Fall of the ARK Part 2

Shadow took hold of Maria's small hand and they started off without looking back. Maria kept her head down with her blonde hair masking her eyes from the dead soldiers scattered lifelessly on the floor that Shadow led her through. Shadow's hand reached out behind him to Maria to lead her through the graveyard of singed soldiers.

Once they were past, they broke into a faster run. Shadow and Maria ran through the wide curving hallway toward the escape pods that were further down the exterior hallway. The sound of their shoes clanking on the metal floor echoed through the empty deserted hall and their breathing seemed to thunder in their ears in the eerie solitude.

As they continued to run and run, Shadow began to feel panicked. He felt more alarmed for Maria's safety and began to worry that they might be found. The possibility of the G.U.N. soldiers finding them was beginning to mess with his head and he knew they only wanted him, so they wouldn't take a care in sparing the life of Maria.

They heard exploding gunshots echo from behind them. Maria turned her head over her shoulder with fright in her round blue eyes to look back, but Shadow just pushed to run faster. He pulled Maria to run faster and both of their panic increased even more from hearing the gunshots in the path behind them.

"Shadow," Maria panted behind him with staggering steps. "I can't run that fast!" She staggered more behind him and she tripped, causing Shadow to stumble with her. Shadow's hand let go as they fell to the ground with the gunshots booming in the distance.

Shadow and Maria tumbled on their sides as they hit the ground. Shadow quickly stopped himself and got to his feet, then glanced down the hall with paranoia for any soldiers, but it was empty. Maria was crawling onto her knees and Shadow rushed over to help her onto her feet.

"Forgive me, Maria," he said hastily as he pulled her up. "Are you alright?"

"I-I-I'm okay," Maria stammered, and from the fear in her distressed expression, Shadow could tell the scare hurt her more than the fall did.

Shadow grabbed her hand again and remarked quickly, "We'll make it out of here Maria. It'll be okay."

Maria nodded slightly with doubt and they started to flee once more. The dilemma had made them even more paranoid and Shadow's heart beat faster and louder. He expected G.U.N. soldiers to pop out of every curve and hall they passed and nowhere felt safe. Shadow's sight was becoming blurrier from the anxiety that attacked his mind and the windows to space and the lights shining on vast metal flew past his eyes in a fuzzy shaky blur. He could feel his hand tighten its grip on Maria's hand from his worry. His greatest fear that was overwhelming him was of the G.U.N. soldiers killing Maria and he had to get her to safety now.

It felt like the longest run of his life. Shadow kept running and Maria was pushing herself to keep up as they fled toward the escape pods, coming closer along the wide curving hall.

Then they saw it. Out the windows was the escape pod room jutting out towards space from the ARK's walls, coming closer to them. Maria exclaimed in hope, "There it is, Shadow!"

They rushed over to the skinny metal door on the wall across from a hall on the other side. Maria hurriedly pushed the small button at its side to slide the door open. They were almost there, Shadow was thinking as they quickly slipped inside the room, just a little more. The door closed behind them and Shadow didn't dare open it again to see if someone had spotted them, although he was feeling less paranoid already.

Shadow looked around and saw that the room's walls were all windows, with a view of the enormous Earth, and along the walls were about fifteen clear cylindrical escape-pods each large enough to carry one individual. Shadow felt his heart start racing. There they were: the escape pods, the tickets to their safety; all they had to do was activate them, climb inside, and launch towards Earth. Nothing would go wrong now.

Maria ran to the center of the room where a wide metal stand stood with glowing buttons and large levers. Shadow quickly followed her and saw her eyes go over the words "Capsule 1" on the machine before she pushed a button in that area. Suddenly, a capsule came to life as lights flashed on and Shadow felt more anxious to escape yet more hopeful because they were one step closer.

Then Shadow looked forward out the window and saw the Earth. "I had always hoped we would go to Earth, Maria," he said slowly. "But I'd never imagine it would be like this." He remembered with anguish the visions he had of a ceremonial departure and warm greetings on earth from the Robotniks there compared to what was happening now. Now they were escaping from the guns that had killed their friends.

Maria looked up from the machinery and looked at Shadow with sorrowful eyes. "And I would have never imagined that we'd leave everyone like this." She added with a frail voice. "I wish Grandfather was coming with us."

Shadow turned away from Earth and met Maria's eyes. "Maybe, if he's spared, we can come back and save him."

Maria looked down and nodded, but they both knew that they wouldn't be able to.

Then Maria turned back to the machine and a look of nervousness came onto her face. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed by the intricate controls and buttons that were in front of her. Shadow could see her hands shake as she slowly pressed another button and her eyes darted back and forth in uncertainty.

"Shadow, I'm not sure if I'm doing this right," she confessed with worry.

Shadow felt a chill inside of him at the thought of not being able to escape, but he told her, "Just try your best," he said, trying to keep a straight voice.

Maria waved her hand over the buttons, looking for the right button to press, and decided on one, causing Capsule1 to start humming. While Maria was activating it, Shadow kept looking back over his shoulder through the glass at the hall. It was eerily empty, but Shadow knew someone could appear at any second, and he desperately wished Maria would go faster as she slowly managed the controls.

Then the capsule's doors swung open with a swoosh of air as pressure was released from it. Maria paused and they looked at each other; only one of them could go in.

"Shadow, you go in," Maria said. "You won't be able to activate the other one and I have to close that one before the second one can be activated. Then they'll be released after the fifty second countdown."

