Left for Dead – Chapter 1
Alexandra/Alex (age 9)
Eighteen months later: I scramble out from beneath the cold limp forms, my mind screaming one word – Gray. He's here. Somewhere. He has to be.
My body shakes as I pull myself up. The pounding in my head seems to worsen. I fall against a wall, moving my hand out to keep myself stable. A lump rises in my throat, causing me to cough; my breath wheezing, panting.
It's an effort to walk. The ends of my trousers tail along the gravel. I haul them up and at each step I stumble. Despite the strain I feel all over, I keep going. I keep moving. Gray might still be alive, but I'm not too sure. I cling to this hope and keep stumbling through the Outlands. I haven't seen Gray since those creatures separated us. Eventually I lost count of how long I'd been here. Months – maybe even years.
Something comes towards me. I gasp, my body shuddering, heart racing. I shuffle to the corner, covering away, keeping my head in my knees. I resist the urge to scream, biting my lip. It stops. Then it paces – slower, slower. There's a gasp. But it's not mine.
Straight away my head shoots up. Through matted blonde hair, I catch a glimpse of someone: a girl. Her hair's brown and her dress is red. She does nothing, just stares at me, her mouth and eyes open.
"Hello?"
She speaks, taking another step towards me. I shuffle away and my back presses against the wall. There's nowhere else to go. I'm trapped! My spine crawls, I cry out; my voice whimpering.
"P-P-Please. Don't h-hurt me."
Right away I feel tears streaming from my eyes and my heart begins to race again. I struggle to hold back a sob, but yet again I cough – cough. I finally speak, rasping.
"S-Stay away."
"Hey. It's okay," she says, "It's okay." Her voice is calm and she kneels, meeting my eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Why should I trust her? My arms tighten around my knees and I squint my eyes shut. I want her to go. I want her to leave. Most of all, I need to find Gray.
She doesn't move. I still hear her, close to me.
"What happened to you?"
My eyes open. The girl keeps her eyes on me. Her whole face has contorted into a mask of horror. It's like she already knows what those creatures did to me.
I see a blackish shape emerging behind her. I'm shaking again, attempting to scream, except my voice catches in my throat. It gets closer. Eventually I can tell it's another person: a man. He's wearing what looks like something ancient and I feel his eyes on me. I scream. The girl turns. She sees him.
"It's all right. He won't hurt us. He's my friend."
I deeply felt that I needed to trust her.
"Clara."
So that's her name then. My gaze moves towards the man. He just stands there, eyes wide, frozen. Then he speaks to Clara.
"We need to be careful."
"I know," Clara says.
She doesn't take her eyes off me. For a moment, I think I see one of her tears fall as she continues to examine my shuddering form. The man shuffles forward. He kneels beside Clara, looking straight into my eyes.
"Can you understand me?"
I nod.
"Okay. I'm the Doctor and this is Clara. I need you to tell me who you are."
I open my mouth to speak. The words come out, spluttering, coughing.
"A-Alex-a-andra"
"Alexandra." He pauses. "I can help you. There's no need to be afraid. I can save you."
I feel a little reassured. Instantly I jerk back, gasping, swallowing, my heart thrumming in violent beats.
"Gray."
My legs buckle as I attempt to move. Clara reaches out, steadying me. She holds out her hand. My bony fingers clasp it tightly.
"Who's Gray?" Clara's voice is no more than a whisper.
"My friend," I answer, "I d-don't know where he is. I don't know where he is."
Clara turns towards the Doctor. "Look at her. Doctor, we've gotta help her. Look at the state she's in."
The Doctor glances at Claraand then at me. He places his hand on my shoulder. It makes me flinch but I don't push him away.
"Where did you last see Gray?" he asks.
"Don't know. Lost count…ages ago," I say, "H-Help me find him. Please help me f-find him."
"Come on then," the Doctor says. His voice is kind and reassuring.
I almost tumble over as I stagger forward. Clara continues to hold my hand. I refuse to let go.
The three of us move in silence. During the time I remain by her side, I feel the urge to bury my face in Clara's jacket; to glance away from the dead forms that surround us. Rather than doing this, my eyes remain on the lifeless bodies, their reeking flesh making me to swallow the vomit that dare escape me. I hear Clara wretch as she steadies herself with her free hand. It makes me realise that she doesn't feel too good.
