DOCTOR WHO: SANDSTORM

CHAPTER 2

AFGHANISTAN PLAINS, CAMP ELIZABETH II, PRESENT DAY

The ground kept shaking and no-one at the camp was pleased with it at all. Everywhere was a mess after each tremor and they couldn't prepare for them at all. Freddie was getting more and more concerned with each one and hoped someone would be able to explain better than the commander had. He knew the camp had a soldier who had previously wanted to be a geologist, so there was some expectation of knowledge there. His name was Tim, and he went looking for him but couldn't find him anywhere. He knew where he should have been but no-one had seen a thing of him for hours. He wasn't on patrol and he wasn't helping cook or clean anywhere.
"Tim?" Freddie asked out loud. "Has anyone seen him?"
"No…" came the reply. Freddie went around the areas again and soon came round to trying the rooms once more. There, on the floor he found Tim's glasses. He was never without them. "Tim? Are you ok?" There was no reply but he could hear a faint sobbing noise coming from the bathrooms. Freddie ventured slowly over and could see Tim sobbing quietly to himself. He was facing away from Freddie but Freddie was concerned as he could see Tim had cuts all over his arms; they were deep cuts too. "Tim?" he asked again. "It's Freddie James from the other camps. I was just seeing if you were ok."
"I'm fine…" came the reply although it was much deeper than Tim's usual voice. "Please, go away." he then insisted.
"Tim, it's only me." reassured Freddie. "You need those cuts looking at anyway. What happened?"
"The sand…" stuttered Tim. "It found its way around me."
"A sandstorm do you mean?" asked Freddie. "I've had them happen to me before. Never had cuts like that though."
"The sand did this." said Tim. "I was surrounded by it. It saw right into me."
"You're not making any sense Tim. Are you sure you're ok?"
"I am fine. I am part of the sand now…" he said slowly as his voice got deeper with each word. Freddie was still making his way towards Tim but he was getting more freaked out by him with each passing second.
"Is this a joke?" Freddie asked. "I know you guys like a prank every so often. I mean the glue thing a few months back was funny but this is just plain odd."
"The sand is me…" rasped Tim slowly as he then turned round in full view to Freddie. Freddie gasped in horror and stepped back in shock as Tim was covered in deep cuts all over him. His eyes were all yellow; as yellow as the sand. Freddie didn't know what to do. He was just silent. "I…am…rising!" Tim then rasped once more. "This…is…it!"
"Tim, what the hell's happened to you?" Freddie said in a panic. He reached for a gun in his pocket and held it towards Tim. "What's happened? Answer me!"
"The sand….it found me…" said Tim hoarsely. "I was scared and it took advantage but the sand knows best."
"What do you mean?" asked Freddie. "How has the sand done this?" he added as Tim got closer and closer to Freddie. Before Freddie's eyes, Tim was slowly changing. His skin was disappearing and out was coming sand in its place. "Oh my god…" said Freddie as he then fired a shot. It held Tim back and Freddie ran. As he ran he pulled back by someone. He thought it was Tim at first, but it wasn't.
"Hello again…" said the voice. Freddie was trying to catch his breath as he then realised who the person was. He couldn't quite believe it at first.
"John?!" he said. "John Smith. The guy with the odd screwdriver. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Business call." he replied. "Just call me the Doctor anyway, it's much easier. It saves words."
"Have you come about Tim?" Freddie then asked with heaving breathing between each word.
"Who's Tim?" said the Doctor.
"THAT!" pointed out Freddie as the sand-like Tim came into view. The Doctor smiled in amazement and got out his odd screwdriver. It buzzed and glowed green as he pointed it all over Tim.
"It's all sand…" he mumbled. "That's no longer a human. It's sand..."
"What the hell happened to him?" asked Freddie as he pointed his gun towards what had been Tim. "Why's he changed?"
"Something – the sand – has possessed him. It's fed on him somehow. I've never known sand to do this before." answered the Doctor quickly as he flicked his hair back again. Freddie was still pointing his gun at the creature and soon others had come to see what the commotion was about. Most ran back to safety but Freddie stayed by the Doctor's side. The creature slowly made its way towards them before it started to pounce at the pair of them.
"The sand…it has…to feast!" cried out the voice as it punched holes in the camps walls and threw furniture all over the place. Freddie had to keep ducking and diving for his own safety. The Doctor meanwhile pulled out his screwdriver again and made it buzz once more. The ground shook violently and so did the creature. It shuddered and convulsed and made horrific growling noises. People were falling all over the place as it lashed out in anger.
"What are you doing?" called out Freddie.
"Disrupting its sequence!" smiled the Doctor as the creature shook and shook even more. It kept growling loudly until it suddenly exploded and dispersed itself across the camp. "Told you it would work." said the Doctor.
"Since when?" asked Freddie.
"Since now…" smiled the Doctor as he rushed out of the camp and towards the commander's office.

