Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Adventures: "On the road" ❯ Freeway ( Chapter 15 )

Chapter 15: Freeway

It was early in the morning when Sonic the Hedgehog opened his green eyes, sleepily. It was a bump on the road that woke him up from his sleep. He was having a nightmare anyway, so he was not very upset. The RV was moving and so he knew that Shadow was driving. He slightly sat up on the sofa with the green blanket still covering him and he looked outside the window. It was dark with fog outside. He heard no sound or saw other cars on the street where they were.

"Spooky." Sonic whispered to himself. He weakly stood up and made his way to the front where Shadow was alone, driving. The blue hedgehog laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Sonic, are you feeling better?" Shadow asked when he saw that it was him, awake.

"Sure, I'm cool. It takes more than a fever to get me down." Sonic winked his eye.

"So I've noticed. You're more than just a hedgehog." He said the last few words in a whisper.

Sonic sat down in the passenger seat, next to the driver and he saw the road ahead. He could hardly see anything but the headlights gave him sight. Then he turned to his friend. "Shadow, is everyone else asleep? Were you driving in this fog alone?"

"Well, Knuckles was awake for a while but he had to go rest early this morning. I wanted to keep going and find a good place to stop and avoid this creepy fog. But it's everywhere."

"You tired? Do you need to sleep?" Sonic asked him.

"No, I'm fine." Shadow answered before Sonic could even finish the question. He turned and looked at Sonic but then he faced the road again when he saw that Sonic was looking at him. "But you are feeling better, right?" Shadow asked, "Is the fever gone now?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks to you guys." Sonic replied, quietly. He saw Shadow fight against a smile of gladness but it won and appeared on his face. "Hey, you should smile more often."

"What?" Shadow asked, trying to hide the smile. He felt like he was talking to a brother.

"I said you should smile more than you do." Sonic replied, grinning at him.

"When there's a reason." Shadow whispered after quietly clearing his throat.

"Well, for everything there is a season. But where are we now?" Sonic asked.

"On a freeway, heading for San Francisco, but these crazy roads screwed my mind, so we're going to be there later than I thought. Out here, away from the city, anything can happen." Then suddenly, the unexpected was seen on the freeway. Sonic saw it first and he warned him.

"Shadow, STOP!" Sonic gasped, and the black hedgehog slammed on the breaks, stopping. He stopped so suddenly that everyone who was in bed fell out and onto the floor of the RV.

Knuckles had the worst shock as he fell from his bed, which was right above the front seats. "HELP! I'm falling!" Knuckles gasped, hanging on and the hedgehogs turned with surprise.

"What on earth is going on up there?! You're going to get us all killed!" Rouge screamed.

"Enough! Calm down!" Shadow said, and he stood up from the chair.

"There's something out there!" Sonic said, pointing toward the road in their path.

"What is it, Sonic? Another turtle?" Tails asked, sleepily and rubbed his eyes awake.

"No, it looks bigger, and I think I know what it is." Sonic said, sadly and then he opened the door with a flashlight in his hand. His feet touched the street and it was quiet outside.

Shadow jumped out and came to his side. "I didn't hit anything. What did you see?" Shadow asked, and Sonic looked around until he found it. Shadow looked down and he saw it also.

"Oh no." Sonic whispered when he saw that it was a female deer, killed on the road. He closed his eyes, sighing. "This is awful. I wish we were here to stop it. But we're too late."

"It looks like it happened recently." Shadow said, sadly looking away from the body. Then everyone else came outside, wondering what the two hedgehogs were looking at.

Amy wiped a tear from her cheek, sniffing. "Sonic, can't we take her to a doctor?"

"No, Amy, we can't. There's nothing we can do." Sonic answered, quietly.

"Sonic, come here, quickly!" Tails called who was standing with Rouge and Tikal.

Sonic ran to Tails and he stopped to see Tikal, stroking a baby deer, a little spotted fawn, which was sleeping in the grass beside the road. "He's an orphan now." Sonic sighed.

"It's a she, not a he." Tikal corrected him and Rouge wrapped the fawn with a warm blanket. She felt it shivering, cold and weak. Sonic saw its dark eyes slightly open and it looked right at him.

Shadow came and stood beside Sonic after he had helped Knuckles remove the female deer's body off the road. He saw the fawn and then he knew that the deer was a mother and they also now had a young orphan. "Well, I never expected to find this on the road." He said.

"I think she's sweet!" Amy said, happy to see that the cute fawn was alive.

"Yeah," Knuckles said, "It looks cute for a deer." He gently touched its face and then it nipped his hand. "Ouch! It has defense systems too, very dangerous for its small size."

