Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S03.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and the TWD 'verse belongs to rich people with expensive lawyers.
Author's Note: Written for Day 07 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.

Three weeks after meeting two fellow survivors of the zombie apocalypse she was still traveling with the two women. Andrea was still sick, but better than she had been. Unfortunately, it was getting colder and that meant she would most likely get worse.

Michonne barely spoke but when she did it was because she had something to contribute. It was a refreshingly different approach from the third woman in their group, who spoke too much. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been so desperate to prove herself, but she was willing to learn how to fight. Even if she did whine constantly.

Andrea had a long-bladed knife, but given her physical health and lack of training that was too risky, but since they didn't have swords, crossbows, or other weapons that allowed for a greater distance they had to make do. Buffy had the Scythe, but there was no chance she would allow anyone to use it for any reason. Unless they were a Slayer, of course. Neither of her traveling companions was mystically enhanced in any way so the weapon didn't leave her.

It was why they kept an eye out for hunting stores and any other places that might have sold crossbows and swords pre-apocalypse. Chances were that those same places also had other survival gear. Buffy really, really wanted a crossbow as she had left hers at the IDC's Headquarters in Cleveland. In hindsight, it had been a terrible idea, but her Slayer Dreams had failed and didn't warn her of the impending end of the world. That in itself was informative since it meant it was most likely not demonic or otherwise in her purview of responsibility. No one else had been warned either.

That meant that someone else had failed to stop it. Someone non-mystical, most likely scientists or law enforcement, or a combination of whoever was in charge of stopping biological warfare. Someone, somewhere knew how this virus had been made, modified, or spread so quickly without anyone being able to stop it or at least slow it down.

There was a chance it was natural, but if she had been a betting woman her money would've been on someone arranging to see the world burn. It wasn't just vampires and the demonic who tried to end the world, after all.

The borders should've been closed, the world's population should've been placed in quarantine or isolation or both in an attempt to slow it, but the world had gone from its usual chaos to most of them becoming murderous corpses in barely a week. No one had been prepared for it or how quickly civilized society had collapsed. Everything after that had been too little too late.

"We need to find a car." Andrea broke the silence again.

Michonne ignored her just as she had done the last dozen times she had made the same statement.

"If you see a car that looks to be in working order then we'll see if it works and if it has fuel. Until then we'll have to walk." They had passed many cars in the last few weeks, but either they were wrecks, out of fuel, there were too many walkers nearby, or something else stopped them from taking advantage.

Faith had taught her how to hotwire a car when they had both been in England at the same time two years before. Much to Giles' annoyance she had used his car to practice on. Buffy hadn't needed the skill until recently, but the one working car they had found had proved easy to start. Given how their luck was going it had been low on diesel and they'd had to abandon it within a few hours.

So they kept walking and walking and walking. At least it had the benefit of upping their fitness level if nothing else. Buffy made Andrea practice her defensive skills when they took longer breaks, and every third or fourth time she showed her some offensive moves. They needed better weapons though.

Michonne knew how to use the katana she had gotten somewhere, but by her own admission, she was self-taught. So other than a few corrections and suggestions Buffy let her be as she seemed to have found a style that worked for her.

Buffy did start teaching both of them Tai-Chi though. It helped both with the stress of their new reality and with finding a calm within themselves when they had to fight for their lives. The addition of a better balance and improved situational awareness helped, too.

They had a long way to go, but they were working on it.