Arguing was something that had been doing a lot of recently. Ever since that one big one they had which got them into this now-walking-forever-in-fog situation they had still been arguing. Whenever Donnie said anything it was that snide, I m smarter than you tone. It got under Raphael s skin and he couldn t help but snap at him. The best way to avoid it was by not talking at all.
Suddenly the sound of static interrupted his music. Wincing- he yanked out an ear-bud, attempting to turn down the music or skip to the next track or something! He jabbed furiously at the buttons, each press threatening to break the small device as his annoyance gave him strength. Piece of shit!
Don jumped from the sudden outburst. What? What is it? He stepped up to Raphael, his annoyance ebbing away for concern at the way the turtle rubbed at his head trying to recover from the loud sudden sound.
Stupid MP3 player.
What happened?
It just started to play static and that weird carnival music. Raphael continued to rub his head, dumping the device into Donnie s hand. I thought it didn t have a radio in it!
Donatello looked the small machine over. It didn t. There wasn t even bluetooth technology or anything besides a simple sd card. The thing still ran off of AAA batteries. He held up one of the ear buds to his ear and listened. It was just Raph s normal music.
It s... just normal music. He handed it back to Raph. Maybe you bumped the volume or something. He tried for an explanation.
Raphael frowned for a moment, then shook his head. Y-yeah. And maybe I need new headphones. He looked at the little devices- its stracted screen showing which track was playing. It seemed to be fine.
Raph s eyes suddenly shifted focus to the reflections on the screen. His eyes widened and he dropped the device, jumping back from it. He tripped, landing in a sitting position. He continued to push himself backwards with his booted legs for a moment before stopping- panting.
What? Don rushed to his brother s side. Raph you okay? He put his hands to his brother s head to test for a fever. He had been acting strange ever since they came to this place.
Raph tried to pull away. M fine Donnie... His face flushed, trying to look at the genius's worried eyes. He looked around, trying to spot what he had seen in the reflection of his MP3 player s screen. But there was nothing other than fog and abandoned vehicles.
To make sure, Don continued to touch Raph s forehead for a while careful to take his temperature. It wouldn t be hard at all for them to get sick in this kind of cold, they were mostly turtle after all. He put down his pack and pulled out a small bottle of asprin and uncapped it. He shook out two and recapped the bottle. Here, take these just in case.
Distance for the medication was clear on Raphael s face but one look at Donnie s worried expression was enough to make the hot head take the two pills. He popped them into his mouth and swallowed them without water. He then opened his mouth to prove to the older turtle that he had indeed taken the medicine.
Raph pulled down his hood and wiped his forehead. He did indeed feel hot- so maybe he was getting sick like he knew the genius thought. It was a better explanation for what he had seen. He rubbed his face just thinking about it.
As much as I believe the buildings are dilapidated around here... they are better than staying out in this cold. Come on, he offered his hand to Raph. Lets see if there is a place we can crash for the night.
Raphael took his hand and pulled himself up. Anything to get out of this fucking fog. He paced over to the MP3 player and picked it up. He was lucky- it wasn t broken. He placed it into his pocket and turned to Donnie. Which house looks the most stable?
Looks can be deceiving. We ll have to go inside them to see their true conditions. But offhand, I would have to say that house down the way. He pointed down to rather large home that the mailbox barely had had visible writing on it. He squinted from where they were at. It looked like it read Shepherd.
I m sure they won't mind if we crash. Raphael said. He took Donnie s hand, dragging him to the house. He ignored the pricking feeling in his skin and the heat in his face. He let go of Donnie s hand in favour of turning the door handle. However it was locked.
What the fuck... Raphael looked down. There was something laying on the porch, a small box with a little picture puzzle. He picked it up and tossed it to Don.
