Chapter 2

After a few minutes of silence, Sonic said, "So what's next?"

Shadow replied, "Well, first priority is to remain unbitten obviously. Second priority is to find other survivors."

Sonic nodded, "Do you think Amy, Knuckles, and Miky are still alive?"

Shadow picked up his bag full of guns and ammo, "Only one way to find out. We'll go using Chaos Control and with any luck, we should be back before sundown. The last thing we want is to be caught outside after dark. Those things will tear us apart."

Sonic looked at Tails who was still restlessly sleeping on the couch, "What about Tails?"

Shadow shook his head, "He'll only slow us down. We'll leave a gun and a note, he should be fine." Sonic reluctantly picked up his metal baseball bat as Shadow scribbled out a note and set a revolver on the coffee table. "Alright. Let's go." said Shadow as he pulled out the red Chaos Emerald. Sonic stood beside him as the black hedgehog shouted, "Chaos Control!"

Sonic and Shadow appeared outside of Amy's house. The sun was beginning its decent and the sky appeared to be on fire. Sonic watched the display, "Shadow, do you think that the Chaos Emeralds can fix this crisis?"

Shadow looked up as well, "I don't think so. The Chaos Emeralds can't solve everything. I think Mobius is going to have deal with this mess herself. Now let's go, we're burning daylight." Shadow and Sonic approached the house.

Sonic knocked on the door, "Amy? Are you in there? Amy?" The door swung gently open at Sonic's knock, causing the hedgehogs to exchange wary glances. Shadow pulled out one of his pistols and Sonic readied his bat. They entered the home and were hit with a horrible smell causing them to cough and gag. A look around explained why. Blood was splattered on every wall of the front room. Furniture was overturned and broken. Innards were also scattered about. Lying in the corner was what was left of Amy's corpse.

Amy's legs were gnawed on like dog bones but her arms seemed almost untouched. Her torso was completely gutted and devoured, leaving only an empty ribcage. Half the flesh had been stripped from her skull and one eye was missing. Sonic turned away gagging. Shadow pulled a curtain down from a window and draped it over the corpse. Shadow turned back to Sonic, "She's dead. Let's go."

Sonic looked at Shadow to reply, but behind him, he could see the shrouded corpse crawl towards Shadow, "Look out!" Shadow turned in time to see Amy's body launch itself at him and knock him to the ground. On impact, Shadow's pistol flew from his hand and went spinning across the floor where it bumped into Sonic's foot.

Shadow held back the monster on top of him as it snapped its deadly jaws at him, "Sonic! Get the gun and shoot!"

Sonic jumped back, "Not a chance! I don't do guns Shadow!"

Shadow shouted, "Son of a bitch Sonic, shoot it!" Sonic dropped his bat and picked up the pistol at his feet with shaking hands. He raised and aimed it directly at what used to be Amy.

Sonic's arms refused to remain steady and his fingers became stiff. Shadow was struggling to keep the zombie at bay as it screeched and hissed. He practically screamed, "What the fuck are you waiting for?! Shoot!" Sonic pulled the trigger and a bullet zoomed from the barrel and slammed into the zombie's skull. It fell to the side of Shadow and twitched. Startled by the movement, Sonic yelped and fired again and again. His eyes were squeezed shut as he kept firing. Shadow rolled out of the way and stood aside. The gun began to click, signaling it was empty of ammo. Yet Sonic continued to pull the trigger. Shadow gently took the pistol. Sonic backed away slowly, panting. Shadow looked him with genuine puzzlement and worry, "What was that?"

Sonic stammered, "I- I don't know. I kinda blacked out there for a second."

Shadow asked, "Why are you so skittish when it comes to guns?"

Sonic said quietly, "When I was five, I found a pistol my dad kept in the house and was playing with it. I didn't know any better at the time. My mom suddenly came in the room and I accidently pulled the trigger and shot her. She died… My dad was never the same. Eventually he sent me away to live with an uncle."

Shadow was shocked, "That's horrible. I'm so sorry Sonic." Sonic drew a huge breath.

With a quick shake of his head he said, "Its ok. That was a long time ago. Let's just get out of here and find Knuckles and Miky."

Shadow and Sonic arrived on Angel Island and turned their eyes to the sky. The sunlight was beginning to die fast. Shadow turned to Sonic, "Let's find Knucklehead and get out of here."

Sonic nodded before suddenly looking about him franticly, "Hey, wait a minute! Shit, I left my bat at Amy's!"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Really?! Dammit you'd be dead if it wasn't for me! Here." Shadow pulled out a handgun from his bag and held it out to Sonic who immediately shyed away. Shadow stepped closer, "Sonic, I understand why you don't like guns but dire situations call for dire measures. All it takes is one shot to the head and bam. No more zombie. If you're not going to do this for yourself, do it for Tails."

Sonic reached out and took the gun, "The safety is on right?"

Shadow reached over and flipped a tiny switch, "Not anymore. Keep it steady and at eyelevel. Use this to eject the magazine when you run out of ammo. Anything dead gets shot. Let's move."

