Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this story.

Chapter Two

-9:30 A.M.- Scourge's apartment-

Heat enveloped the two on the bed. The scent of sex and sweat filled the immediate air around them. moans filled the room, accompanied by the low creaking of the bed. Half lidded gold eyes gazed up into blue. They closed as yet another lingering moan was pulled from the white hedgehog. Spines flared out across the pillow, head back in pleasure, a heavy blush darkening his cheeks... It was something only the green one above him got to see. Snow-furred hands moved up between green back spines. The gentle caress was one Scourge often yearned for.

"Silver," Scourge sighed. Leaning forward, he nuzzled his face against Silver's neck.

Silver simply shifted his position under Scourge. It wasn't often Scourge was so gentle with him and he had been cherishing it. Unfortunately, good things always had an end. A last hard thrust finally brought Silver's release. Hot white cum coated their stomachs as Scourge released inside him. They lay side-by-side a few minutes longer, enjoying the other's company.

"You're rarely like that," Silver commented once his breath came back. "What brought it on?"

"I got to thinking, and wanted to show my angel how much I loved him." Scourge smiled at Silver. "Don't know how else to do it, I suppose."

Silver chuckled. "Well, I don't mind your way of expressing love. I just wish I could repay you somehow..." Silver's expression dropped at the thought. Scourge moved over him again and cupped his face in his hands.

"You already do." Scourge gave Silver a light kiss. "Every day you spend with me is more than I deserve. Bums don't deserve angels."

"I'm no angel, Scourge. And you're no bum either. If there's anything saying you don't deserve me, it's that you're an egotistical, arrogant jackass."

"And you're an over-eager, naïve, idiot."

Silver laughed and pulled Scourge close for another kiss. White ears twitched as soon as he had done so. Gently pushing Scourge away, he furrowed his ridges in concentration. Moments later, he heard it again. Judging by the expression on Scourge's face, he heard it too. Someone was in the apartment with them.

"Prob'ly those damn neighbors again." Scourge got off the bed and went to the door. Opening it, he found he was right. The nosy neighbor who often spied on him was in his kitchen. "Shoulda known it was Mr. Platypus," he muttered. "What the hell do you-"

Scourge fell silent as the platypus came toward him. Chunks of him were missing, and his feather were stained with blood. Blank dead eyes had sunk into his face and were staring at Scourge. A bit of drool hung from his beak. Scourge backed away as the realization hit him. A zombified version of his annoying neighbor was in his kitchen. The zombified Mr. Platypus shuffled toward him. Scourge backed into his room again and slammed the door shut.

"Who is it?" Silver hadn't moved from his place on the bed.

"I think it's a zombie."

Scourge went to the window and looked out. Nothing was on the fire escape. He pushed the window open and looked to Silver. they could hear the zombie slamming against the door in it's attempt to get it open. Snarls came from the same direction. Silver stared at the shaking door with frightened eyes.

"Didn't know platypus could snarl," he nervously joked. Scourge climbed onto the fire escape as Silver cam to join him. "Why are we using the window? I could just move him out of the way."

"He's a zombie, so that prob'ly means there're lots of other zombies in the building. These kinds of things spread pretty fast, babe."

"There's lots of zombies down there too."

Silver and Scourge stared down at the street below. The monsters were already grouped under the fire escape. It was as if they knew the two hedgehogs were up there. Chances didn't look too good if they went down there now. Scourge took Silver's hand and lead him to the roof. Luckily, nothing else was up there.

"Let's go to that building," Scourge said.

He pointed to the building just left of the one they stood on. It's roof was also devoid of zombies. Silver nodded and the two went to the edge. The jump wasn't too far, by Scourge's standards. He backed about halfway across the roof and ran forward. At the right moment, he leapt. The momentum from his speed carried him across the gap and he landed on the other roof. Smiling, he turned to Silver.

"I'm not jumping, Show-off," Silver laughed.