"What are you talking about?" Rouge said, "She's just hungry, that's all."

"She thinks we are her mother. She wants us to feed her." Tikal said, smiling.

Shadow was at a loss and he turned to Sonic. "We're not going to do it, are we?"

"It's the only thing we can do." Sonic said, shrugging. "We can't just leave her here."

"Then she stays with us!" The girls said together, happily.

"Okay, calm down now and let's get inside so we can clear the road for others." Shadow said, and then he walked toward the driver's side door. The others followed and Rouge carefully carried the baby deer inside. They all welcomed the fawn in as another team member.

"What should we call her?" Tikal asked, stroking the little fawn's face.

"Fireball." Knuckles suggested but everyone shook their heads, No.

"How about… uh… Bambi?" Tails asked, but everyone pointed their thumbs down.

"Princess!" Amy said for a name, but everyone else disagreed. That was not it.

"Rudolph would be nice." Rouge thought, but still, it was No for an answer.

"Maybe Weather is her name." Tikal wondered but it did not fit.

"Name her Foggy." Shadow said, driving up front but everyone said, "No!"

"Okay, then you name her, Sonic." Rouge said, and then she gave the fawn to Sonic, wrapped in a soft blanket. Sonic had no choice and he held the helpless baby deer in his arms.

"Well, I'm not sure… I'm not very good with names and all…" He closed his eyes, thinking. He opened his eyes when he felt the fawn snuggle up closer to his chest to keep warm. He smiled, looking down at it and then the name finally came to him. "Her name is Freeway." Sonic said, and when everyone heard it, they all agreed. It was the perfect name for the fawn.

"Welcome aboard, Freeway." Sonic whispered to the fawn as it fell asleep in his arms.

= = = = =

When the sun began to shine and send the fog away, the team found themselves in the city of San Francisco. It brought back memories and they stopped at a store to find goat milk and a baby bottle for Freeway the fawn. She rested weakly in the arms of Sonic and her eyes showed signs of sickness. Sonic began to worry about the fawn, but he did not quite understand how or why. He hardly knew Freeway but the team cared about her. Sonic gently stroked the fawn's face.

"Hang on, Freeway. It won't be long. You'll get your breakfast." He said, gently.

Freeway closed her dark eyes, resting against his chest to keep warm. She stopped shivering but she needed milk to gain her strength back and soon. She was only a few days old now.

"Sonic, we're back!" Tails called from outside the RV, carrying a brown paper bag. Amy and the other girls followed Tails to the RV and Shadow saw them coming from the driver seat while Knuckles opened the door for them. Tails stepped inside followed by the girls.

"Did you find it?" Sonic asked, still holding the little fawn in his arms.

"Yeah, we got everything." Tails replied, and he gave the bag to Tikal.

"I'll just warm up the goat milk and breakfast will be served." Tikal said, and she began. When it was warm, she tested it and then she gave the bottle to Sonic.

"You want me to feed her? How come?" Sonic asked her, surprised.

"Well, she seems to like you, so you have the best chance of feeding her than us." Tikal said, and then Sonic took the baby bottle, holding it in his hand and looked down at the fawn.

"Okay, Freeway, wake up. It's your breakfast, look." Sonic said, softly and then fawn slightly opened its eyes when the bottle's mouth touched hers. She smelled the nipple but then she turned her face away without drinking anything. "Oh, Freeway, please eat." Sonic whispered.

"Maybe she misses her mom." Amy said, sadly and quietly.

"Yeah." Sonic realized, but he kept trying. He made the milk drip on his finger and then he gently placed his finger into the fawn's mouth, so she could taste the milk. Freeway opened her eyes, wider than before and she licked his finger clean, doing the same for her mouth.

"Look at that. She drank it." Rouge whispered and everyone smiled, glad to see it.

Sonic tried it again and Freeway licked every drop clean. She sniffed his finger, seeking for more and then Sonic gave her the bottle's nipple again. Freeway caught a drop of milk from the bottle's mouth and then she surprised everyone there as she began drinking the milk, hungrily.

"Well, look at that. She eats like you, Sonic." Knuckles teased, grinning.

Sonic slapped the echidna's face, not hard but enough for him to get the idea that hedgehogs do not like echidna jokes. Freeway looked up from drinking and she watched Knuckles.

"Ouch!" Knuckles yelped. "I can't see! I can't see!"

"What's the matter?" Sonic asked, a little concerned.

"I got my eyes closed." Knuckles joked again, laughing.

At first, Sonic was angry but then Freeway made a cute chuckling sound and it was the first time anyone heard her make any noise. "Hey, she thinks we're funny!" Sonic said.

