* And...we're back to Mikey. Yeah, I know you were missing him. Also, just in case you were wondering, Blockhouse #1 is not fictional. It's totally a real place in Central Park, as is the setting it's described inside of. What good is the internet if we don't use it? ;)
Michelangelo kept a steady bead on Donatello as the group continued their trek further north into the heavier wooded portion of the Park. After his shaken brother had been granted time to sufficiently catch his breath, Donny turned out to have the best suggestion for where they should head. It meant a longer and more difficult hike than Leonardo had been originally proposing, but after listening to Donatello's reasoning, Leo had to admit he didn't have a better plan.
Mike was so caught up in making sure that Donatello didn't stumble on the rocky uphill terrain, that he was startled when Rebecca slipped her arm through his. He focused on her blue-green eyes, and winced that he hadn't been paying attention to her.
"Are you holding up okay?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm fine. Have you guys been up to the Cliff before?"
"Donny and I checked out the Blockhouse once when we were teenagers. I got a little too excited, and he swore he was never taking me back there again."
The purple-masked turtle snorted on his right. "'A little excited' is an understatement, Mike." Don shook his head as he looked at Jen and Rebecca. "He started envisioning playing all these War Games and dragging Leo and Raph up here."
"What is this place?" Jenna asked from Donatello's other side.
"It's a small fort - the oldest standing structure in Central Park. There are several advantages to using it, even though there's no roof," Donny answered.
"What advantages?" the raven-haired woman wanted to know.
"Well...its position for one. It's extremely isolated and a little hard to get to. If you don't know where you're going, it isn't easy to find. The location on the Cliff provides a great view of the surrounding land from all directions. It's also well fortified, even for it's age. It's not the kind of place where people go to hang out. The Blockhouse is pretty much abandoned, except for the occasional tour that comes through. The public isn't even supposed to go poking around the fort unless they're part of an approved group."
"So why didn't you want to take Mikey back?" Rebecca sounded amused.
"I might have come close to breaking something..." Mike confessed.
"It's a historic landmark, and he got too rambunctious for my comfort level." Donatello chuckled. "But what else could I have expected from a hyperactive teenager who got dropped inside a mini sandstone fortress? It could have been a really cool place to play, but I wasn't much fun when it came to some things."
Donatello leaned a little heavier on his bo that he'd been using for support, and rubbed a hand across his face. "Tactically speaking, it's always proper to get the high ground, right, Fearless?"
The blue-masked turtle was directly behind him, and gave Donatello a keen look. "Why didn't you ever mention this place?"
"I wanted to make sure that it remained intact." Donatello offered him a weary smile. "We really only came here that once."
"Are you going to make it?" Leo asked seriously.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for slowing us down."
Leonardo shook his head. "You are the one who suggested we hike all the way to Timbuktu."
"Just call me a glutton for punishment."
"Do you need to stop? Don't be afraid to speak up, Don," Leonardo reminded him.
The purple-masked turtle shook his head stubbornly, and Michelangelo rolled his eyes.
Typical. He'd rather keel over than imagine he's causing any more "trouble."
Mike glanced over his shoulder again, and saw a grim-faced Raphael bringing up the rear. They'd re-purposed the harness into a sling in which the red-masked turtle could carry Olivia more easily. The baby had her head against her father's plastron, seemingly dead to the world.
At least we know she hasn't been permanently traumatized.
The orange and white cat trailed along at Raphael's feet, content to follow the turtle like she'd done this a hundred times. Raphael hadn't said much since they'd rescued Donny, and Mike could only imagine what was running through his brother's mind.
He's gotta be so worried about Karina.
Michelangelo was concerned too. He hated the fact that they couldn't contact anyone to find out where they were, much less how they were. No one had wondered about the conditions of their friends out loud yet, but Mike had heard a passing comment between his two oldest brothers that led him to believe they were planning a search of their own.
They wanna go look for their girls, and I don't blame 'em. I don't want to sit around here either.
The orange-masked turtle nearly tripped over an exposed tree root, and Rebecca latched onto his arm harder. The speed with which she reacted was impressive, even to him.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The probing look in her eyes indicated that she was unconvinced.
Shell, she's still worried about me. I guess it's too much to expect everyone to be distracted from the issues I've had.
Patches of light broke through the tree cover as they neared the top of the cliff, and Mike was grateful for the remnants of the late summer sun. The heat wasn't normally his favorite condition in which to exert himself, but it had helped Leonardo and Donatello dry off faster. Neither of his brothers had been willing to shed their soaked layers, and deep down, Mike agreed with them. They were exposed enough as it was.
"I see something, Donny." Jenna's lilting accent called Michelangelo back from contemplation.
"That's it, Jen. Blockhouse #1."
Raphael shaded his eyes as he passed into direct sunlight. "It don't look like much."
"That's a piece of history, Raph," Donatello said crossly. "And it'll provide enough shelter from prying eyes to get us by for the time being. That is, unless there are ton of other people searching for earthquake shelter in the northwest corner of Central Park."
"I'm surprised that thing survived," Raphael muttered.
Michelangelo eyed the small stone fort with some suspicion of his own, but the structure was obviously still standing. As they got closer, Mike spied a portion of the west wall that appeared to have collapsed.
"I guess it could have been worse," Mike announced.
Leonardo joined him in considering the damage. "Let's have a look around the perimeter."
The group didn't bother splitting up as they performed a circuit of the fort, and finally paused at the large metal gate that covered the main door.
Leonardo tapped the lock curiously. "It appears to be intact. The gate is a little rusted, but still in working order. This place is clearly maintained by someone, but it doesn't look like they're here often."
"If only there was an easier way in," Raphael said sarcastically.
