Part 10-An Unexpected Ambush!

Later in the afternoon...

The sun was slowly starting to set on the second day of the group's camping trip, and preparations for dinner were well underway, with tonight's dish being beef and vegetable stew. Fortunately, Mikey was awake from his nap and, with Donnie's permission, was allowed to help with making dinner as long as April did all of the cooking, so Mikey just observed and would let April know if a certain ingredient needed to be put into the cooking pot.

"Man, dat smells good!" Raph complimented as he sniffed at the aroma in the air.

"I know, right? It's ready now, so go get the others!" Mikey instructed Raph happily before he helped April with dishing the food into individual bowls. Everyone soon gathered together around the campfire and Mikey handed them a bowlful of stew, and they all made sounds of satisfaction as soon as they took their first mouthful.

"Mmmm…This is really good!" Leo said happily before he took another mouthful of the food in his bowl.

"Yeah, the flavours in both the meat and vegetables work really well…" Donnie said with a smile before he too continued with eating his food.

"Well, it's thanks ta April and Mikey dat we got somethin' good and edible ta eat fa a change, unlike last night's dinner…" Raph said with a shiver and then a mocking smirk when he looked at Leo and Casey as he said the last part, causing the two to glare at him before Casey spoke.

"Hey, come on! Don't bring dat back up again, man…!"

"Yeah, I thought we moved on from this! Let it go, Raph!" Leo said firmly in agreement before he watched Raph laugh.

"Knock it off, you guys! I've got a hot pan and I'm not afraid to use it!" April said with a mocking glare whilst lifting a small pan in mid-air, causing the three boys to quiet down immediately as soon as they saw it.

"Haha! Nice one, April…!" Mikey said before he gave April a high-five (or a high-three, in Mikey's case).

After half an hour had passed, everyone had finished their meals and were all relaxing by the campfire to allow their stomachs to settle whilst they watched the sun go down slowly. But, suddenly;

"There they are!" "Those aliens are back!" "Let's get 'em!"

The sounds of men yelling in anger were heard not far from the camp and everyone stood up to see a group of men running towards them, with guns in their hands!

"Oh, no…Donnie, it's-"

"I know, Mikey…stay close to me…" Donnie said calmly to Mikey when he noticed the fear in his baby brother's voice.

"What da shell are those goons doin' back here!?" Raph said angrily but quietly before he looked from the anti-alien group to his younger brothers.

"I don't know, Raph, but we need to get out of sight before they get closer to our camp…" Donnie answered firmly but still in a calm tone.

"So, they're that anti-alien group you guys were telling me about long ago…" Leo said as he looked at the humans who were slowly walking towards the camp.

"Y-Yeah, the H.A.T.E gang…" Mikey said shakily.

"Guys, go and hide in our tent! We'll try and reason with them by saying that there's been a misunderstanding…!" April suddenly told the turtles as she pointed at her and Casey's tent.

"No, April! You can't argue with these guys-" Donnie tried to prevent April and Casey from going into contact with the gang, but April was having none of it.

"We'll be fine, Donnie...! Now, go!" She said firmly.

"Yeah! We've got dis, guys! Go hide!" Casey said confidently with a smirk and a thumbs up.

Realising that there was no use in arguing with the couple, Leo and his brothers made a run for April and Casey's tent and hid inside it with the doorway partially open to allow them to watch and listen carefully and quietly to what was going on outside.

Soon, the H.A.T.E gang arrived at the camp and the men were quietly face-to-face with April and Casey before they broke the silence.

"Alright, you two…where are they?"

"Where are who?" April asked whilst pretending to be confused.

"Don't play dumb with us! You know who we're talking about; the aliens! We know they're here and you're all buddy-buddy with 'em, so tell us where they are, now!" One of the H.A.T.E members said impatiently whilst waving his gun in front of April, which Casey was not happy about.

"Listen here, pal; we're here ta enjoy a nice campin' vacation together with our friends, who have gone ta find more firewood fa us, and things were peaceful here until you guys came over and ruined it fa us! So, I suggest dat ya leave me and my wife alone or I'm callin' da cops!" He said with his anger slowly building in his body.

"Calm down, Casey…!" April said calmly as she placed a hand on Casey's chest.

