houses and mansions.

We drove through the quiet streets until we found Pennsylvania Avenue and Edward pulled to a stop. We sat in Winnie and looked through the gate at the large house.

"So…do we ram the gates or what?"

"Sure, why not."

I laughed. "It might do some damage to Winnie."

"Well, obviously not with this vehicle. God, B, give me some credit."

I grinned and turned in my seat, looking around. "There." I tapped my finger on the window, looking at a pickup truck sitting a ways down. He nodded and swung out of his seat, crossing to the truck. I locked up behind him and watched, rolling my window down so I could shout if I needed to. He opened the door and leaned in, checking for keys. He stood up and gave me a thumbs up before settling into the seat and turning the engine over. I crossed my fingers anxiously but it caught and sat at an idle. I watched him pull his seatbelt on and then maneuver the truck around so he was facing the gate. He took a deep breath and hit the gas. I chewed on my lip nervously, watching the truck rocket forward and slam into the gate. It bounced back, his head snapping back painfully. I winced for him and looked at the gate. Nothing.

He rubbed his neck, shook his head and backed up, ramming it again. He tried a few more times but nothing happened. He was scowling now. He finally moved the truck out of the way and walked over to the gates, studying them. If they were electric, we were pretty well sunk. It would be difficult to move them manually. I laughed to myself as he kicked the gates a few times and then pulled out the gun and fired at it. I shook my head as he finally stomped back to Winnie and climbed in.

"So…that's a no go then." He shot me a look and I laughed. "Hey, at least you tried. Let's just go on to Philly and see it tomorrow. Get a head start on everything."

He nodded and sighed. "It's frustrating, though. I was really looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight."

I grinned. "It's fine. Soon we'll be on the island and you said there are beds there so we'll be fine."

He grinned. "Yeah, but sex will be a little awkward with my family all around us."

My face heated up at that. "Sex huh?"

"Yeah. I was thinking it'd be nice to do that at least once before we got there and even better on a large comfortable bed."

"You have a point."

We were still sitting in front of the White House, looking up at it.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'd rather get to the safety first. Avoid the horror movie cliché of characters having sex. You know they're always the ones who die, right?"

He grinned and nodded. "Good point." He started the engine and pulled back onto the street, avoiding the truck.

We drove all the way to Philly. Normally, I was sure it was a three hour drive, but in these conditions, driving around cars sitting on the highway, stopping to refuel, the slow speed of Winnie, it took us nearly five. It was well after dark when we crossed the city limits and Edward was looking somewhat anxious about that. We'd been lucky in DC, seeing nothing to cause any stress. Here, though, there were more cars, more remnants of people scattered around. There seemed to be a higher likelihood of running into something here. His nervousness was making me nervous.

"Look," I said finally. "Let's just get the fuck out of here, drive out into the country a bit and sleep there. Fuck Philly, we'll just go on to Portland tomorrow."

Edward nodded, not saying a word, as he kept on driving. We drove a little ways outside the city, the darkness outside seeming to press in on us. He finally pulled into a rest stop that was relatively exposed to give us some kind of a lookout for in the morning.

I unbuckled and got up, grabbing a can of green beans for dinner and opening it. I grabbed a fork and stabbed some beans, popping them in my mouth before passing the can and fork over to Edward.

He settled on the floor, eating tiredly. We passed the can back and forth tiredly until it was done. We did our regular nightly check and pee routine, then crawled into the nest.

Tonight though, as tired as we were, we didn't go straight to sleep. We couldn't see each other in the darkness but Edward brought his hands up, cupping my face and kissing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed back, hooking my knee over his hip. He groaned softly and rocked his hips into mine.

"It's been a really long time," he muttered.

"I know but we shouldn't. We have to keep our guard up and all that shit."

"We'll just be sleeping otherwise."

I smiled and kissed him again. "I'm just nervous. Who knows where we are or what's out there?"

He groaned softly, his breath hot against my face. He rested his forehead against mine. "You're right. We can wait. I can wait."

I nodded again and pulled him a little closer to me. "Just cause we don't get naked doesn't mean we can't rub up against each other."

He laughed softly and pulled me close, rolling us carefully so he was over me. He rolled his hips against mine and I sucked in my breath. He moaned softly and moved again, pressing harder.

"Fuck, maybe we should…" I panted, raising my hips and pressing back.

He chuckled softly and rubbed his groin against mine firmly, not losing contact. I tightened my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me.

"I wish I could feel you," he panted back before groaning and resting himself against me, his elbows propping him up. "Though if I did, I wouldn't have lasted even that long."

"You've been celibate for a while," I laughed softly, rubbing his scalp. "Plus, you only just admitted that you wanted more than just a friendship with me. Maybe it's for the best we don't…"

"Shut the fuck up," he laughed softly. "I'll take the long celibacy but not the other shit."

We adjusted so we were spooning again, his chest against my back. He snaked one hand across my stomach and into my pants, cupping me lightly over my panties. I flinched slightly and he kissed my head, leaving his hand in place for me to get used to it. After a few minutes he started to rub me gently. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling. He moved my hair with his other hand and kissed my bared neck. His fingers below moved gently and surely against me as his mouth gently licked and sucked at my neck. All the attention on my lady parts was more than I could stand and I came hard, crying out into the piles of clothes.

Edward's hand readjusted my panties and came up, resting solidly on my stomach. I sighed softly and twisted in his arms, kissing his chest before shifting up and finding his mouth in the dark.

"Thank you."

He laughed softly and pulled me closer. "You're welcome. You've needed that for a while."

"God, yes."

He kissed me again. "Sleep, B."

I was exhausted so that was an easy request to obey. We slept later the next day than we intended. The sun was higher in the sky than we typically let it get before moving, but after last night's late driving and activities, we didn't really care. We were careful as we checked around and refueled and peed, then I started driving while Edward changed his pants in the back. I won't lie. I peaked. I'd been too embarrassed to really look in the showers but now…all bets were off. I grinned as I set off down the road.

Edward rejoined me a few minutes later, passing me a can of pineapple rings.

"Thanks."

He nodded, grabbing one for himself. "You looked didn't you."

"Yep."

"And?"

I grinned. "I wish we were in Maine already."

He laughed and shook his head. "Just a couple days, kiddo."

I nodded and shifted in my chair, pressing the gas a little firmer.