Title: Journey Man
Author: hexicode
Fandom/pairing (if appropriate): Doctor Who, Torchwood
Summary: Torchwood runs into zombies. Jack runs into the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose run into the Daleks.
Rating: technically all ages, but maybe a bit too violent for the kiddies
Warnings: violence, blood, AU
Disclaimers: The characters and settings aren't mine. No profit is being made, this is for entertainment only
A/N: This story was written during NaNoWriMo 2007. It is finished and will be posted as it is edited and proofread. Set directly after the episode Dalek and somewhere shortly after the Torchwood pilot.

oOo

Mom, Mom? Can I go outside to the swings? Please, Mom. Please."

Anne's mother, Janet, turned away from her plate for a moment. "Anne," she said, looking at her daughter. "You know you aren't allowed in the back yard on your own. Wait until your father and I have finished. Maybe he'll go outside with you for a while then."

"But, look." Anne indicated the window. "I wouldn't be alone there. There's already another girl there. I think she might be alone, Mom."

Her mother looked outside and indeed there was a little girl with dark hair, wearing jeans and a pink sweater, sitting on the swings.

"It's all right." Tess, their waitress, had noticed their exchange and came over. "That's my daughter out there. I always tell her to stay inside while she waits for me to finish my shift, but she never listens. I'm sure she wouldn't mind some company," Tess said smiling at Anne.

"Can I?" Anne asked, balancing on the balls of her feet. She was bored with all the eating, drinking and the interminably long walks in the countryside her parents undertook – glad that they were finally away from Cardiff with all the cars, people and noises. It wasn't so bad as far as Anne was concerned, where they lived was perfect. Their flat was a little small, but all her friends lived close by, she'd just started school this fall and she didn't want to leave. But her parents kept saying how they wanted to move to the countryside. Every time they spent a long weekend out, Anne was afraid they were going to stay for good.

"Okay, you can go. But don't wander off alone," her mother agreed.

"Promise. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad." Anne skipped out of the room, leaving her parents to enjoy their meal in peace.

oOo

The girl on the swings was pretending not to notice her. Anne walked up to her, waved tentatively, but the girl simply stared right through her. If that was what the girls out here were like, Anne certainly wouldn't want to live here. She didn't understand why her parents liked it so much.

Anne sat down on the swing set next to her and kicked herself off with her foot, showing her that she wasn't the only one who could ignore people.

"I'm Anne," she said after they had been swinging in silence next to one another.

"That's a stupid name," the girl replied, turned and pulled out her tongue at Anne.

"What's your name then?" Anne asked, ready for a challenge.

"Maryan."

"That's not a name," Anne protested. "You made that up. What is your real name?" Anne asked.

"It's my real name." The girl stopped swinging and looked straight at Anne. There was something about her that made Anne uneasy and she wondered if that was what her mother meant when she had told her not to talk to strangers. But she had been allowed to go out and play.

"Then what does it mean? It has to mean something or it's not a real name." Anne challenged her, still a bit wary of the other girl, but ready to show her that she wasn't stupid either.

"It means 'Lone Saviour'," the girl said in a hushed voice, as if she was telling a great secret.

"That's not true. You're making this up," Anne replied, satisfied and turned back to swinging,

"Want to see something really cool?"

"What is it? Anne put a foot to the ground to stop the motion of the swing and turned around. Maryan rummaged in the pocket of her sweater and pulled out something enclosed in her hand. Slowly, holding it for Anne to see, she opened her hand. In the palm of Maryan's hand was a heap of fine green powder. But it wasn't just ordinary green – it shimmered in all shades of green anyone could possibly have imagined. Tiny green flickers of light rose into the air around them. It looked like they were dancing. "I bet you don't think that is stupid." Maryan grinned.

"No. It's wonderful." It was the prettiest thing Anne had ever seen. Green was her favorite colour, but she had never seen such a beautiful green. And it was changing from one shade into the other even while she was looking at it. Every shade of green was more beautiful than the last.

"Do you want me to show you where I found it?" Maryan suddenly closed her fist and shoved it back into her pocket. "I found it in the woods. Want to see?"

Anne very much wanted to see where the green magic came from.

"But it's a secret. You can never tell anyone. Promise?"

"I swear, I won't tell," Anne promised excitedly.

Her mother had told her not to wander off alone, but she wasn't really alone, she was with Maryan. Anne decided that it would be all right and followed Maryan towards the dark edge of the forest.

oOo

Anne was sweating hard despite the cold night that had fallen over the silent countryside. The shovel was much too big for her, almost as tall as she was, but she didn't pause once in her task. Shovel after shovel of freshly upturned Earth landed on top of the tiny body. Once all the excavated soil was neatly covering the shallow grave, Anne carelessly tossed the shovel to the ground and went around to the house. Her work done, she sat down on the front porch waiting for her parents. It was getting colder as darkness settled over the hostel and its vast grounds.

Anne rubbed her hands along her upper arms, as if trying to get arm, but really only succeeded in smearing mud all over her bloody clothes.

When a pair of headlights appeared on the country road leading up to the hostel and slowly started making its way towards her, Anne knew her parents had found her.

She had checked every room inside, but they hadn't been there. Ducking out of the way of the headlights for a moment to make sure she wasn't being watched, she pulled the knife out of its hiding place in a nearby shrub. She wiped the blade on the grass and carefully put the weapon in the light green backpack her mother had bought her for the weekend trip.

Anne could now recognize the car as a blue station wagon, just like the one her parents drove. The car haphazardly pulled into one of the parking spaces in front of the hostel. Before the motor had gone silent, her mother had already jumped out and came running towards her. Her make-up with ruined; she had obviously been crying.

"Anne! Where you been? We have been looking everywhere for you! You shouldn't have just walked off. You know we would get worried." Her mother pulled her into a tight embrace. Anne could feel her mother's body shaking with relief and allowed herself to be held.

"I should be suing the place. Calling themselves family-friendly, but there isn't even anyone answering the phone," her father grumbled angrily. "I'll tell them that we found her, but then we'll be leaving." Her father had already taken the first step out to the door, when a cry made him turn around.

"Mark! Mark!" Anne's mother was screaming, examining her daughter at arm's length. "There is…something wrong with Anne. There is blood…."

"Anne, honey, where are you hurt?" Her father was suddenly beside her, pulling her out of her mother's grasp, into the light of the front porch.

"I'm not hurt´," she told them. "It's from inside. I was looking for you inside."

"Inside?" Her mother asked, not willing to realize the horror that had descended over their long weekend.

Her father started jogging towards the door before she had a chance to finish. "Get in the car," he ordered his wife and daughter. "Lock the doors."

TBC