Chapter 1

BANG! CHIKINK! BANG! CHIKINK! Shadow flipped the shotgun in his hands around and smashed the butt of the weapon into a creatures face. The thing looked like it could have somebody at some point. But now, discolored flesh barley clung to the bone. Its face was crushed and bloody from the blow it took. Another hit and the disgusting creature fell to the ground and stayed there. Shadow looked around his front yard from the busted out window. A number of bodies littered the area around his house. All were as gruesome as the one Shadow had recently added to the massacre. Shadow frowned as he saw one of the corpses twitch. Picking up a bat that was caked with blood, Shadow exited his house stepped through the mess of blood and bodies. The corpse was now on its feet and it had spotted Shadow. It charged toward him with its arms outstretched and teeth bared. Shadow swung the bat as hard as he could and shattered the skull, sending debris everywhere. After a quick survey of the bloodbath scattered round his lawn, Shadow went back inside his house. After locking and barring the door, Shadow put a metal sheet in front of the window and bolted it in place. He then plopped into his armchair and pulled out a small black book with a pen attached. Removing the pen, Shadow opened the book and wrote,

"August 15, 2011. I have decided to start this journal not because I need a place to vent my feelings but so that I and other survivors can use it as a record of what happened to us when the dead began rise from their graves. I'm not a religious hedgehog but what is happening outside my fortified home can only be described as biblical. For three days I have been fending off assaults from creatures that I can only identify as zombies. But this is a far cry from what you see in the movies. They are extremely fast and strong with incredible smell and hearing. They amass in hordes with a hive-mind mentality and one goal, to strip your body of flesh. The only way to kill these things is to destroy their brain with a bullet to the head or smashing the skull in with a blunt weapon. In addition, if you manage to survive an attack by them, any bites you have suffered will become infected and kill you slowly and painfully. Once you are dead, you will be reanimated and become one of them. I don't how far this plague has spread. For all I know, it could be global. What I do know is that no matter what I will fight till the death. But I can't do it alone. Today I'm going to meet up with two survivors I have been keeping contact with. I can only hope their still alive when I get there."

After tucking the journal under the cushion of the chair, Shadow packed a large backpack full of guns, ammo, medical supplies, and a metal bat. Afterwards he outfitted his twin pistols with silencers and clipped them to his ammo belt. Fully prepared, Shadow picked up a long-range walkie-talkie, "Sonic do you read me? This is Shadow. Come in Sonic."

There was crackle of static before Sonic's voice came weakly through the speaker, "I read you Shadow."

Shadow said, "Speak up I can barley hear you."

There was another burst of static, "Sorry, something is screwing with the signal. Not to mention the battery in this thing is about to give out."

Shadow replied, "Ok then, let's make this chat brief. What's your current status?"

Sonic answered, "We're running out of food and water and there's always at least three zombies wandering about the exterior of the house. They know we're here."

Shadow said, "If that's the case, then the rest of the pack won't be far. You and Tails haven't been bitten right?"

"No, we haven't." came the response.

Shadow than said, "Alright. Stay put and don't do anything stupid. I'm on my way."

Shadow stuffed the walkie-talkie into his pack and stepped outside. All was quiet. Too quiet. Shadow knew that the zombies were attracted by smell of blood and it was a wonder his soaked lawn wasn't swarming with them. On their own, each zombie is dumber than a box of rocks but when in groups they are unnervingly cunning and smart. A pistol in each hand, Shadow calmly strolled across his yard and toward the path that wound through the Emerald Forest and eventually to Tails' house. Shadow's index fingers flexed and relaxed on the triggers of his weapons as he came closer to the forest opening. Shadow knew they were there. If he made it to the forest, they wouldn't be able to mob him but there were plenty of places for surprise attacks. Out in the open they could easily surround and overpower him. The question was why weren't they attacking?Sweat dripped down Shadow's forehead as he stopped at the entrance to the forest. Nervous by the lack of attack when there should be, Shadow turned in a full circle and saw nothing. Feeling that at any second he would be ambushed, Shadow sprinted down the forest path.

Shadow dashed as fast as he could through the Emerald Forest. He skirted large bushes and tall grass knowing doom was hiding inside. After five minutes or so, he stopped in front of Tails' house panting. Shadow pulled out the walkie-talkie, "Sonic, this is Shadow. Get your asses out here."

Putting the little radio away, Shadow observed the condition of the house. The walls were cracked and had fist sized holes in places. The boards on the windows were nearly in splinters as was the door. Sonic and Tails came from the house looking just as worse for wear. Sonic had in his hands a 2x4 that was covered in dried blood and his face and torso was splattered with the same. He appeared to be exhausted but alert. Tails was just fatigued but he was pale and had a bloody bandage wrapped around his right arm. They came up to Shadow who pointed at Tails arm, "How did that happen?"

Tails stammered, "Um, I tore my arm on a nail. But, uh, don't worry, I already cleaned the wound."

Shadow glared at Tails before saying "Good. We wouldn't want it to get infected."

The group froze as a blood-curdling howl rang out. Shadow whipped both pistols from his belt and aimed them towards the woods, "Guys, I hope you're ready to run. Cause your lives are gonna depend on it."

Sonic raised his 2x4, "Well what are we waiting for?"

