On an unassuming backstreet in London, one that is littered with trash and debris, the familiar musical hum of the TARDIS echoed. The sound filled the air as the tiny blue police box slowly faded into view. Like any other assuming piece of a stage set it sat there, the stillness that followed the hum lasting far too long. After the moment of arrival had passed, the door burst open and he poked his head out.
He peered to one side, then the other, checking for danger before stepping out into the warm England air. There was a spring in his step as he twirled on his heels, taking in the alleyway with a sigh. "Doctor?" Came the questioning call. The Doctor turned back to the much larger on the inside blue box. She came out, brown eyes shining while she grinned as her eyes fell once again on her native city. "Where are we?"
His eyes followed hers as she looked around the alleyway, letting her bubble in apprehension for a moment. At least that's what he thought it was, but watching her now as she just took in the sight of an ordinary British alleyway with the same wonder that a child does at Disneyworld, he felt that there could be something more with her. "Well, Rose it appears to be mid-twenty first century London. Probably only a few years after you left, twenty at most." He glanced at the craftsmanship of the buildings that surrounded them and began to walk. "We could look up your Mum, but then we wouldn't be able to see her between the last time and now, so I think we'll just skip that, don't you think?" He asked her as he turned back around at Rose.
She stared bemused and open-mouthed, "Is that allowed?"
The Doctor shrugged, "Probably." With that, he went around the corner, leaving her to smirk at the empty space he recently filled. He was only out of her sight for a second, but before she could move to follow him Rose heard a very Doctor like cry of pain.
She ran, something that was normal in her life at this point thanks to him, she ran around the corner to see the Doctor push a rather odd looking man off of him and into the street in front of them.
"Are you crazy man?" The Doctor demanded, looking at his arm, a tear in his suit from the obvious scuffle the two must have had in the brief moment. The man did nothing but stare at them, his eyes strangely wide, his skin strangely grey, and still the staring. Did nothing that is until he opened his mouth and let out a low haunting moan, like something only the dead should make, with the moan he raised his arms, outstretched, calling for them. He took a single step toward the confused and astounded Doctor and companion Rose, before he was promptly knocked to the ground and crushed by a stopping van.
The two began to listen now to more than just that man and to notice more than just the van. Looking around Rose and her Doctor would see people running, screaming, looting. They would see more of those people looking like the now very dead man, just walking around with the vacant intense stare and they would hear their moans.
"You two," The man getting out of the van shouted raising his right hand, holding a gun, "Get in!" He shot the gun, the bullet ripping through the body of the woman that had been approaching them unnoticed. "Now!"
They ran to him. "What's going on?" The Doctor demanded, finally realizing the panic around him, "What planet is this? And why did you just kill that woman?"
"Doctor…" Rose gasped quietly. He turned toward her, a flurry of fury and confusion, and kept turning as he followed her out stretched hand. She was pointing at the woman their rescuer had shot, the grey tinted woman with dead eyes staring back at them. She was at that moment trying to stand up, leaning against the wall as she struggled. The wound on her chest, caused by a bullet that entered her not a minute ago did not bleed.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Get in the fucking truck or we will leave."
Rose was in tears as the Doctor frantically pushed her into the van. The door slammed shut, cutting off much of the dull roar of moans coming from the dead. Silence, or as close to it as they could get, filled the van as it began to drive away, occasionally banging into one that was wandering or lying in the street. Each time Rose jumped and trembled in the Doctor's arms as he watched, stone-faced.
"Are you going to tell us what's going on?" He finally asked to the van's three occupants.
"Where've you been for the last week mate?" The female driver asked, glancing back at them in the mirror as she drove through the terror filled London streets.
"Away."
"It's happening all over the world" The older man in the passenger seat muttered. "No place on Earth you could have missed this."
"Ah, so this is Earth. What year is it?" He asked scratching the back of his head, getting back into his normal mode.
"Of course." The third and final not yet named survivor, a man around twenty, laughed, "We picked up a nutter, the last bloody nutter in the God damn world!"
"I need to know what's going on if I'm going to help anyone" His fist slammed into the window, quieting the van, "Now…let me think. Ordinary British citizens wielding pretty impressive guns, makes this around 2029?"
After a glance shared by the two in the front, the driver nodded, "2030."
"Excellent and-" He was interrupted as the van ran over a figure hunched over, chewing on a body that had been left there for a few days. "Will you stop that? These people may be dangerous, but I'm sure I can save them…"
"Save them?" Laughed the man as he put down his shotgun. "Are you a doctor?"
"The Doctor" Rose answered for him, a sort of pride coming from her voice as she did.
"Well, 'The Doctor', if you were lucky enough to not be massacred with the hundreds of others who were working on a cure for them, what do you plan on doing that will save them from eternal damnation."
