Rating: Overall story rated T

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, not to mention disturbing situations.

Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's better to risk walking in daylight, and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between Sampsonknightand Zelgadis55.

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.


Sekai no Owari

Ch 3

Fretting with worry, Mikey hastily shoved his Shell-Cell away in favour of pulling out his 'chucks to attack yet another walking corpse far too close to home. It was an older zombie and the fetid stench, somehow overpowering the delicate bouquet of the sewers, made him dry retch. As he knocked its head clear from its neck, he wondered yet again why there were so many this close to home and why his brothers hadn't cleared the area yet. It had been hours since dawn now and ridding themselves of their unwanted visitors was a priority come first light. The fact that no one had answered their phones since they came back into range also scared the hell out of him and it was only that he could see their Shell-cell signals clearly showing them in the lair that stopped him from thinking they were out searching for them. Instead, thanks to all the zombie activity in the vicinity, he was fearful the monsters had somehow gained entry to their protected home. Still, the mental image of Raph crying out for brains and chasing Donnie around the lair made him want to giggle hysterically and it was all he could do to suppress the terrifying (yet hilarious) image and concentrate on getting them home safely.

"Why aren't they answering," April asked in dread, echoing his thoughts as she swiftly removed the sai from the rotting eye socket of the zombie that had just tried to take a bite from her. To her disgust, she struggled to hold in her gag reflexes as she saw a string of web-like slime dangle from the tip of her weapon to the corpse in front of her.

"Wish I knew, Ape," Mikey replied, unable to bring himself to sound like his usual cheerful self. It had been harder and harder to keep up his happy demeanour over the last several months but somehow he'd mostly managed. Until last night. Truth be told, not long after they'd settled into their hiding place, he'd had a terrible feeling something was really wrong and the closer to home they came, the worse the feeling became. The fact no one answered their calls really wasn't helping either. As he spoke, he glanced at April, seeing a fast movement rushing her from behind. "Behind you!" he warned frantically.

"Huh?" Staggering forward, April turned around quickly, swiping the sai sideways. The weapon pierced the undead's cheek, sinking into its decayed flesh and bone. The strike, like normal, didn't faze the monster, as one arm clamped down hard onto her other wrist. With the zombie now on her, it came down to a struggle of its strength against hers and its greedy jaw chomped viciously down with a slathering hunger, inches from her face.

Gripping both handles tightly together, Mikey slammed his weapon against the zombie's head, knocking it back from April's face. Then, as April twisted in its grip breaking free the way she'd been taught, Mikey push kicked the monster away as hard as he could.

Being as fresh as this one was, it was back on its feet in moments and racing at Mikey but by the time it reached him, Mikey had dropped one handle and converted the other into the bladed end of a kusarigama, using the sharp point to stab through its eye and deep into its brain, ending the horrifying monster once and for all.

"Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross!" he panted harshly as he shook his weapon free of mess. Pulling himself together, he turned back to April. "Hey, you okay?" he asked worriedly. That one had been a little too close for comfort and he didn't know what he'd do if he lost April too.

Releasing her own series of deep, long breaths, she nodded, tossing a concerned look at Mikey, "I'm worried. That one was way too lively. It must have only turned a couple days ago at most… Either there have been humans nearby recently or it was attracted here by something."

Mikey swallowed at the thought.

April stood up straight, stretching her aching arms. Before they'd left their hidey hole that morning, she'd prepared, doing the quick warm-up exercises Leo taught her and insisted on her doing every day yet she still felt stiffer than she should for her age. Once the kinks were out, she continued, "It's not like Raph to allow them to wander so close. He normally takes these ones out right away, considering how much more of a threat they are than the rotting ones…"

Mikey nodded worriedly and looked around. In the dim lighting of the shadowy sewer, he could see more zombies shambling towards them; luckily they were older and slower but still... "Let's hurry up and get home. It's only around the corner."

"Yeah, I think that would be a wise idea," April agreed, gazing around apprehensively. "We've been out for far too long now and it's showing in how tired we're both getting..."

