Author's Note:
First of all, let me say THANK YOU! You guys absolutely overwhelmed me with your reviews – I wasn't expecting half of the response that I got. You sure do know how to make a girl happy! I especially appreciate those of you who took the time to read that aren't exactly fans of this genre. Believe me though, this is hopefully going to turn out to be much more than just a horror type fic – I can only pray that you still stick with me! So now the pressure's on…
This one took a little longer because I paused a day to do a little research. I really wrote the first chapter without much planning, and when I started to outline the plot, I realized that this was going to be MUCH harder than I thought. I watched both movies over again, finding even more problems to deal with that I hadn't thought of. I think that I have most things under control…
Hopefully I'll be able to keep my updates regular, but they may get a little sporadic depending when my tests fall.
So now, to answer your reviews:
First, to all of you, about the zombie thing - all I can say is sort of, but not totally. You'll have to wait and gain the information as the boys do!
Amy: Wow! That's one of the best compliments I've ever received – you really blew me away, and I hope that I don't disappoint you! Thank you so much for reading.
T: Don't worry, Leo is on his way…
Mickis: Yeah, I was hoping that this hadn't been done before. I racked my brain for days trying to come up with a new idea. Now I'll just have to censor myself a little to keep the PG-13 rating…
Lexy8: Heh, didn't mean to scare you. I made the mistake of watching The Grudge on the night before my husband went on a business trip – HUGE MISTAKE!
PurplexPhsyche: Thanks for the compliment. Hope that you enjoy!
Governmentcontractor: Thanks! I've heard of Shaun of the Dead, but never seen it. I'm assuming it's a parody – too bad I'm not funnier, or else that would be fun to try! I really appreciate you reading this!
Kristy99: Nice deduction…
Reluctant Dragon: Nice to see that you stopped by! I was hoping that I could grab people's attention – hope I still hold onto it!
GemDrive: I've always loved pool too – it always has a way of bringing out the competition in guys…something definitely suited for Raphael and Casey!
Fallen Hikari: Thanks for reading – I always enjoy hearing from you! I hope that you continue to enjoy this, even if it is a little bloody. Trust me, it will be more than that.
Lunar Ninja: Sorry! I know this isn't your style at all (with the violence and a little swearing) but I really appreciate you reading anyway! I didn't mean to scar you…Anyways, keep up the good work with Tatsu Morph!
Lioness-Goddess: Don't worry, things will be revealed little by little…
Quesun: Yeah, I figured that this would be up your alley! I feel more comfortable writing in the first person, and the different points of view seemed like a good way to do it. I also have to give credit to sss979, whose stories I first saw this done in.
Linchi: I know, the song freaks me out too. I wondered if anyone would ask why I put it in – the real reason is that it was originally written about the bubonic plague in England. Ring around the rosie was about the lesions, and pocket full of posie was about flowers that they kept in their pockets to ward off the disease. Ashes refer to burning the bodies, we all fall down is about people dying. Pretty morbid children's song, huh?
Pacphys: Howdy! Great to hear from you! I won't answer your question, seeing as it might give something away….smiles
Blix: Glad that you're reading!
Ok, so here we go!
Disclaimer: Yes, I forgot this again. I don't own the boys/April/Casey, or the two movies 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead. Please beware of some violence and swearing.
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
-William Shakespeare, MacBeth
CHAPTER 2: HEROICS AND HYSTERIA
LEONARDO
I sighed, reaching my arms upward and stretching my shoulders. The movement caused a light shift of air, flickering the candles around the meditation mat. I sat and watched the shadows dance eerily across the room.
As much as I tried, I just couldn't feel him tonight.
God Master, will there ever be a time when I don't miss you?
Rising slowly, I blew out the flames and thought about going to bed. But I knew I wasn't tired. I'd taken the day off from working out, and that was probably why I couldn't concentrate on my meditation. Lack of exercise always made my muscles feel twitchy and anxious.
I decided instead to head to April's. She and Michaelangelo were both night owls, and they'd probably be up for at least another few hours watching movies. Besides, I knew that I needed the company right now; it was hard to be alone when I was missing Master Splinter this much. Although he'd passed over a year ago, there were some nights when the loss seemed so fresh. My heart would feel like it was breaking all over again.