I glance at the Doctor, his eyes remaining on Clara.
"I'm fine," she says. She squeezes my frail hand to reassure me. "Is Gray here? Can you see him yet?"
I step forward. The icy chill sent me shivering. Sprawled on the ground and covered in crimson, was Gray. It was only moments before I let go of Clara and began to wobble my way towards him.
"Alexandra?" I ignore the Doctor and keep going.
"Gray?" The next thing I know I'm whispering his name, kneeling over his frail form of a body. I reach out, shaking him lightly. "Gray! I'm here. I'm here, Gray." A lump rises in my throat and my eyes water. Please. Don't be dead. His eyes open and he turns his head towards me.
"A-Alex?"
My breath hitches in my throat. I swallow again and smile, my arms embracing him. Gray's blood stains my baggy shirt, but I don't care at all. I'm just grateful he's alive.
"Oh, thank God." I find myself sobbing; tears are streaming down my face. "Thank God. I thought…I thought I lost you, Gray."
"Me too," Gray whispers. He's also crying like I am. "T-They came again. Alex, they c-came back."
"I know, I know," I tell him.
Gray's arms tighten around my spine and soon I feel him shaking. Something tells me it's because he's seen the Doctor and Clara. I realise he doesn't know who they are.
"It's okay. Gray, they're good. They're going to help us. The Doctor will help us and so will Clara. They're going to take us away from here."
Gray lets go of me and rolls onto his side, wincing. I understand how he feels. The Doctor steps in front of us and examines Gray's injuries. They're not much different from mine.
"You're going to be fine," the Doctor says, "Both of you will be fine. You're safe now."
The four of us hear a growl, hissing, snarling. My heart thrums in unsteady beats, Gray's breath hitches and Clara's eyes flicker to the Doctor.
"Uh…what do we do?"
The Doctor shifts in front of us, eyes on the creatures, transfixed. At that moment, I pull Gray to his feet. We both stumble and his skeletal hands cling to my small frame. Our breaths are slow and ragged. I peer out from behind the Doctor. He addresses Clara and doesn't take his eyes off the creatures.
"Take Alex." Clara does so, holding my hand in a tight grip. Gray still clasps my other hand. There's no way I'm going to lose him again.
Without warning, the creatures spring forward. I gasps, Gray screams, the Doctor yells.
"RUN!"
He yanks us towards him, while holding onto Clara. We were sprinting away, daring not to look back. I see a big blue box appearing into sight.
"Come on, we're almost to the TARDIS!" the Doctor shouts.
I'm flung forward. Gray tumbles down beside me. He reaches for me. My grip tightens on his hand, but the creatures grasp him. He lets go of me. They start pulling him away.
"Alex! Alex!" Gray howls.
Another one lunges at Clara and me. I let out a shriek and soon the Doctor has his hands around both of us. He pushes us towards the box.
"Get inside. Both of you!"
I try to fight him. Only it's futile.
"No! No, no, no, no. Gray! GRAY!"
My eyes dart around for him. I force back the lump, rising in my throat. I can't see him. the other creature lunges nearer. The Doctor pulls Clara and I into the box; the doors slamming, locks clicking, engines starting.
"Open it. Open it! Go back. Go back for Gray! Please…go back for him."
I fall to the floor, sinking back against the door. Clara and the Doctor keep their eyes on me.
"Can't you go back?" Clara asks.
She faces the Doctor. He glances at her.
"I can't. I'm sorry."
"There must be something you can do. You can't just leave him."
He begins to walk away. Clara shouts.
"Doctor! He's a child. Gray's just a child. He's just a little boy."
"I tried, Clara." His voice is low. It causes me to shiver and cower back. Clara stiffens. "I tried to save Gray. It was…fast. All of it was fast. I couldn't get to him in time. I pushed you and Alex inside…and it was too late to save him."
"No." My voice catches. I bury my head in my knees, allowing my hair to fall around me. My whole body trembles and I cry silently. Through my hair, I see the Doctor pace towards me.
"Alexandra, I'm so sorry."
"It's not good enough," I croak.
I couldn't bring myself to let this go. It was over.
Gray was gone.
A/N: Hope this chapter was good. Please review. I'm hoping I got the Doctor and Clara in character. Let me know if I didn't.