"They are not damned; no one is...unless they cross me." He muttered as he glanced out the window at the small groups of undead, "What's wrong with them? If that's been discovered then I could do some real damage…through helping"
"Doctor…" Rose started to say as she too examined the passing zombies, "They look like zombies"
"Zombies? Oh zombies! I don't maybe…I mean they remind me a bit of Romero's babies. Met him once, nice guy, he loves bananas. "
"What is going on?" The passenger asked.
"Oh right where are my manners? This is Rose, I'm the Doctor. And you are?" He asked as he smiled and looked to each survivor.
"Molly, this is Pat, and that one back there is Damian." The pleasantries were made and they continued on their way, streaking through the streets of London as the city burned and was devoured around them.
Suddenly a gasp came from Rose's mouth and she turned quickly to the Doctor, who was lost in thought as he scratched at his arm. She tugged on his arm and whispered five words to him, "I have to find her." His eyes widened as he realized the implication and he poked his head between the two front seats.
"Hello, just a quick question. Can we stop off for a bit and rescue her mum?"
"No fucking way." Damian growled as he picked up his shotgun, seemingly trying to threaten them out of wanting to save Rose's mum and Mickey.
The Doctor rose from his seat and held Damian's angry gaze, "There is no force in this universe that can stop me. Now, we are going to find them and you'll have a better chance of convincing the monsters outside to dance to Thriller than stopping me yourself." He said getting close to the human's face. The man could see the places the Doctor was prepared to go and silently nodded as he meekly sat on the floor of the van. "Good. Now Rose, show this fine woman the way. I have to think." He said as he sat back down and put on his glasses. Growing silent, he began to stare out the window at the passing undead, hands on his chin as he pondered.
The van screeched to a halt in front of the apartment complex that had at one point been home to both Rose and her mother, now only her mother. It had seen better days, most windows were cracked or destroyed, the bricks were smeared with blood, and the door had been torn off its hinges. The door of the vehicle slid open and the five stared up at the ruined building from their seats.
"I'm staying here."
"Same here."
"Me too."
Rose stared at the three of them, an accusing and teary eyed look, with her mouth open incredulously. She couldn't believe their lack of humanity, their eagerness to abandon. "What is wrong with you? That's my mother."
"Well…looking at the state the buildings in, I'd say she's either one tough cookie or dead, walking around or not is your preference."
"She can't be dead, Doctor do something." She begged, a single tear running down her cheek.
"Rose, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry…" He started to say and hugged her. They held each other while the other three awkwardly tried to make the most of the situation. The moment between Rose and the Doctor was ruined by a gunshot that shattered a window in the apartment building. They all turned, the three survivors included as they watched a man plummet from the seventh story window. He grasped at the air as he fell, before the ground halted his battle with gravity abruptly.
The door to the van opened, slowly as it could be, for the five of them to see the body of the man with more ease. He twitched a moment then a long gasp, the last breath he would ever take, escaped his lips. The Doctor lowered his head anger making him tremble. "This is not the state of the world…"
Before he could elaborate he was cut off by a moan, a moan coming from a source that one would never have expected, but in reality everyone totally saw coming. The man from the seventh story sat up, his legs broken beyond use; he could still move enough to slowly crawl towards the van. His outstretched hand revealed two fingers on his left hand missing, having been bitten off somewhere along his travels in life. Damian drew his pistol and aimed at the zombie, but a Gallifreyan hand grabbed at the gun as he pulled the trigger. The zombie reacted as its jaw exploded on one side, but within a second it was staring at them still, only now its jaw was hanging on by only its right side.
"Why didn't you fucking let me do it?" Damian shouted at the Doctor as he tried to aim again. The zombie's head exploded in a shower of gore, skull, and brains. Damian's gun remained unfired.
Mickey stood in the doorway, shaking as he lowered the pistol that was grasped rather tightly in his hands. He was pale, sweating hard as he turned back into the wrecked building and shouted, "Come on, Jackie!"
Rose started at that, having recovered from the initial shock of seeing Mickey, the secondary shock of hearing her mother's name was almost too much for her to handle. Too much is a very important discrepancy from almost too much; if it were too much, then the heartwarming scene of Jackie Tyler coming out of the building, Rose stepping out of the van and the pause when they looked at each other then ran to each other then cried into each other, would never have happened. They held each other tightly as Mickey walked up to them and gave Rose a sincere pat on the back. His gaze fell on the Doctor's face and turned dark, as if he blamed the alien man for all this. The Doctor simply returned the look; he had entered into one of his modes where he could fully appreciate the gravity of the situation. He also knew that no one would be in the mood to hear him make one of the multitudes of off the hand remarks he always had prepared.
"Listen, I enjoy the heartwarming scene. I live for it in fact, but that may need to be saved for a later time…"
"I agree with the Doctor…" Molly said as she started the van again.
"To put it in more applicable terms, get in the fucking van before they get any closer!" The door opened as Damian shouted at them and they became aware of the rather uncomfortable number of ghouls that were approaching. A zombie came out of the doorway of the apartment building, its arms reaching for the flesh that was oh so close.
