Never The End (Sequel to 'What Keeps You Alive')

Chapter 8: Intersection

--------Chapter 8: Intersection----

"You hear that?"

Mike looked up upon hearing the gunshot. Juliet looked to him.

"That was close," she said, getting to her feet and grabbing the backpack she had with her. "Come on; it could be someone."

Mike sighed and got to his feet, grabbing his backpack and quickly following along behind as Juliet headed off through the trees towards the gunshot. It was nearly morning, and there was a bit of light finally coming through the trees; Mike was glad he could see where he was going and he wasn't about to lose Juliet.

They'd left the prison with Glenn and CC, accompanied by another person they'd found along the way; Tara or something like that. Glenn had collapsed yesterday and Tara and CC had ended up taking off with him and a bunch of crazy people on a mission; Mike hadn't thought it was the best thing to do, so he'd decided to stay behind, as he wanted to try and find Vic.

He knew there wasn't much chance that Vic had made it out, but CC and Glenn had both confirmed that Vic hadn't been anywhere around the prison; they hadn't seen him at least.

Juliet on the other hand, had decided to stay with Mike for the time being; she didn't particularly want him going out on his own, and though she knew CC, she hadn't been too keen on going with other strangers that might've been potentially dangerous.

Mike knew there was another reason as well, as he knew that Juliet wanted to find either Ashley or Andy; he didn't know which just yet.

"Hey, slow down; we've gotta stick together," Mike said with a hint of annoyance, making Juliet glance back at him. "We running on limited ammo here Juliet."

Juliet halted and waited for him to catch up, getting a nod of approval from Mike as he started walking alongside her as she started walking again.

"So what's the real reason you're out here with me?" Mike asked as Juliet shifted the heavy backpack, looking a bit uncomfortable. Mike sighed, indicating to her backpack. "Here, switch with me; mine's lighter."

"I'm perfectly capable of carrying this one," Juliet said, sounding a bit offended and making Mike roll his eyes. "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"What about when we run into walkers, hm? What then?"

Juliet shot him a glare, coming to a halt and removing her backpack, Mike handing over his to her. Juliet took it without a word and continued on as Mike put the heavier backpack over his shoulders.

"We should keep to the road," Mike called, as Juliet was already once again quite a way ahead; she glanced back. "Might be able to see a bit better."

Juliet just veered off her current path and out of the woods, Mike rolling his eyes as he followed along; she was so hard to be around. He had no idea how Andy'd managed it for so long before all of this, but maybe she was different before the end of the world.

Reaching the road, Mike saw Juliet stopped; he frowned as he walked over to her, coming to a halt next to where she was standing.

"What? You see something?" Mike asked, looking every which way in case she'd seen a threat.

Juliet shook her head and looked to Mike.

"What're we even doing out here Mike?" she asked, making Mike frown again. "It's just the two of us and we have no idea where we're even going."

Mike looked at her for a few seconds before speaking. "We're going down this road to find whoever caused that gunshot; case settled."

He started walking again, Juliet hurrying to catch up.