Chapter 10

The figure in the sky lowered slowly, doing little figure-eights in the sky as it descended. Wave cocked her gun, as did Shadow and Jet, until the creature was safely five yards away from them and on the ground. It was a woman-a bat-in a dingy police uniform.

"Are you survivors?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Wave responded, her gun trained on the bat, "You?"

"I am," the bat replied, "And there are others with me."

"Have any of them been bitten?" Shadow asked warily.

The bat shook her head, "None of the ones we've kept with us."

Silver observed the bat and notice something glint on her hip.

"Shadow," the younger hedgehog whispered, "She's got a gun." The elder brother gave a tiny nod of his head in response.

"Advance," Wave said, lowering her gun, "And hold that gun up so we can see it nice and clear."

The bat nodded and unholstered her gun, holding it high in her right hand as she walked catily over. Wave motioned for Shadow and Jet to lower the guns they had, and both boys complied slowly.

"What's your name?" Wave asked, giving the woman a twice-over.

"Rouge. What about you kids?"

The three boys looked to Wave, who spoke. "I'm Wave, Rouge."

"Jet."

"I'm Shadow, and this is my little brother Silver."

The five of them stood for a while as Rouge and Wave stared at each other, the two ladies sizing each other up.

"Uh," Silver said finally, "Where are your other people?"

"Down the street," Rouge said, "I was actually on my way back to them when I saw you."

"How's your ammo situation? Food?" Shadow asked.

"We've mostly got ammo and manpower."

Shadow and Wave gave each other a look.

"How many?"

"Four in all," Rouge said, with the feeling of fighting a loosing battle, "Three adults including myself, all of us good shots, and a girl about your age." She pointed at Wave.

"How's she holding up?"

"Pretty well, and she's fast. Shot her brother when he got turned." Silver cringed behind Shadow. Wave turned and looked at each of her party members before turning to Rouge.

"Sweeten the deal," she said.

"The other two adults have motivation to help others."

"They cops?"

"Uh, no. But they know this town extremely well, even the sewers."

"Lot of good the sewers'll do us," Shadow said with a snort, "It's crawling with 'em."

"We'll go. Lead the way," Wave said, hoisting her gun up again. Rouge nodded and took to the air, keeping close to the rooftops. The four kids ran below, Wave and Shadow side-by-side with Silver behind them and Jet bringing up the rear. They burst out of the alleyway and into the street.

"They're down the street, in the jewelry shop," Rouge shouted down, "I'll bring them out, and we'll meet you halfway." The bat was then off before the kids could say anything and out of sight before they realized what had happened. They stopped.

"Anyone know this jewelry store she's talking about?" Jet asked.

"Yeah," Silver said quietly, "It's about a mile or so, and I see it on the way to school every day."

"Show the way then," Wave commanded.

"We just go east for a bit-though the street curves around," Silver explained, "We just stay on Kapella."

"Cool," Wave said, heading in the direction indicated. They walked quickly, Silver proud of himself to the point of smiling.

The street was littered with cars, bags, the occasional carriage, bikes, any number of hats, a skate board, and was nothing more than a shimmer of broken glass. There were no bodies. The sun reflected fire off of the windows of the buildings and the crunching glass beneath their feet. The entire town burned in noon light, and the crunching of glass became stronger as a moaning joined it.

"Shadow?" Silver asked, terror on his face and in his voice.

"I hear it," Shadow said, picking up his pace. The two birds followed the hedgehogs' example and broke into a trot, the four of them spurred by adrenaline.

The first one came out of nowhere, and looked like a tiny version of Jet with a red neckerchief tied to it. The hawk swung his hunting rifle around by the barrel, catching the little monster by the temple and sending it flying.

A blast sounded as Wave fired at what looked like a monstrous polar bear, and it fell, a sack of cement. Shadow was at her side instantly, firing one round after another into the approaching crowd.

"We should retreat as we fight," the hedgehog said, and Wave nodded. Silver looked in the direction they were going, and winced as he handed a cartridge to his older brother.

"Shadow, there's more there!"

"Shit," Shadow and Wave hissed in unison as they both glanced at the creatures advancing from behind.

