Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Aᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ: Dᴏɴᴀᴛᴇʟʟᴏ's 200 Dᴀʏs

16 || 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒

Donnie's quick pace suddenly woke up Katie, causing her to open her eyes and look up at her mutant friend. "Don, what's going on?" She groaned, wincing at the pain in her head. He doesn't answer; his legs carry on faster until finally, Katie looks ahead of Donnie and gets a view of this group. She squints her eyes, letting her vision focus on the unknown people. Then, her jaw dropped when she recognized the survivors. "Mom, Dad?" She says faintly.

Instantly, Donnie slowed down his pace the moment Katie said this. Carefully, he set her on the ground, confused about what she had said... These are her parents? "What?"

"Hello?" Katie says aloud, getting the group's attention. They stop, and turn around in curiosity, not feeling threatened by a mutant turtle and a teenager. When she saw her family associating with a bigger group of other families, Katie was in disbelief. There were even a couple of mutants with them. She felt her eyes tear up, feeling the joy overwhelm her. Instantly, she ran straight for them, shouting at them happily. "Mom, Dad! Ellie!"

The woman with dark blonde hair realized her other daughter was running right for her, shocked to see she was still alive. It's a miracle. "Oh, my gosh! Katie!" Her mother cheered, cupping her hands to her face. She, her husband, and the other daughter opened their arms up for their lost family member, letting her embrace them tightly and lovingly.

"Oh, you're okay!"Katie's father has dark brown hair with a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. This man appeared to have a couple of scratches on his hands and cheeks-- must be from so much time surviving in this world.

The sister, Elliana, has blonde hair and light eyes, just like Katie, and is just as happy to see her sister again. "We're so happy to see you!" Ellie hugged her sister tighter, tears streaming down her face. "We thought we weren't going to see you again."

Katie laughed, feeling a great sense of relief wash over her. Then, she pulled away, remembering Donnie was walking up behind her. She can't forget about this big guy! He saved her life and is becoming her best friend. Katie sees that he is a bit cautious and shy of these new people standing in front of him and the others standing yards away.

As any protective father would, Katie's Dad held a knife out, pointing at Donnie. "Hey, man, back up." He lowered his voice to sound more intimidating.

"No, Dad." Katie defended her mutant friend, standing in front of the blade. "Donnie's a friend of mine. He helped me." She smiled.

Her father lowered the knife. "Helped you?" He repeated, looking at the six-foot-eight turtle. "You helped my daughter?"

Don gulped, nodding at Katie's father. "Well, more like she helped me." He says with a shy grin.

"Jared." One of the men says in the group. "We need to get a move on before nightfall." He must be the leader of these families. Jared must be Katie's father's name.

"One second," Jared held up an index finger. "We must leave now, Kay-Kay." He says to her, setting a hand on her shoulder. His eyes are soft and glossy-looking. Jared must be so tired-- anyone would be nowadays.

Katie gasped, looking at Donnie, thinking she had a great idea. "Come with us!" She smiled at him, clutching his wrist. "You'll be safe with us, Donnie."Don looks down at her, frowning at Katie, already heartbroken about telling her the idea he had in his head. More like a decision.

Slowly, Don kneels on the ground so he could make great eye contact with her. "Katie," Don started, his eyes appearing gloomy. "I'd like that, but... if there is a chance my family is out there, I need to find them-- try at least."

Katie could feel a lump in her throat. "Oh..."

Don continues. "Meeting you has been one of the greatest things since I got lost. You've helped me keep my sanity for this long, and I'm thankful for that." He said. Katie stared into his hazel eyes as she let her fill up with tears, looking down at the ground. When she blinked, a few fell on top of her shoes. "Hey, look at me." Don's fingertips tapped her chin lightly. "You never know... We might see each other again one day."

Katie grinned at his words with a nod. "Thank you, Donnie. For everything." Then, she leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck, holding her mutant turtle firmly as she cried on his shoulder. When he felt her hug, Donnie returned it, hearing her whisper in his ear. "I'm gonna miss you." Her voice broke.

Don sighed, holding her to let her know he would miss her, too. "I'll miss you, too, Katie." He pulled away from her, standing tall and looking at the group of seventeen people and her little family. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will. You, too." Katie wiped her tears with her jacket sleeve. She backs away from him, turning and walking to her family. "Bye." She waved as her group began to step forward.

Don waved goodbye to Katie and her family until she turned around and walked forward without looking back at him. As soon as she did this, he walked in the opposite direction, feeling like a sole survivor again. Katie may have only been with him for about half a week, but it felt like forever and they had a short, great time together as friends who were watching out for one another. She was a pain in the ass to him sometimes, but she is more of a friend than an irritating person.

He breathed out, strolling down the road, getting a new sense of hope for himself and his sanity. Donnie wants to be hopeful that things will go well for his life and for the search of his family. He wants to remain the same and change for the better.

But one thing is for sure...

He will never forget Katie Reynolds.