Standing on the ledge, Silver activated his powers. Light blue enveloped him and he started floating. His spines lifted higher than usual before he started over the gap. Halfway across, Silver's eyes went wide. The glow died down as his power shut off and he was yanked to the side. A scream ripped from his throat as he reached for Scourge. Scourge ran forward and reached out to his lover, nearly falling off the ledge in the process. Instinctively, he moved his body backward and fell onto his butt. Looking around, he didn't see anyone. Someone had to have used something to grab Silver like that, yet nothing could be seen. Being in broad daylight, there was nowhere they could've hid. Balling his right hand into a fist, he hit the cement beneath him.

-9:30 A.M.- Castle Acorn-

"Princess!" The purple-clad lynx ran down the hall. "Princes Sally!" She had urgent news that couldn't wait any longer. It had waited long enough. If only she had sought out the princess sooner...

"What is it, NICOLE?" Sally was grumpy. A scowl was on her muzzle and she had her arms crossed under her breasts.

"The city is under attack!" NICOLE yelled.

Sally's eyes widened before narrowing in mild suspicion.

"Why didn't the alarms go off?"

"We're under attack from the inside. I know it sounds crazy but we're facing a zombie epidemic!"

NICOLE was worried, Sally could see it in her eyes. Zombies were just those things you couldn't believe were there unless you saw them with your own eyes.

"We should find someone who has some knowledge of- NICOLE?" The lynx was phasing in and out of existence. It had never happened before; it didn't happen to computers like NICOLE. "What's happening?"

NICOLE looked at Sally, green eyes filling with fear. Despite knowing it wouldn't do any good, Sally grabbed her arms and tried to hold her there. NICOLE grabbed Sally's arms as well. She had never been forcibly shut down before. Without any farther warning, NICOLE vanished as the power shut off all across town. A few flickering lights were the only clue NICOLE was somewhat present. It was enough to convince Sally that they were in a crisis. Zombies or not, something was wrong with New Mobotropolis. Moaning like the movie she had watched with Sonic came from down the hall.

"Okay, Sally. Think." She spoke aloud to comfort herself. "This isn't the movie. The important thing now is... Power!" Sally snapped as the idea hit her. "I need to get to Rotor."

Sally ran down the hall, avoiding the few zombies she came across. NICOLE had notified her just a few moments ago. If the zombies were all ready inside the castle, NICOLE had waited too long to warn her. The main hall was a different story. The front doors were on the floor. Servants screamed as the monsters feasted on their flesh. More zombies poured in from the outside as Sally watched in horror. Nose wrinkled against the horrendous smell, a thought struck her. If it had spread this far, she was lucky to have survived. Tears filled her eyes as a hand moved to her mouth. There was no way her father would be able to survive. She took a shuddering breath despite the air around her and closed her eyes. There'd be time for tears later. Sally turned and ran down a side passage as a zombie reached for her leg. There wee other ways out of the castle; ones she was sure weren't blocked off. She'd never used it, only heard about it. As a result, it was difficult for her to find.

Please don't let there be anything in the water.

With that single thought Sally jumped into the drainage area. She followed the water until she came to the wall of the castle. Thanking Chaos the architects used wood for the drainage gate, she turned and gave it a few good kicks. The wood broke under her boot and fell into the water. Sally followed it's example and jumped into the moat.

-10:15 A.M.- New Mobotropolis-

"Mon Princesse!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice Sally turned. Antoine D'Coolette was rushing to her. Determination was set in his features though his eyes shone with fear. in his left hand was his sabre, blood-soaked.

"You are un'armed?" Antoine looked her over. "Your fur, it eez all wet. What 'appened?"

"I jumped into the moat." Sally moved her wet bangs out of her eyes once again. "I'm so glad you're here. I was worried all of you had died." Antoine seemed a little startled when she gave him a quick hug and pulled away. "We need to speak to Rotor."

