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„Ena."
My name... I could hear my name. But from so far away...
„Hey, wake up!"
I knew that voice, it made me feel safe. I smiled. The darkness seemed to fade
slowly.
„Ena!"
I blinked against the light as I opened my eyes. It took some moments until my vision cleared and I realized what happened a few moments ago.
„Ah, there you are, back again."
A hand patted my head and I could see the Doctor´s smiling face above me.
„You´re alright?"
I wanted to answer, but all I got out was coughing. He helped me to sit up and after a couple of moments the coughing was over and I breathed heavily.
„What happened?"
„You swallowed too much water.", he said, now looking a bit worried „I´m sorry, but it was the only way."
„I know. And we´re still alive aren´t we?", I smiled.
Turning my head to look around I found that we were no longer in the city itself, but in a forest. The river was nowhere to be seen, but I could still hear it in the distance.
The Doctor must have pulled me out ot the water and carried me here.
I looked at him.
„Thank you."
„You´re welcome. Can you stand?", he asked and offered me his hand to get up.
I still felt a bit dizzy, but I could manage walking.
„It´s okay, I´m fine.", I said.
„Right. I don´t know how far the river has been taking us, but I think it still is Atlanta.", the Doctor said.
„Also, I don´t know where the TARDIS is and how to find her, so we don´t have much choice, but just get walking."
The alien looked around as if he was unsure which direction to choose.
The situation was weird and a bit frightening. We were in a forest somewhere in or near Atlanta, we didn´t have the TARDIS, almost got shot and the city was more like a battlefield than an actual city. Something was very wrong here
and I was pretty sure the Doctor had already decided to find out what.
„This looks like someone has been walking here before." I heard the timelord mumble and got closer to him to see what he saw.
The grass was flattened and actually looked like a path leading into the forest.
„You´re coming?", he said and started walking.
„Do I have a choice?", I asked and followed him straight into the woods.
While walking I felt my legs being scratched and poked by the grass and little bushes alongside the path. I cursed myself for having chosen a dress over a pair of jeans.
„If you don´t know how to find the TARDIS then how are we going to get her back?", I asked.
„I don´t know. She´ll propably just pop up sometime. I just installed the defence systems, but they need some further development! I forgot to take them of after working on it."
„What do we do if she doesn´t come back?"
„Oh, don´t worry, I´m really sure she will! She always does!", the Doctor turned his head to give me an assuring smile, but it didn´t really work on me.
If we really lost the TARDIS and she would not return, we would have to stay in 2030. All my friends and my family and my fiancee would suddenly be much older. Also, they wouldn´t have seen or heard of me in about 14 years!
Quickly I wiped away that thought and decided to focus on what was happening right now. Why had there been soldiers and why did they try to shoot us and what made the city look like that?
The Doctor lead us deeper and deeper into the woods until he suddenly stopped.
„What´s wrong?", I just wanted to asked, but stopped myself from doing so.
I saw what was wrong.
The small path we were following disappeared behind a huge gate made of wood.
There also was a fence, at least 3 meters high, on both sides of the gates, reaching into the forest to both sides.
„What´s that?"
„It´s a fence.", the Doctor replied.
I sighed. The wrong questions always got you the wrong answers. I tried again.
„What´s it build for?"
„Interesting question.", the Doctor stated while he fumbling in his jacket to get the sonic screwdriver out.
„Let´s find out!"
Luckily the lock of the gate was made of metal, so the Doctor could easily open it with his gadget.
He closed the gate as we´ve walked through and looked around.
The area we were standing in wasn´t any different than the forest behind the gate and the fence, so what was that fence good for?
The Doctor scanned the surroundig with his screwdriver, but I could see in his face that he didn´t get any results of anomaly.
„What are you here for?", he said more to himself(and the fence) than to me. „What are you supposed to keep out? Or in?"
„Doctor, the path continues.", I stated.
„Oh, yes, good!"
The weirdest thing in here was, that we couldn´t see how wide the area was that was surrounded by the fence, because it reached so deep into woods.
Neither on the left nor on the right side we could see the fence, so the space surrounded by it must have been huge.
„It´s huge.", the Doctor whispered, in that exact moment, but then followed the path that continued its way straight ahead.
After a couple of minutes I noticed that the trees were getting less. About one-third of the tree population had been fell.
„Look! There´s another fence coming!"
„What?"
He was right. As I turned my head to look front again I saw it too.
Another gate, another fence. This time made of wire mesh.
„What the hell is this place?"
I didn´t like this, my gut instinct was telling me we shouldn´t be here, but my mind screamed at me to go on and find out what was going on.
This time we could see how big the surrounded area was. It was much smaller than the one we were standing in now, propably as big as a pitch.
What we also could see were trees, except in this area they hadn´t been fell.
„What´s so special about this space?", the Doctor said lost in thoughts.
There were sounds coming from inside the forest, from behind the fence.
„Maybe this area is dangerous. I mean, taking a look at what the city looked like..."