Quickly, yet stealthily, Mikey led the way. It wasn't long before they reached the corner and he cautiously peered around. To his horror, there was a small group of zombies pawing at their hidden door. The door wasn't obvious to the unknowing and yet, the B monster movie rejects seemed to know exactly where it was. Mikey swallowed and ducked back, trying unsuccessfully to hide his fear.

Seriously! Where were Raph and Leo and why the shell hadn't they dealt with this already?

Breathing shallowly and trying not to make any noise, Mikey pulled his Shell-cell out again to check the tracking app and saw all three signals still in the lair, all clustered closely together. There was no way they'd simply left to look for April and him without taking those. Due to lack of power and much damage to the majority of the city above, the range was far more limited than it used to be, but still, the Shell-cells were essential to their survival, especially if anyone found themselves separated from the others, and both Leo and Donnie had drilled it into their heads time and time again to always carry the devices, no matter what. To that effect, Donnie had even made sure to have enough spare batteries to simply swap them out instead of having to put the whole phone on charge and therefore having to leave it lying uselessly around.

He glanced back at April who was in the middle of watching behind them at the encroaching zombies, making sure they didn't catch them unaware. "Got company at the door, dudette. We're going to have to take them out first to even get in."

"How many are there and are they rotten or fresh?" she asked cautiously; such information could be a life saver and helped to determine how to deal with them as well.

"There's four of them by the door. Three of them look kinda old and one of them, maybe a week old or so? But uh..."

"Then the plan is that I take two of the older ones and you deal the with fresh and the fourth one. I have a far easier time getting the sai through the eye sockets when they're older and slower. The more rotten they are, the easier it is for me to thrust the sai through their skull to damage the brain." April stated, repeating facts they learnt months ago. Still, it helped her nerves hearing what she was capable of out loud.

"One of them's just a kid..." Mikey whimpered softly, wishing he could bleach what he saw from his mind. "Looks like she was about seven or eight when she died..." He gulped painfully before admitting, "She's the fresher one."

April instantly cringed, flashing a look at him in horror. Those were the worst kind of all to face, even for a seasoned ninja. When it came down to it, it wasn't the runners, nor was it the hordes, it was the ones that were just too young to have been taken out by this unbiased plague. It was truly heartbreaking when you came upon ones so young; seeing the dead eyes in rotting, rabid faces, staring blankly from a once barely bloomed flower now withered and wandering for eternity to feed their uncontrollable hunger. Just the mere thought taking one down had cost lives, as she'd witnessed before in the early days with people either not taking them as a threat or feeling sorry and letting their guard down.

She felt uneasy and breathed deep, even as her hands trembled. April stepped forward, out around the corner, her eyes narrowed at her new target; the child. She couldn't let Mikey take this one; if Leo was there he would have done it himself, same as Raph, all to spare their youngest brother what little innocence he had left, knowing he'd be a guilt-ridden mess when faced with such an abhorrent deed.

As April stepped out without a word, Mikey glanced back at the zombies coming at them from behind. All were dismembered in some way, thankfully making them as slow as they were. Hell, one only had one arm and was pulling itself achingly slowly towards them. Since they weren't an immediate threat, he could forget about them for the moment and concentrate on taking out the bigger threat first.

The little girl.

Closing his eyes for half a moment, he centred himself, taking a deep but quiet breath as he released his kusarigama blade once more. Then, he stepped out.

To his horror, he saw April racing swiftly forward ahead of him towards the child zombie. Worse, the little monster had caught her scent and was also rushing straight for her, salivating from her once pretty little mouth. He immediately raced forward, somersaulting over the top and to the side of his friend and yelling, "Cowabunga!" to distract Sally from her breathing target.

Startled by his battle cry, April's eyes widened as she lost focus and she snapped at him, "What are you doing, Mikey? Take the other three! I've got this one!"

Mikey whipped his head around in shock, distracted by her insane declaration. "But she's fresh, fast and dangerous! And you said you would take the older two while I take Sally and one of the others!"

