Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Places ❯ 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Part 13

Blood pooled around his feet. Leo ducked his head as the rain became heavy, too heavy. This was more blood than they could account for. Despite their speed, they simply weren't that fast. The screeches became louder as they went on, and the light became even fainter as blood washed over the luminescent veins along the floor. All they had now was the light from the communicator, which made it dim even for the three veterans.

"We must be getting close," Leo said.

"How do you know?" Raph asked. He'd worked up close to his brother, following slightly behind to his left.

"They're killing their own," Leo answered. "Most of this is coming from the shaft itself. Imagine what the very bottom must look like."

"I'd rather not."

Screamers came faster, packed in so tight that the ceiling and walls seemed to writhe. Five screamers leaped at once at Felix, and he cut one open while two bullets blasted back two others. He ducked the last pair and heard them splat in the blood behind him, picking off the one Raphael didn't kill, and then whirled to catch another one aiming at his arm. None of them could stop moving even though their pace slowed to a crawl.

"Where the hell's this room?" Chanta yelled. "I can't see the walls."

"Five feet ahead," Don said, "on your right."

Felix laughed bitterly as he fought. "Might as well be five miles. Knew this was a bad idea."

Only the tight packing of the screamers saved them. The little things couldn't move nearly as fast as normal with other things in front and behind and to the side. Every stroke of a sword brought down three or more. Every knife slash took two. Every bullet passed through one and entered another. Even if there were a thousand, they could only come at them a handful at a time. Inch by inch, they made slow progress.

They had to trust Donatello's word that they were standing next to the door. They couldn't see it for the screamers covering it. As Felix was closest, he started the work of clearing it, kicking bodies out of his way as they dropped. Raphael had to keep more from swarming over what he'd clear, since Leo was too busy holding the rest back.

Behind them, Mike heard it first, the sound of a heartbeat growing. He turned, ignoring Chanta's startled yell, and peered into the darkness of the hallway. After a moment, she stopped yelling and looked as well. Her own eyes were better adapted, but she didn't see anything either.

"Something's coming," Mike whispered. "Something big."

The floor was beginning to rattle, sloshing the blood about like a storm. Chanta looked over her shoulder at the others. "Hurry up!" she yelled. "It's a demon!"

"Almost clear!" Felix answered. Without bothering to listen at the door, he pushed it open, slashing in a blind arc. His knife connected with the first screamer leaping at him, and its body held the door open as he moved in, killing the few that had somehow become trapped inside. Other bodies and bones littered the floor, likely eaten since they couldn't figure out how to open the door again.

Mike carried Chanta in next, setting her on the ground before tossing the bodies out. Raphael backed inside, and Leo was the last to come in, turning as they slammed the door behind him. Outside, the demon's roar echoed down the hallway and the walls shook as it pounded toward the screamers.

Felix heaved a relieved sigh but Chanta put her hand on his to stop him, and shook her head, motioning for them to be silent. Felix frowned. "But demons can't open doors," he whispered.

She nodded once, her eyes wide and fearful. She kept her back to the wall and her gun ready to be brought up towards the door. Felix and Leo exchanged a look, obviously not convinced but remaining silent just in case. As much as he hated to do it, Mike turned the light dark and the volume low. Donatello had a habit of speaking at the worst moment.

Outside, they heard the carnage as screamers skittered away from the demon while others jumped on its back and bit down. It banged itself against the walls, crushing its attackers, and stomped forward, dragging itself through the narrow corridor. Crunching bones and ripping skin filled the hall until everything was quiet again.

Inside their room, they looked at each other and waited, listening. Its ragged breathing was right next to the door. Slowly, the work of several minutes, it pushed itself back down the hall inch by inch, and the door would have shuddered if Leo hadn't kept his whole weight against it, pushing to keep it quietly pressed into its niche. Now Mike could hear them breathing, but only because they couldn't stop themselves from gasping for breath. All of them had to be exhausted.

The first ram took them all by surprise, and for the first time Leo felt this loss of his strength. He managed to shut it again, but only because the sudden opening also startled the demon, which had been drawing back for the next hit. Chanta raised her gun, ready to fire the moment she saw its eyes, and Felix joined Leo at the door. Their combined strength slipped as it struck, the door opening a few inches before they could push it back, blood trickling in from outside. Mike watched, but it seemed useless. Even if they hadn't been weary, they simply weren't strong enough to hold it at bay.

Dropping the communicator in Raphael's lap, Mike stood up and took a deep breath. He put a hand on either of their shoulders and pulled them away, a little surprised when Leo stumbled. But then his big brother had completely adapted himself to this environment, whereas he was nearly useless, too strong and too slow. He put his hands on the door, and when the next hit came, the door didn't move.

The demon was persistent. It struck the door several times, roaring as if its voice alone could take it off its hinges. Mike wondered if it was the hall keeping it from using its full strength or if it was simply not that strong, but he easily held the door shut. He turned and put his back to it, sliding down to the floor so that he could sit like Leo had before. He looked around at them, Felix leaning against Chanta who'd put away her gun and Leo leaning against Raphael, eyes shut, too worn to move. The demon smacked the door again, and he hardly felt it.