"Silver, can you try to take some of those out?" Shadow asked. Silver flinched. "I need you to do this," the older hedgehog repeated sternly. The young hedgehog nodded and looked at the approaching mass.

"I'll try." Silver hoisted his backpack up and left it unzipped enough for easy access at the ammunition inside. He then carefully took aim into the mass, but faltered.

"They're not people," Wave said without a look at Silver, "They're targets. If you can't handle that, you deserve to be their prey." A gunshot was Silver's reply, followed by the crunch of glass.

"I'll help you, kid," Jet said with an encouraging smile as he turned to the oncoming group.

The bold hawk froze, and Wave bumped into him.

"Wave..." The swallow turned and her eyes widened as the stood beside her boyfriend.

It was on them in an instant.

Shadow turned after an inhuman scream was ejected from Jet and a gunblast had come from Silver. At the bleeding hawk's feet was a silvery albatross with a hole in its head and a bullet in its brains.

Wave glared up at the up coming monsters. "We need to go," she said, cocking her gun. "Run-I'll follow." The hedgehog brothers stared at her as Jet mumbled angry curses.

"Go, fuckers!" Wave screamed, and Shadow and Silver jumped. The two hedgehogs hoisted up Jet and ran, Wave running with them as she sent shell after shell into the herd. They tore down an alleyway and ducked into a building they found.

When Wave had deemed them safe enough, she turned her face to Jet and gasped despite herself.

"I'm not going to make it, am I?" Jet asked, blood trickling out of the corner of his beak.

"Yes you are!" Wave cried forcefully.

"No he's not," Shadow said.

"He will!" Wave screeched.

"He won't. That's a deep wound, and based off what that Rouge woman said, getting bitten is death."

"Shadow..." Silver said, tugging at his brother's arm, "We should let them be." The elder hedgehog looked from the swallow to the hawk and nodded.

"I'll give you ten minutes before I do it myself."

Shadow ducked outside, Silver following him with a worried glance at Wave and Jet.

"What now?" Jet asked.

"I don't know," Wave said quietly, dropping to her knees beside Jet.

"I don't want to turn into one of those things."

"I know."

"I'm terrified," the hawk confessed, finally removing his hand from the monstrous bite in his gut.

"I know." Wave put her arms around the man she had loved since childhood and gave his shoulders a tight squeeze.

"When I die," Jet said quietly, "I'll keep a watch over you guys, and make sure you don't die, Wave. I'll make sure you get out alive, and that nothing-not bullets, or zombies, or greedy fuckers-nothing kills you but old age."

"Don't say that. Please, don't say that." Wave buried her face in Jet's shoulder.

"He's right though. I am doomed, I can feel it." Jet pulled Wave's face up to his own. "I love you," he said, giving her a hard kiss on the beak. Despite herself, she only limply responded.

"I don't want you to go, Jet. If you're gone, I'll follow you."

"No you won't," Jet gave her a stony look. "You help those poor bastards out of this shit hole, you got me?"

"I don't know if I can."

"I'll be there, whether you see me or not, Wave. I'll make sure you can."

"You won't leave my side?"

"Not for all the angels in heaven or demons in hell."

Wave gave a weak smile. "That's poetic. Where'd you hear it?"

"Probably in church."

"Say hi to the others."

"Will do."

"I'm sure we'll be out of time soon."

"Wave-" Jet put his hand on the swallow's shoulder.

"What?" She knew the answer.

"I want you to send me on my way," he said.

"But you said you wouldn't leave my side!" she cried.

"You know what I mean, joker," Jet said with a weak smile.

"I know, you jackass" Wave replied, trembling to her feet.

"Hey, just waste one bullet putting this jackass down, okay?"

Wave said nothing as she dealt with her gun. She loaded it, made sure there was no safety on, and rested it against her shoulder. She widened her stance, took a deep breath, and emptied her mind. Her hands steadied, her finger tensed, and she whispered, "I love you."

The gunshot was accompanied by a single tear that caught the light of the reflecting sun.


Rouge took the most direct route she could, cutting over buildings and shading her eyes. She kept Kapella street in view as she flew, and occasionally let herself stare at her reflection in the windows she flew past.

