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-'8'-

Both hedgehogs looked to eachother in fear. "Why didn't you board the windows?!" Shadow shouted, looking in the direction of the shattered window. "It never came to me!" Sonic whined back. The lapiz hedgehog jumped up and began to fidget, his head darting to the window and back at Shadow at a linear pace. Shadow was very quick to stop this with a very hard slap to the head. "Focus!" He shouted, watching as one of the beasts managed to climb through the window. "Hold them off for a minute. I'll get everyone out of here and call for you when they're safe." He told Sonic.

"Wait- Shads!" Sonic shouted as the ebony hedgehog ran towards the backroom. Why did the only one with a gun have to avoid actually using it. Sonic winced with a sigh, lowering his ears as he turned to the trio of beasts awkwardly struggling to climb through the window. Sonic charged forwards, spin kicking the closest of them. He stopped after landing, trying to consider his next move. Any wrong movements could result in death or the inevitable fate of becomming one the beasts; neither of which was a good fate.

He counted the beasts. There were only two. Where was the third? Anxiety began to bubble in Sonic's chest. He held his breath and listened out, hearing shuffling at his side. He turned and jumped back to try avoid the beast however he was very quickly kicked into the pile of furniture. A sharp edge dug into the bottom of Sonic's back, sending pain shooting up his spine and down his leg. He hissed in pain, comming back to the situation when he felt one of the husks dive onto him.

He did his best to kick the beasts away and jumped up, stumbling slightly as the pain in his back and leg increased. The hedgehog shook his leg to try distract from the pain and slowly made his way towards the back room. He looked behind him as he walked, finding Shadow walking to the doorway. "Let's go!" The ebony hedgehog shouted. Sonic wasted no time in speeding off in the backroom. Shadow followed and closed the door behind them.

They were now behind the bakery. Sonic leant against the wall and began panting. "You alright?" Rouge asked in concern. Sonic nodded with a small smile "Just knocked myself." He nervously laughed. The bat nodded and looked to the rest of the group. "Where do we go now though?" Amy asked in concern. "My brother and sister's house is near the woods. Thats where we believe the virus originated." Sonic managed to splutter through pants. He hadn't really done much for over a week at that point and it was really beginning to show.

"But we'd have to cross the entirety of Green Hills." Knuckles reasoned. "Best we have." Shadow shrugged, standing by Sonic. "You go ahead, I'll stay with Sonic and let him catch his breath." He instructed. Rouge eyed the ebony hedgehog suspiciously, however a quick glare from Shadow sent her on her way with the group in tow.

Sonic was slightly concerned. He couldn't help but think that something bad was going to happen. His suspicions were proven correct when Shadow turned to him. He could see something in his eyes; it wasn't the anger Sonic was used to, but it certainly wasn't just the usual look of emotional withdrawal Sonic always noticed.

He shrank into himself further and placed his hands on his thighs. Suddenly, he realised he had no feeling in his thigh. He paused and looked down, his eyes widened. The side of his thigh was covered in blood, oozing from a sizeable bite mark. He looked up in fear to Shadow, who shared his expression. "I should've helped..." Shadow whispered, more so to himself. "You got everyone out safely at least." Sonic reassured, standing up.

"We can fix this-" Shadow muttered, massaging his temples as he paced around. "If we find the origin as fast as we can, we could possibly make a cure-" Shadow began rambling, an odd sight given Shadow was normally an expert at keeping himself contained. "Shadow... it's okay." Sonic silenced the smaller male. "We can get to my sister's house - I'm the only one with a key out of all of us - and decide what to do, alright?" He was trying his hardest to remain calm. He didn't want to make Shadow panic.

He knew in the end he'd turn into one of the husks. He couldn't escape the inevitability. It almost made the entire week he had spent ensuring he avoided being infected pointless, it almost made living pointless.

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780 Words

Published: 17th March, 2024

((Edited))