Then... 6 months after La Unión.
Each day was hotter and lonelier than the last. When the catastrophe arrived, more than the effects, it was the speed at which they occurred that overwhelmed everyone. Within a couple of days the freshwater rivers turned salty, a couple of weeks later many had disappeared. Consequently, the vegetation began to fade and dry out, a perfect situation for forest fires, which were much more recurrent and uncontrollable. Several villages surrounded by forests had to be evacuated. Soon the unthinkable happened: the oceans began to evaporate. At first everyone attributed the retreat of the tide to the advent of a catastrophic Tsunami, but it never came. Eventually there were no seas left to sail, so there were no fish to catch. There was no vegetation, so there were no more fruits or fields to graze. There was nothing, nothing out there in the world and, not surprisingly, nothing in that supermarket Amy had gone to visit.
That day the young pink hedgehog was running low on supplies, and the small vegetable garden she had set up wasn't yielding the best results, so she was forced to take her Xtreme-Gear and head to the nearest town. She went to one, then another and yet another, all were emptied of people and their markets looted and vandalized. She then went to the nearest city, the sight of the place totally deprived of people gave her a feeling that reminded her of the days before the dissolution of the Restoration, a month before.
At that time she was locked in a cubicle in the bathroom, trying to control the panic attack she was suffering. She tried to take a deep breath, to count to ten, to cheer herself up, but the idea that she was going through the worst moments of the Metal Virus crisis again did not leave her mind, and the worst thing was that she no longer had anything to hope for, because the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald together with Angel Island had disappeared and Sonic was... "out of combat". The pink hedgehog resolved to use violence, she slapped herself several times to come back to her senses, and although her face started to hurt, she had recovered at least a little bit of her composure, so she stayed a few more minutes to let the swelling of her cheeks go down and go back to work.
When she returned to the Restoration headquarters, she found Jewel on the desk with her face buried in her hands. Her breathing was slow and heavy, a clutter of papers surrounded her, as if she were being locked in. Amy approached her cautiously and rested her hand on her back. The poor beetle suddenly jumped as if she had suffered a fright, she looked all around before meeting Amy's gaze, at that moment she breathed a sigh of relief and, after a few seconds of being silent, she leaned towards the hedgehog, resting her head on her chest while Amy tried to comfort her.
"Feeling better?" asked Jewel in a muffled voice.
"Kind of. And you?".
Jewel was silent.
"Tell me...," Amy insisted.
"... Empire City has fallen too," Jewel confessed, defeated. "We have to evacuate again, but neither G.U.N. nor we have the resources for another evacuation... and there is nowhere left to go...".
Amy took a deep breath and pressed her lips together, trying to contain the feeling of desolation that overwhelmed her. Misfortune seemed to follow them, wherever they evacuated people, tragedy soon followed. Droughts, fires, riots... For Amy it was not unusual for the world to be plunged into chaos, she could almost say that seeing the world on the brink of collapse was part of her routine, but there was always hope, because she along with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and her friends could somehow save the day. But now? of all her old friends, only she was left. Sonic could no longer fight, Tails was missing in combat during The Union and so was Knuckles. There was no word on where the Chaotix were, much less Shadow and Team Dark. Belle had been missing since before The Union. Recently Vanilla and Cream had been forced to leave. There was no one left of her old friends to support her, she was the one who had to give her all to help what was left of the Restoration, but she already felt at the edge of her abilities.
"What's left for us, where can we go?" mused Jewel on the verge of tears.
At that moment Amy took a trip through her memories, to all the places where she had gone on adventures with Sonic. All those places, Espagonia, Chunan, the Nord-Star Islands, Soleana, all of them were in ruins... except one. Amy's eyes opened wide, for a moment renewed air filled her lungs, but then she remembered further and a lump formed in her throat. She hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end she put aside pretense, turned Jewel to face her and, holding her by the shoulders, said:
"I know a place."
"Where?" the beetle asked.
"I'll give you the exact location. Coordinate with G.U.N. and everyone to get over there right away. If they ask why they should let you in, tell them...," Amy thought for a moment about what would be the right thing to say, then continued, "Tell them you're coming from me, that you're my friends, all of you, even the refugees. If all goes well, they'll let you in."
"And why don't you come with us?" questioned Jewel, at which point Amy took a step back.