„Sssh."
It´s sounded like animals, but then again it didn´t. It was some kind of grunting.
„It´s propably a minefield and we´re getting blown up if we walk in..."
And some sort of growling.
„Doctor, shush!"
„Oi, don´t shush me!"
„Don´t you hear that?", I whispered.
He stopped arguing and listened.
„Sounds like some predator..."
Carefully he raised his arm and soniced the lock to open the gate. We skipped through and stood still, listening.
„I can´t relate this to any animal I´ve ever heard.", the time lord stated.
I nodded. The sound was terrifying. Slowly and very careful we started sneaking towards the sound.
„When I soniced this area it wasn´t showing any life signs.", the Doctor said in a whisper.
„How is that possible? There clearly is something!", I whispered back.
„I know!"
We hid behind an aggregation of large bushes, trying to descry the source of the sound.
We actually found something. Cages. We reached the middle of the area and there were cages about 2 meters high and wide, six of them standing next to each other, another 10 surrounded the six cages in the middle like someone was trying to form the letter „U" with them.
„Come on.", the Doctor said pulling me by the hand, leaving our hiding place and heading straight towards the cages.
Since we only saw the backsides of them we didn´t know what to expect.
The Doctor walked around the cages and pulled me with him until we were
standing exactly between the cages.
A gasp. The Doctor didn´t say a word, there was horror written all over his face.
I clapped my hand over my mouth. Pure terror was in my eyes as I looked around. The Doctors´grip on my wrist had become so hard I almost feared he could break it.
The source of the noises, and what was in those cages, were humans.
They´re faces were completely blank (like all of their emotions had been erased),deformed, with mouths wide open, an covered in blood. Some of them had huge wounds in their faces or on other bosyparts. The clothes they were wearing were ragged and dirty and also full of dried blood. They reached their arms out as if they were going to grab us, but the cagedoors stopped them.
„Zombies.", the Doctor gasped. „Real, acutal zombies."
The smell coming from them was incredibly disgusing. I raised my arm to cover my nose and mouth.
„That´s why the sonic didn´t show any lifesigns..", the Doctor said, „they´re dead. Living dead. Undead. Zombies!"
Once I found my speech back again I managed to ask:
„What made them like that?"
The Doctor let go of my hand and took out the sonic screwdriver again.
I was pretty sure this all was just a bad dream and I was about to wake up any second now, safe and sound in my bed and my boyfriend would have brought me breakfast.
But the familiar sound of the screwdriver called me back to reality again.
„I think it´s a virus.", the time lord said.
„A virus?"
„Yes. There´s something in their DNA that the sonic screwdriver can´t recognize, but he detected a desease, something unknown yet."
Still I couldn´t really think of something to say about the situation or even think properly. This was just so unbelievable. This was one of the things I thought would only be happening in comics, books, movies or video games, but never in real life.
Suddenly the Doctor grabbed my wrist again and dragged me a few meters away from the cages.
„What are you doing?"
„We don´t know how its transmitted, so better stay away from them."
I paled. What if I just had to breath in some of their bacteria or something ant then turned into a creature like them?
The Doctor seemed to have the same thought and soniced us both.
„No signs of the unknown thing.", he said with a look of relief.
„We have to find out who´s responsible for this."
„I already waited for you to say that.", I said and couldn´t stop me from grinning at him (which actually felt a bit absrud considered to what we just found) and he smiled back.
„Come on then!"
He turned in his heels and started walking the surroundings without even knowing what he was looking for. He did that quite often.
Since I couldn´t stand the noise or the smell of the creatures in the cages I decide to help him.
„Hey! I found something!"
I turned my head and found the Doctor standing about 5 meters away from me, pointing at the floor.
As soon as I got to him he soniced the floor. Then I saw that it wasn´t actually floor. It was a trap door.
„Where do you think this is leading to?", I asked as I helped him to open it.
„I don´t know, but it´s not really a trap door. Look, stairs."
We were looking into a tunnel that reached into the earth. Since there wasn´t any light down there we couldn´t see the end of the stairs.
„Let´s see where this is leading to."
With a swing of his wirst he turned the familiar green light of the sonic screwdriver into a bright light one, so it could be used as a torch.
„I´ll go first, God knows what´s down there."
I protested.
„You can´t just leave me here!"
„I won´t! I just want to check if it´s safe down there then you can come too! If I don´t get back in an hour get some help."
I crossed my arms over my chest.
„I won´t let you go in there alone you might need someone!"
„I don´t need you to protect me!"
„And I don´t want you to protect me by risking your own life!"
Angrily I glared at him. We´ve been travelling for a while now and he knows how much I hate it to be left behind.
For a moment he just looked at me. Then he finally agreed.
„Okay, fine.", he said with quite an effort.
„But don´t blame me if you get eaten up! Or blown up! Or shot! Or.."
„Alright, I get it!", I interruptet him, „Let´s go!"
„Right then.", he murmured and started walking down the stairs and into the darkness.