Chapter Three

Donnie hugged himself, waiting in the middle of the road while Usagi picked the lock on an abandoned car they'd spotted on their walk. "Have you got it yet?"
"Almost." Usagi finally got the door open, sighing in relief. He unlocked the door. "Check the trunk, I'll look through the front."

Donnie nodded, doing as he was told. "I don't see anything back here except for two unopened sodas, a blanket… pillows… house keys…"

"Do you need something called serotonin?" Usagi read off the label on a medicine bottle.
"That helps people sleep, so yes. You found it?" Donnie closed the trunk, piling its contents onto the ground.
"Yes. And there's a few left in this bottle. I don't know what it's for." He tossed the bottle at Donnie.
"Well… that looks like Xanax. I could always use that." Donnie smiled, opening a soda. "Want one?"

"Sure, I've got time to kill." Usagi sat in the front seat, sipping from the soda. "I've got nothing but time these days."
"I can't say I feel the same," Donnie mumbled, sitting beside him. He swallowed a Xanax. "Do you have a family out there somewhere?"

Usagi's eyes saddened a bit, but he maintained a smile. "No… not anymore." They'd been dead for more years than he could remember, and he hated thinking of it. He pretended as if it never happened; it was easier.
"What happened to them? Did they ever live on Earth?" Donnie questioned innocently, oblivious to the pained expression on his friend's face.

Usagi turned away, focusing on the trees in the distance. "It doesn't matter now."
"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to pry…"

The silence was incredibly awkward.

The turtles didn't even notice the van door open; they were just too exhausted after a long and hot summer day to open their eyes at the sudden sensation of cool, late night air. That, and they were relieved that Donnie finally stopped freaking out.
It was Raphael who woke up first, the second he heard a stranger's voice outside. He reached for his sais, but they were gone. It must've been stolen… and where was Donnie and Usagi?

"Leonardo…" He whispered sharply, kicking his brother. "Donnie's missing!"
"What?" Leo spoke just a little too loudly, alerting the looters outside. The door slid open roughly once again. Leo spun around, instinctively reaching for his katanas… but they were gone.
"Sorry to wake you, gentleman. We're just passing through, getting a few things. So now we'll be on our way. Thanks for all the assistance." The woman from the night before waved a sword in front of Mikey's sleeping body as if to threaten them all. "Welcome to the new world."

"Karai…? What are you doing?" Yes, it'd been years, but how could Leo forget what Shredder's daughter looked like? She'd once been beautiful before the Shredder nearly beat her to death, mutilating her face permanently. And here she was again, likely wanting revenge on an unknown vendetta.
Her smile faded. "We're bored, Leo. I have to give them something to do, and you all looked so… so vulnerable. Don't worry. We didn't take everything." Karai glanced around. "Well… pretty much everything. Have a good evening, and good luck. You're certainly going to need it."
"Where's Donnie? What did you do to him, Karai?" Leo stepped out of the van, ready to kill her.
"Give our stuff back, Karai." Leo said in a stern tone, standing up outside the van. She shook her head slowly and grinned as if this was the most amusing statement she'd ever heard. "Hmm… I think I dug a knife in his chest about a half mile back."
Leonardo just started to protest when she threw a smoke bomb, fleeing with her ninjas into the night. With all of their supplies. Food, gas, maps, weapons, everything… Leo sighed loudly, banging on the side of the van with his fist. She had to be lying just to scare him. "Everybody get up! We've got a huge problem and I need help!"

He moved to the smaller car where Casey and April were sleeping and repeated his actions. Five minutes later, everyone stood in a line in the light of the moon. Leo paced back and forth. "We've lost all of our supplies. We may have lost Donnie and Usagi. Who was supposed to be on watch?"
Mikey stared at the ground, humming nervously because he knew it was probably his turn to watch and he'd fallen asleep during it.
"Mikey. Was it your turn?" Suddenly Leo was in his face, eyes filled with rage. "And you fell asleep? All of our stuff is gone because of you! Donnie could be dead!" He shouted at his youngest brother, showing no restraint as he struck him across the face. Mikey stared off into the distance, mortified. Tears filled his eyes, but he swallowed a sob. "I'll get it back, Leo."

"And how are you going to do that?" Leo's toned softened a great amount. "It's dangerous."