"Fuck, I thought we had cleared the building…" Mickey moaned as he ended its sad existence.
"That's quite enough Mickey, now we go." The Doctor said sternly. His gaze alone could shake the fabric of time, who knows what it did to Mickey on the inside, who cares for that matter. All that does matter is that Mickey reluctantly nodded and put his gun away, grabbing the two Tylers as he went.
The doors slammed shut and the tires left burnt rubber as they drove out of the parking lot. The van whizzed, yes whizzed don't question it, through London with the force to obliterate zombies, which it did. Molly had lost any desire to try a swerve around the many undead that wandered the streets and the Doctor had lost the energy to fight her on it, he was just glad Rose was emotionally undamaged as of yet. "What sort of plan did you three have?" He asked after making sure Jackie and Rose were calmed down.
"Just get out of the city, I mean it can't be that bad in the country can it?" Pat explained, "Molly and Damian have a cabin up north, we just need to get there. We can ride this thing out from there."
"Ride it out?" He snarled at them, threatening to unleash his full fury, "To run and hide and say that it's not our problem?" His fist slammed into the side of the van and he glared; his eyes showing the true fury that was held deep within him. "We must stop this madness before it spreads beyond just Earth!"
The three former strangers had a silent conversation, solely with their eyes that lasted all of four seconds, "Where else could this thing go?" Molly asked in a whisper.
"And good luck stopping this shit mate, the greatest mind of every country tried doing that. You know what it got them? They're all dead, eaten alive, locked in some lab by a specimen they were testing…The only sure way is to wipe them all out."
"Did they at least find out what caused it?" Rose asked.
"Nothing, they had web cams posted up…after a few hours they were all screaming how one had been bit and they knew they he was infected…then the screen I was watching got red and then next thing I knew I heard the building was quarantined and it was all just a big fuck up."
Damian sat back down and stared out the window, finished with his tirade against the Doctor, who was still staring at him, thinking hard and fast (shut up) about what could be done. His concentration was broken by the sudden screeching of the tires and the forward momentum making him stumble in between the front seats. The van had been forced to stop, a wreckage of up to six cars, it was hard to tell from the damage, and had blocked their travels straight north.
"Well?" Mickey said, and pointed to the clear road that was on their right, "Just take the right."
"I don't know that way too well…"
"Just get back on the road we were driving on after you turn…"
"I'm not sure if I can."
"Guys…"
"Well we have to try, we can't push though this and we can't turn back very easily and try to find a way you do know."
"Can we at least keep moving or something, we're wasting gas."
"Both of you shut up I'm trying to think."
"Guys…they see us…"
"Just try the fucking road Molly."
"I don't want to get lost."
"Lost is better than stuck in one spot."
"Guys!"
The shout from Rose brought them all back to reality. They all looked out, past the blood stained windows and the dirt, at the rather unsettlingly large crowd of zombies that was shambling towards them.
"Oh fuck!" Mickey spat though grit teeth, drawing his gun as he did so.
"Put that away." The Time Lord said as he stuck his head into the front, "Molly, I believe it would be most beneficial to go to the right, regardless of whether or not you know the way."
"I quite agree." The van turned as she hit the gas and sped along the open street, slowing only for a few seconds as she ran over the thin wall of undead in her path. They broke though easily, the decayed bodies breaking like leaves in front of the van. The Doctor glanced back at the horde, which was dispersing quickly after losing its only target. He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction which occurred right before something slammed into the van.
Whatever it was forced the nondescript vehicle off the road and smashed it up against the front wall of a building, catching them between the two. Amid the groans of the passengers the Doctor looked out the driver's side window to see three soldiers getting out of the Jeep that had run into their escape van. The Passenger Soldier walked up and peered into the window at Molly. Before he could say a word, the door slide open and he stepped out, albeit shakily due to the whole recent crash business and blinked at the soldier.
"You seem…familiar…" He said as he looked the man in uniform over, "Remind me of myself just a little while ago…" He continued to stare in that overly enthusiastic way of his before widening his eyes and leaning back, "Right, sorry." The soldier was unamused. He sighed and stood at attention, "What do you need, sir?"
"We are here to commandeer any and all weapons and supplies you may have. You're country needs them." He said in matter of fact tone. The three soldiers behind him, two out of the jeep, the last sitting in the back with a sinister grin seemed to agree. The Doctor just gave them a nod but slyly smile to go with it.
"Ah, you see I had you pegged as villains. Mainly because of the whole Jeep smashing our van thing, but there were two things you didn't count on in your little extortion plan." He got very close to this soldier and grinned his Doctory grin, "One: Me, and two, this one is very important, them." He pointed at the crowd of zombies they had been attempting to escape from not two hundred meters from the crash. The sound of the two vehicles colliding had made them all aware of their presence again and they had begun to move towards them, a wave of flesh eaters.
