The first thing I noticed about Donnie's brothers? They fight. Easily. The hayloft, once peaceful with sleep, had transformed into a flurry of argument in a matter seconds.
"That actually happened? Man..." groaned Mikey.
"Hey, genius! Move you're foot outta of my face!" Raph roared.
"Sorry."
"You'd better be!"
"Can you guys get any louder?!" Leo whispered harshly.
"Well, duh." Mikey stated. "What?" Mikey asked, oblivious of what he just said.
"I think Mikey hit his head again." Raph said into a face-palm.
"Let's just go back to sleep." Leo moaned tiredly, shaking his head at Mikey.
"Yeah, right! They'll be back, and you know it! We can't just sit here and wait for them to attack us, we have to attack them!" Raph raged, any calm he might've had completely gone.
"We need to keep our strength up! Running ourselves all over...where ever we are, isn't going to help!" Leo argued.
"Are they always like this?" I ask, not taking my eyes off of the squabble.
"No. Usually, they're better rested than they are. They've argued more in the last week than they normally do in a month." Donnie shakes his head. "It's my fault. If I was just more careful-" Donnie never got to finish his sentence.
"Hey! Get off my brother!" I hear Raph shout.
Uh-oh.
Raph huffed his way out of the hayloft and to the front of the barn where we were standing.
"Raph, it's fine. She was just helping me inside." Donnie assured Raph. Err, tried to assure Raph. Raph really wasn't in the mood to be assured at the moment.
"Helping you? You didn't need help earlier when you jumped out of the roof!" He steamed.
"Why do you think I jumped? I couldn't get down the ladder!" Donnie exclaimed. Raph's features softened. A little bit. Like the way rock-hard ice cream softens in a fridge.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled." Raph apologized forcedly and walked away. Just like that. Now Donnie looked concerned.
"Are you okay Raph? Have you been meditating with Leo or something?" I watched, slightly scared, as Raph clenched his fists.
"I'm fine." He stated and climbed back up to the hayloft.
"I need to talk to my brothers..." Donnie thinks aloud, looking the ladder up and down with a calculating stare.
I can't get him up there. I'm not strong enough. But maybe I could get his brothers down here...though I don't really want to approach them while they're so irritable. He could yell for them, but that could attract unwanted attention. They've already been loud enough. Possibly...
"I'm not strong enough to get you up there, and I don't really want to approach them while they're like this." Actually, I didn't want to approach them period. "But I think I know a way to get them down here without you yelling for them. You'd be surprised at my foster father's hearing abilities. Your brothers probably won't want me dressing your leg without them, and it needs to be done anyway." I shrug. "I can find better bandages and some disinfectant at the local drug store. They might even come while I'm gone." Donnie nods in approval.
"Okay, then, I'm off for supplies." I say, loud enough for his brothers to hear. I hear them quiet slightly, but not much.
I take a step outside the door, stopping before the door fully closed behind me. It had started to drizzle a little, giving the early morning view of the battle field a sad look. I turn away from the field, a rock settling in my stomach.
Something bad is about to happen. Maybe I should wait a few minutes...
I start to go back into the barn. But something stops me.
"...trust her?" I hear.
I wish I could approach his brothers, I really do. But I can't trust an average person, so how do I know I can trust these guys? I mean, other than Donnie.
But if you can trust him, why can't you trust his family?
A, small, almost forgotten part of me questioned.
People I trusted have betrayed me before. Like Tom.
The much, much larger part of me argued.
Then why can you trust Donnie if he might betray you?
Because...because...
How do we ever get anything done?
Shut up, voice of reason!
The larger and less sensible part of me said just in time to hear Donnie.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling that she's trustworthy."
What were we saying, again?
I could almost see my voice of reason smirking.
So he trusts me! Doesn't mean I have to trust him back!
You make everything hard for us. If you don't trust him, how will he help you? How could you help him?
Stop making sense!
Okay. Bloop, bleep, blop, blop, bleep, bloop, bleep-
Be quiet!
Get over it. You need their trust if you have any chance of getting out of Montana, anyway.
And seeing as this isn't a dream, there's no one that we can trust, even if we want to.
Actually-
We can't trust anyone!
Your side of us is so hard-headed!
I argued with myself as I trudged through the remaining hay toward the garage.
I can't help it!
What is our problem?
Excuse me?!
Oh, look the garage.
You didn't answer me!
We're hopeless.
...
The garage was a mess. There were unpacked boxes towering in stacks on in one half of the space, the other half filled with broken down showers (don't ask), rotting farm equipment, random and damaged sports equipment, moldy old shoes, a rusty fridge, two stinking, full trash cans, one less-than-half-full recycling bin, and, somewhere in the chaos, my bike.
"Where did they throw my bike this time?" I grumbled.
"In the barn you love so much. Why? Where are you going this time of night? You don't have any friends."
I spin around and face the speaker.
"Oh...hi, Mr. Hayes." I address my foster father.
"Why do you need your bike at this time of night, Sunny?" He repeated. I grind my teeth. Only my friends and acquaintances could call me Sunny. My foster parents? Oh, no.
"I need some late-night supplies. And my name's Ginger. Sir." I respond, deliberately making eye contact. He grunts.
"Fine." He stalks back inside. I listen through the door for a couple minutes, hearing the back door slam.
Uh-oh.
I race back outside into the driveway, taking a peek around the corner of the house. I glance at Hayes making his way toward the barn.
Double uh-oh!
I search the ground for a rock. It was harder to do than you would think.
What the heck?! This is the driveway, for goodness sake!
I settle for a hard piece of dirt from Mrs. Hayes's neglected garden.
Now all that's left is aiming and throwing. Aim. Throw. Calming thoughts. Calming thoughts. Calming...
Thud!
...thoughts. Well, that can't be good.
The noise came from the barn. Hayes sped up.
Crud! No time for aiming! It's just a piece of dirt! Throw it!
I yelled at myself. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw the clump in his general direction.
Stop making noise, guys.
Hayes feels the back of his head, brushing dry dirt from his hair. He turns slowly around, lumbering toward where I crouched.
He may have been trying to look intimidating; but if he was, he failed miserably. Was he swaggering confidently? No, he was waddling like an injured penguin. Frighteningly bulky? No way. This guy was a stick. Tough aura? Hayes was about as ferocious as an angry bunny. He kinda resembled a stick-bug with a piece of grass in his mouth.
"Is that you Sunny? Did you just try to throw dirt at me?" He yelled in his high-pitched yell.
"I didn't just try. I succeeded! Yes!" I see his very-much-closer glare. "Uh...I mean sorry sir. The barn's a mess and I don't want you to see it." I mumble, adverting my gaze. He grunts again.
"Well, then clean it up! I'm going to check it in the morning and it had better be sparkling!" He barked, again failing to intimidate me.

