All things considered, I think that escorting a half hysterical woman down two flights of stairs covered in a blanket would take forever, but since I’m such a badass, I did it in record time. Rouge screams something at me about never doing anything like that ever again, and I’m taking the gun away from her and “Yeah, yeah, yeah”-ing, telling her to keep the fucking blanket on or she’s roasted bat jerky, all the way out the door where Tails hits the gravel in front of me with a semi-comical flop.

Ouch.

Guess the glass was a bad idea.

“Tails! Are you okay?!”

He moans in pain but gets on his knees in a hurry, practically coughing up broken window. “I thought I told you to run!” Above us, more glass breaks and rains down on us. Only Rouge doesn’t get cut.

Tails is suddenly on his feet and we’re running down the street. He’s limping and grunting like he’s dying from a heart attack. And as for me… well… it’s not all rays of sunshine.

“The white van down the street! See it?” He points, the glimmering ray of hope.

Finally.

The loud clang of metal behind us echoes in the streets, and we both know that he’s coming up fast behind us. Tails and I, straining not to black out, push Rouge faster towards the goal. We’re moving in slow motion, of course. It’s so much like a dream, where I can’t punch hard or run fast. But it’s fine, really, really, it’s fine. Really. Just don’t think about Red, don’t think about Red, don’t think about death, aftermath, anchovies, Formica, fuck, fuck, fuck

And then.

We’re there.

Wow.

Something is wrong.

In the back of the van is Tails’ motorcycle, plus thousands of tiny gadgets and electronic equipment on metal shelves. Everything glows blue from the television screen. The generator on the left hums quietly. We’re all shoved inside and the doors close.

Safe. We’re safe.

Too easy.

Something is wrong.

“KAYS! DRIVE!”
The van lurches forward, very quickly, and the driver, Kays I guess his name is, screams back, “Something’s chasing us! Fuck!” and we pick up speed.

I’m dizzy, so dizzy. I can’t focus.

Something is wrong.

Tails is staring at me. I can’t be too sure, but he looks angry. He’s practically shaking with rage.

“What? What did I do?”

Rouge is doing it too, from underneath the blanket. Rapt attention.

Something… is wrong.

Tails, out of focus, reaches towards me and touches my face, tenderly, gently, and when he brings back his hand his fingers are covered in blood.

“I’m… hit.”

Nodding, he stands up and rips the first-aid kit off the wall, spilling the contents on the floor.

“You have a first-aid kit in here. That’s so funny.”

“Shut up. You’ve lost a lot of blood…”

“Really? I couldn’t tell from the dizzy spells and elevated heart beat. I just thought I was in love with you.”

He pulls a large piece of glass out of my skull with tweezers. He smiles weakly, obviously trying not to vomit, and drops the glass to the floor. He pulls out the iodine and showers me in it.

Thump.

Thump, thump. Scrape. A large section of metal bends inward. Some snarling. Screeching of tires.

“He’s on us!” Kays yells, turning the wheel sharply and causing the contents of the shelves to bump into each other. Tails quickly finishes fixing my head, wrapping gauze tightly around it, and he looks frantically around for something, ANYthing.

And from the looks of it…

He has an idea.

“So… what do we do now?”