The air in the sewer tunnel felt warmer than it should for early June. I was perspiring within only a few minutes of leaving the lair. Summertime was always difficult for us, and I had a feeling that we were in for an especially bad one this year. Raphael would always complain about how hot it was, pestering Donatello about rigging an air conditioner. They had the same argument every summer.
The buzz of my cell phone almost made me jump. It started into a lively rendition of William Tell's Overture – Michaelangelo's ring. I answered it, surprised when I heard April's voice instead of my brother's.
"Leo? God, where are you? People are going crazy up here! I'm locked in my bedroom and Mike is-"
"Whoa April! You gotta slow down," I interrupted. "I'm almost to your place right now. What do mean, people are going crazy?"
"They're killing each other out in the street!" She was practically yelling into the phone. "You have to help us-" there was a loud rumble from the background, and I heard her scream Mike's name.
I broke into a run.
MICHAELANGELO
I knew we were screwed.
With the slow-motion time sense of a nightmare, I'd scooped April up and brought her to the back bedroom. I didn't think that she had the mindset to do it herself. The short journey only required a few seconds, but it felt like hours as I rushed down the hallway. Throwing her on the bed, I'd tossed her my phone, telling her to call Leo. With Don and Raph at Casey's, he was probably the closest. Twisting the lock on my way out, I ran back to face whoever - or whatever - was coming to the front door.
What the hell was wrong with these people?
Mind racing, I tried desperately to think of some sort of plan. My biggest problem was the door itself. April's building was old, and there weren't any deadbolts protecting the apartments. The lock that was there was rudimentary, and we'd been begging her for months to replace it. I knew that if anybody really wanted to get in, they probably could.
The other problem was that I didn't see anything to reinforce it. Everything in the living room was either too heavy for me to lift by myself, or too light to do any good. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I stood back and waited for the best workout I'd had in a very, very long time.
Holding my breath, I heard the pounding of footsteps in the lobby. Heard them clatter up the stairs. From the noise and what I'd seen out the window, I estimated that there were at least twenty of them. Briefly, I wondered exactly what I was going to do if they did try to get in. Should I take killing shots? Jeez, some of them were women! And I had no idea what was happening or what they were after…
The first few people ran right by April's apartment and continued down the hallway. For a few seconds, I thought that maybe we'd get lucky and they'd leave us alone altogether.
Nope.
Shit!
Following a ghastly screech, someone began throwing themself against the door. The voice hardly sounded human. Moments later a second person joined, then a third. I watched the top hinges break first, sending a rain of splintering wood across the welcome mat. A final blow sent the door falling forwards, a body toppling through and landing on the floor.
My eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness to tell that it was the woman without an arm. Blood was still spurting from the mangled stump in steady pulses, mimicking the beating of her heart. She stayed face down, twitching and kicking as two other men trampled over her.
The first one came at me quickly. His gait was choppy and off balance, easily taken down by a simple roundhouse kick. The second seemed even more disoriented, colliding with a tall glass vase that sat beside the living room couch. It hit the ground forcefully, shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces. April's muffled scream echoed from the bedroom.
Bad move on her part. While I swung at the second guy, three more people crammed through the doorway. Hearing the scream, their attention diverted from me and focused deeper into the apartment. They scrambled frantically toward the source of her voice.
One woman slipped on the broken glass, and I was able to grab hold of her shirt. Angrily she spun, hissing and clawing at my neck. I threw her back over the couch, where she crumpled into a heap. By the time I'd turned to face the others, they'd already slipped past me into the hallway.
"HEY!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Come back and fight you frickin' wackos!"
It worked. Whatever was wrong with these people, it certainly didn't make them any smarter. The pair came charging back at me, their arms swinging with rage. I took them both out at once, kicking one in the face and flipping the other over my shoulder. As they fell, three more rushed in to take their place.