"Bloody hell…" The soldier gasped as the Doctor took advantage of his momentary distraction and grabbed the rifle from his hands knocking him back. He looked down and it was not the Doctor who stared at the soldier. In a fluid, military motion he swung the gun around, pulling the trigger and killing the other three soldiers. He dropped the gun in disgust and picked the only living soldier up by his throat, "You killed all my boys…" He managed to say.
"Casualties of war…" He spat as he turned the man to the oncoming horde. "Now tell me where you've been holing up for the past week and I'll give you the merciful ending you don't deserve." He shouted, his voice becoming unnatural sounding, violent and hateful.
"Doctor!" His faithful companion shouted, staring at him as though it was her that he was threatening.
"Get back in the van Rose and let me do what's necessary" He spat, his face red, his teeth bared, a bit of blood leaked from the side of his mouth "Tell me or they get to feast on your still beating heart!"
"OK! OK…the hospital, not three blocks away. There's a scientist there, still working on trying to stop this whole mess." The Doctor smirked and nodded slowly before pushing the soldier away.
"Now leave before…" He pauses and clutches his stomach; the noises he began to make were nothing human. Choking and gasping sounds as he dried heaved and gagged, and then he lurched and let blood soaked vomit escape from his mouth. He fell to his knees as more escaped his body, the red substance dripping from his lips. He gasps and looks up at the soldier who has a grave look on his face as he backs away from the alien. "I…killed them…why did I kill them?" A tear escaped from his eye as the realization flooded over him
"You're infected…" He said softly, reaching for his side arm. He found the holster empty and the Doctor with his gun. A good man pulled the trigger, a good man emptied the gun's magazine into the body of the soldier, and a good man dropped the gun as the dead man slide to the ground. Rose ran to this man and held him as he tearfully made more of the choking, gurgling sounds. She was pushed away as he threw up more blood.
"Stay away Rose…stay away…" He begged, convulsing slightly, "Oh God, I killed them all…it made me do it with my own hands…" He wiped the tears from his face as he tried to control himself.
She ran to the others still in the van, all having recovered from the crash, "Help me…" She cried as the three strangers and her own mother and even Mickey all watched her silently as she cried for her Doctor.
"Sweetheart…" Jackie started to say.
"Mom, he's fine, see?" He was in fact standing up, stretching, and generally looking like he was in a better mood than before. He turned around to face the group and as he started to shakily walk back Damian raised his gun.
"Don't even think about it mate, you heard the soldier, you're infected. It won't be long now. When were you bit? When we picked up Blackey Chan here and the girl's mum?"
"No…" The Doctor shook his head as he edged closer, "It was before you picked us up…" He began, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything…"
They three glanced at each other, "Before we met you?" Patrick asked again. A nod from the Doctor caused them all too once again share a glance.
"Look, could you include the rest of us in your little eye conversation?" He asked as he made his way to the door.
"You should be dead." Patrick stated.
"What?" Rose and the Doctor both asked in strange and eerie unison.
"Turned, changed, become one of them…" He continued, "The virus kills and reanimates the body in minutes…you've been with us for almost two hours. It's not possible."
"That's because…I'm not human. I'm an alien from another galaxy. I can help you."
The silence that followed was deadly, in more ways than one. After a few seconds the Doctor began to move again and Damian once again pointed his gun at him. "No, even if you aren't dead, you're still infected. And I'll be the last one to-" Mickey stopped him with his own gun.
"You're going to let him on."
"You wouldn-" He was cut short by the fact that his brain had left his fragmented skull via the hole the bullet from Mickey's gun left as it passed through. The rest of the van screamed as the Doctor got Rose and Jackie out of the van.
"This thing is totaled; we need to leave since those…" He pointed at the very near horde of zombies, "Are coming."
Molly stared at the body next to her; his lifeless eyes stared past her, "Pat…they killed him…do something." She begged. Patrick shook his head.
"I am Molly…he may be infected but he's not one of them. That's a step up in my book; maybe with him we can solve this thing…" He got up, giving her a sad, pleading look as he got out of the van and went with the others.
"Molly please…" The Doctor reached out his hand back into the van for her, "Come with us, help us save the world."
She gave him a cold stare back, "Why did he have to die?" Her eyes shined as the tears finally came. He couldn't look at her as he waved at her to come. "Why…"
"Doctor!" Mickey shouted at the Gallifrey man as the zombies closed in. The first of many popped from around the van and moaned at the Doctor.
"I'm so sorry." He managed to say to her as he ran with the others. Jackie, Mickey, and Patrick all had the soldier's guns and were picking off any zombies that came after them as they ran from the wreckage of the two vehicles. Molly's screams soon over took any moans they heard as the dead poured into the van, desperate for her. They ran away to escape her dying noises, and eventually found themselves exhausted and in an abandoned alleyway.
Each stood bent over or sat against the wall of one of the two buildings they were between, panting as they tried to realize their true situation. The old world was gone, somehow this reality had crept in and taken over, destroying any future the Doctor had seen. This was the reality now and he had to stop it from spreading out into the stars. These creatures, these monsters were worse than Daleks, they killed without reason, there was no reason for their feasting. And he was becoming one.
