Oops, this chapter is just a half an hour too late to be posted on Friday. Still counts though, right?

This chapter is written a bit differently. Hope you like it!

Edited April 2020

It was an unusual day when Mikey had a problem with being so close to a cute girl. Okay, that was actually a pretty normal day. Because usually any human, especially females it seemed, had problems being close to him. It was a bummer being a turtle sometimes.

His Cowabunga Carl job hadn't even affected that reality all that much. Most of the interactions he had were with kids and their parents. He hadn't realized at first how much of a relief it could be to interact with people without first being screamed at and attacked. Obviously the money was a big aspect, but he really enjoyed working with the kids and being treated like just another dude in a costume. At least, as long as they weren't too crazy. Still, there weren't a lot of girls around those events.

And yet here he was. Mere feet away. And consciously aware of that.

Of course, that was probably due to the fact that they were trapped in an elevator. Not quite the scenario he had imagined. It was actually kind of nerve-wracking. Mikey wasn't sure if meeting her only a couple of days before made things better or worse. All he knew was that it was a funny coincidence meeting her here, and that Mikayla made some pretty awesome cake. Speaking of which…

"I forgot to say thanks for the cake. It was super great!"

It took the girl a second to respond, which is how he knew she was a bit caught off guard at the sudden change in subject. "Hu-Oh!" She let out a short breathy kind of laugh. "You're welcome. I wasn't really sure how it would turn out; I don't make a lot of birthday cakes and I was trying out a new recipe. I'm glad it turned out well. I'm pretty sure that Kevin was more interested in the decorative frosting than the actual cake part. Although I did end up having to spend more time on the decorating than anything else."

"Ah, the zombie in training," Mikey remarked, rubbing his right shin. It still ached slightly from a too violent tackled that had knocked him against a table.

"Yes…, I suppose it's not very surprising that he likes sugar," the girl said wryly. "I hope there aren't too many "Kevins" in your line of work, at least."

"Not usually," Mikey said. "Not today today at least." He was hesitant to continue, he'd been warned all his life about evading questions and staying in the shadows. "What do you do?"

"School," the girl said. From the slight reluctance in her voice Mikey was sure she would've been making some sort of a face if he could have seen her.

He could understand that. Mikayla looked a year or two younger than his own age of 19, so she was probably talking about high school. Wasn't that supposed to suck or something? His own education hadn't been the most traditional, but he learned enough to know he wasn't a big fan of math. Donnie was always trying to explain the equations behind the statistics.

There was a long silence. Or at least it felt long. The pause felt so much bigger in the darkness.

"I wonder…" She started, and then stopped to clear her throat, "I wonder how long the power will be out for." She was fidgeting with a pen, uncapping it and then recapping. Each time made a sharp sounding click.

"It should be back on soon," Mikey said. "Don't hospitals have backup generators or something?" Click.

"Maybe…Isn't that mostly for the rooms though?" Click. Light footsteps sounded in the darkness walking right past Mikey before coming to a stop. "I should try this," she murmured absently. "Do you think the emergency phone still works?" She asked rhetorically, she was already reaching for the phone.
There was the slight click of a phone being lifted off of the receiver. And then a blinding flash of light.