"I wonder why…" Shadow whispered, turning away to fight his laughter.

And so, together, the Sonic team enjoyed having breakfast that morning and Freeway drank her fill. She became stronger after a good meal and her eyes became brightly healthy again. All it took was tender care and special handling. After that, the team began to explore San Francisco.

= = = = =

The RV stopped near a park where trees were green and beautiful. Shadow stopped there to let everyone step outside and rest for a while. They opened the door and the team came outside, smelling the fresh air of the lovely park. Sonic stepped outside last, holding Freeway and he gently let her down to stretch her legs. She was trembling in her legs at first but after a moment of failure; she began walking very well. She followed the Sonic team like a little shadow.

"Let's go, Freeway." Sonic called and waved his hand. The fawn followed him into the park and she stopped now and then to smell the grass, watch a snail or listen to a bird sing a song. Then suddenly, Sonic froze in his tracks. He sniffed the air. "Chilidogs!" He said, and then he ran to follow his nose while Freeway blinked her eyes, watching him disappear in a flash.

"Don't mind him, Freeway…" Amy told the fawn. "He's always like that."

"Yeah, that's boys for you." Rouge said, after a sigh and she crossed her arms.

Freeway hardly heard the words when she saw a yellow butterfly. It stopped to rest on a flower but the wet nose of a young deer frightened it enough to fly again. Freeway followed it to the next flower and the next until the butterfly flew away, over a log. Freeway tried to jump over it, but she fell backwards on her side. Shadow came running to her and he lifted her from the ground.

"Why do you have to be so troublesome?" Shadow asked, unhappy in his voice.

Freeway nuzzled his leg with her nose and then rubbed her cheek against it, making the hedgehog smile but then he forced it to vanish. "Don't try to soften me up." He said. But when he looked down at the fawn, he saw her eyes blinking at him and he was almost positive that he saw her smile. He sighed and forgot the trouble. "Well, I guess there's no harm done." He knelt down and stroked her head, gently with his hand and then he led her back to the others.

= = = = =

But in that same park, Dr. Eggman, after a search, finally found the Sonic team, relaxing in the park together. He looked around, using his spyglass and he saw that they were all there.

"This is great! They're all there and just waiting for us to strike." Eggman said, and then he turned to Metal Sonic and Chaos. "You two, take the Emerald from the bat and hand it to me! Is that difficult?" He asked, causing Metal and Chaos to tremble.

"No, it's not difficult, boss. We'll fetch it, all right." Metal answered.

"Yeah, we'll need it to sell so we can pay this police ticket." Chaos said, holding it in his hand but then Eggman snatched it away and tore it in pieces.

"Don't be so wimpy like those heroes out there." Eggman pointed to the Sonic team. "I want that Emerald in my hands and the hedgehog out of my life forever!"

"Then call ABC Pest Control." Metal said, quietly.

"What did you say?" Eggman asked, turning to the robot.

"I said we must go and get those pest." Metal said, and then he began to walk with Chaos following him. From tree to tree, they made their way toward the team, being sneaky.

Meanwhile, the girls rested on a picnic blanket, on the green grass under the shade of trees as they watched the boys play basketball. Freeway watched while resting next to Amy as Sonic reached the basket again and the ball went through to win another score. The ball fell to the ground and it rolled until Chaos stepped on it with his foot, stopping it from rolling any further.

"Oh, boy! I love soccer!" Chaos said, and then Metal hit him on the head, angry.

"That's a basketball, you goof!" Metal scolded, and then he turned to face Sonic. "And now, you pesky heroes, hand over the Emerald and surrender!"

"And if we refuse?" Sonic asked, standing ready to fight.

"Refuse?" Metal and Chaos both asked at the same time. "Well, uh… if you refuse…"

"I'll blow you to Alaska!" A voice said behind the Sonic team. They turned to face…

"Dr. Eggman!" Knuckles said the mad scientist's name, staring at him.

"Surrender, hedgehog!" Eggman demanded, pointing his laser weapon toward him.

"I'll consider it, enormous chump, but for now, have a pie!" Sonic said, and then he threw a pie from the picnic basket and it flew toward Eggman, hitting him on the face.

When the villain cleaned his face, his targets were gone. He would rather lose a battle than be humiliated in a way that would be unforgettable. "That is unforgivable!" Eggman growled with anger and then he turned to face Metal and Chaos who were still trying to think of an answer to the question earlier. "He called me chump!" Eggman said, angrily. "You disappoint me, Metal!" He pointed toward the robot hedgehog, which was trembling.

Metal could not take it and so he fell back and fainted but Chaos caught him to break his fall. The RV in the meantime made a safe escape. They were on the road again.