"What are we going to do?" He looked at Rose, her face filled with fear when it should have been filled with wonder and excitement and love.
"What do you think? We go to that hospital, see if this Doctor of yours is of any use."
He nodded, "We have to, I won't let their deaths be in vain." With that he stood up and looked to Patrick, "You know the way?" He was given only a nod in response.
After a moment, Patrick stood up and motioned with his head, "It's this way." The others all stood and began to follow him, "Lucky us, we ran in the general direction when he escaped the horde…" He muttered more to himself; none of them wanted to remember those moments, they were filled with the last memories of Molly and Damian. They walked in silence, constantly aware that death was surrounding them, walking and searching for them. Every so often the Doctor would clutch his side and wince and Rose would try to help, but he would always push her away, fearful that she would be become infected. They kept to the shadows, knowing that if a single undead discovered their presence they would soon be torn to pieces.
After those few minutes of dreadful silence, ones that could have broken any of them, even the Doctor, they turned a corner and found themselves in front of a hospital. They stayed in the alley that had brought them there as they surveyed the area in front of the hospital. The entrance was noticeably barred, with boards and bits of furniture covering the doors that should lead to their scientist. After an inspection of the building from their hiding spot, they…well the Doctor mostly…spotted a ladder leading up to a second story window. They all agreed, well…the Doctor decided…that it was through there that the soldiers went in and out of the building. After making sure the coast was relatively clear, they stepped out from the shadows and moved quickly to the bottom of the ladder. They had to hurry; he had already noticed at least a dozen zombies noticing them, though he was unsure if they had noticed him noticing them. He grunted as the pain came back to purge him of any silly thoughts he had. He wasn't worried though, Patrick and Jackie were already climbing, with Mickey getting on the ladder as he narrated…or I narrated…
"Doctor, can you climb?" Rose asked as she stepped onto the way up. He gave her a quick, reaffirming nod and she ascended. He waited for room to clear then grasped the rungs of the ladder and hoisted through the burning, tearing pain. The climb was unbearable, through all the pain he had endured through his many lifetimes, this was one of, if not the most excruciating experience. It was not just his arm, where the first infected he had encountered had bit him, it was him as a whole; his whole body was burning and as he looked up at Rose, his sweet Rose, all he could notice was the smell that she gave off. His senses had never been this acute; it was the virus changing him.
Reaching the window, he was pulled up by Patrick and Mickey. They all looked to him as they began to walk down the hall, Mickey in front, the Doctor next, and Patrick bringing up the rear to cover the girls from behind. "Well, now that we're safe, we can look for that scientist." He said as they turned the first corner to explore the abandoned building.
The zombie rushed at Mickey as he was the first on around the corner. He fell hard with the dead man on top of him, struggling to get at his brain. "Jesus…fuck…kill it" He shouted at the Doctor. While the magical man of fire and ice was a super being, he was in no condition to take on this undead cannibal, which is why Patrick stepped forward and took aim. The shot ran out and echoed as the zombie was killed. Mickey pushed the body off and wiped the blood, gore, and brain from his face, coughing and spitting a bit. After cleaning his face of the zombie he stood and gave Patrick a thankful nod. Patrick gave him a 'no problem man' nod in return.
"You alright Mickey?" The Doctor asked. The usually useless boy nodded and checked his gun.
"Just a little shaken…" He said and glanced down, whether in shame or fright the Doctor didn't know or care. This was about the Earth.
"Right, then this scientist is sure to have heard that, but if this thing is just walking around then he may be dead." The Doctor thought aloud, "In which case I just need to find his work and see if I can pick up where he left off…"
"You think you can?" Jackie asked, actually contributing.
"What is it with you and the doubting me?" He asked her and clutched his side, but shook it off, "I can handle anything, I'm the Doctor." With that he turned and walked down the hall. They followed him to the first stairwell they came across, he had paused and glanced at them, "Do you think he's up or down?" He asked as he pushed the door open.
The answer came almost immediately when a head poked from the floor above them and a voice called down to them, "Is that you? I didn't hear the jeep…" A man asked. When he saw who it was he looked cross, "You're not the soldiers. Did they let you in here?"
"Soldiers? Wouldn't know anything about that." The others looked at the Doctor in a sort of confused daze then at each other for an explanation, before simply ignoring the cheap lie and looking back at the scientist. "We just saw the ladder and thought it would be safe here…plus I'm a Doctor, the Doctor actually."
"Doctor eh?" The man up above grinned and waved them up, "I could use you…and I hope you have guns, I have a bit of a problem." They hurried up to the man and he shook the hand that had regrown not more than six months ago, "Name's Tim, Tim Cumberbatch. It's a pleasure I'm sure."
"The Doctor, but if you want you can call me David…" He said then cast a puzzled glance downward. David?