"I'll go with him. We'll get as much as we can back." Usagi spoke up, putting a hand on Mikey's shoulder as him and Donnie appeared out of the woods. "We'll leave at dawn." Honestly, he was only going to protect Michelangelo, knowing that the poor turtle would probably just let himself get captured at this point to stay away from his family and Usagi wouldn't allow that. If anyone died, it would be him, not Mikey.

"Very well." Leo rubbed his jaw and pretended to not notice the glare Donatello was giving him. "See if we have enough gas and take the little car. If not, go by foot. Raph, Casey, you two are going to go on a supply run. There's a country store maybe ten miles from here, right Donnie?"

"Yes…" Donnie gritted his teeth, taking a knife out of his belt and tossed it at Raph. "You'll need something to defend yourselves with." Why did he have to stay? It wasn't fair… He felt better now. It was his fault that Karai's troops raided their supplies. If they hadn't have left…

"I'm not staying here and doing nothing." April crossed her arms, glaring at Leo. "I'm going with Raph and Casey to keep them out of trouble."

"Absolutely not." Leo retorted. "We're not losing anyone. You're staying here to help us set up camp for the day."
"Right, because that's women's work. Make me stay here and I swear you'll regret it, Leo. I can help. I can keep up with them as well."

"Maybe Leo's right. I mean something could go wrong, and we can't lose you." Casey opened the secret compartment in the trunk of his car, pulling out two hockey sticks and various baseball bats. "But if you insist, you're staying right by me the entire time. Got it?" He tossed a bat at April, then gave one to Leo. "And you. I don't want to see you hit your brother ever again, or this will be in your skull." He waved his bat around. "That clear, Leonardo?"
"Crystal."

April, Raph and Casey made their way down the hot dirt road and passed around the limited amount of water they were being forced to share. They'd been on the road walking for several hours. The heat was excruciating. "Do we check cars or is that too risky? We could find some keys or hotwire it or somethin'…" Raph glanced at his friend in curiosity.
"Hmm… well I don't know Raphael. Do you happen to see any cars at the moment?" Casey said in a goofy tone, looking around in wonder.

"Shut up, you idiot. I meant when we do see one. Not everyone disappeared, and even if they've turned they still owned cars at one point, right?" Raph flailed his arms as Casey continued looking around as if a car would appear. "April… would you handle your lover?"

"My lover?" April couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not claiming him. He's all yours, Raph." She slid her hand into Casey's grip just to remind him that she was joking.
"Thanks, but no thanks. My ideal woman has a bit more hair on her head. That buzz cut is a major turnoff, sweetie." Raph pat Casey's head. "Now come on. If we run, we can get there sooner and I don't have to look at your ugly face."

"Seen a mirror lately, circus freak?" Casey gave him a toothy grin. "I'm perfectly content with walking, kiddo. But you're more than welcome to run if that's what your heart desires."

"Nah, don't bring my heart into this." Raph stared ahead at the seemingly endless road. "It's my head that needs to focus."

"Guys…" April pointed towards the forest, tugging Casey's hand. "I think our luck may have changed a bit." Upon walking off the path, a large, strangely abandoned RV was revealed behind an abandoned shed. "Jackpot."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… April. You got a brain or is it all air up there? Karai's been through. Clearly, this is a trap." Raph grabbed her arm, yanking her backwards.

"Watch it, greenie." Casey shoved him off of his girlfriend. "Maybe she's right and you're just paranoid over nothing. We can at least check it out."
"Are you two stupid? How often does a traveler find an RV in mint condition just chilling on the side of the road?" Raph raised his voice several notches. "Exactly… let's go. Now!"

"Raph… think for a second. This hasn't been going on for that long. The world isn't quite finished… someone probably left this here a while ago. Maybe they live in these woods. There's no harm in seeing what we can find, now is there? We're going to die in this heat if we don't find water and food soon." April said timidly, wandering towards the vehicle. "If anything's in there, we'll find out in a second with all the noise you two were making." She tugged on the door, pulling it open and sending a puff of dust into her face. "See? It's been here for a while." April stepped inside, leaving the two bickering men outside. They only stopped arguing when they heard a muffled scream coming from the back of the RV. Their eyes met. As if the same unit, Raph and Casey burst into the RV, weapons ready to destroy anyone or anything who thought they could harm their April. But what they found was quite different. Just two corpses in the back bedroom, dried up blood pooling onto the sheets.

