Sonic: REMgaged

Chapter 2

Tails led the way with Alex and Patrick at his heels. Just behind them was Knuckles, and Sonic, uncharacteristically bringing up the rear. Eventually, the path became something of a steep incline. Everyone was huffing and puffing, with the exception of Sonic.

When they finally arrived at the top of the rocky hill, Tails came to a stop. "According to my scanner, the Tornado is in that direction." He pointed to the right, just off the path and into the deep woods, thick with foliage. "Knuckles, I'm gonna need you to take point from here on."

Alex fist-pumped the air encouragingly. "All right! Go Knuckles!"

Patrick had been doing his best with the hiking expedition. The steeper inclines were a touch tricky for him and every now and then, he found himself huffing rather hard. But he was trying his best not to let Alex notice. Her grip on his hand encouraged him to keep going; to keep on 'keeping on' as long as she needed him.

"Wow, Alex," he panted. "You're really pumped about this, huh?"

"Actually," she whispered so only he could hear, "I'm honestly scared to go off the path. I just didn't want them to know."

This admission made Patrick feel a little better about himself. He smiled at Alex and gave her hand a squeeze. "Your secret is safe with me."

Grinning, Knuckles pounded his fists together and took the lead for the group. "Technology holds no candle to intuition," he claimed.

Tails rolled his eyes. "No, but it does hold a torch." With that, he plunged down the rough path into the deeper woods after Knuckles, shaking his head.

As they followed Knuckles and Tails into the woods, Alex's hand on Patrick's tightened. "There was this one time I was hiking here with my dad when I was little," she said tremulously. "I chased a rabbit off the path and got lost in the woods. They had to send Search and Rescue for me. It was terrifying. But when they brought me back to my dad, he was so happy to see me safe that he didn't even get mad at me. He was just all, 'You scared me. Don't go disappearing on me, kiddo.'"

She stopped briefly in her tracks, and in the meager light of their flashlights, Patrick saw her smile. "Actually, that was almost exactly what happened last night. Except it was Sonic who came to find me. And he acted much the same as Dad did." Patrick saw that she had the fondest of expressions on her face. "It's almost like Dad sent Sonic here to be my guardian angel." And with that, she proceeded into the woods with more confidence.

Patrick chewed his lip as he thought of something he wanted to ask her: Just what were things really like between her and Sonic? He felt kind of silly for feeling the way he did, but Alex seemed to have a certain emotional attachment for the heroic blue hedgehog. Patrick desperately wanted to ask, but he never got the chance.

"So, Alex," asked Sonic. "How exactly did you and Tails come through here at night by yourselves? I can't imagine you had flashlights then. How'd you do it?"

"It wasn't easy," she admitted. "I remember my dad showing me Polaris, the North Star, back when we used to go camping. And knowing that North Lake is... well, north... and that Scottstown is west of North Lake, I kind of used that to figure out our general location. But beyond that, it was tough. Especially because it was a rainy night. The clouds kept blocking the stars. But Tails occasionally flew over the treetops to locate the highway and eventually that's where we came out."

Alex gave a little shiver as she recalled the memory. "It was awful. But we made it. From there, we hitched a ride with this old farmer. Tails hid in the bed of his truck. I don't know if it was because it was dark or because he was just old, but the guy never seemed to notice that I was in my bathing suit."