I just want to apologize for this story in advance. Honestly, sad stories make me happy, and this is one heck of a sad story. It also contains a lot of triggering material, so please read with caution. With that said, enjoy the story!

I don't own the turtles.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey yelled, launching himself from one rooftop to another. He was technically on patrol and was supposed to stay with his brothers, but that was so boring. He preferred to run ahead, scoping out the rest of the city while practicing his ninja skills.

He eventually stopped running, lying down to wait for his brothers to show up and lecture him for 'messing around' or whatever. The mutant was surprised they hadn't already caught up to him, but he attributed it to Raph and Leo fighting again.

When they still hadn't shown up a few minutes later, Mikey sat up in confusion. Maybe they were playing a joke on him? Going a different way than normal to psyche him out? Well, it wasn't going to work.

Standing up, he studied the horizon for three figures, rolling his eyes when he saw them mere rooftops away. His brothers seriously needed to work on their hiding skills if they were ever going to prank the master.

"Hey! If you guys want to trick me, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that!" They didn't turn, and Mikey groaned. He caught up quickly-that wasn't the issue, he was just irritated that he had to repeat himself.

As soon as he approached the three, an awful smell hit his nose, reminding him of the times they found dead animals in the sewers. "Gross, what'd you guys do, roll in—" His words fell silent as he registered the beings in front of him. Three humans, with appearances that would be fit for some of Mikey's favorite movies. One thing was for sure. They weren't his brothers."ZOMBIES!"

A yell echoed across New York, one strangely familiar to Leonardo's youngest brother. He looked up from his perch on the roof of the fortune cookie factory, blinking in confusion. "Was that Mikey? Wait…Where's Mikey?"

"Oh, what, our fearless leader didn't realize his brother was gone until just now?" Raph piped up, angry for who knew what.

"Oh, did you know he was missing, Rapheal?" Leo retorted, putting a snarl on the final word.

"No…but I'm not the leader. You are!"

"If I'm the leader, why do you refuse to listen to me?"

The pair continued to argue, Donnie looking on in obvious boredom. Another yell rang out, and Mikey ran between the two, gasping for breath. Leo turned his attention to him, anger from the prior conversation still flaring.

"Where have you been?" Mikey didn't answer, leaning over as if he had just run a marathon. "Mikey?"

"What do you mean, 'Where have you been'? I was over on 20th, just like we always are on Tuesdays!" Mikey managed to get out, sounding defensive even while breathing heavily.

"Today is Monday," Donnie corrected. "I'm pretty sure the rest of us learned the days of the week when we were five." Mikey narrowed his eyes, staring at him for a moment before remembering what he needed to say.

"That doesn't matter! The point is, there are zombies!" "No, the point is that you need to be more aware of your surroundings and stop messing around!" Leo cut in, getting ready for a long lecture. "Not only that, but you—Did you say zombies?" He snickered slightly, glancing at his brothers with a smile.

"YES! Finally!" Mikey said, oblivious to the laughter. "Three of them! They were creepy as heck, too! All gross and dead-looking."

"Wait a second." Leo held out one hand, stifling another laugh. "What exactly did you see?"

"Well, there were these three dudes. Their clothes were all torn, and they stunk, like, really bad, dude. So, their skin was all rotten, and one of them just had a bloody mass where his arm should be! And another one didn't have an eye! And they were all covered in blood! It was so gross, dude!" Mikey shuddered, gagging at the memory.

"Idiot. It was just some people trying to play a prank on shell brains like you." Raph muttered. Leo and Donnie nodded in agreement.

"Well, wouldn't they have been scared when they saw me if they were just regular dudes? Because they weren't!" Mikey responded, standing on his toes to get closer to his brother's face. They stared at each other, each daring the other to break eye contact. A scream from the alley below was what eventually pulled them away.

Leo reached the edge first, expecting a mugging. Instead, he was greeted with a girl no older than seventeen guarding her face. Two entities shuffled towards her, walking as though they had no control of their bodies. A closer look at their muddy, blood streaked clothes made him bite his lip.

"See? Zombies!" Mikey hissed, prompting a mumbled 'Not possible' from Donnie.

"No, I think...he was telling the truth." Raph whispered, wincing as though the admission was causing physical pain.

Seeing no other option, Leo tilted his head towards the fight before dropping into the alley, his brothers landing behind him. As expected, the girl shrieked again, looking at both groups in horror.

"Don't worry. We're the good guys." Leo said calmly, unsheathing a katana.

She only stared, clutching her arm in stunned silence. The limb was covered in red, her hand gone. She squeaked out something indistinguishable before collapsing on the ground, eyes rolled into the back of her head.

As soon as the girl fell, Donnie jumped forward, hurriedly feeling for a pulse, a heartbeat, anything. Even as he did so, he knew it was to no avail. Pursing his lips, he reached for her hand, examining the wound. Part of it stuck out, and Donnie leaned closer, choking at the sight of small bumps along the injury."He bit her! He BIT her!"

"What were you expecting, genius? He's a zombie!" Raph said, shoving the mentioned into a wall. The person hit it with a startling crack, collapsing to his knees. The back of his head was caved in, coated with a color they had all seen far too much of that night. He winced at the sight, turning away as if that would erase what he had just only shook his head as he stared at the girl in silence. "That's not possible," He finally whispered, setting her arm beside her. He didn't notice his brothers kneeling beside him, and they kept silent, understanding that he wouldn't want to talk."Is she...?" Mikey finally asked. His face fell when his older brother scrunched up his face and nodded. The other three stared at her in horror while Donnie turned away, laying his head against the wall.

"Should we say something?" Mikey asked, his voice cutting through the silence.

"...yeah, we should." Leo kneeled down, searching her purse and pulling out a wallet. He opened it and pulled out her student I.D. Long black hair, light blue eyes, and a smile filled with pure joy looked up at us. None of them mentioned it, but they all knew this girl so close to their age would never smile again.

"Brianna Lane?" Leo said, reading the card. He cleared his throat and bowed his head respectfully, gesturing for his brothers to do the same. "Brianna, we didn't know you, but we hope you're happy wherever you are now. You had a short life, but we hope it was good one. You will be missed."

After a moment of silence, the four left the alley, choosing to walk the streets instead of the rooftops. Seeing someone die wasn't the best week night activity, and they held their heads down, dragging their feet.

A rustle from behind made Donnie pause, turning around. As crazy as it the sight was, he could've sworn Brianna had stood up and was staring at him. Her bright eyes were faded, as though she were dead, yet at the same time, alive. He tilted his head, stepping closer and gasping when she bared her teeth, growling. Blood continued to drip from her arm, but this didn't deter her.

Donnie took another step forward, trying to make sense of this hallucination-because that's all it was-but stopping at the entrance. The alley was empty outside of three lumps. What were you expecting? Donnie thought. You just saw someone die, you're just stressed is all. People can't come back to life. Zombies don't exist.