A mother and small child with gunshot wounds to the head, and a message written in blood on the sheets. s

The smell was abysmal and it took all Casey had to not get sick. Clearly, they'd been dead for at least two weeks. It looked like a murder suicide type case, unfortunately. The mother gave up all hope and killed her child, then herself. How terrible…

Raph shook his head, unmoved. He went to the front of the RV and sure enough found a pair of keys under the seat. "Case, search this thing and see what we got. Then we're taking this back to Don and Leo. April, you were right for once. Let's go."

Donnie took a final sip of his portion of water before turning up the stereo to ward off his anxious thoughts. He watched Leo stretch from the window with no real interest in what exactly his leader was preparing for. Did it matter exactly? Probably not. But it was fun to watch.

"Don't worry

About a thing

Cause every little thing

Is gonna be alright."

"This isn't exactly stretching music," Leo mumbled, moving into a center split. "Try something a bit more exhilarating."
"Hey, I'm the DJ, not you. And besides, this is the only tape in here. Keep stretching." Donnie opened one of the few books he'd packed with little to no thought on just why he'd brought them in the first place. He needed something to do. Today's book was an easy, dumbed down version of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

He turned to a random page in hopes something would catch his eye, so he wouldn't have to watch Leo continue doing his weird poses.

I drew back from the edge of the pit, staring, still unable to tear my eyes away from the many tentacles that were now projecting from this grayish mass. Horror showed on every face around me as most of the people turned and ran.

Donnie paused, thinking back to when the creature grabbed his leg the night before and shivered. He didn't want to think about it too much.

I stood petrified, still staring as a big grayish round bulk about the size of a bear rose out of the cylinder. As the last rays of the sun hit it, it glistened like wet leather. Two large, dark colored eyes stared back at me-

Donnie shut the book quickly and closed his eyes. All he could think of was the zombie who'd tried to gnaw his foot off, how it very well could've if Leo hadn't have stepped in and saved his life. Donnie was nothing like Mr. Wells in his book; he wasn't brave enough to defend himself, he never had been. He'd fought all sorts of creatures in the past, so why on Earth was this situation any different?

"What's your favorite part in that book, anyway?" Leo pushed himself into a handstand, watching Donnie turn upside down. "Cause I always liked the part where the idiotic humans didn't take the warnings seriously. Reminds me of what happened a few weeks ago."

Donnie shook his head, staring at the blue-clad turtle. "I suppose I like the ending when he gets reunited with his wife. That's the only nice part, actually. I love a good happy ending that makes sense."
"I knew it," Leo smiled up at him, "that's just like you to want a logical, satisfying ending."

"It's how I'd like my actual life to end too…" Donnie quipped, tucking his book into the glovebox. "To settle down with my soulmate and live a quiet, sensible life." A life that wouldn't happen unless he figured out a cure for all of this, he should add.
"Your soulmate, huh? Bet they'd like that very much." Leo walked over to the side of the van, leaning against the door. "It's too hot out here. Turn the AC on in there." He climbed in through the side, nearly bumping heads with Donnie.

"Sure, but not for long. It's going to rain, so surely it'll cool down out there. I have buckets to collect rainwater, so I'll need your help with that. Don't get too comfortable in here."
"Aw, what a shame. I was about to say the same to you." Leo laid back, fanning himself with a thin book. "Recipes For Outdoor Cooking? Why on Earth would you have a book like this in your possession?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Donnie smiled gently, focusing his gaze on the road in front of them. He noticed some nearby bushes rustling, and his grip on the arm rest tightened. "But that doesn't matter. You don't need to know me."
Suddenly, he felt as if his heart stopped… he knew they weren't alone when he heard that low pitched growl coming from the woods…. "L-Leo…" His voice squeaked as he pointed towards the treeline. They were coming. One, two, three… five… ten… fifteen zombies toddled out of the forest. Was it a trap set by Karai? Probably. But this was bad news for turtles who only had one baseball bat as a weapon.
"Turn the car off and get back here." Leo said in a low tone, locking all the doors and rolling windows up. This wasn't good.
Donnie covered his mouth, yanked the key out and hurried into the back of the van, heart practically exploding with fear. "They've found us!... we're going to die, oh no… no this is my fault I'm so sorry it's all my fault I shouldn't have gone off in the first place and…"
"Donnie, shut up. They'll hear us." Leo yanked him into a laying position. "Don't move. Don't talk."
Donnie's chest heaved with every breath he took. We're going to die.

