*Rachel's POV*

The next morning, I was being shaken awake by Shadow.

As I sat up, I saw as all around me, the campers of before were packing up and heading towards their own rickety vehicles. They were ready to continue the journey to Safe Haven.

So was I.

"Hey," he whispered. "We're ready to move on."

Indeed, we were. Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles were already waiting in the car. The fire had been put out, and everything was packed up. I almost felt a little guilty that I wasn't awake to help out.

Nevertheless, once Shadow and I got into the car, we continued on our attempt of a journey to a place that seemed to be the crash area of Heaven.

We had traveled 200 deathly silent miles before someone finally spoke. It was Shadow… in an outrage once again.

I looked to my right and noticed that Amy was balled up as tightly as physically possible against her corner of the car. When I looked back to the road ahead… I became just as aghast.

"Oh, no…" growled Shadow. "A massive horde."

Just as stated. Zombies… millions of thousands of them… were trudging around, mouths agape, out for flesh.

"Can't we just shoot at them?" asked Knuckles.

"Can't you get out and use your Chaos Blast?" Amy squeaked.

"Can I just attack them?" asked Sonic.

I, for one, did not say a word. I was fighting against nausea. As bumpy, and possibly sickening, as it would be, I knew we'd just have to burn some rubber and dash right through them. Running over their sickened, disgusting bodies… their helpless, lost souls…

"A horde like this'd run our ammo supply completely dry," Shadow sighed. "It's too risky for anyone to so much as open the window. We'll have to try ramming through them. Flooring it. Prepare for some guts."

At that, I heard him put a heavy step on the gas pedal. All 4 tires below us screeched with velocity, and we were off. We rocked around repeatedly as poor, soulless bodies fell victim to the weight of the car. As I saw the clearing, one zombie flat out skidded across the windshield, then on the roof, then off the back, taking a hit from the bumper on the way down.

"We made it," said Shadow.

"Whew," said Knuckles. "You don't say. Anyone got bit?"

"Nope," I piped up.

"Not here," said Sonic.

"Not a scratch!" cheered Amy.

"Me neither," said Shadow. "We're all good."

We continued down the road.

About half an hour later, I heard Amy begin to cry.

"What are we going to do, Sonic?" she asked. "Any step outside is a death sentence waiting to happen! D-Do you think it'll be like this forever?"

"I hope not," Sonic shuddered.

"There's just no way of knowing," I sighed solemnly. "Who knows if an airplane will come flying over us with a curing serum to the parasite within the next 5 minutes?"

"I don't think we'll be nearly that lucky," said Shadow. "Most of the world has fallen victim to zombification. We happen to be a fragment of the pool of survivors left on this planet. Life, as we know it, will never be the same again."

Then, I looked to my left and noticed Knuckles had begun to shed some tears.

"R-… Rouge…" he cried. "I never realized just how much I took my knowing her for granted. She's out there somewhere… and she's most likely… one of them, if not lying as a heap of undead meat somewhere."

"I'm just glad I still have Sonic," Amy added. "I'm awfully sorry about your loss, Knuckles."

What would be the worth in voicing my loss?, I decided.

My loss? I really never mentioned it too much, but that's because the direness of the situation as a whole made me temporarily forget about it… believe it or not. Now, just sitting here, watching bricks fall off of buildings, stray zombies with nothing more than human flesh on their minds, and fires flare out from all around… it all came rushing back.

I had begun this journey to Safe Haven without the one person I could say I loved. He was my best friend, and my heart had constantly been calling out for me to accept the fact that truly, I saw him as more than that. Silver… my first true love. He was out there somewhere as well… and as much as my famous optimism wanted to help me deny it, he had probably suffered the same fate as Rouge.

…No. My optimism had to step in. I needed it more than ever! He had to be out there somewhere. There was nothing proving that he was done for. For all I knew, he may possibly have been sitting on the back of a van… simply waiting for me to arrive…

I just couldn't be sure, and for that, I joined Amy and Knuckles in the shedding of tears.

We soon found ourselves pulling up to another landmark. It looked like a huge superstore of sorts… but with all the chips, scrapes, and pleas for help, I couldn't be sure.

We got out and hesitantly went inside. Indeed… it was a mall. One of my favorite places to spend the day whenever the occasion struck… when everything was at least 110 times as outgoing as it was now.

Author's note: I'm glad you're taking the time to enjoy my stories. You know what'd be really awesome, though? If you were to check out a very well-written story, created by a friend of mine. His pen name is RCTSG, and his story is called "WATCHMAN OF MOBIUS". Romance, adventure and depth galore! Well... whoever you are, fair reader, I hope you're having a great day! :)