'Follow the tape'
"I think you'll find this is all you need to know," The Doctor replied panting and handing the woman the physic paper at which she gasped.
"Sorry sir! We can't risk intruders .This project, no one's supposed to know about it." She explained handing the paper back to him and lowering her gun. Turning to the rest of the soldiers she said "False alarm!" And they lowered their weapons as well.
The Doctor got up, dusting himself off, and became curious "Well then!" He exclaimed fixing his bow tie before continuing "Tell me…"
"Sgt Marley sir," The woman said saluting The Doctor.
"Oh no need for salutes," He said "Now, Sergeant Marley, what is this 'project' and why is no one supposed to know about it?" The Doctor asked somewhat suspiciously before going on "Because, if people aren't supposed to know that tells me that you're hiding something and I want to know what it is," He ended face to face with the Sergeant, hoping to get the answers to his questions.
"Perhaps we should go inside and continue this conversation," She suggested, gesturing to the other side of the clearing.
"Inside? We're in a forest!" Amy said for the second time that day.
The Doctor turned to her and Rory, who was still on the ground groaning, he smiled at them although they did not smile back instead rather the opposite.
"Was that really necessary?" Rory groaned shakily. Amy agreed, angrily brushing soil from her elbows.
"Come on then!" He shouted, laughing as the two stumbled towards him. When the two were by his side he shot a questioning glance at Sgt Marley.
"Right this way sir," She said leading them down yet another narrow dirt path.
"More walking," Rory mumbled under his breath as he followed.
This path, unlike the countless others they had seen, followed a number of trees which were marked with yellow tape.
This path broke into many smaller paths, some leading to dead ends, others deeper into the forest, and the reason for the tape became quite clear.
The Doctor was almost skipping along, happily scanning away with his sonic screw driver.
His companions on the other hand were much less cheerful as they plodded along after him, still slightly dizzy from their ordeal.
Birds chirped above them and could occasionally be seen fluttering tree to tree.
But when they passed a point at which the tape turned red, no birds could be seen or heard and the trees were dead and leafless and beginning to rot.
"The soil is driest here," The Sergeant had explained as they walked over the parched earth.
They continued down this track for a while before Sgt Marley declared "This it, Project 13," much to Amy and Rory's relief.
Before them the saw a massive stone building surrounded by smaller metal buildings, that they guessed were storage facilities.
All of which was surrounded by a ten metre tall fence with barbed wire on the top.
Guards were stationed around it, each held at least two, if not more, guns in their hands and were suspicious as they saw the three strangers in the distance.
"Security's tight around isn't it?" Amy commented gazing at the many soldiers which guarded the gate.
"Well, we can't afford to take risks," Sgt Marley answered sternly, looking rather proud of herself. She was, after all, head of security and the trio could now see why.
The whole site was in a huge clearing, several times bigger than the one The Doctor had found and was, as the Sergeant had said, even more dry and cracked too.
"13, unlucky for some," The Doctor mumbled to himself. He had thought this number was important to him but he didn't have the slightest clue why.
"Um what is Project 13 exactly?" Rory asked, making a point.
"We'll explain everything once we're inside," Sgt Marley said leading them to the gates where she presented her I.D and there was a tremendous buzzing sound as the large metal doors were opened, making Rory slightly nervous.
"Is it supposed to sound like that?" He questioned glaring cautiously as they walked through the gates.
"You needn't worry it's probably just some moths flying into it or something," The Sergeant shrugged, not making him feel any better.
Sgt Marley walked at a fast pace to the big stone building which, now that they were up close, seemed like a massive mountain towering over them. It didn't exactly look inviting. Amy and Rory stood outside, hesitating for a few moments, as The Doctor matched The Sgt's pace and walked in without a second thought.
He poked his head back through the door and called "Come on Ponds!" before he disappeared back inside. Slowly his two companions followed, although they had a bad feeling about this, then again it wasn't the first time they had had this feeling while travelling with The Doctor, so eventually they had to give in.
A/N: Please review...
