I'm sorry this chapter is a bit shorter. I've been apartment hunting all day and I haven't had a chance to sit down and write as much as I wanted to, but I thought y'all would rather have something rather than nothing.

Chapter Eight: Intuition

"Matt, Sam, what are you doing here?" Mike was shocked to see the duo, almost as mismatched as he and Ashley. "I mean, I'm glad to see you."

He noticed Sam nodding. "Glad to see you too. Where were you guys?"

Ashley spoke up. "The lodge." She looked around, wide eyed and obviously scared. "Why are we back here? Have you seen the others? Chris?"

Mike put an arm over Ashley, trying to calm her down. She was worked up the entire time they were walking, afraid the wendigos were going to come out. He looked at Sam and Matt, both with shocked looks on their faces. "What do you mean the lodge? It blew up!" Matt's voice was confused, shock filled.

Mike shook his head. "We don't know why or how, but it was there. We just left. We were going to take the cable car down and escape before it got dark."

Sam shook her head; Mike noticed a glint of worry sparking in her eyes. If she didn't have a plan, he needed to make one. "Alright, why don't we head back to the lodge? We can get everything set up in the basement and bunker there until tomorrow morning. We probably only have a couple of hours before it starts to get dark, and I don't want to risk being out." Sam and Matt nodded, but Mike noticed the concerned look on Ashley's face. "What's up, Ash?"

She took a deep breath. "What about the others? They're out there. What if... what if the wendigos get to them before we do?"

Mike understood Ashley's feelings. Jessica was missing too. "Okay, how about Sam and Matt get everything set up in the basement, and we'll meet there in an hour or so. Ash, you and I can look for the others." He saw the frightened look on Ashley's face slowly morph into a reluctant brave one. Mike turned to Sam and Matt. "Is that okay with you?"

"We need a way to call each other, if something happens." Matt's face was filled with worry. Emily was missing, but Ashley was also one of his best friends. He honestly couldn't say whether splitting up was a good idea or not.

Everyone exchanged looks, not sure what to do. Phones had no service, some people didn't even have their phones on them. Mike took a deep breath. They all had to be prepared for the worst. "If Ashley and I don't come back in twenty-four hours, or make contact with you, assume we are dead." There was a grave silence, but there was also understanding. "Get out of here when you can. Get back safely. Obviously no one believed us about the wendigos. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again. People need to know what's out there."

Matt and Sam seemed to have a grim look of acceptance on their face. Surviving the first time was lucky. Surviving a second time would be a miracle. It seemed to be understood that it was unlikely they would all make it back again. Sam pulled Ashley in for a quick hug, then giving Mike one. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Mike nodded. He couldn't do that. Not to Sam. "I won't," he said, but his heart was telling him otherwise. It seemed to say that he would die for her. Mike took a sudden breath. Why was he suddenly thinking this? He was with Jessica. He was in love with Jessica, but Sam was always in the back of his mind. What if? What if? There couldn't be any what if's. This was his fate. He had seen the way she and Josh looked at one another. She could never go for him, not when she was always thinking about Josh, not when he had Jessica. He turned away from Sam suddenly. "I'll see you later." He grabbed Ashley by the wrist and took her down the path, keeping an eye out. He and Ashley would plunge into the woods, staying where they could see the path, but hide easily. Matt and Sam headed back to the lodge.

"Ow, Mike, let go." Ashley pulled her wrist away from him and started massaging it, picking up snow to put on the wrist. "What was that for?"

Mike shook his head. "Sorry, Ash. I- I- We had to go. Sooner we find the others the sooner we get to go back to the lodge."

Mike started to walk, Ashley following behind him. "It's Sam, isn't it?"

Mike turned around, looking at the intuitive girl. "What?"

Ashley started walking again. "Don't worry. I won't tell Jess as long as you don't hurt her."

"Wait. Wait wait wait wait. What do you mean, Ash?"

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "I can practically see the boner you have. You have a thing for Sam. She's basically perfect, I don't blame you. Hell, if I swung that way I'd probably have a thing for her. Just don't act on it."

Mike nodded. "I wasn't going to."

Ashley gave him a sympathetic look. "It's okay. You can't control who you have feelings for. You just need to sort them out before someone gets hurt." Ashley walked ahead of him, keeping an eye out for Chris. Mike took a deep breath. Ashley was right. He needed to figure things out. He knew what his answer was. He was with Jessica. He cared about her too much to leave her for some other girl, even if the other girl was Sam. Mike remembered finding Jessica in the mines, injured. He remembered how he felt when he thought she was dead. Maybe she started out as an easy fuck, but it turned into so much more. He actually started to care about her. She was more than just his friend and fuck buddy. She was his partner in crime.

Mike caught up to Ashley, as to not let her get too far ahead. He could see the worry that she was trying to hide in her eyes. "We'll find Chris. We'll get everyone back to the lodge and wait it out."

Ashley sighed. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to him."

Mike nodded. Jessica and Sam flickered through his mind. "I know."

Thank you for reading! I want to give a huge shout-out to my beautiful best friend, Candice. The new banner for the story was drawn by her. She and I have been fangirling over UD for the last week or so and she offered to draw some banners. :)