Mike grinned. "Get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

"Wait," Don said, his voice still low. "The barrels inside, what do they say? What else is in there? At least tell me--"

Raphael raised the communicator up, turning the screen on. "Don...shut up. Go get some Chinese and some sleep. We'll call you later." And he turned it off before Donatello could answer.

Beside him, Leo couldn't help a laugh. "God, I could go for Chinese right now." He used Raphael's shoulder for a pillow and breathed out, relaxing. Surprising himself when Raphael put his arm around him, he didn't flinch. The demon's pounding faded away and he fell asleep, for the first time trusting one of his brothers to keep him safe.

In Stockman's lab, Donatello moaned when the small window on the computer went dark. He dragged it to the corner and brought up another window on top of the map, accessing more detailed notes about the room's contents. "I can't believe it. Couldn't even take a minute to tell me what the chemicals inside are--"

"Donatello," April said, putting her hand over his. "You did good. You got them there in one piece. Now get some sleep. I'll wake you up when Casey comes by with dinner."

"You're right." Reluctantly he stopped typing and nodded. "You're right. You'll come get me if they call first, though?"

"Of course." She watched him stand and make his way to the sleeping bags she'd brought. Getting him away from the computer was hard enough, she wasn't about to try to drag him out of the lab. With his snores for background noise, she brought up Stockman's notes on the monsters he'd created, finding the same records about the feeders and screamers. While she didn't find anything about larger monsters resembling demons, she did find a record of what biochemicals and biological waste he'd been dumping. Their demons were probably nothing more than genetic mutations. Considering the source material...

She looked up at the screen again. Five white dots in a cluster. Dozens of black ones in the shaft a little bit down the hall. And nothing else. Whatever Stockman had been using to track his breeders, he wasn't able to see the demons roaming the halls. She curled up in the chair and stared, unable to think of a solution. If there were demons in that shaft, they wouldn't know until it was too late.

Sometime later, Leonardo opened his eyes, listening. No one else seemed to be awake. He sat up, shaking his head. After so much fighting, he knew he should be sore, but this world seemed built for endless fighting. It could've been a paradise if his brothers hadn't been there, if he'd been all alone, with an eternal enemy and mindless, meaningless killing.

"You awake?"

Leo looked up at Raphael, now at Mike's position at the door. He glanced back at whoever he'd slept against and found Mike curled up next to him. Nice trick. He must've been more tired than he thought not to wake up when they switched. "Yeah. I'm awake."

"Good."

"Is it my watch?"

"No. It's been almost twelve hours now. I was going to let you all wake up on your own."

From the sound of things, the demon was gone. Leo sat still for a moment, then realized his swords were still on the floor. He picked them back up and began cleaning them.

"Did you really poison them?"

Leo froze. "How did you...?"

"Splinter saw. When you drew on him." Raphael adjusted to sit cross-legged and leaned back again. "He said I should be careful around you."

"I would never hurt you."

"You beat us up pretty good. That doesn't count?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't," Raph said. "You're making the rules up as you go, killing is protecting, running away is freedom. But I think you're starting to lose track of your own rules."

No answer. Raphael pressed on. "I don't think you want to hurt us. And I think you really do want to keep us safe, but you can't handle it anymore. And if Splinter won't let you retreat even a little bit, then you have to run away, no matter what happens."

"...that's about it," Leo admitted. His brother didn't answer. He gave a sad laugh and continued cleaning his sword. "It just happened. One day I could, the next day I couldn't. I..." He hesitated, then went on. "I was running the night I first came here. I would've kept going, but I saw the lights from Stockman's experiment, and then I met Felix on the roof..."

"And Chanta?"

"We saw her get pulled in. I don't know how he did it or how we were pulled in. Just that Felix grabbed my arm and then we were here."

"Mm." Raphael glanced up. "You were already running? Why'd you come home, then?"

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight." He took a deep breath and let it out. "Just a little longer. After I get you out of here, that's it."

"It doesn't have to be this way--"

"Yes. It does."

Across from them, the humans started waking up, their mumbling startling Mike, who sat straight and looked around quickly until he saw that they were still safe. Raphael let the subject drop. For now.

"If we're all awake," Leo said, "then let's see what's in here."

Raphael turned on the screen again. No one looked back and he figured his brother and April were still asleep. Using the light, he found two boxes full of first aid kits, pills and ammunition. Chanta got the bulk of that. There were a few food bars, but no one felt hungry. Then they aimed the light at the back of the room and found five metal drums, all corroding with hazardous yellow signs painted on the front.

Turning the volume back up, Raphael tried calling Donatello several times and wondered why he wasn't getting a response. Leo took the communicator from him, turned the volume as high as it would go and snapped "Donatello! Wake up!"

Donatello's head appeared as he sat up, obviously roused from a deep sleep. He looked around wildly as Leo handed the communicator back to Raphael, who knew that would have been his reaction too, since it was Leo who usually had to get them up.