The two quickly reached the Master Emerald altar and looked about the island from the top. All was quiet and still. It appeared the infection had not touched Angel Island but it also seemed unusually empty of its resident guardian and wildlife. Suddenly the silence was shattered by a shotgun blast. Two more rang out before a familiar echidna burst from the small wood on the island at full sprint. He jumped at the side of the altar and scaled it quicker than a squirrel up a tree. He stood panting before saying, "It is it just me or is the world as we know it falling apart?"

Shadow crossed his arms, "Oh it's falling apart alright. It's pretty much Armageddon! What were you shooting at?"

Knuckles gripped his shotgun tighter, "It's insane, all of the animals on the island are turning into rabid, flesh-eating monsters!"

Sonic shook his head, "Great. The infection has spread to animals too."

Knuckles titled his head, "Too?"

Shadow nodded, "Originally whatever this is originated from deceased Mobians rising from their graves. They began to band together in hive-minded packs. The greater their numbers, the more cunning they get. All they seem to want is to devour us. If you're bitten, you die and come back as one of them."

Knuckles was dumbfounded, "…So what do we-" All at once, a zombie hawk swooped from nowhere and latched onto Knuckles throat with its talons. Shadow and Sonic jumped back in terror as the hawk gave a mighty pull and tore open Knuckles' throat with a banshee like screech. From out of nowhere, several other zombified animals sprung onto Knuckles and began to eat him alive. The screaming was horrendous as blood and bits of flesh were flung about. Sonic raised his gun, his arms shaking again.

Shadow pulled Sonic back, "What the hell are you doing? We need to get out of here!"

Sonic pulled against him, "No, we can't let him die!"

Shadow yanked once more, "He's already dead, let's go!" Sonic raised the gun again. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out and a mangy bat went flying from Knuckle's body. He fired again and hit the hawk that had attacked Knuckles. Shadow whipped out his Chaos Emerald and grabbed Sonic by the arm, "Chaos Control!"

Sonic and Shadow landed in the Emerald Forest with a huge crash. Sonic leapt to his feet, "Why did you do that Shadow? We could have saved him!"

Shadow dusted himself off, "No way! He was either dead or turning as they ate him. There was nothing we could do!"

Sonic slammed his fist against a tree, "DAMN! First Amy and now Knuckles."

Shadow held up his hand with his ears perked and swiveling about his head, "Shh! The sun has gone down and it's dark out. Those bastards are more active at night. We have to get our bearings."

Sonic looked about him before raising his muzzle and sniffing, "I smell pine trees. We must be near Miky's house. But, ugh! The wind smells foul."

Shadow frowned and pulled out a double barreled shotgun from his bag, "Goddammit. That means they're here. Let's get to Miky's house."

When Shadow and Sonic got even closer to Miky's house they could crashing and the shattering of glass. They dashed to the door and found it hanging by a hinge with huge holes in the outer walls. The two rushed inside to find Miky backed into a corner surrounded by a group of five zombies. Using her telekinesis, Miky picked up the zombies and snapped their backs in half and tossed them like ragdolls. She spotted the hedgehogs and her exhausted looking face lit up, "Sonic! Shadow!" She went to dash to them but fell with a pained cry.

Sonic was instantly at her side, "Are you alright?"

Miky pulled herself into a sitting position, "Ugh. Yeah I'm ok. I forgot that one of those things tried to take a bite out of my leg."

Shadow hesitated before saying, "Did it succeed?"

Miky shook her head, "No but he clawed me real good and twisted my ankle." Shadow heaved a sigh of relief, before becoming alert and whirling around with the shotgun raised.

The zombies that Miky had tossed to the other side of the room were crawling and pulling themselves toward the trio. Miky was horrified, "That's impossible! I snapped their spines in two!"

Shadow jumped in front of Miky with the shotgun cocked and ready to fire, "The only way to kill these things is destroy their skulls. Watch and learn." Shadow opened fire. BANG! One of the zombie's skulls exploded into a shower of blood and brains. Miky let out a yelp as some rained down onto her. Only one remained. Shadow aimed and fired twice more. BANG! BANG! The zombie's arms were blown clean off, leaving it to writhe on the floor. Shadow turned to Sonic who stood beside Miky, gun in hand. The black hedgehog nudged Sonic forward, "Finish it."

Sonic's eyes widened in panic, "What?!"

Shadow nudged him once more, "This is the perfect chance for you to practice your aim and get over your squeamishness. Now hurry up."

Sonic turned toward the remaining zombie. It was hissing and snarling angrily. Sonic shut his eyes and was about to pull the trigger when Shadow barked, "Open your eyes dammit! You can't aim with your eyes shut!" Sonic slowly opened his eyes, aimed, and fired. The bullet tore through the left sholder of the zombie. Sonic aimed and fired again, striking the back. He fired a third time and bored a small neat hole in the zombie's skull. It twitched and was still. Sonic stared at the corpse, trapped in his traumatic memories. Shadow gave him a slap on the back, "There you go! That's how you kill a zombie. Now let's get the hell out of here before more of those bastards show. Chaos Control!"