The pink hedgehog began to swallow saliva and present herself nervously, placing her hand on the base of her neck. It was clear to her why she could in no way return to Acorn's Kingdom, but those reasons had nothing to do with Jewel or anyone else but her and Sonic. Then she came to a conclusion: Lie telling the truth.
"I have business to attend to here, with Sonic," she said with just enough conviction to sound as persuasive as possible. "I can't mobilize him and I can't leave him behind."
"But we could-".
"No," the bristling girl exclaimed categorically, the impact of her voice causing Jewel to tense her body.
For a moment they were both silent, Jewel trying to figure out if there was something else behind Amy's refusal, and Amy doing her best to keep Jewel from finding out her true intentions. In the end the beetle gave up her inquiries, letting out a sigh as she lay back in her chair.
"So what are you going to do then? do you have enough food for you and Sonic?".
"I...," Amy lowered her defenses and let her doubt creep in, she hadn't thought about it.
"Here," Jewel said as she rummaged through the pockets of her suit and handed Amy an access card. "Go to the warehouse and take all the food you need for you and Sonic."
"What? Jewel, don't-!".
"If you're not going to come with us, that's the least you must do, and if you're not going to do it, then we're not going anywhere."
"But you guys..."
"We'll manage as best we can with what we have. Take what you and Sonic need to survive for at least 6 more months, please."
For a few seconds Amy was reluctant to agree, but seeing Jewel's determined face, which seemed to have regained some of her strength, the bristling girl gave up her refusal and took the access card.
"Only what is necessary," Amy stressed.
"Only what is necessary," Jewel stated back.
And before Amy retreated to the storeroom, Jewel rose from her chair and gave her a hug, the last they would have for a long time.
Hours later Amy gave Jewel the location of the Acorn Kingdom and Jewel contacted G.U.N. and the other organizations still standing to coordinate the final evacuation. By the time Jewel contacted Acorn Kingdom to advise of her arrival, Amy had left with the supplies she needed. When the Acorn Kingdom asked how she had obtained their location and who was sending them, at the mere mention of Amy the kingdom approved the entry of all who came, no explanation was given as to why. The plan had worked, the remaining people on the islands and the other nations in crisis were evacuated to the the Acorn Kingdom, which consequently had made Amy's situation even more desolate, since she was on her own on the island, only accompanied by an indisposed Sonic and an unexpected new tenant.
This new addition had fractured her rationing plans, as she had to add a new mouth to the calculations, leaving them in the long run with considerably less food than they had expected, which is why she was searching for more supplies among the ruins of the supermarkets.
When Amy arrived at the first Supermarket she found in the city, as it looked in one piece on the outside, she had hopes of maybe finding what she was looking for and then some more. Her hopes were dashed upon entering: the place had been almost completely ransacked and what wasn't stolen was being eaten by insects. All she could get was a handful of cans of food, all beaten and battered. She had to swallow her frustration and accept that this was better than nothing. She checked the time on her cell phone and panicked, she had to hurry back. She grabbed what she could and embarked on her return trip.
When she arrived home, the first thing she did was to attend to her first guest. She burst into her room and approached the bed where Sonic laid, motionless with a damp towel over his eyes. Amy removed the towel, dried the area around the hedgehog's still open eyes and struggled to pull him back into a sitting position. He was the same as he had been for the past 6 months: catatonic, unable to react, his eyes always open, staring into the void. Amy gave a resigned sigh and retired to make breakfast.
When Amy finished cooking, she had three plates ready. She saved hers for later and took the other two dishes with her. She stopped in the second room, as the door seemed closed, Amy tried to knock with her elbow, but it opened by itself at a touch. Upon entering she found Knuckles sitting on the bed, looking out the window. On the nightstand was the plate with the previous day's dinner still untouched. Amy took a deep breath so as not to explode in anger.
"You haven't eaten for three days," scolded the pink hedgehog.
The echidna was silent.
"The food is not very plentiful anymore, you know?"
Still no response.
"If you're not going to eat, you could at least say so for not-"
"I'm not hungry," replied the echidna at last.
"Three days without food and you're not hungry? Could you stop acting like a spoiled child and have even one bite?"
"I'm not hungry-"
"I don't care that you're not hungry, Knuckles! It's not healthy, it's not good! Eat something, anything, for hell's sake, please!"
The hedgehog was trembling, when she realized she was doing so, she tried to breathe to regain her composure. Then she stared at the echidna, who had gone mute again.
"Please...," Amy pleaded one last time.
"I. Am. NOT. Hungry," the Knukles replied coolly.
