Part 7-A Walk in the Forest

The next morning...

The storm continued on until the sun began to rise as morning approached. Leo was the first to leave the tent and he stretched his body with a yawn after he had a better night's sleep since he moved from his and Raph's tent to Donnie and Mikey's tent last night despite the compact space inside.

A moment later, April came out of the tent and did the same thing as Leo before she spoke with a smile.

"Morning, Leo. Did you sleep ok?"

"Morning, April…Yeah, better than when I was sleeping with a snoring Raph in my tent…How about you?" Leo answered with a smile of his own.

"Same…It's a good thing that we're up first before everyone else because Casey and Raph don't know that we switched tents…" April replied in a soft but clear whisper before she giggled when she said the last part of her sentence.

"Yeah, haha!" Leo said quietly with a laugh before he and April began to walk towards the camp's cooking area to start making breakfast.

As they walked, however, they immediately noticed that the grass-covered ground was very wet due to last night's storm, and when they looked at the cooker they saw that it was flooded so they tipped the water out and poured some more coal in it before heating it up.

Whilst they were doing this, Donnie came out of his tent wearing a purple and black-coloured jacket.

"Morning, guys…" Donnie said with a yawn as he stretched his body.

"Morning, Don…" Leo replied before he pointed at the jacket. "Nice jacket!"

"Thanks…I found it at the bottom of my bag and it had a note attached to it saying that it was from April…" Donnie replied before he said, "Thank you", to April.

"Morning, Donnie…and your welcome…I thought that you and Mikey could do with something warm to wear in case it got cold during our trip. I've also got one for you and Raph too, Leo; they're in your bags!" April said as she looked up from the cooker.

"Oh, thank you, April. How's Mikey, by the way, Donnie? Is he still asleep?" Leo then said when he noticed that Mikey wasn't with Donnie.

"Yeah, he's fine. I just checked Mikey's temperature as soon as we were both awake and it has gone down a bit more, but he's still not 100% well enough to do a lot right now. He's having another few minutes' sleep at the moment..." Donnie explained in his 'Doctor Don' voice.

"That's good…I'm sure it won't be too long before he's completely better…!" Leo said in relief.

"I agree…To be on the safe side, though, I'll prepare some chopped fruit for Mikey's breakfast..." April said with a warm smile.

"Thanks, April…" Donnie thanked his friend with a nod before he looked at Leo. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

"I think we're ok with making the breakfasts at the moment, Don. I do need a hand with finding more firewood for later cos what we have now has gone completely soaked from the rain..." Leo answered as he looked at the now waterlogged firewood.

"Sure thing, Leo…Let me go and see if Mikey is awake first before we go..." Donnie said before he turned and walked back to his tent to go check on Mikey.

A few minutes later, Donnie came out with Mikey who was wearing an orange and black-coloured jacket. Leo noticed his younger brothers coming over to them whilst he was helping April with getting the ingredients ready for breakfast as he waited for Donnie to come back.

"Good morning, Mikey…How are you feeling?" Leo said with a warm smile.

"Morning, Leo…I'm doing a little better, and Donnie surprised me when I woke up by handing me this new jacket from my bag and told me that April got it for me...!" Mikey replied with a tired smile before he looked at April as soon as she started chopping up the fruit after finished setting up the cooker and spoke again.

"Thanks for this cool jacket, April!"

"Morning, Mikey…and your welcome. Your breakfast is nearly ready…" April replied with a smile before she continued chopping and slicing fruit for Mikey's breakfast.

"Cool…I am getting a bit hungry…!" Mikey said as he rubbed his stomach.

"Well, that's good…! That must mean that you're getting better if you're appetite's coming back…" Leo said happily as he approached his baby brother and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, but you still need to take it easy and have light meals for now until all your symptoms of the flu are completely gone…" Donnie pointed out softly with a sad but warm smile.

"I know, Donnie, I know…I'll be careful…" Mikey said with a sigh whilst nodding his head.

"Don't worry, Mikey; we'll do something fun like play a game later on…would you like that?" Leo said whilst giving Mikey's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Mikey's face beamed before he nodded with a "Yeah!" before he was guided to one of the camping seats by Donnie when April signalled them to say that Mikey's breakfast was ready and then gave him the plate of chopped fruit.

"Ok, Mikey; Leo and I need to go into the forest to find more firewood since our current supply has been completely waterlogged by the storm from last night…stay here with April and the others until we come back, ok?" Donnie said in a serious but soft tone.

"Sure thing, Donnie…I'll also make sure that Raph and Casey don't kill each other during breakfast, especially since yesterday's dinner didn't go so well…" Mikey responded with a cheeky smile, causing April, Donnie, and Leo to chuckle.

"Thanks, Mikey…See you in a bit!" Leo said as he rubbed his baby brother's head before he began his walk towards the forest, with Donnie following him from behind after he waved goodbye to Mikey and April who waved back at him.

/

In the forest…

Leo and Donnie walked into the forest at a slow and steady pace since the ground was wet and slippery with loose mud, whilst at the same time, they listened in silence at the sounds of birdsong and the raindrops dripping musically from the leaves, causing them to smile.

"Wow…despite the storm that we had last night, the sounds in the forest are really relaxing for the soul…what do you think, Donnie?" Leo said in a relaxed tone as he turned to look at his purple-banded brother.

"You got a point, Leo; it's amazing…! Mikey would have loved this if he wasn't still unwell…" Donnie answered with a sad but warm smile.

"I know, bro…but he did look a lot better than he was yesterday when he came out for breakfast this morning, so I'm sure that we'll be able to take him here before we go home...!" Leo replied as he wrapped an arm around his purple-banded brother's shoulders in comfort, with Donnie nodding in agreement.

A few minutes later, the brothers came across an area in the forest where it was drier than the rest, and on the ground, they found branches and logs that were suitable to be used as firewood for the camp.

"Perfect! This amount of wood will last us through the whole trip as long as we keep them dry from future storms!" Donnie said with a more cheerful smile.

"You're right, Donnie…Come on, let's gather them up and head back to the camp before Mikey and the others get worried..." Leo said in agreement before he and Donnie walked over the pile and started picking them up until they each got a big bundle of wood in their arms.

As they were about to leave, however, they suddenly heard voices coming from the left side of the forest, which caused Donnie's eyes to widen in surprise as he immediately recognised them.

"Is that…?" He whispered to himself before he slowly and quietly walked over to where the voices were coming from.

"Donnie, what is it?" Leo asked his purple-banded brother quietly as he followed him and leaned against one of the trees to stay hidden.

Before he could answer his brother's question, Donnie looked over at the scene that was further from his hiding place and his eyes suddenly widened; there were a group of men that were from the same anti-alien group that was created by a man named Skunk, who was currently still in jail since Donnie couldn't find him in the group. Judging by the looks on their faces and the amount of talking going on, it seemed that they were planning something.

"Them again!?" He hissed quietly to avoid being detected.

"Them?" Leo questioned with a confused look before he looked over at the group himself and then spoke again when a theory came into his head. "Wait, are they the guys you and the others told me about a few years back? This anti-alien group?"

"Yeah…I thought that they were done and disbanded a long time ago when their leader was arrested!" Donnie replied in frustration.

"Well, let's get back to the camp before they notice us…We need to let the others know about this, anyway..." Leo whispered calmly before he and Donnie quietly left their position and headed back to their camp using the same path that they used to get into the forest.