Leonardo's eyes hardened. "Enough, Raph. We all know this isn't ideal, but we have to make it work. Stop complaining."
Michelangelo was prepared to hear a sharp return from Raphael, but the red-masked turtle didn't respond. They circled back around to the portion of the exterior that was partially broken down, and Leonardo led the way inside. Mike swore he could see the wheels turning in their leader's mind.
"Priorities," Leonardo said stoically. "We should probably set up a tarp, so we can get some kind of roof over our heads if we need it. Mike, what do we have available as far as rations go?"
"Not much, Leo, you said to travel light. I made sure we'd have enough to get us through a couple of days, but water will be tight. I brought the filters, so if we found another source of standing water, we could clean it up for us to use too."
Leonardo exhaled softly. "Right. We're probably going to need to look into that sooner than later." The blue-masked turtle turned his head, stopping when he spotted Donatello. "Don, are you going to get on the phones?"
"It shouldn't take me long to adjust the settings," Donny replied. "The phones are already set up to use the satellite. I need to get that done, so I can focus on other things."
"Such as?" Raphael asked.
Donatello hesitated, and glanced back at Leonardo. "Don't go far, okay, Leo? I'm going to need to have a look at you."
"Donny, you may be confusing me with yourself," Leonardo said mildly. "I'm not hurt."
"I know that, Leo, just stay close," he replied insistently.
"Don, why don't you sit down for a minute so I can actually see your arm?" Jen requested.
The purple-masked turtle plunked down next to the flagpole that was standing in the middle of the fort, and allowed the young woman to help strip off his sweatshirt. Michelangelo hovered nearby to make sure his brother wasn't hurt more severely than he'd alluded to. Mike smiled at the way that Jenna didn't even flinch in handling Don's wounded shoulder.
These girls are pretty used to us getting hurt by now. It takes a lot more to shock them.
"You might need some stitches, Don," Jenna said uncertainly. "That's more than just a scratch."
"Probably," he acknowledged. "But there's nothing that can be done about it right now. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned, and I could use your help wrapping it."
"Actually, I think I could close it for you." Rebecca slipped past Michelangelo, and peered at Donatello's shoulder for herself. "I have some experience with stitches, though they won't be as clean as yours would be."
Donatello flashed her a grin. "Is this some other story that stems from growing up as the 'Jungle Girl'?"
Rebecca snorted. "It actually goes back to a cave full of injured Congolese miners, who had no one but Marcus and I at their disposal to help them for several hours. You could say I got some hands-on training. I'm no expert, Donny, but if I take my time, I'm sure I can get your shoulder closed up."
"I'm willing to let you handle it, Becky, but maybe I should get a look at your hand first."
"It isn't bad," she replied, but willingly removed the wrap that Jenna had helped create back in the Den. "I sliced it open on some glass. It was bleeding pretty hard, but it's slowed down. We already disinfected it and everything."
Donatello studied the top of her left hand, and lightly turned her palm to follow the wound track. "Yeah...okay," he said after a few moments. "That probably won't require stitches. Just make sure you keep a clean bandage on it. That won't be easy to do out here. If you don't mind, I'd like to get the settings switched over on my phone before you do anything with my shoulder. I just want to acquire a signal, so that I can focus on our next complication."
"Which would that be, Don?" Jenna asked wryly.
"Some preventative measures," he replied vaguely. "Would you grab me the cooler, Jen?"
Michelangelo started checking the inventory in his duffle bag, while the others were busy with their own projects. The seal had protected the interior from the water better than he could have hoped.
Still wasn't worth Donny just about losing his life over, he thought sharply, as he cast a pointed look at his brother. Why does this whole day feel like some long nightmare? I swear, I should be waking up pretty soon.
The orange-masked turtle sighed as he lifted his head to stare up at the passing clouds in the perfectly blue sky above them. Why do we hardly ever get to do things like this, except when our whole world is crashing down?
"Leo?" Donatello's voice registered from nearby, and Mike looked over to see him rifling through the cooler. "Can you c'mere please?"
Something in Donny's tone made Mike watch closely as the blue-masked turtle trotted over to join him.
"How's the phone?" Leo asked.
"Good. It was an easy fix to achieve the signal. Can you sit down for a minute? I need to give you a shot."
"For what?"
"You and I were just exposed to an obscene amount of bacteria, Leonardo. We have to take precautionary measures, just in case."
"What are you giving me?"
"It's just tetrozine, bro. You've had the antibiotic several times."
"The one that makes us tired?" Leonardo sounded suspicious.
"Yes," Donatello said plainly. "And I have to go with a heavy dose to be on the safe side."
The blue-masked turtle shook his head. "Donny, I can't afford to pass out for several hours! Raph and I have to find the girls. We weren't planning on hanging around much longer."
"Leo, you can't put the antibiotic off, or it won't be able to do the job as effectively. I'm sorry. I know this is my fault - but you still have to take the tetrozine."
Leonardo physically backed away from him. "I'm not doing it, Donny."
"Then I guess I have to pull rank on you," Donatello said shortly.
"You're what?"
"In an emergency situation where intervention is required, medical necessity takes precedence over all other directives," Donatello quoted at him.
"I don't care if I signed Doc's contract, Donny! This isn't a medical emergency."
"It could become one very quickly. It doesn't take long for an infection to spread, and what then, Leo? Do you want me to be forced to use up every ounce of our reserve medication?"
Leonardo scowled at him as he lowered to the ground by the flagpole. "I hate this."
"So do I," Donatello said quietly. "And as I said, I know it's my fault. I'm sorry, Leo."
The blue-masked looked defeated. "Just give me the stupid shot, and let's get this over with."