AFGHANISTAN PLAINS, COMMANDER'S OFFICE, CAMP ELIZABETH II

Everywhere was a mess. The commander wasn't pleased and then Freddie and a strange bow-tied man burst into his office.
"What in the name of sanity is going on?" said the commander. "I've just people telling me Simons turned into a monster. I mean, what is this?"
"Commander…" said the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor by the way, this is Freddie as you know, and well something strange has just happened with Tim."
"I gathered…" said the commander. "Is he ok?"
"He's dead…" replied the Doctor. "He was sand. Just sand. Something had taken over him."
"I don't mean to be rude, but who the hell are you?" said the commander.
"I'd like to know too," said Freddie. "I thought you were just some weirdo who had lost his screwdriver down a drain, but you're more than that."
"I'm the Doctor." he introduced again. "I….investigate odd things. I read about all these tremors happening in the area and I came out to have a look at them myself. This area does not suffer tremors, so it was worth a look, but now I find sand monsters too. It was worth the visit now, you see?" Freddie and the commander fell silent in a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. They didn't know what to make of the odd man in the room with them. The Doctor was just as puzzled as their silence. It wasn't right at all. "Does anyone have any questions per chance?" the Doctor then smiled.
"Why you?" asked Freddie. "You seemed normal enough that one time, so why are you here now. Did you follow me?"
"I assure you I didn't." said the Doctor. "You did forget your toothbrush though."
"I what?" said Freddie.
"I look through your things before I found where you were. I wanted to make sure this was the same Freddie James. I never knew your battalion so this was just a lucky coincidence. How are things by the way? I forgot to ask…"
"Another friend died, apart from that, I'm fine." said Freddie.
"Really? You don't look it." said the Doctor. "The bags under your eyes are a lot worse than at the funeral and blimey you haven't shaved that well at all. There's stubble here there and everywhere."
"If I could cut in…" said the commander. "Is this sand going to pose a real risk to us all? There's sand for miles all round. Were swamped by it."
"I don't know specifically, but whatever got Tim is sure to not just leave it at one victim." the Doctor replied sternly.
"But Tim became something entirely made of sand. How'd that happen?" asked Freddie. The Doctor looked to him.
"I don't know at the moment, but obviously there is something in this sand. I can analyse this is my….hub, and see what exactly is the matter. If it is something, I think it's highly likely that it's related to the tremors."
"What about the little holes?" asked Freddie. "There's always some new ones after each tremor. I mean, look there's some in here." he added as he pointed to them. The Doctor crouched down and inspected them closely.
"I can hear voices…from under the sand." he remarked.
"I've heard them too." said Freddie. "It's as if someone's watching us…"
"There are creatures that live far below Earth's land – I've met many of them. They don't deal with sand, so this is someone new."
"You've met creatures from beneath earth's land?" asked the commander.
"Yes," said the Doctor. "It's what I do. I stop things doing this. I can't watch humans be hurt."
"But you exploded Tim…" pointed out Freddie who was still struggling to take it all in.
"He was no longer human," smiled the Doctor. "You are though, Freddie, so let's try and stop any of this happening again." he added as he rushed off out of the office and into the distance.