Biting her lip, she had to explain why, even though Leo and the others wouldn't appreciate it once he found out, "Raph and Leo agreed that by no means should you ever take on any child zombies..." she admitted reluctantly as she defended herself.

"What?" Mikey asked flatly in disbelief as he fended off the snapping zombie.

"They were afraid that... having to finish one off would... break you..."

Mikey's jaw dropped at the news. "Seriously? I so completely hate that! I'm not made of fucking glass and I'm so sick of you guys all treating me as i... Ooph!" Suddenly he felt himself falling backwards as a flying zombie jumped, latching itself to his upper torso to get easy access to his head. Only the fact he was knocked off balance saved his head from being bitten, but still, Sally fell with him, holding on fearsomely tight with arms and legs as she snapped repeatedly at his face.

When Mikey hit the ground, he instinctively rolled backwards, making sure to slam Sally's head hard into the ground as he did. The sudden impact didn't shake her iron grip and she kept relentlessly snapping at him like a rabid dog. For a moment, he wished his brothers would come rushing out of the lair to their aid and fear over why they hadn't overcame him again as he wondered why. Then he buckled down to focus on the threat at hand; he had to deal with Sally fast and hard so he could help April before she was overwhelmed by the remainder of the deadly mob.

As April moved to act on her instinct to help Mikey with his little problem, she suddenly stiffened, hearing a soft moan coming from behind and she cursed under her breath. Turning slowly, she saw the other three were too close and realised that if she dared to try to take the child, she would give them the opportunity to overpower them, resulting in one or both of them getting bitten or torn apart.

She hated this! For better or worse, Mikey was on his own with the little zombie in the ripped and dirty, blood-stained sundress. Despite the fact that she too had made a promise not to allow him to face this particular horror himself and feeling like she was leaving her friend for death, she focused on the other three just in the nick of time as the closest lunged at her.

She snapped her knee forward and up, slamming it into the monster's torso and making it bend enough to drive her sai into its eye socket. With its brain pierced, the zombie's dead weight flopped and she moved swiftly back, trying not to be pulled down and pinned to the ground beneath it.

With the second one not far behind, she danced around the motionless zombie with only a split second to react, smashing her weapon into his skull. Tugging her weapon to free it, she realised her undead foe wasn't quite as rotten as it looked and that she was in deadly danger; her sai was jammed solidly into the bone and she couldn't remove it.

As she fought to get her weapon free, Mikey jumped back to his feet, managing to get the chain of his own weapon around Sally's neck. Holding tightly to both ends of it, he yanked backwards, forcing her head away from his body. Immediately, Sally turned her head to try to snap at his arm. He whimpered in horror, knowing he had to finish the once innocent child and fast. That's when he saw April in trouble.

With the weight of Sally still on him, snapping and snarling, Mikey rushed towards April, throwing the bladed end of his weapon out and snagging the graveyard reject around its spine. He pulled and it staggered back towards him, flailing.

April frowned. It was dead already! Mikey didn't need to save her like she was some damsel in distress, she was long past those days! She only needed to get her weapon free but now she didn't have the luxury to think about it as the third and last zombie aimed its sticky hands at her throat.

Staggering backwards into the wall, she fumbled at her belt for anything she could use, wishing she had more confidence in herself to have accepted Raph's second spare sai; it would have come in handy right about now but she had nothing.

As her back pressed against the cool brick behind her, her hands searching desperately for anything that could be of help, she felt the loose brick in the wall. It wouldn't fully come free so she grasped her fingers around it tightly, tugging and working it free, hissing in pain as her skin scraped the rough surface.

Gasping, the brick finally loosed, she slashed forwards with it, aiming for her attacker's head.

Blunt blows were not as effective as something sharp and pointy. However, if you kept on hitting, eventually you could break through the skull.

The thing staggered back so she kept it up, one foot kicking forward into its kneecap, as it crunched loudly from the force of the blow.