Don looked at his brother a little confused. Why would Raph just randomly toss him a puzzle box that he found on the ground? However the question was quickly forgotten when he shook it and heard something slide around inside. Natural curiosity overtook and his fingers slid over all the time aged tiles. It didn t take him long to place it into proper order and hear a click. Slipping the lid open he turned the box over and dropped a key into his hand. It wasn t a typical key... well, nothing modern at least. It was old and rusted, just like everything else in this place.
He shared a look with his brother, unsure as to if they should try it in the lock or not. Who stored their house key in a child s puzzle and leave it in plain sight? well... what s the likelihood that it will work? Stepping around Raph, Donnie inserted the key and gave it a hard twist. Surprisingly the bolt slid with ease. Not sure what to do he knocked on the door while cracking it open. Hello? he called out into the darkness. We found your key and our van ran out of gas. Is-Is anyone here?
There was silence for a while before Raphael pushed his way inside. No one s here Donnie. No one s fucking anywhere. despite what he said, Raph s fingers rested on his sai hilts. Let s just.. find a room and stay in it. I don t feel like exploring more than we have ta. He rubbed his neck. He couldn t shake a weird feeling he was getting. He pulled Donnie inside and shut the door.
The place was surprisingly well built. There was a slight smell of mildew, the wallpaper and paint was aged and peeling, the varnish on the wood railing of the stairs was chipped but... other than that everything was in surprisingly good condition. It was... like everyone up and left...
Croatoan. Don mumbled feeling a chill skitter over his shell like a spider with long hairy legs.
Raphael looked at Donnie. He could tell his other brother was as unsettled as he was. They stood in the hallway for what seemed like an eternity before Raph coughed suddenly, pulling open his hoodie as he pressed his shell against the wall. He hadn t realised how cold he had truly been.
You okay? Don asked in concern. We should... do like you said, find a room and settle down.
Raphael nodded, swallowing. Maybe the living room or something. There has to be some sofas in this place we could use. He pulled his duffle bag more onto his shoulder, walking more into the house. It was a lot bigger than he was expecting.
It didn t take them long to find the livingroom. There were two sofas and paper all over the floor and tables- even stuck onto the wall. A bucket was placed in the middle of the table- letting water drip into it from a crack in the ceiling. The TV lit the room in eerie static.
Donnie shuffled some of the paper around with his feet, all too faded to really make out the print. He went over to the bucket to smell for stagnant water that may hold any sort of bacteria that could spread disease to them while they slept. It was... rather clean water. Why shouldn t it be? Everything else is just as weird. He thought. He put down his bag on the coffee table and dropped the tent next to a sofa. Going through his bag he dug out a blanket and threw it over a sofa and patted it. Not the cleanest but it ll do. Lay down Raph, lets get some rest.
Raph grumbled in reply, dropping his bag near the table. He walked slowly to the sofa-
The he stopped.
His head was turned to the TV. For a second he thought he had seen something flash up on the screen. He wrinkled his snout and walked over to it and tried to turn the old dial off. Nothing happened.
Raphael grumbled, kneeling by the thing to try and find the plug.
Raph, leave it. I ll deal with that, you lay down. The older turtle grabbed his brother s arm and pulled him off of the floor. He knelt down where his brother was at and reached back. Finding the cord he gave it a hard jerk unplugging it from the wall sending the room into a strange, stifling silence. He looked over his shoulder and gave a small smile, At least it ll be quiet.
Thanks Don. Raph mumbled quietly. He lay down on the sofa, shifting till he felt comfortable enough to sleep. His soft snores soon filled the silence.
Donatello rested back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, yeah. was all he could say. He didn t know how to deal with this situation. With Raph and how everything was turning inside out. He was tired... tired of working all the time and getting nothing for it besides a thanks Don and perhaps a sorry I broke it . There were other reasons that he was exhausted but... he couldn t bring himself to pull it out of the back of his mind. He didn t want to address it, didn t want to look at it; bother with it. It would have been better if nothing had happened at all... right?
He closed his eyes and was soon asleep without realizing he had dozed off at all.