The two turtles remained perfectly still and silent as the horde mindlessly wandered around their van, curious about what this strange object might be. Thanks to the blinds, the zombies couldn't possibly see the terrapins outstretched behind the bench seat. One of these creatures peeked through the front window, tapping on the glass with a deteriorated finger. Donnie whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, but it did no good. Leo covered his mouth with one hand and grabbed Donnie's wrist with the other. He mouthed the words do not move. Donatello's entire body was covered in a nervous sweat now, but he did as told and didn't make a peep. For a while, it seemed as if the horde would just be on their way, but while the beings were mindless, they had a keen scent of smell and likely picked up the scent of the turtles ages ago. They knew something was in that van and wouldn't stop until they took a bite of the food.

A zombie picked up Leo's bat off of the grass and swung it around aimlessly, smacking the windshield loudly. Donnie jumped, feeling ready to faint. But he couldn't move. Not just yet. Remember, get in your shell when they get too close. It can't bite through that. You'll be safe. You are safe. Leo says you're safe.

Another swing and the glass started to crack, just a smidge. A few other walkers made their way towards the van, banging their fists and slamming their bodies against the glass. They were still strong, still full of superhuman-like energy. The van began to shake. If those things could tip it over, it meant the end for Donnie and Leo.

Leo grabbed onto the seatbelt above his head as the left tires lifted up slightly with another nudge by the zombies. There had to be at least twenty of them out there, starving and ready for a kill. Donnie squeezed his eyes shut again, starting to hyperventilate as he shifted slightly to cling onto Leo. What would Mr. Wells from The War of the Worlds do? Probably run for his life. Donnie glanced at the back door, unoccupied by their unwanted guests. But they probably couldn't outrun these creatures in broad daylight. They were much faster and would kill them in seconds, so… fleeing out the back door wasn't an option.

Thwack! Another hit to the windshield. It was close to shattering. The van nearly tipped this time around… "Leo… we could go through the windshield when it tips over. The baseball one would've fallen off by then."
"That's suicide." Leo whispered harshly. "Be quiet and do what I say."

"But I really think it could work!" Donnie whispered back, glancing around quickly. "Why won't you trust me?"

"Donnie… we're staying here. Everything's going to be okay."
"We could be killed. Just… follow my lead for once." Donnie touched his arm.

"No. It's my call, and we're staying. Now be quiet." Leo grabbed his hand in case Donnie tried to escape. "Trust me."
"I can't… I can't say that I do…" Donnie pulled his hand free just as the windshield glass shattered and the van tipped simultaneously. He rapidly pushed himself into his shell, remaining perfectly silent in the darkness. He felt the zombies poke at his shell, he felt one of them sink its teeth into his plastron. Donnie chewed on his lip, trying not to freak out. They can't hurt you in here.

Leo trembled in the dark space, unconcerned for his own wellbeing. He should've protected Donnie, but once again, he failed. His promises of protection were always empty. He couldn't do a thing for him. HE was the one that deserved to die after all of this… and if those zombies didn't step away from Donnie, Leo would pop out of his shell and let the beasts have at it with his own flesh. It was what he deserved, after all he'd done to his family over the past few weeks. They wanted safety, and he'd given them the exact opposite of that. When Donnie had started sleeping in Leo's room after the outbreak began, it reminded him of when they were young and if one of his little brothers had a nightmare, he'd rush to their side and cuddle them until their unseen demons disappeared. But now? He couldn't say, It's not real, it's just a dream, go back to sleep… because it was all very real, him and his closest teammate were facing death and it was all Leo's fault.

Donnie felt one of the creatures take a bite out of his plastron and it took all his strength to not cry out in pain. He couldn't believe that this was how he was going to die… while his family was out there taking care of business, him and Leo had become damsels in distress in desperate need of a hero. But if Leo had just listened to him and fled out the window while they had a chance, none of this would've happened.

Tears sprung up and Donnie chewed on his lip to remain calm. This was it… and he never even got the chance to make the cure…

The sound of a loud vehicle rolling in their direction distracted Donnie's thoughts. Maybe it was another traveler, or maybe it was Karai seeing if the job had been done. Either way, Donnie knew there still wasn't any hope… until he heard Raph and Casey's voices and the sudden popping sound outside the tipped van. Were they shooting off firecrackers?

Donnie quickly realized that they must've found guns, and powerful ones at that. One by one, zombies began falling onto his shell, dead once again thanks to his friends. He survived somehow, though he was terribly injured and didn't even know if Leo had survived it.