The travelers here hustled and bustled about, an air among them quite like the one I tried to keep myself: that keeping your head held high will get you to Safe Haven in absolutely no conceivable time.

Nevertheless, the weight of the journey that rested precariously on my shoulders began to crush the bones of my poor heart.

And it all started when I grabbed my gun, hopped out, and realized that Sonic hadn't hopped out with me.

I carefully turned back and put my hand on the handle of his door, taking a deep breath. Sonic's silence bit at me.

I opened the door. Setting eyes on the teal, incapacitated, invisibly-rotting version of who was once the one man I could call a brother. He was just… there. As if his innocent, beaming life was already taken from him.

The groan he let out was riddled with the disgust of the very type of creature that had caused all of this. He had left us sooner than I thought he'd be willing to.

"…S-Sonic?" I shook. "H-How do you feel?"

Just another groan.

Everything crashed within me for a split second. A single tear escaped from my eye when I realized that Sonic… was gone. In his place was a zombie. Waiting to grow hostile and actually set out for the flesh of the living.

He was done for. He had no business being by my side anymore.

But I couldn't bring myself to kill him! What if he wasn't truly prepared?

Come on… His fur is changing color. He can only groan. He's done.

Yeah… I was alone…

Carefully, I wrapped my arms around Sonic and hoisted him into my arms.

My stomach lurched when I saw the condition of his face. His teeth were a pastel amber. His eyes were bloodshot to the point of a ruby appearance. He barely moved but to a staggered breath.

There were zombies lurking around in the distance. Ready, you monsters? Accept another once-innocent soul as one of your brethren.

I brought my arms back, ready to use any of the strength I had left. Anything physical was still with me, but I constantly felt as if my pale heart would give out.

Across the street, Sonic. Fly through the air.

But then, I heard a panicked "H-Hey! Put him down!" from behind me.

Out of shock, I dropped Sonic so that he became a coil of a rotting body on the ground.

Right before I could turn around, I saw as something… almost star-shaped wedged itself into Sonic's head.

He no longer moved at all.

I looked up, seeing as a familiar figure dashed toward me. He shed a ray of light on everything I had just been through. Seeing him made me realize that I still had hope.

"Espio!" I cried happily, running up to him.

Indeed, that was a ninja star that had cut through Sonic's rotten flesh with a disgusting ease.

"R-Rachel!" he cried back. "Yes! It's you!"

Once we reached each other, our arms suddenly lashed out to wrap each other within them for a heart-beating second. A hug that I had desperately needed this entire time.

"I-It's really you…" Espio smiled.

"I-I can't explain how grateful I am to see you here!" I said. "Sonic… was my last companion on this journey."

"Oh, dear," said Espio. "Me? I was left behind. I was off in the distance, trying to do some training, when I saw the car take off. Who… did you have with you?"

"In other words, who have we lost?" I sighed. "Sonic… Amy… Knuckles… and Shadow."

"Woah…" Espio marveled. "What happened to all of them?!"

"Shadow died of measles," I frowned. "Amy got bitten, and also had typhoid fever. Knuckles got shot in the head, and Sonic… really just got bitten, but I… d-didn't expect him to leave us this fast…"

Then, the dawning slapped me across the cranium.

"Espio," I asked, feeling my heart begin to race. "W-Who left you behind?"

"Who's my party?" he replied, a longing chuckle evident in his voice. "Blaze, Vector, and Silver."

My eye widened, and my heart began to dance.

"How long ago did they leave you behind?" I asked.

"Yesterday," Espio grunted. "Maybe they thought I… wandered off or something. Vector always wonders if I'm having an existential crisis, for some reason."

"W-We have to see if we can catch up with them!" I demanded in a happy frenzy.

"Yeah, I imagine so," Espio laughed. "I have to grab a crate of stuff I managed to loot real quickly. Then, we can go."

I turned to walk away.

"OH!" he added. "And sit in the passenger seat. The rest of you looks fine, but… your eyes look awful. Awful as in you need sleep."

That was true.

"Thank you," I yawned, nodding and heading toward the car.

Soon after I closed my eyes, I felt the car shake as a crate was placed into the spot where Sonic once suffered. Then, the car door opened and closed, and soon after that, the car started.

…You actually have no idea how relieved I was to have Espio with me. Finally, the responsibilities that ate away at my heart were to be taken under a stronger wing.

Perhaps the ride would be like that on wind rather than a wave at sea during a storm? And even if we did run over a few potholes, it'd all be worth it… because I had learned that he was alive.

…But there are always those freak accidents… like the bullet that goes through a friend's head out of nowhere… and then, you never see him again…

Author's note: Happy Valentine's Day, in advance!... Even though the fact that I'm alone will be brutally shoved in my face again, I hope you, my dearest readers, enjoy the day!