Smoke billowed out from the open door of the TARDIS. Amy could only look on helplessly as the Doctor ran back and forth from the TARDIS, each time coming back with something new; a bundle of wires, a large copper tube, a toolbox and something that seemed to resemble an egg whisk. "Can I help?" She ventured.
"No." The Doctor's replied sharply, barely even sparing her a glance. It looked like he was in one of the moods where he needed total concentration and Amy wasn't about to get in his way.
"Maybe I could give it a push?" His silence was all the indication she need. She knew he was angry because the TARDIS had stopped working and he had no idea why. One moment they were hurtling across the east coast of America, and then, they just stopped. Everything went dead. "This shouldn't be happening." He'd kept muttering to himself. She'd watched him kick the console out of anger, which was when the real trouble had begun. Something overhead had burst and smoke poured into the control room from it, quickly flooding the whole room.
"Okay, well I'm just gonna go look around then." She didn't even wait for his answer.
The TARDIS had landed on a long winding road in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed to Amy. Either way she looked, she could barely see more than twenty feet before the mist became too dense. On one side of the road a sat a tall hill, covered by a large expanse of trees. She'd quickly ruled that out given that she wasn't dressed for hiking. On the other side of the road was an orchard. It didn't look overly welcoming but neither did anything else around here.
If Amy was anything, she was curious and sitting around waiting for the Doctor to fix the TARDIS was not something she had in mind. Besides, there might be someone who could help them. There must be a house or something nearby with people who tend to the orchard. She gingerly approached the forest, the darkness seeming to close in around her as she went deeper into the orchard. The trees grew thicker at this part of the orchard and the moonlight was having a much harder time getting through the canopy the trees made.
She finally came upon a clearing. The trees formed a neat circle around it and the moonlight found its way through, lighting up the area a little. At the centre of the clearing a huge scarecrow hung from a wooden cross. The very sight of it made Amy gasp. Its head hung limply forward, a large brown hat covering most of its face and yet, she could almost feel its eyes boring into her. She wanted more than anything just to turn around and go back the way she came, but somehow she found her feet dragging closer towards the scarecrow. Stooping down, she peered up at the scarecrows face, fishing for her phone in her jeans.
A bird cawed loudly overhead, making Amy jump. The phone slipped through her fingers and hit the ground with a soft thud. "Dammit." A sigh past her lips and she dropped to her knees searching for the phone. When she finally found it, she got back to her feet, expecting to find herself face-to-face with the scarecrow again. Instead all that remained was an empty cross.
The binds that had once held the scarecrows arms firmly, now hung from the beams of the cross, swinging from side to side in the gentle breeze. Amy, filled with fear, turned the on the spot, her head whipping around. She wanted to scream but no noise came out. Another caw rang out and a flock birds took flight not too far away. But there was another sound beneath all that, something familiar. A look of horror appeared on her face as she realised what it was. The TARDIS' engines.
"Doctor…" She ran through the forest, following the sound of the TARDIS. It seemed like the orchard went forever and Amy could swear she saw a shadow fly past her in the corner of her eye. "Doctor!" One of her feet caught on the root of a tree and she lost of footing, slamming into the ground hard. Tears stung in her eyes and for the first time she'd been with the Doctor, she was almost certain she was going to die. Somehow she got back to her feet and she was running again. There was a light ahead and she headed straight for it.
She came out onto the road she'd been on before, but where the TARDIS had been there was nothing.