"David?" Rose whispered, "You don't usually hide the Doctor thing, and if you do it's always John Smith"
"I felt like a David today." He hissed at her and went back to smiling for Dr. Cumberbatch.
"I think Doctor will suffice…" Tim said and glanced at the others, his eyes lingered on Mickey who was looking a bit rough around the edges. "Well you see it's the hallway…"
"Broken down?"
"No…zombie infested…it should just be two, but if they've been chomping on my guard then it'll be three. However if my theory is correct, he'll be headless and they'll still be distracted by the meal."
There was a pause until Rose spoke up, "Sorry, did you say theory? Was his death on purpose?"
Tim gave her a dirty look, "Do I look like a mad scientist? It was an unfortunate accident, but I am an opportunist, I took his death as a learning experience."
"There's only one way to find out…" Patrick said and kicked the door open, holding his gun at the ready. Two zombies knelt over the body of a former, now dead soldier. As Patrick stepped into the bloody hallway one stood up, in its hand was the head of the soldier. He held it by the hair and it too was looking around for food, alive and kicking.
"I was right" Tim said gleefully as Patrick shot the zombie was it took a step forward. The second zombie turned at the noise, but was put down by Patrick, who walked over to the zombie head of the soldier and ended its sad pathetic excuse of an existence.
"Feel free to step in at any time, Mickey." Patrick said as he turned back to the group, "I shouldn't have to do all the work." He paused as he got a good look at the now very pale Mickey. "Mickey?"
The boy dropped to his knees and nearly fell all the way if Jackie hadn't caught him. Rose glanced at the Doctor who was confronted by Cumberbatch.
"Has he been bitten?"
"No, you think we'd keep him around if that happened?" He said, ignoring the angry glare he got from Rose.
"Any contact with the infected?"
"Yes he got tackled by one, but we finished it before it could do anything to him" He explained and turned his attention to Mickey who stared off into the distance, a bit of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.
"Any exchange of fluids?"
"Well…" The Doctor said in that way of his as he turned back to Tim, "He got…some blood from the zombie on his face when we shot it. But that's…blood?" He asked as his confused questioning face changed to one of fear and concern. Cumberbatch just nodded, forcing the Doctor to turn around back to Jackie and Rose, who were trying to help the doomed man. "Jackie, get away from-"
He was cut off by her scream. As he turned to warn her, Mickey's eyes opened wide and he lunged at her unprotected throat. The blood poured and squirted from the wound, the zombified Mickey's teeth having torn her jugular out. The Doctor pulled Rose to him and shouted, "Rose don't look!" Patrick was quick to act and with a swift movement, which even impressed the Doctor, killed Mickey for good without hesitation. Before he could finish Jackie, Rose pushed her Doctor away.
"She's my fucking mother!" She ran to her and knelt just as Jackie was able to choke out the words:
"I love y…" She trailed off as her heart stopped. The Doctor pulled her away gently and held her tight as she wailed into his chest.
"Save her Doctor! You always save her…please save her…" She beat his chest with her hands as he nodded to Patrick, a single tear running down his cheek.
"I'm so sorry" He whispered to her. And as the shot echoed they both jumped a little and Rose just cried that much harder.
There was a silence that followed that was unlike any of the others they had experienced that day. It was not one that anyone wanted to break, but he knew he must for it all to be fixed. He turned to Tim, "Tell me everything."
He brought them to a room; one of the few that made it look like it actually was a hospital before this whole apocalypse. There were vials and other stereotypical scientist stuff that was strewn so carefully around the room. He didn't say anything; he let them get a good look around then allowed the Doctor to set a near catatonic Rose in a chair before he walked up to Tim and Patrick.
"So, what's the story?"
"Well, the virus came about a week ago; it was stored in a lab not too far from here and we, the others who I worked with, tried to figure out what it was. It had infected only a few people, but we didn't know the extent of their horror. One got out." He paused for a moment to collect himself as he recounted the memories. "It bit…three or four doctors. We didn't know then that bites were a way to transmit, the easiest and most frequent way. We thought it was all the blood. Then they died. So suddenly…" He stared off, past the two men as if he was reliving it as he spoke, "They got up even more suddenly and they tore apart our group. The guards came in and tried to end it, but they just became part of the army that burst from that place. Death literally spread from that lab, and there was me, stuck in closest as I watched it happen. I saw our greatest minds eat each other alive." He stopped and sat down rubbing his eyes. The Doctor and Patrick waited for him to recover before they spoke.
"Where did it come from?"
Tim looked up and smiled, "Now that is the question for the ages…" He stood and walked to trunk that had been padlocked, four times. He removed each one quickly and then gave the locker's combination. It popped open and there lay a small cylindrical tube, about the size of the Doctor's thigh, the left one to be precise, and yes they are different sizes.
The Doctor looked it over, his jaw dropping when he read the symbols carved in the side. As he looked it over, leaning in close, he pulled out his glasses and put them on to inspect the cylinder. "Those are Sontaran letters…This is a Sontaran virus. Where did this come from?" He turned to Tim and demanded; his face a flurry of fury and fascination.