"We found the stuff you mentioned," Raph said. "Now what?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah. Um, the detonators in Leo's flash bombs. Get those out and attach them to the containers, one on the alkaline and the other two on the acids."

Leo separated the charges from the detonators and handed them to Felix, who tied the wires together and managed to hang them off the rims. "Now what?"

"Now you need to push them into the shaft. There should be a narrow walkway at the door. Then you shoot the detonators and take cover."

They all looked at each other. Donatello, safe in the lab, had no idea what they were fighting and what lay waiting for them inside that shaft. Even if the hall was clear, there were still hundreds of screamers. Whoever went inside that shaft, even just inside the doorway, was going to be bit. The only question was how bad.

"I'll do it," Leo said.

"You can't," Mike said. "They're too heavy for you to move alone. You'll need me, too."

"Mike--"

"Then we'll stay near the door," Felix said, "guard her while she takes the shot."

"And keep an eye out for that demon," Raph said.

Leonardo glared at Michelangelo, but he didn't argue. He just grabbed the top of one of the barrels and began dragging it to the door. Michelangelo took two and pulled them just as fast. Raphael checked the door, and once he saw that it was clear, let them out.

Dragging them to the door took less time that they'd thought it would. Nothing was left after the demon's attack. When they reached the door, Mike shifted the barrels around so that the detonators all faced the hall. Leo unsheathed his swords.

"When I open the door," he whispered, "push them all in as fast as you can."

Mike nodded and braced himself.

Leo kicked the door and caught the first screamer on his sword before it was all the way open. Mike pushed as hard as he could, but with all three, even with all his strength they moved painfully slowly. Screamers flowed out of the open door like bugs, cut apart instantly and dropping to the floor. Mike wished they could leave the drums half in, but for it to work, they had to be entirely inside.

From his position, Leonardo was at a lousy angle, forced to slash over the drums. One of them leaped towards Mike and he sliced it in half, but the move left him overextended and a moment later, sharp teeth slashed deep into his left arm. He winced but didn't cry out, ignoring it for a minute as he defended his brother. Blood ran down his arm in rivulets as it readjusted for a deeper bite.

Suddenly the drums were all the way in and Mike backed away, scrambling more out of the reach of his brother's swords than the screamers. With the door blocked somewhat, Leo could afford to get rid of the one attached to his arm and followed his brother back down the hall, running for the safety of the supply room.

As they neared the door, three shots rang out, and then a burning explosion knocked them forward. Raphael caught Mike and yanked him in and Leo stumbled after, closing the door on the flames roaring by. After a few seconds the door was too hot to touch.

"I guess it worked," Felix said. "Now we have to wait for the fire to ease up."

When Mike nodded that he was fine, Raph left him and looked down at his eldest brother. Leo had collapsed in a corner, breathing hard. He knelt beside him and gently took his arm, holding him tight when Leo tried to pull back.

"Let me see," Raph said, taking a roll of bandages Felix offered.

"Not bad," Leo said. "Just messy."

"It's still bleeding," Raph argued, wrapping the bandages tight. "This'll have to do until Don can look at it."

Leo met his eyes, and both of them knew what he was thinking. That even if they made it out, he wouldn't stick around long enough for their brother to tend him. Raphael let it drop. They could fight about it later.

"You can't wait too long," Don said through the communicator. "The fire's good for one burst and it'll burn for awhile, but you're six floors up. You can go as soon as the ladders cool enough."

"Then let's go now," Leo said, standing and walking out before Raph could stop him. As the humans followed, Mike put his hand on Raph's arm so they talk alone for a moment.

"Is it really bad?" he asked.

"No...but I'm worried he won't be able to climb." Raph exchanged a look with him, and they followed them out to the shaft, the entrance now a melted hole.

About to go in, Chanta suddenly stopped and looked at them. "Those ladders go all the way. There are no stops, no rooms to hide in. If someone falls behind...stopping for them would be useless."

Silence. Mike and Raph both looked at Leo, but he wouldn't look at them. There was hardly a choice. Inside, the ladders were still steaming, but in a few seconds they'd be able to go. They'd have to go. If they tried the halls now, all the screamers from the shaft would add to everything already roaming around. The screeching of the few survivors grew louder. Felix took a deep breath and nodded.

"Then this is it," he said softly. "We live or we die, right now." He stared into the darkness and the horrible sounds filling it. "The Lord is my shepherd," he whispered. "I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."

In the dark, cooling metal groaned as it contracted, sounding like mournful wails echoing up to the ceiling.

"He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Drawn by the explosion, the demon's footsteps became audible again, the floor rattling like bones. It roared, dragging its massive body through the hall, and no one knew what would happen when it reached the shaft and more space to move. Felix's voice grew louder, stronger.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over."

Mike put one hand in Raph's, felt a reassuring squeeze. They would do this. No matter what happened, neither would be left alone. Leonardo did not reach for them but slid his swords into their sheaths. He would have to ascend on strength he didn't know if he had.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

And they began to climb.

TBC...