Amy gave a sigh. She left one of the plates of food on the nightstand, picked up the plate with the cold food and left. After throwing Knuckles' dinner in the trash, Amy made her way to the room where Sonic was. After a handful of minutes inside, she came out with the empty plate. She then went to grab her plate of food and made her way to her backyard.
Amy had been in the habit of eating in the yard for quite some time. At first she only did it when she was not in a good mood, but then it became a habit. All she needed was a stool and her food, the place had a phenomenal view of the mountains and the sight of her flourishing garden plus the gentle morning breeze was comforting.
At that time the view was still wonderful, although with less luster than before, as the mountains were slowly losing their greenery, and her garden was slowly withering, with only an Indigo Orchid barely surviving. Amy sat on her stool in the middle of the yard and before starting to eat, she closed her eyes to feel the wind caress her face. But the breeze was no longer soft and cool, but arid.
Now...
The breeze remained the same, perhaps more and more arid as the days passed, and yet Amy continued to let it caress her face as she kept her eyes closed, seeking to understand and accept this wind of the new world.
A voice in a strange language brought her out of her trance. It took her a few seconds to make sense of what was being said.
"Miss Rose," said the a young Antelope in the Mazuri language.
"What's up?", Amy replied in the same language, albeit a bit hit-and-miss.
"How much longer?"
"Huh?", Amy pondered for a moment what he was referring to. When she finally realized what it was, she got up and approached the small cave they had nearby. There she found Sonic still motionless, his eyes wide open staring into the void. The pink hedgehog took some eye drops from her belt pouch and dropped a couple into each of the blue hedgehog's eyes. Then she began to count with her fingers, but halfway through she gave up.
"Can you..." she started to say in her native tongue, then corrected herself and began to speak in the Mazuri language. "Give me cane, can you?".
"Huh?" the Antelope replied in confusion.
"Ah... I need a cane, stick, rod...you know," Amy was saying as she gestured to indicate a long object and fought frustration.
Luckily the Antelope was able to discern what she was referring to and handed her a wooden stick they had nearby. The pink hedgehog then began to scribble a simple mathematical formula in the sand on the ground.
"Two hours," she replied at the end.
"We don't have two hours," alerted the Antelope.
"What are you talking about?".
The antelope motioned for Amy to follow him. They both left the cave and after advancing a few feets, the antelope signaled Amy to duck her head. About 33 ft. from the cave they met up with the group of lookouts who were hidden behind a dune. The antelope alerted one of the lookouts to their arrival with a tap on the shoulder and instructed him to hand Amy his binoculars. What the pink hedgehog could see was a great dust being kicked up in the distance.
"A Vehicle?" asked Amy.
"Several, a Convoy," replied the lookout, a young hare, in Amy's native language.
"The FF?"
"Possibly."
"I need a certainty, not a possibility."
"Whatever it is, they'll be here in half an hour."
"Half an hour is enough." Amy beckoned the antelope closer and began speaking in their language. "Take positions, on my signal."
The antelope nodded and quickly shuffled away.
"It's a large convoy," Hare stressed.
"I can deal with it."
"Okay, but we'd have a better chance if Mr. Sonic-".
"Even if Sonic were available, I wouldn't let him fight. Last time it cost a week... and two hours. To have him absent another week would be suicide."
The hare stared at Amy for a moment, then gave a long sigh and finally said.
"How complicated this whole situation is."
"These are complicated times after all."
Random Trivia: Why was there no word on the Acorn Kingdom until now? What were they doing during the Metal Virus?
Well you see, I thought of the Acorn Kingdom a bit like Wakanda from the Marvel Comics. They have a lot in common, they are hermetic kingdoms because they possess a very valuable and powerful resource, in Wakanda it is Vibranium, in the Acorn Kingdom it is Meta-Quartz. The reasons why they are being revealed now will be explained more in depth as the story progresses.
About the Metal Virus: For those who don't know, the Metal Virus is an event that happened in IDW's Sonic Comics in one of the best story arcs ever made for the hedgehog. What happened was that Eggman created a virus that transformed everyone into Zombots (zombie robots). The Arc is brutal and very dark, a little bit also the inspiration for this Fanfic.
Answering what the Acorn Kingdom did during this event is a bit Spoilers, but to keep things interesting, I will tell you that Eggman knew perfectly well where the kingdom was (Eggman knows everything), but still didn't attack it. Deduce on your own the reasons or read on to find out...