Chapter nine: Escape Route!
"We need to get out of here!!" Leo called to April.
"I agree," April told him. "But how do we get out of here?"
"We beat them before they overtake us." Leo answered, taking a blow to the head.
"Leo?!" April cried jumping into the circle of droids. She began slicing them to pieces as Leo recovered himself.
"Where's Bridgette?" Leo gasped. He scanned the area, and found her cornered in front of a tree. Droids were everywhere. Using his grappling hook with his left hand, he swung around to take out the droids all at once.
"Thank you, Leonardo." Bridgette told him gratefully. An attack came from behind him, but the turtle instinctively dodged it. He grabbed the shock stick, and redirected it to the droid to which it belonged. April received a blow, that sent her to the ground. The Krrang were about to shock her, but she used her powers to hold them back. Then she blasted them in all directions, scattering them. Leo braced himself against a tree, katana in hand, ready to attack. A droid's saw-blade buzzed in his direction, he blocked it with his blade. When the saw's edge grazed him and he dropped his blade. So he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat mode. He was doing well, when a droid delivered a blow to his injured shoulder. Grimacing a little he stepped back, holding his shoulder tenderly. The turtle in blue caught his foot on the exposed roots of the tree, and tumbled into a steep ravine. Roots and sticks and plants of all kinds welcomed him, as he landed in a heap at the bottom. He lay still, feeling the pain of his old injuries, and now new ones. The Krrang looked down on him, trying to decided if he was dead or not. They were interrupted by April slicing through their bodies. When they'd all scattered to the ground, April peered down.
"Leo! You ok?" She called to him. Leo groaned and gave her a thumbs up. "Mom. Leo's ok, but he's stuck." Bridgette came to her daughter's side as she spoke. "Then let's carefully get down there to make sure." So together they stepped over branches and roots. April slipped and nearly fell, but Bridgette held on to her tightly. Finally reaching him, they began pulling apart the weeds and branches that got wrapped around his arms and legs.
"Leo?" April began, taking his left arm. "We really need to get you back home before you get more hurt."
"Yeah, you're telling me." Leo agreed, pulling himself up. "If I don't get a chance to heal we'll never get back to New York."
"Well, never say never." Bridgette smiled. Leo returned one and grabbed his grappling hook. Swinging it up the other side of the ravine, they began to climb. Leo's knee ached, but he tried to tough it out as best he could. He knew he'd get a break when they were safe at the farmhouse. Once each of them made it to the top, they continued on toward home. When they figured out where they were, they quickly headed to the camp site to get their T-phones. "Yes, here it is!!" The phone was wet from the rain, and crushed from animals scrounging for food. "Shoot!"
"And no sign of mine." Leo said, shielding his eyes searching for it.
"Then we better head back. It'll be dark soon." Bridgette advised.
"We're not that far from home. I'm sure we can-" A rumble interrupted their conversation, and the three of them turned to see a haze of black looming in the distance. "Make it?" April finished her statement.
"Not good." Leo breathed. They hurried through the forest, trying to get back before the storm catches up to them.
"Ahh! My injuries are holding us back." Leo sighed, feeling tre twinge in his knee once again.
"Don't say that," April defended immediately." Even if it is true. It doesn't matter now. We're almost there." The farmhouse was finally coming into view, to their relief. When finally, the rain poured and poured and poured. Mist arose, as the rain came down, making it difficult to see. Lightning cracked across the sky, and thunder rolled in response. The wind whipped around them, leaves and twigs felt like pins and needles on their skin. Suddenly Leo's missing blade sliced through the darkness, Leo and Bridgette split as it came over their shoulder and landed, handle up, in front of them. They glanced over their shoulders to see even more darkness. Leo coughed and squinted to see, the rain seemed to blur his vision and he started to feel a little distant.
"Leo?" April panted. "You ok?" He began to stumble.
"I- I don't- feel so good." The turtle responded, nearly losing his balance.
"I know, we all don't, but we're almost there. Just hang in there." April held onto him, pressing on toward home. Desperately striving to get back to their friends.
"April." Bridgette breathed. "We need to get home now. Leo can't take much more of this and neither can we."
"I know, there's the farmhouse we're almost there." When they finally left the woods, they could now see the lights of the farmhouse more clearly. Leo finally became so weak that he simply couldn't continue, he dropped to his knees and hunched over with his hands on he ground. He was so tired he couldn't move. April and Bridgette looked at each other for a moment. Then April stood and with all her strength she yelled... "Raph!!!"