Shadow pulled the metal baseball bat out of his pack, "Use this instead. It's sturdier and will do more damage." Sonic tossed the board over his shoulder and took the bat. Another howl sounded and was followed by several others. "Goddammit." muttered Shadow as he put away the pistols and took out two semi-automatic machine guns, "We need to leave now! Stay behind me!" The three took off down the forest path that Shadow came. As they ran, howls and crashing surrounded them. Shadow shouted, "Keep running!"

Sonic glanced behind him, "Tails, keep up little bro!"

Tails was running behind Sonic, panting and struggling to keep up, "I'm trying, I'm trying! Whoa!"

Tails tripped on a rock and hit the ground. At that moment a zombie jumped from the shrubbery and pounced. Tails shut his eyes and screamed, "Sonic! HELP!"

Sonic screeched to a halt and ran back. As he did, several more zombies sprung from seemingly nowhere. "Sonic what the hell are you-Dammit!" Shadow stopped as well and opened fire. The zombie was practically on top of Tails. The young fox screamed once more, sure his demise was at hand. A loud crack with a small ping was heard and Tails slowly opened his eyes.

Sonic was standing over Tails, blood covered bat in hand and breathing hard. The zombie was on the ground with its skull split open, its contents spilling out onto the ground. Sonic turned to Tails, drops of crimson and bits of brain matter clinging to his face, "You ok?"

Tails nodded, "Yeah thanks."

Shadow came up to them as he was reloading his guns, "This is all fine and dandy, but unless you two want to stay for dinner, we need to haul ass!"

Sonic nodded, "Ok. Tails, I'll carry you so we can move faster." With that, Sonic hoisted Tails onto his back and the group dashed off once more. They reached the small clearing that Shadow's bunker-like house sat in and were met with a large group of zombies blocking the way to the house. More zombies rushed in behind them and closed off an escape back into the forest.

Sonic put Tails down beside him and went back to back with Shadow who said, "Sonic, grab a gun from my bag."

Sonic looked at him with fear, "What?! No way man!"

The zombies shifted closer as Shadow barked, "Dammit Sonic now is no time to be squeamish! Take a damn gun!"

"No!" replied Sonic.

Tails cried "Look out!"

At that moment, all of the zombies seemed to spring at the trio all at once. Shadow shouted, "Duck!" Sonic and Tails dropped to the ground as Shadow spun round on his heels, sending out a spray of bullets that mowed down the first two rows of enemies. While he reloaded, Sonic swung the bat hard at a zombie's skull and it shattered into dozens of pieces. Bringing down the bat on another zombie, Sonic flattened the head and blood sprayed like a sprinkler. After killing a good five, ten zombies with his bat, Sonic dropped once again at Shadow's command. The black hedgehog emptied another hundreds of bullets into the undead. After a grueling fifth-teen minute fight, all but a few of the zombies lay dead. The three dashed into Shadow's house and bolted the door.

Sonic sunk to the floor, drenched in blood, weary, but unbitten, "I thought that was never going to end."

Shadow checked his guns, "Well it's a good thing it did. I damn near ran out of ammo."

Tails sighed, "The whole of Mobius is falling apart. This is like something out of a horror-" All of a sudden Tails began to cough uncontrollably. The young fox's body shook and convulsed as his coughing worsened.

Sonic knelt next to Tails, "Are you alright? Tails?" Tails shook his head and couched once more, causing a splash of blood to hit the floor. Shadow watched intently as Sonic hauled Tails to his feet and led him to the restroom. After a minute, Sonic came into the living room with a very pale Tails leaning against him. Sonic then laid Tails down on Shadow's couch and the fox quickly fell asleep.

Shadow put a hand on Tails' forehead, "He's burning up."

Sonic leaned against the wall, "Yes, he has a small fever. It's not a big deal."

Shadow frowned, "A small fever? Sonic, he's seriously ill. He coughed up blood!"

Sonic turned away, "Shh. You're going to wake him."

Shadow stepped toward Sonic and whispered, "I want you to level with me Sonic. Where did Tails' arm injury come from?"

Not making eye contact, Sonic replied, "It happened just like he said. He tore his arm on a nail."

Shadow folded his arms, "Than you won't mind if I change the bandage and have a look at it."

Sonic whipped his head around, "No! I'll change it."

Sonic went to do so but Shadow blocked his way, "Don't bullshit me Sonic! I don't know if you're in denial or if you're trying to fool me but what I do know is that 10 to 1, Tails is bit!" Sonic looked at his feet. Shadow sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Listen. I know how close you and Tails are. If and when he turns, I'll let you put him down. But, if you don't, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in his head."

Author's Note: Huzzah! The zombie story I promised is finally here! I had to make a lot of edits because the original written version sucked. Oh yes, and I'm sure you noticed that something is different with the way the chapter is presented. A few people have been suggesting to me that I start a new paragraph every time a new character starts to speak. Actually my English teachers have been telling me that for years but I never see the point behind it. But I decided to try it. Since I've never done this before, I have no idea if I did it right so please let me know in a review. That should be it. I'll be super busy working a a bunch of new projects for you so I'll probably only put an author's not on this story if I have something to tell you. A new chapter of this will be posted every week so keep an eye out. So until next time, please read, review, and enjoy!