Big. That was as much as I could tell about the next three in the darkness. One was coughing uncontrollably, sending some sort of liquid splattering to the floor. I was glad I couldn't see what it was. Instead of waiting for them to come to me, I rushed them, slapping one hard across the face with a nunchuck. He squealed in pain, tripping over one of the bodies sprawled on the floor.
Just after my weapon connected, I heard another crunch at my feet. A piece of glass drove upwards into my heel, causing my knee to buckle in surprise and agony. I went down. As I fell, I tried to twist onto my back, so at least I'd have one leg free to defend myself.
Thank God I didn't have to.
Warm liquid hit my plastron, pooling in the center and then running down my sides. Blood. Squinting, I realized that each man had at least ten inches of sharpened metal protruding from their stomachs.
Leonardo.
I shut my eyes, letting myself catch my breath. The katanas made a sickening slicing noise when he withdrew them, pulling the bodies back into the hallway.
"You hurt?" Leonardo asked, his voice flat. It always got that way when he was fighting.
"M'alright."
"Get April and go up the fire escape. All the way to the roof. There's people everywhere out there."
I used my shell to roll to my feet, doing my best not to limp. Leonardo remained in the doorway, guarding the entrance.
Hand on the wall, I moved as fast as I could to April's bedroom. I knocked gently, hoping not to scare her.
"April, open the door. It's Mike."
There was pause, then the door creaked opened tentatively. There was banging on the floor above us, at least two or three sets of running footsteps. She almost withdrew back into the bedroom, but I grabbed her hand.
"We gotta move April. We're going to the roof."
"Okay," she whispered, tightening her grip on my hand. "I can't see very well."
That's probably a good thing.
I lead her back to the living room, careful to guide her around the bodies littering the floor. I noticed how horrible it smelled in here; it was so bad I couldn't even characterize it. As we crossed to the window, I saw that Leo had moved outside the apartment door, taking on at least two people from one side.
April unlocked the window, hauling it open with a soft groan.
The din from outside was almost overwhelming. It was mostly screaming, with an occasional car horn or breaking glass. The street was now filled with people, all moving frantically in different directions. It was hard to tell who was chasing and who was being chased. I watched a man get tackled on the front lawn, being ripped open by two younger women.
"April, go!" I put my hands on her hips, half guiding and half pushing her out the window and onto the fire escape. She stumbled, but quickly got her bearings and started climbing. I followed close behind her.
The apartment was five stories high, so it didn't take us too long to reach the roof. I glanced behind me, hoping to see Leonardo. Instead, I got another adrenaline rush.
A few of the people below had seen us on the ladder and were now climbing on top of a dumpster. Though their movements were spastic, I recognized that it was just a matter of time before they made it onto the fire escape.
"LEO!" I knew that my voice was lost in all the noise, but I yelled anyway. I watched the second story landing frantically, debating whether to leave April and go back for him. Thankfully, I saw my brother jump through the window a few seconds later.
He was moving fast. Really fast. It didn't take long before I saw why. When he'd reached the third floor, people started emerging out of April's apartment. The first few just stood on the landing, jumping up and down and shaking the railing. But then a man started to climb up after him, followed by two more women.
Nearing the roof, I saw Leo stop, pulling a katana from his back. He started hacking as hard as he could at the sides of the ladder below him. With a few hard hits from each side, the metal split. He then climbed to the top, and I helped pull him over the edge.
"Here, get that side," Leo said, tossing me the other katana. We each cut through our respective bar, relieved when the piece of ladder fell gracefully to the street below.
Still panting, Leonardo started to jog along the side of the roof. He was looking over the edge, making sure that there was no other way up. I wanted to help, but the pain in my foot was starting to radiate up my entire leg. Blood still leaked slowly from my heel. I winced, trying to turn it up so I could see the wound. Only the tip of a large shard of glass protruded. The rest was still embedded up into the tissue.
April stood for a few moments watching the ladder. I could tell that her body was still shaking. When she was satisfied that no one could follow us up, she came and sat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. Neither of us spoke. Leonardo joined us a few minutes later. He laid all the way onto his back, sides heaving with exertion.
"Hey Mike?"
"Yeah?"
"Call Raph."