SNEAK PEEK #3 (Chapter 9: Listen to the Crickets)
February 14, 2021.

IT WAS ONLY a matter of seconds before Shane was at his side, merely a presence of warmth before he could be seen in the corner of Mike's eye. He places a heavy hand on Mike's shoulder, abruptly turning him around and Shane recoils a little at the sight of Mike's face.

The realization that he probably looked like he'd gotten his ass handed to him hit Mike like a semi-truck. With the amount of blood on his face and the bruised skin around his nose, he was certain he looked like a mess, and Shane's reaction did not disappoint. Not only did Mike look like shit, he felt like it too. He wanted to sleep for at least the entire next week and not have to think about or look at other people.

Although, maybe Shane was this exception.

Shane immediately reaches out and grabs Mike's chin, turning his head to catch a warm patch of sunlight across the lower half of his face. "Damn, man," he mutters. "You look like shit. What the hell happened out there?"

"Merle."

Mike doesn't say anything as Shane lets loose a string of colorful insults and curse words that could make even the most foul-mouthed sailor feel humbled. He runs a hand through his dark hair, the hair Mike had wanted to touch since the first day they met, a day that seemed as if it had taken place in part of an ancient movie ages ago. At least if they'd been in a movie, he'd know that everything was going to be okay.

Except they weren't in a movie. This was real life.

"I'm okay, Shane," Mike sighs. His stomach definitely feels better now that it's empty. "Look. Merle got what was coming to him; Rick helped me with that. He just... he got the jump on me, man. You were right."

"Excuse me?" Shane frowns. "What was I right about?" he questions as he pulls an old white rag from his back pocket, using it to wipe the traces of vomit from the corners of Mike's mouth, the roughness of the cloth giving him something else to focus on. The dried blood on Mike's face stains the rag and draws Shane's attention. He squints and focuses on his task, eyes flickering up every few seconds.

Mike hates to admit it, he just hates it. "I wasn't ready."

"Shut up." Shane scoffs and abruptly lets his hand fall from Mike's face. He gestures over his shoulder to the RV where Dale is going to be sitting on watch again. "Get inside, the sun's cooking your damn brain."

—

This is from the Alpha draft, as are the other excerpts I've posted! I have it labeled (v.A) in Google docs and that's how I determine which version is which, lmao.

All I have to say is...

Ship ship ship ship ship—

Let me know what you guys think! Spam comments. ❤️