"It just dropped out of the sky. It's been designated 789…" He tried to explain.
The Doctor ignored him; he was no help at all anymore. He picked up the cylinder, something that was protested by Tim for being dangerous and infectious, and after a careful examination he found more enlightening discoveries. "It may be Sontaran, but these letters stamped over it are Gallifreyian…" He stared at his home world's alphabet, so cleanly stamped on this vessel of death. "It says 'contagion to be purged by starlight'." He looks to the other two who are staring at him with a sort of look you give your grandfather after he tells an old world war two story that directly contradicts history, like how he and his platoon fought their way all the way from Midway Island to the walls of Berlin, only to see Hitler about to shoot himself in his bunker and right before he could pull the trigger your grandfather took the shot from the sniper rifle he wasn't carrying a minute ago to end the Third Reich. I call bullshit grandpa.
"What does any of that mean?" Patrick asked.
"It means that this virus came from another world, from a race of people bent on war and nothing else. This must have been during their brief biological warfare stage. They didn't find it honorable enough and they scrapped the whole project, but not before coming up with some the meanest bacteria this side of the Medusa Cascade." He inspected the containment unit further and nodded to himself. "And these burn marks on it, they can only be there if it's passed through a wormholeish rift in space and time…" He turned to Rose, a look of pure delight, "Rose I can fix this, we just-" He screamed and clutched his side, dropping the Sontaran biohazard. He panted through grit teeth and wheezed before vomiting more infected blood.
Rose ran to him and held him, "Doctor, what do we have to do?"
"Get to the TARDIS…Go back to when it comes out of the rift, I can pinpoint it since it's only been closed for less than a week…" his body shakes and he spits up more, moaning in pain.
"What's wrong with him, it's like he's infected"
"Exactly Dr. Cumberbatch…he is infected…but he's been that way for hours now and he hasn't died, he may be a cure, so let him do what he has to" Patrick said, pointing the gun as a warning. "Doctor can you make it back?"
"It's burning in me…I need…" He coughs up blood and sighs, "I need…to hurt…"
Rose stares at him like he was an alien, more of an alien than he already was. "What?"
"You need to get away Rose; the virus is changing me…" He stuttered, blood dripping from his lips onto the floor. "It's making me like the infected, I want to hurt. Go to the TARDIS, wait for me there." He pushed her away and glanced at her, she was worrying. "Go!" Without a word Rose stood and began to go, "Patrick, go with her, protect her…please" He begged. Patrick gave a nod and somehow the Doctor knew he would fight until the end for her.
The two left, he watched them go, giving Rose one last intense stare down that said 'I love you' in so many ways other than actually saying it. He slowly stood and grunted as he straightened himself out and fixed his suit. "Is there anything I can do Doctor?" Tim asked.
The Doctor nodded and took hold of scalpel as he walked closer to Tim, leaning heavily on the side that held the surgery tool. "I just want you to know one very important thing..." He paused the sentence as he stood up at tall as he could and glared at the other doctor. "…and that is that I'm so sorry." He used the scalpel to satisfy the virus' need for blood and left Tim Cumberbatch in a bleeding, slaughtered mess.
The TARDIS was exactly where they had left it, no undead were around it or harassing it. The trip back had been relatively uneventful, especially if you didn't count that sprint away from a horde that had amassed where the soldiers had been shot. Even after the bodies had been picked clean, the undead lingered, whether waiting for more prey since they had identified that spot as a feeding ground, or the fact that they honestly didn't know what to do with themselves. Nevertheless, Rose and Patrick had to book it from there for a few minutes before they had outrun and out thought, not a very hard part in fact, the horde. Eventually they made it to the blue box and Rose unlocked it.
They stepped inside and Patrick was met with the place that was bigger on the inside, "It's bigger on the inside…" I just said that, asshole…
Rose nodded and looked around lovingly, "Doctor's going to be mad that he didn't hear that bit, he loves people's reactions to his TARDIS"
"What makes you think I didn't hear?" The man in question asked. He stood, leaning against the open door of his time machine, a nonchalant look on his face, legs crossed as if he were on holiday. The grin on his face masked any pain he felt.
"How did you get back here so fast?"
"Well…" He tilted his head as he looked at them, "I think I've been infected for so long they all think I'm one of them. Honestly I just walked right through, not like you two, running about all whichever way." He used his hands to demonstrate their lack of understanding of directions. After a few moments of doing this, he reluctantly put his hands down. "Now Patrick…I must insist you leave."
"Doctor?"
"I'm sorry mate, but trust me this will end very soon. Just survive for as long as you can." He smiled and gave the man a pat on the shoulder, "Now kindly, get out." Patrick did as he was told, giving them a trusting grin as he checked his ammo; seeing it sufficient he nodded one last time and walked out.
Rose and the Doctor watched the door close behind him, then ran to the TARDIS' controls. "What happened to that other doctor?"
