Since it was clear JJ wasn't going to move on his own, Mikey took it upon himself to leave Connor for a split second to help him.
One thing was clear about killer clowns - when their victims tried to run from them, they would hunt them down in an instant, and end their life even faster. But when there were people who too scared to move; petrified, or simply in disbelief, then they would take it as slow as they could. Almost as if to rub it in how close they were going to be death; their appearance being a consistent reminder of that.
It seemed as though that was one detail that hadn't been changed about these things.
JJ felt a hand abruptly yanking his arm away, urging him to flee. After he still didn't move, Mikey took full control of him and started dragging him away, and after a few seconds of that, the feeling returned to JJ's feet, and he started to run with him.
Then, he turned and looked behind him. He wished he hadn't - the killer clown was charging after him at full speed. Knowing he'd be caught in less than a second, JJ threw himself down an covered his head with his hands, waiting for it to just be over with.
Next, he felt something pressing against him. Hesitantly removing his hands, JJ saw Mikey holding onto him tightly while glaring at the killer clown that had now paused in front of them both.
"You leave him alone!" Mikey shouted, the uproar of people screaming and being decimated nearly drowning out his voice. It seemed to be having trouble processing Mikey and JJ being so close together, and eventually, gave up and ran away entirely.
"That's right," JJ realized. "Killer clowns don't attack animals; Mikey is half turtle. It couldn't tell us apart due to how close we were, and didn't want to risk attacking the wrong individual."
"Where's Connor?" Mikey blurted out. Realizing he wasn't in the spot he used to be, Mikey stood up while still holding JJ, and started looking around. "Is he hurt? Where did he go?"
If a clown got to him already... that wasn't something JJ didn't even want to fathom. Instead, he let Mikey do the brainstorming, while he let himself lose feeling in his body again. He tried to block out the constant noise of people dying, but he couldn't. One second there would be a scream, and the next, there would be a cry of pain as someone's throat or chest was slashed wide open. It was something he couldn't ignore, as much as he wanted to.
Suddenly, Mikey gasped. "JJ, I found Connor! Somebody has him!"
JJ didn't respond. Mikey carried him over to some sort of parking garage door, which was closed. People were huddled around it, banging on it for it to be opened. Among them, Mikey pushed through the people while making sure to keep JJ upright, and pinpointed the women who was holding Connor's hand.
"Alexa, is that you?" He asked. "I've seen you before; I think I recognize you."
"I recognize you too," She said. "You two are the ones that stole my son! I'm taking him back now, thank you very much."
"I didn't steal!" Mikey defended himself. "JJ just wanted to spend time with him, so he took him here. Yes, he should've asked beforehand, and I tried to get him to ask you first, but he was in a little bit of a hurry-"
"From what?" Alexa interrupted him, sounding contempt. "Before whatever this is- there was nothing to run from. Is that supposed to be some sort of excuse?"
"No-" Mikey was about to explain the real reason, but he stopped. He couldn't tell her that JJ had been running from the police for attempting to slit someone's throat on his front porch; that wouldn't help his case at all. Instead, he went silent.
"That's what I thought."
"Mom, stop being mean!" Connor tried to pull away from her hand, but she held firm. "Mikey is my friend, and JJ was literally just taking me for a car ride so we could go to the city and buy stuff. Stop acting like they're kidnappers!"
"Taking someone's kid from them without them knowing, is literally, the definition of kidnapping." Alexa pointed out. "You're only seven years old, Connor. I know more about definitions than you do."
Connor tried to full-on resist her now, but it did no good.
Before either of them could speak again, the door to the parking garage started to creak open. People were so desperate to get to safety that they threw themselves under the opening the second it began to lift.
Unfortunately, the sound alerted the killer clowns that they were over there. Now, they were coming for them. Mikey made sure he got JJ inside early, even if that meant pushing a few people aside more harshly than he intended to, and only a few people fell victim to the clowns by the time the door was closed back up again.
"Alexa? Connor?" Mikey called out. They were on the wall, with Alexa holding him close while he stared wide-eyed at what he'd just witnessed.
Knowing they were okay, Mikey took JJ over to the farther end of the wall and layed him down. He was unresponsive to his surroundings, and he didn't even bat an eye when Mikey put his hand on his.
"Are you okay, JJ?" He asked. "Please, talk to me."
"You... you saved me back there."
"I did?"
"Yes. Thank you."
JJ gripped Mikey's hand, and continued to lay there. Mikey used his other hand to cover JJ's, and he didn't say anything else, them both enjoying the temporary safety.
"Daaaaaaaaad!" Connor shouted from across the garage. He jumped on top of the hood of a random car and rolled across it, before stumbling over to them. "Why are you not talking? It's weird. Plus, it looks like you're staring into space."
"He's very intimidated by what's going on outside." Mikey explained briefly.
"Why? He needs to lock in; I want to play with him."
"It'll have to be later. I'm sorry."
"Fine, be that way! I'll just sneak attack you guys later as revenge."
Connor sprinted away, but then stopped and turned around to see if they'd changed their minds, then ran away again once he realized they hadn't.
Mikey turned back to JJ, relieved to have alone time with him again.
"Why... didn't you run?" He asked, hesitant to at first.
"I've never been able to run from them." JJ whispered, tightening his grip on Mikey's hand. His eyes were glazed with haunting. "Not when death was seemingly so close. I didn't think I'd have a chance to escape, but even if I did, I... I was overwhelmed by horrible memories. I couldn't move because of how scared I was, the same way I was frozen in fear when-"
He stopped, tears threatening to spill. He leaned into Mikey fully, to which the turtle accepted and supported him by wrapping his arms around his waist. They sat in a heavy silence, the incident JJ was too afraid to mention directly hanging directly in the air. Eventually, JJ buried his face into Mikey's abdomen, resisting a cry.
"She never forgave me." He whimpered. "Everytime I think of her, it hurts. It hurts so bad, Mikey- I couldn't save her, and everyday I carry the burden that my own mother doesn't love me anymore because of my failure. I'm such a terrible son, and person - that was my only thing going through my head since she first rejected me. It was my only train of thought as I sat outside her house, watching as everyone else reunited with their families after the killer clowns were gone, and as I decided to commit suicide that same day-"
"What?"
JJ looked away from him, unable to own up to what he'd just admitted. Mikey sat him upright and was prepared to talk to him some more, but just then, a voice on a megaphone interrupted them both.
"There are two security military living bases stationed underground. But, in terms of the current situation, we will allow the remaining citizens to shelter there until this new threat passes."
Then, the people started going somewhere. Mikey realized the same person who had spoken was leading them away, and then, he lifted JJ up and started walking with him.
"When we get to wherever we're going," Realizing JJ could walk on his own now, he resorted to holding his hand instead. "We'll take some more, okay?"
JJ nodded.
