One, a male hospital corpsman third class finally moved a bishop three spaces diagonally forward and sat back. He wore the normal working dungarees and the name "Farlow" was stenciled above his left breast pocket.

The other was a female lieutenant junior grade, wearing a working khaki outfit. A nametag over her right breast read "Nettleton." She sighed, ran her left hand through her short-cut brown hair and studied the board.

After a short interval, she took the corpsman's bishop with one of her knights and said, "You made that a little easy, Steve. Something bugging you?"

"It's 10 days past my discharge date and I'm still on this rust bucket," he said. "I'm not happy about that."

She smiled at him. "Look at it this way," she said. "You've got a nice warm bed, good food and most of all, there are no walking dead on this ship." She took a sip of her Coke and added, "There are millions of Americans who would trade their present position with you. Those still alive, that is."

"I just had plans, that's all," Steve said.

"You can't blame the Navy for screwing you up on that one," she said. "Those...zombies are making life dangerous for anyone ashore."

"It's only a matter of time before someone dies on this ship," he said.

"A heart attack or a fall or some other kind of accident. It doesn't matter what, because if nobody's there when it happens, then we'll have a zombie walking the ship. My older brother was on the Butte from 82 to 86 and one of their warrant officers died of a heart attack in his sleep. That could happen here."

"My, aren't we a gloomy gus," she said. "Is that all that's bothering you?"

"Well," he said, "I---oh, never mind."

"Come on, Steve, you can tell me. After all, I'm your chess friend."

Steve looked at her and said, "I'm attracted to a female officer on this ship, have been for some time. Before my discharge, I was going to tell her how much I liked her, how attractive she is and I was going to ask her if I could kiss her."

"Someone I know, huh?" Cindy asked. "Is she married?"

"Yes to your first question," he said. "No to your second one. I'm afraid to tell her, however, because you know how the Navy is about fraternization."

"I'd tell her if I were you," she said. "Show a kind and respectful attitude when you talk with her. Otherwise, you may never know how she feels about you."

"That makes sense," Steve said. "Cindy Nettleton, I really like you. You're a very beautiful woman and I'd love to have a romantic relationship with you. May I kiss you?"

For several seconds, she looked at the chess board. Then, she looked up at him, smiled and said, "It's about time. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was afraid of losing a good chess opponent," he admitted. "Not only are you good looking and fun to be with, you make chess a challenge. You make me work in a game."

She nodded and replied, "Your one strength is that you stare at the board and only glance at my body. You show enough interest without getting perverted about it." She stood up. "Get up and come over here."

Steve obeyed her and she closed her eyes. He lightly cradled her head in his hands and kissed her for several seconds. She moved her arms around his shoulders. When he broke the kiss, she returned it with a bit more passion and clamped onto his shoulders tightly.

Cindy broke the kiss and laid her head on his left shoulder. "You should have told me sooner," she said. "We need each other in times like these. We don't always have to play chess when we come in here. As long as we're quiet, we won't be obvious about what we're doing."

"It's not exactly comfortable in here," he said and kissed the top of her head.

"Well, the captain might not like it if I go to your bunk in X-Division berthing and spend the night there," she said. "By the time we were done, we'd have an audience watching us and waiting for their turn." She shivered in disgust. "I don't want that." She pulled him down and they sat on the floor. "I just want you here on the floor with me."

"I have no condoms," he said.

"I'm still on the pill," she said. "Besides, it really doesn't matter anymore. If I get pregnant, all Capt. Garner would do to us would be to chew our asses out and make us get married. That wouldn't bother me." She unbuttoned her blouse and noticed he was just watching her. "Come on, don't just sit there. Let's make the most of our time."

The two undressed as quietly as they could, even though when Steve dropped one of his chukka boots on the deck it sounded like a kick on the pharmacy door. For several seconds, they froze in position, then restrained their laughter as they finished stripping naked.

For the next twenty minutes, the two quietly made love on the pharmacy floor, using the ship's constant swaying motion to their advantage and ignoring the occasional squawks from the intercom.

As Steve looked up into Cindy's face during the lovemaking, thoughts of dates never to be came into his mind. Places they could never go because of the dead, things they could never do and events they could never plan on.

He climaxed and started crying, tears pouring from his eyes as his body tensed. He grunted and cried at the same time and covered his face with his hands.

Cindy slowed her movements to a stop as her lover's body stopped moving. She didn't know why he started crying, but she didn't care either. She pulled back enough to separate their midsections and laid out atop him. "Lover," she whispered, "tell me what's bothering you."

For several minutes, he cried as she caressed his head and kissed his forehead. Finally, he uncovered his eyes and spoke in a shaky voice. "There's so much we can never do," he said, "so much that at one time we wouldn't have thought twice of. We lost a chance of a normal life."

Cindy nodded and said, " Get it out of your system, Steve. Think of it as pioneering. We're blazing a new trail for courtship. Now let's get cleaned up and get dressed before one of your fellow corpsmen catches us."

Neither of the two said much as they washed at the sink and put back on their uniforms. They sat back down at the chess board and were five minutes back into the game when a knock on the door interrupted them.

Steve answered to see Lt. Commander Kanter, the ship's doctor standing there. The doctor nodded to Cindy and said, "I need to borrow your corpsman a minute, Miss Nettleton."

She nodded nonchalantly. "Be my guest, sir," she replied. "It'll give me a chance to see how I can clobber him in this game."

Dr. Kanter pulled Steve out of the pharmacy and closed the door. "Steve, an hour is plenty of time to make out with Miss Nettleton," he said in a low voice. "You need to give others a chance to use the room." He noted Steve's look of denial and waved it off. "Don't worry about it, kid, cause these are strange days, but finish up with her and come see me so we can discuss scheduling the pharmacy."

"Yes, sir," he said.

When Steve closed the pharmacy door behind him, Cindy said, "I heard him, dear. Shall we see about getting the same time every day or two?"