"Maria," Shadow suddenly grabbed her hand in fear of being separated from her. "Are you sure?" He didn't want to go first and leave her out here.

Maria nodded sternly.

Shadow looked back at the capsule and before going, he said, "Promise me you'll be right behind me, and you'll be there as quick as you can?"

Maria smiled. "I promise. We'll go to Earth together, like we always wanted."

Shadow smiled with her and slowly let go of her hand. He turned around, only having to take a few steps to get to the capsule, and he jumped inside the escape-pod. Once again, his heart beat loudly in his chest from his anxiety. They were even closer, just a little more, then they'd be in Earth. The door swung to a close from a push of a button and Shadow could feel himself holding his breath, waiting for the launch once Maria would go in her capsule.

"Come on, Maria," Shadow whispered inside the escape pod, with uneasy glances toward what little he could see of the hall they'd come from.

The second capsule burst to life with bright lights. Shadow stared in suspense at Maria, at her nervous face with the lights of the buttons reflected in her eyes, and her little hands hesitantly searched again for the right buttons. Almost there, he kept telling himself, almost there. He pressed his fingers against the glass as he stared at Maria. Almost there.

All of a sudden, the door slid open. Maria gasped and whirled around to see a G.U.N. soldier standing right there at the doorway.

"No!" Shadow shouted as he pounded the glass with his fists.

Maria trembled under the soldier's cold stare as he lifted his gun towards Maria. His hard eyes were menacing under his large black helmet and he brought the gun up to his padded shoulder, pointed forward, and said firmly, "Step away from the machine."

Shadow was frantically pounding the glass with his fists. "Just do it Maria!" he screamed. He rammed his shoulder into the glass, but it just wouldn't break. Maria stood there, holding her ground, terrified yet stubborn against the gun pointed at her and Shadow's wild pounding.

"Maria!" Shadow screamed out for her. He threw his fist against the glass with all his strength, staring at nothing but Maria, but he couldn't get out.

She turned her eyes toward Shadow, with thought in her eyes, and Shadow stopped for a second, meeting her eye and reaching out with his hand on the glass. Maria stared at him and Shadow thought he saw a growing fire in her eyes. He saw such a vivacious heat of fearlessness and determination arise from the embers of her eyes that he'd never seen before. Then she slowly turned away, looked at the Earth in the distance with the same heat in her eyes, and grabbed the large lever on the machine. Below it was the word "Launch".

Shadow gasped. "No!" he yelled out in distress. Maria was going to send him down without her and get herself killed!

The G.U.N. soldier saw the word and he hesitated, having second thoughts about killing a little girl, and he demanded, "Let go of the lever!"

Maria grasped the lever harder, not heeding the soldier's threats, and the lever budged slightly as she began pulling down with the strain showing in her eyes.

"Don't fool around with me, girl!" the soldier shouted, losing the firmness in his voice. The cold hardness was lost from his eyes, but he moved his fingers closer to the trigger of the gun.

Shadow cried out, "No!" He banged against the glass with so much strength, but he just could not escape. He couldn't let the soldier kill Maria, not his sweet Maria. He had to save her, he had to before the trigger was pulled, but the soldier saw Shadow banging against the glass and he moved his fingers even closer to the trigger.

Maria pulled harder on the lever with her eyes squinting shut and the soldier shouted, "Stop!"

The lever dropped to the bottom and the soldier pulled the trigger with a blast.

"Maria!"

A blazing bullet shot through her shoulder and she shouted in pain as the force thrust her shoulders and head forward over the lever she grasped. Then she slowly fell backwards, with her hands letting go of the lever as she lost her strength to stand. Her face lost its liveliness with her eyes gently closed as she fell and her hair floated up by her face with her dress drifting behind her falling body and her arms hanging in the air above her. Maria landed with such softness on the ground beside the capsule.

Then the countdown began for the launch.

50…

Shadow collapsed to his knees and stared with complete horror at Maria and the blood seeping from her shoulder onto her little blue sweater.

The G.U.N. soldier froze at the doorway, staring at the little girl that he had shot, and he dropped his gun to the floor. He fell against the side of the doorway onto his shoulders as if in exhaustion from guilt.

40…

Maria opened her eyes and her face winced from the pain when she moved her arms. She slowly moved her hands and heaved her shoulder up, but her wound caused more pain than she could bear, and she rested herself on her elbows to look up at Shadow.

Shadow could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he saw the blood dripping from Maria's shoulder onto the metal floor. Maria was going to die; she was going to be gone forever. Shadow clenched his fists on the floor and shouted to Maria, "Why Maria? Why have you done this?" Why had she released Shadow and killed herself?

30…

Maria weakly held herself up and looked at Shadow with sincerity and solemnity. "Shadow…I beg of you," she said with frailness. "Please do it for me, for a better future."

"Maria, what do you mean?" Shadow asked, putting his hands on the glass.

"For all of the people who live on that planet," Maria said with heavy breaths. "give them a chance to be happy."

20…

"Let them live for their dreams," she said slowly. "Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world."

10…

Shadow stared at Maria, with love and respect, at her weakening innocent face, with her words cementing into his heart. Shadow reached out for Maria with his hand on the glass.

Maria smiled. "Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog."

5… Maria raised her hand…4…reached out…3…touched the glass where Shadow's hand was…2…then her hand slowly fell from his hand…1…and she finally collapsed to the ground…0.

Shadow's capsule dropped from the floor into space and the scene vanished from his eyes, but the vision of the dying Maria would haunt him for the rest of his life.