Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the property of Viacom, Nickelodeon, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and all organizations associated with said names. This is non-profit.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Exile
by BrownEyedBirdie
Author's Note: I almost didn't think I'd make my deadline on this chapter. I'm trying to post the next chapter each week. This is going to be done a little different with this and the next two chapters. Weiterlesen!
Chapter 11 – Jaunt
It had been a month since coming to the farm and already so much had happened. But yet, it was like nothing had happened.
"Who wants a normal life anyway?" Casey had once asked April. Back then, April had longed to forget the weirdness and danger, but now, with the exception of having 4 mutant turtle roommates, this was what a normal life was like. And she hated it.
"Is it ever going to stop being cold?" Mikey asked glumly as fresh snow fell on the early morning outside.
"Of course it will," Casey said, "You just don't realize how much it snows when the city trucks sweep it away."
"It will get better," April soothed, "It's already nearly the end of the month. It's going to start warming up soon."
"It's already picking up," Raph said. He had just come in from outside, carrying an armful of wood.
"The air doesn't cut through the shell," he continued, "I think we're going to see an end to this."
"Oh yeah, things are looking up, buttercups," Mikey said.
Donnie came down that moment looking grim.
"Dude, Raph says pretty soon spring'll be bustin' out all over!" Mikey sang.
"That's not how that goes," Donnie said tiredly but he smiled.
"Can't come soon enough," Raph said, "We need training like crazy."
Donnie nodded. Then he looked at April and Casey.
"Are you two going shopping today?" he asked. They nodded, April not meeting his eyes.
"We need other stuff besides food," she said warily, "Why?"
"I have a list of other stuff we need," Donnie replied, "Some of it for Leo."
They all felt a chill of worry creep over them. Donnie tried to give them his best encouraging grin.
"It's not a rush," he said, "Most of it is precaution, but I would like it before tomorrow."
Casey took the list from Donnie and examined it closely.
"This is a lot," Casey said, "And some expensive stuff."
"You can get most of it cheap if you don't get brand name," Donnie said, "Brand doesn't always guarantee quality."
"It's going to take a while," Casey said, trying to hide a grin, "Maybe all day."
"Whatever you need," Donnie said. He turned and came face to face with April. She stared at him hard, trying to read what he might be thinking. But Donnie cleared his mind, stopped thinking and moved to the kitchen table. April stared hotly after him, furious that she'd failed to find out more about her powers. But then she felt the cold dread again as she saw Donnie and Raph exchange looks and the uneasy frown Raph wore.
"Let's go, Red," Casey said, "We'll get back before it gets dark if we leave now."
April nodded, not turning away. Her eyes slid back to Donnie's face and attempted once more to read him. But his ability to "fight without thinking" seemed to apply to masking his emotions as well.
Casey and April climbed into the party wagon and put it in gear. They pulled onto the drive and the last glimpse of the house before the drive turned the bend was Mikey looking out the window at them. They drove the 30 miles into town. Along the way, they passed a small general store tucked off the highway.
"Let's see what they've got in there," April said, "Maybe we can cut out trips down."
Inside, they were disappointed by the selection.
"Gas stations have better stock," Casey said.
"This place looks like it would keep peanut butter or jelly," April said.
"I don't see anyone around," Casey said, "Let's try another time when we need a quick run."
They drove the rest of the way into town and to the store. It took about three hours to get all they needed as they counted and recounted how much money they had, how much stuff they needed and what bargains they could find.
"Now I know why my dad was such a coupon fanatic," April said.
"My dad too" Casey said, "He used to have this huge expandable file full of them. "Dairy," "Meat," "Produce," and "Utility"; he had one for everything."
"Okay, your dad was crazier than min," April said.
"Crazy genius," Casey said, "He could find a bargain anywhere."
He got quiet for a moment.
"Still," he said quickly, "Being on our own is fun. Nothing quite like a little private time to ourselves, right Red?"
April smirked at him and then felt a stab of guilt.
"You knew how I felt," Donnie's voice drifted back to her, "And you blew me off."
April pushed the voice back into the dark hole it had crept from.
"Let's get going," she said.
With two full carts and a large sum of money gone, April and Casey loaded up the party wagon.
"Seems kind of a shame," Casey said, "To go back so soon. We've got a few hours left before we need to worry about beating the dark."
"What are you thinking?" April asked.
"Let's you and I have a little romantic recon?" Casey smiled, "Let's check out the downtown."
"I don't know," April said, "The guys looked like they were hiding something. Maybe we should get back."
"Come on," Casey said, "I've got some serious cabin fever and I know you do too. Just a few hours exploring and enjoying being around people and we'll go back."
"It doesn't seem fair," April sighed, "The guys are stuck inside still."
"So we'll get them some stuff," Casey said. He turned on the smile that April knew too well. She thought for a moment. It would be nice to be out with people and do some fun stuff.
"We still keep up our story about being cousins and homeschooled," April said, "No deviating from that."
Casey grinned widely.
"Let's go then, he said and they climbed into the car. They drove a few miles up the road and onto the main street into town. April smiled. It was like something out of an old movie. Brownstone buildings on either side of the streets, with the building sides painted like billboards, displaying things like "East Cider Mille" and "Hay Feed."
"Let's check out the next street," Casey said, "Stuff looks closed on this block."
"Let's go to the library," April said. Casey rolled his eyes.
"You are such a geek," he said, "But fine."
They wandered about the books stacks, talking to no one. They even got to watch a documentary on site about the history of puppetry.
"Are you trying to tell me you didn't find those things creepy?" Casey asked as they drove up the next street.
"It was really cool," April said, "It was something Irma-might have-liked."
April slowed as she caught herself. Casey smiled in understanding. They spent the rest of the time exploring the bowling alley, little private stores and wound up at the community center.
"We should think about getting back," April said, "The guys are going to start to worry something happened to us."
"Yeah, probably should," Casey said.
"Casey, look at that," April said, pointing to the marquee outside the community center. The sign displayed
MEETING TONIGHT
NEW YORK CITY - INVASION
"Awesome?" Casey said, "What do you think they're meeting about?"
"Let's go, Casey," April said urgently.
"No way," Casey said, "We need to check this out. Maybe they'll send help to the city. E.P.F. might even be here."
April frowned as Casey took the steps two at a time.
"This is not going to go well," April said. She followed after Casey.
*()()()*
I know this was kind of a short chapter, but I'm doing this on purpose. Think of the next few chapters as a 3 part story. I'll see you in the next chapter.