Antoine simply nodded. The two made their way to the Science Center where Rotor had a lab. At this time of day, it was the most likely place to find him. The sight that met them wasn't pleasant. Glass was spread across the lawn from where something had broken the windows. Zombies had already broken into the building, smashing through the glass front doors.

"Zat eez not good."

"I hope he's all right."

Sally hurried into the building with Antoine right behind her. The reception area looked just as bad as the front lawn. As they stepped loser to the reception desk, they could hear a sound. It was slight; almost as though something was eating. Antoine grabbed Sally's hand and steered her toward the emergency stairs. Better to let eating zombies eat than get eaten yourself.

The fact that the door was shut raised their hopes a little. Sally opened the door and started down the stairs. Antoine came after her, gripping the hilt of his sword in nervousness. It sounded too quiet for his liking. With the state the city was in, Antoine thought he'd be able to hear more noise. for all they knew, they could've been walking into a trap. He didn't speak up, however, until they had reached the bottom. Sally was about to open the door when his voice got her attention.

"Mon princesse, are you certain zis eez a good idea? What if we are walking into a trap?" His voice was shaking as much as his sabre.

Sally turned from the door and looked at him. A scolding about being a coward yet again was halfway out when the words just died. Seeing him shaking in fear and nervousness, her features softened. In all honesty, it would've been strange if the coyote wasn't frightened. Purposefully, she walked toward him. Placing a hand ion his face, she made him look at her.

"Calm down, Antoine. I don't think these things are smart enough to make traps. You found me on your own, didn't you?" Once he had nodded she continued. "That took bravery, and you can do it again. Just focus on me. I still need protecting and you're the only one around here with the capabilities."

Antoine nodded again while calming himself. He was the only one who could protect Sally, she had just said it herself. Whether or not it was a lie to make him happy didn't matter. Sally nodded back, pleased that her words had worked. The door she had been about to open led to an empty hallway. The lights continued to flicker and not a sound could be heard.

"Per'haps 'e eez not 'ere?"

"He should be here. There's no reason why he wouldn't be."

Antoine followed behind her saying, "Per'aps when ze power went out 'e left to see what was wrong at ze power plant... Why eez a box keeping open ze door?"

"I don't..." Sally shook her head. "Well, let's check on him anyway."

The lab beyond was a mess. Things were scattered on the floor, more broken than not. It looked as though something big had come through and knocked things over. Vials had scattered their contents across the floor and counters as they shattered. Papers and tools added to the mess, and Rotor was nowhere to be seen. Biting her lip in worry, Sally moved through the lab. If she could find supplies, she could possibly fix whatever had happened at the power plant.

"If you find anything we can use to fix a power problem, tell me."

Sally lifted herself onto her toes to look in the higher counters. All of them were empty. It seemed as if someone had deliberately gotten rid of everything, knowing they would come there.

"I am not liking zis." Antoine's nervous shaking had returned as he looked around the lab. He rounded a corner to look in Rotor's desk. "Somezing eez off 'ere. We should- Ah!"

A hand had grabbed onto his ankle. His body reacted to the crushing grip on his ankle and swung his sabre down before his mind could come up with any explanations. The sabre sliced through flesh and bone, cleaving half the forearm from the rest. A shockingly small amount of blood fell to the floor. Stumbling backward, Antoine pointed his sword at the creature. Flesh was falling from his arms and face as Rotor tried to pull himself forward. With a single arm, it was proving difficult. Blank, sunken eyes stared at the coyote. Drool dripped from it's mouth as frequently as the moans which were now coming from it. Sally hurried over to see what the problem was as Antoine closed his eyes. Raising his sabre once again, he took a deep breath and reopened his eyes.

"Au revoir, mon ami. May your second death bring peace to you."

With the determination of an executioner, he swung the sabre down on top of Rotor's head. The sharp blade sliced through the strap of his goggles and into his head. Antoine didn't stop the motion until the sabre hit the floor with a dull thud. Sally stood next to him and lay a hand on his back.