"He served his purpose." Rose gave him a glance, but didn't question him, and he was grateful for it. He concentrated on the controls and began to mutter to himself. "Scan for the anomaly rift…gotcha!" He grinned at Rose and raised his eyebrows, "Not bad."
"They're dead Doctor…" She had tears in her eyes and she hugged him tightly, "They're both dead." He sighed and pulled her away.
"Rose, we can fix it, trust me right now…" He said with a sad, reassuring smile. She collected herself, to a point where she could control her tears and gave him a nod. With her approval, he flicked the switch and they went back.
The TARDIS was floating in space, a sort a tear right through space and time right in front of them. The waves of energy it gave off should have destroyed them, if not for the box's shields. The Doctor checked his watch and sniffed the air, "Here it comes." As he finished the word 'comes' the familiar cylinder that would have destroyed the Earth, if not the whole universe, came floating out of it. He and Rose watched through the open door as it came towards them, "We are directly in front of its path to Earth."
"So what do we do?"
"We give it a push." He went back into the TARDIS and came out again with a broom. The Sontaran virus came closer and he waited until it was close enough for him to smack it. They watched it sail away.
"Won't that endanger another planet?" She asked.
"I don't think so; I sent it packing straight for the Sun." He smiled with triumph and did a sort of spinning jig. Rose couldn't help but smile; that is until he gasped and held his stomach while sinking to his knees.
"Doctor!"
"No, I'm still infected Rose…I…have to go with the virus into the Sun…"
"Can't you just regenerate?"
"Regenerating will only heal my body; the virus…will…remain and kill me again and again and again…" He groaned as he tried to crawl to the open door of the TARDIS.
"But what about me Doctor? What about me?" She cried as she tried to stop his crawling. She did manage to halt it as she basically tackled him right in front of the open door.
"Rose…just forget about me, there is an autopilot to Earth that will take you home. Please just go." As they fought, well more pleaded at each other than fought, they didn't notice the fact that the time traveling blue police box was slowly being pulled into the rift. Rose climbed onto the Doctor to force him to stay, even if he was foaming blood at the mouth at this point, staring at her with death in his eyes. She looked up as she fought his hands which now, instead of trying to push her off of him, were trying to choke the life from her.
"Doctor…we're being sucked in." She jumped off of him, something easier than it should have been if he had really been trying to kill her. He sat up, as he spit some blood from his mouth.
"The rift must work both ways…who knows where we'll end up…" He thought for a moment then shrugged, "I guess it really won't matter, we've got a time traveling TARDIS." He smiled and closed the door, "Relax, we will make it back home. Then we say our goodbyes…" They were sucked in faster than sound can travel.
Who knows how long it must have felt to them, hours, days, years, well obviously not years, Rose is the same when they walk out. Jesus people, think for a second…No matter how long it felt to them they came out of the rift a second later to the universe. The Doctor walked over to the instruments on the dashboard and checked some readings. He backed away and scratched his head, "I'll be buggered…"
"What?"
"We're right where we were…at the exact time we were."
"Then that means the rift just took us in and spat us right back out?"
"I wouldn't put it so roughly, but yes."
"Did it change anything?"
The Doctor checked his TARDIS again then shrugged, "Apart from a dead sperm whale and a dying pot of petunias floating next to us, and I don't see the relevance in those." He glanced at her and shrugged then spun around, perplexed. "What?" He took two steps forward, "What?" He looked back at Rose and touched his own face, "What?"
"What's wrong Doctor?" She asked, not very brightly since not thirty seconds ago he was coughing and vomiting blood with an undead urge to kill.
Ignoring her he called out, "Computer, can I please I have a blood test?" He asked as he took off his coat and rolled up his sleeve. A tube with a large needle came down from the ceiling and he stared at it as it descended. "Can I have a smaller needle?"
"Oh don't be a baby…" A voice from the TARDIS said as it jabbed him and took a sample. It went back up and there was a noise like something from a computer using a phone connection from the 1990s.
After a strange look from Rose he shrugged, "I like vintage things, that sound is legend." He was about to go on arguing but unlike the internet of the 90's this took only a few seconds to load.
"Blood analysis complete. No anomalies detected. Thank you."
The Doctor and Rose both stared at the ceiling then slowly looked at each other. They smiled as the information processed in their heads and they embraced. "I'm alive; the rift took the virus away." He pushed her away and looked past her, "It could have…no...It would have been absorbed by the energy fields…right?" He said to himself, and then turned back to her. "Well, what do we do now? Go to Earth and not be attacked? See your Mum and Mickey?" He asked and then opened the door and let her get a good view of space, "Or do we travel afar?"
He looked at her expectantly and she just looked down at the floor, a strange frown coming to her face, "I have to see them, after how I saw them last I need to see them alive and well again."
She stared up into his eyes and he nodded understandingly, "If that's what you wish, then…" He flipped a switch and the magical hum began to echo in the box, "Allons-y." He said softly as they disappeared.