All the turtles and Casey looked up.
"Did you guys hear that?" Donnie asked, pointing behind him across his chest. Everyone blinked for a moment, before hastily scrambling for the door. When they opened the door, a cascade of emotions rushed to meet them, along with the wind.
"April?!" Raph cried, hardly believing what he was seeing.
"Oh man,.. Leo!!" Mikey exclaimed, seeing his brother on the ground. Without even thinking, they ran through the rain and storm to them.
"What happened?! Where have you guys been?" Raph questioned, kneeling next to Leo.
"And who is she?" Donnie asked.
"*Sigh* she's my mother?" April responded dryly.
"What?!?!" They all cried.
"I'll explain later." April told them. "But Leo's in bad shape, and we need to get him inside before we all get a fever."
"I think it's too late for that." Bridgette sighed. Raph and Casey helped Leo up and slung his arms over their shoulders. Donnie picked up April, and Mikey helped Mrs. O'Neil. And together they all made their way into the farmhouse. Raph and Casey laid Leo on the couch, who squirmed painfully. Donnie got out a cot and helped April into it. Mikey sat Bridgette down, in the big soft chair to the left of the couch.
"So what happened to you guys out there?" Donnie asked curiously.
"Ugh, what didn't happen." Leo answered quietly, barely even awake. His voice was low and labored, and cracked a little. "Ran into the Krrang, got kid-knapped by a deranged mutant, lost in a pointed rock-"
"Stop talking Leo." April silenced him. "The more you talk the weaker you get. You need to rest."
"And so do you." Raph told her.
"That's right," Bridgette spoke up. "All will be explained tomorrow. But for now,... Leonardo is the most vulnerable to infection. We need to keep an eye on him."
"I agree." Donnie said, looking up from putting a blanket on Leo. "You've all gotten a fever. Leo's got it the worst. We need to get them warmed up."
"I'll keep the fire going." Casey offered walking to the fireplace.
"Raph, go get the blankets from upstairs." Donnie instructed. "Mikey and I will make some tea and get warm water." He turned to their three patients. "You three stay here and rest."
"I'll help you." Bridgette insisted, standing up.
"But Mrs. O'Neil you need to-"
"Bridgette, please." Bridgette interrupted kindly, her softly gazing into Donnie's. "And I want to help. I'm not as sick as Leo or April. It's the least I can do. They saved me from the Krrang... your brother took a beating because of it. And willingly I might add."
"Ok,.. Bridgette." Donnie gave in, nodding. "Come on then." Bridgette strode into the kitchen and Donnie and Mikey followed. Now Leo and April were alone together in the living room. After laying there for a little while, April looked over at Leo. He would start to nod off sleep, but then he'd wake up himself. He did this once, twice, three times, and continued to do so.
"Leo, go to sleep. Don't fight it." April tried to convince him. She wondered why he was to begin with.
"I can't." The turtle said hoarsely. April slowly pulled herself out of the bed to and dragged herself to him as he continued. "I- I can't-.. fall asleep, because I'm-... afraid I won't wake up."
"Oh come on why would you think that?" She whispered to him softly. She crossed her arms and rested them on the arm of the couch. She then laid her cheek against them, so her face was parallel to his.
"I don't know." He sighed. "But what if I don't? What will happen then." Bridgette peered around the door post, but neither of them noticed. "There is no reason why you wouldn't wake up. You're tired, hurt, and sick. You need to rest so you can start to feel better."
"But-"
"Sleep." She cut him off. "The guys and I will be here with you. We're all right here with you. Just rest, so we can go back to New York."
"Ok." He nodded finally. April took a sponge out of the bowl of warm water, located on the table next to her and rubbed it across the bruise on his forehead. Bridgette watched thoughtfully as April finished, returned the sponge to its place. Then she returned to bed, and curled up in the blankets to rest herself. April found it hard to fall asleep, she was worried Leo would wake up again. She peeked back over her shoulder, to check on him one last time. But to her relief, he was sound asleep.
Hey guys so the next chapter is, in fact, the last one so I hope you enjoyed this story. And I will try to think up some new stories when I can. Til then thanks sooo much for enjoying my stories!!