"Yes, sir. I will, sir. I need to get some things before I can, though, sir. Can I bike to the drug store real quick?" I inquire, as politely as I possibly could. I ground my teeth to stubs in the process, but I needed him more or less on my side.
"Fine, but you'd better hurry! You're bike's in the back of the barn." He tried to growl.
"Yes, sir." I answer, still grinding. He walks back into the house, proceeding to follow me with his eyes through the window. I sprint into the barn, brushing past the brothers with a breathy,
"Mr. Hayes moved my bike."
They watched silently as I mounted my bike and rode out the open door.
"Stay in the barn and hide. Hayes might come in to see how dirty it is in here." I warn before I had completely exited. I pedaled like I never have. These guys could get me out of the system. Free from foster homes. Free from social workers.
But how do I know they'll help me? Especially if I don't trust them? I can get them a ride then ask, and by then I'll have already helped with Donnie's leg and their other injuries. I'll have to swear secrecy too. That will probably be the easiest part. But how the heck will I get everything done?

It wasn't going to be easy, that much was for sure. But for now I needed to work on keeping the turtle's secret.

That'll probably be hard too. Can't anything be easy?

I sigh as I approach the drug store.

I guess I'm about to find out.

Cliffhanger! Sorry, but it tends to keep people reading. Anyway, please review, tell me how I did. Did I over do the voice of reason thing? Rants are welcome! Oh, and it has come to my attention that I might have mislead you, dear readers. This is not a love story. Last chapter was just setting up the story. Besides that, hang tight for the next chapter! XD