The bat landed as silently as possible, keeping an eye on the few undead that meandered around the area. She quietly cracked opened the door of the jewelry store, squeezing around the door to let herself inside. Her eyes quickly adjusted and told her the others were gone.

"Dammit," Rouge hissed to herself as she picked her way around the store. She looked around the counters and behind cases. The bat then made her way towards the back room and tripped over a metallic object with a thud and a cry.

There was a click and two guns were in Rouge's face in a heartbeat.

"Guys, wait!" Blaze's voice was soft but pleading, and the guns were replaced by both Knuckles' and Espio's outstretched hands. Rouge allowed the two men to help her up and she angrily kicked at the thing she had tripped over.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"It's used for cleaning jewelry," Espio answered, "You can usually hear them in jewelry stores if you listen."

"And why's it there?"

"To trip up any zombies," Knuckles explained, "And instead it got the ever-aware cop."

"Piss off," Rouge growled.

"Hey!" Blaze said, coming as best she could between her elders, "Rouge, did you find anyone?" The bat blinked and stared at Blaze. She then nodded as she realized the question being asked.

"Yes I did. A group of kids about your age, Blaze. Maybe a little older. Their leader seemed trustworthy, and mature."

"I don't know," Espio said.

"The leader seemed as though she didn't need us, like she was doing us the favor," Rouge mentioned.

"Fuck 'em then," Espio replied.

"No, we'll go get them," Knuckles said, "Anyone else?"

"No, there were no other survivors that I could see."

"Can we go now then?" Blaze asked, excited at the thought of meeting others her age-perhaps they went to her school.

As Blaze, Cheese, and Espio headed for the exit, Knuckles grabbed Rouge by the arm.

"Why'd you come back?" Knuckles asked, eying her warily.

"Huh?"

"You've got no reason to return-why'd you come back?"

Rouge blinked. She didn't know the answer, and leaving had never crossed her mind when she went out.

"I don't know," Rouge replied with a shrug as she turned to follow the others.

Knuckles gave her back a look of doubt as he whispered, "Idiot."

The four of them exited the building silently, Rouge leading the way from high in the air while Blaze was sandwiched between Knuckles and Espio as they ran along.

From the air Rouge kept her eyes cast downwards, both keeping an eye on her group and looking out for the other kids. Knuckles' question kept bothering her, but she couldn't come up with a legitimate reason for why she had returned. Now that she gave it a thought, she could leave right now, fly away over the tops of the buildings and remain untouchable to the undead below.

Rouge started to debate with herself over why she came back. Maybe it was to help this Tikal girl by staying beside Knuckles? That couldn't be it-so long as her job didn't demand it, Rouge would never help someone she'd never met before. Perhaps it was for Blaze's sake? No. If it had, she would have just carried the cat with her. But that didn't seem like the thing to do-something about leaving the guys behind didn't settle quite right...

If it was a case of the men-which was unlikely-which one was it?

Standing in alleyway Rouge spotted two figures and swooped down to get a better look.

"Hey, it's the cop," the smaller of the two said, and Rouge made them both out to be hedgehogs.

"Rouge," the larger one called, "Are your people on the way?"

"Yes," the bat said, and realized why this scene looked wrong. "Where are the other two?"

"Inside," Shadow said, "I suggest getting your guys and-"

The door opened and Wave stepped out of the building, a few green feathers tucked in her shoe.

"Lead us to your friends," the swallow said flatly, hoisting up her gun. Rouge blinked, but said nothing as she turned and flew back in the direction of the others.

"So you did it?" Shadow asked quietly as they hustled after Rouge.

Wave said nothing.

They came out of the alleyway and saw the other group immediately, both parties stopping within twenty feet of each other. Rouge landed beside Knuckles.

"You survivors?" the red echidna asked.

"Yes," Wave responded.

"Can you shoot?"

"Silver can't," Wave motioned to the younger hedgehog, "He carries things without complaint, though."

"Have any of you been bitten?"

"No."

The wind crept by like a stalking cat.

"Ammo?"

"We could use more," Wave let her shotgun rest on her shoulder.

"Food?"

"Just restocked."

"Need sleep soon?"

"Just got some, but more would be nice."

"Fine," Knuckles said, "Let's get going then."