"We ain't buying your story, mister…there was nobody else accept us in that forest so I suggest that you tell us where your alien friends really are, or else!" Another H.A.T.E member said firmly as he walked closer to the couple with his loaded gun pointing at them.

In the tent, Leo and his brothers were watching the scene through the small gap in the doorway with nervous and concerned looks on their faces as they saw that both sides were showing no signs of backing down. Then, the older brothers turned to Mikey with widened eyes when they heard him coughing with a hand over his mouth to try and stay quiet during the process.

"Mikey, are you ok?" Leo whispered worryingly before he watched as Mikey nodded once his coughing fit stopped, letting him and his other brothers know that he was fine.

"Did you hear that?" "Yeah, it came from over there, in that tent!" "Come on, let's scope it out…!"

"No! There really isn't anything in our tent!" "Yeah, it's probably just-" April and Casey tried to persuade the gang to stay away from their tent but to no avail.

"Quiet! We're checking it out and you better stay still or we'll shoot you down on the spot!" One of the H.A.T.E members said stubbornly before he and the rest of the gang made their way towards the tent.

The turtles looked at the gang that was now approaching their tent and then back at each other with panic beginning to show on their faces when they heard their voices about planning to look inside their tent.

"Oh, shell…I'm so sorry, bros…" Mikey rasped guiltily since he was the one who exposed their hiding place to the H.A.T.E gang.

"It's not your fault, Mikey…come on, let's get out through the back!" Leo replied softly before he unsheathed one of his katana swords and walked towards the back of the tent to begin his plan of escape for him and his brothers.

Soon, the H.A.T.E gang reached April and Casey's tent and one of the members slowly reached out his hand to grab the lip of the tent's door.

"Ok, boys, on the count of three…One…Two…THREE!"

After shouting 'three', the gang member swiftly pulled the door open and was about to pull the trigger on his gun when he realised that the tent was empty, but he then noticed a torn hole at the back of the tent.

"What the-? They were here, but they've escaped!"

Just as the gang was about to make a move, they were suddenly struck from behind out of nowhere by the turtles who then grabbed the gang members and threw them far away from the tent and onto the ground, knocking them out in the process.

"Nice job, guys!" April said as she and Casey came over to them.

"Thanks…sorry about slashing your tent, you two…" Leo said with an apologetic look on his face.

"No worries, man…we've got some duck tape dat we brought in case any of our tents got damaged durin' our time out here…" Casey said with a smirk.

The turtles sighed in relief before they, April, and Casey started their walk towards the unconscious gang so that they could tie them up and call the police to pick them up. Unbeknownst to them, however, one of the gang members was still barely conscious and he looked at the approaching group and slowly pointed his gun towards April. Mikey was the first to see this with a fast-beating heart and wide eyes.

"April!" He shouted at his female human friend before he moved and pushed her away.

BANG! "Aarrgh!"

"MIKEY!" Everyone shouted in horror as they saw Mikey take the bullet for April, which had hit him in his upper left thigh, before taking off quickly towards the forest in a fright, despite the slight limp.

"Ha, ha! We've got one, boys! After him!" The gang member said before he and the other members got up and started to run towards where Mikey was running.

"Oh, no you don't! Stop right there!" Leo shouted out angrily at the gang as he and the others chased after them.

"Stay away from my brother!" Raph shouted next with rage building inside him as he caught up to them and started attacking them. Once the others caught up to the gang, they too threw a few punches and kicks at all the members until they have been knocked out again, for real this time.

"Ok, that's them taken out…Did anyone see where Mikey went?" Leo said in concern over his baby brother's health and wellbeing.

"I was able to see him as he ran towards the forest...I'm worried about his gunshot wound, though; it was bleeding quite badly…!" Donnie said worryingly as he clenched his fists in anger and concern.

"Well then, let's hurry up and go find him!" Raph said with determination on his face.

"Alright…April, you and Casey get these guys tied up and call the police, while we go and look for Mikey in the forest…" Leo instructed his human friends, who nodded in understanding, before he, Raph, and Donnie grabbed a couple of flashlights and a first aid kit from one of their tents and quickly made their way towards the forest, hoping that their baby brother was safe and still alive.