The murderous zombie fell backwards, yet April didn't dare to stop lunging forward after it. She landed on top, hitting it repeatedly on the head as old congealed blood gushed up, splattering over her in a thick repugnant ooze.

The captured zombie finally stopped moving, falling to a heap on the ground, the sai finally finishing it off as it rammed in deeper at the impact, so Mikey turned his attention back to Sally as the first of the crawlers made it around the corner. Slipping a kunai from his belt, he jammed it into the small zombie's eye, breathing in relief as she finally stopped trying to maul him. Glancing April's way, he saw her desperately beating the fourth with a brick and quickly pried Sally's dead, rotting fingers from his biceps. As soon as he dropped her to the ground, he raced over to where April still beat on the now unmoving zombie.

"I think it's dead now, April," he teased cheekily.

Breathing heavily, she flashed a glare up at him, "Seriously, you just couldn't help yourself, could you?" she snapped, barking out her frustration and exhaustion. She was just making sure it was done for; really, you never knew these days and overkill was better than underkill! As the thought came to mind she moaned, she was starting to sound like Mikey now and was therefore doomed. "And what's with naming the zombie?" she accused, trying to distract herself. "That only makes it worse!"

Mikey coughed, flushing, "It somehow seemed to fit? Come on, we gotta get inside before the crawlers block us or more turn up," Extending a hand to help her up, Mikey flinched at the sight of the gore covering her.

With a nod she let go of the brick as it smashed into the zombie's caved in skull and reached up, accepting his hand, "Yeah, I think I need a shower," she admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah, I didn't want to be the one to say it," Mikey replied, cringing as he breathed in her rancid stench.

April rolled her eyes, clenching his hand hard to prevent his escape as she made sure to accidentally rub against him, sharing the good wealth for that comment.

"Ewww!"

"Well now, let's get inside," April grinned, releasing him at last and heading for the hidden door. Hovering in front of it, her willingness slowly sapped away as she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. In the heat of the moment, one didn't have time to think of the frightening issues, including the one she figured Mikey had to have also realised. No one came out to help them...

She watched nervously as Mikey reached out to reveal the hidden panel but it wouldn't open. He stared in disbelief and tried again.

And again, but this time more desperately.

Seeing how rattled Mikey appeared, she came up next to him. "Maybe you pressed the button wrong?" she suggested softly. She gently shoved him aside, figuring that with his nerves shot from everything, that he wasn't thinking straight and therefore wasn't manipulating it in the right way to open the panel.

For a moment, Mikey struggled to speak before turning haunted eyes upon her. "I didn't press it wrong, April," he said shakily.

"Then why isn't it showing?" she asked, bewildered that it didn't open up for her either when she knew for certain that this was the spot.

Mikey regarded her fearfully. "The lair's on lockdown. The panel won't open when it's on lockdown."

"Wait... really? Why would they leave it in lockdown when we're still out here and it's around ten am by now."

"I don't know," Mikey whimpered, reminded of the terrible feeling he'd had since early last night. Suddenly, he noticed the first of the crawlers reaching out to grab April and he yanked her towards him. "We gotta go!" he snapped before she could protest.

"Yes," April agreed before suddenly remembering, "Wait, my sai!" she exclaimed, resisting as she saw it still firmly planted in the head where she'd been forced to leave it.

Glancing at the growing sea of crawlers between them and the sai's burial ground, Mikey shook his head, "Leave it! We can't get to it now. We gotta go!"

"Where, Mikey? We're locked out and no one's answering their cells," April protested. But she allowed him to lead her, even though she had no clue as to where.

Mikey swallowed, unable to meet her eyes. "There's a hidden, emergency entrance that'll get us inside," he explained quickly as they started running away from what should have been their safe haven.

"There is? Where?" April asked, unable to read Mikey from the back of his head. He didn't say a word and it only made her imagination run wild with possibilities that only became worse with every step they ran.

"Up," he eventually replied cryptically and refused to say another word.

-:-