PART THREE

It was a case of remaining hidden with the occasional foray out into the world to find food. Initially the food issue wasn't too hard, there were a lot of abandoned shops and houses to loot. It soon became clear very early on that UNIT had taken the wrong side and troops were systematically emptying the buildings of all usable supplies and having them shipped off. The bodies were removed from the streets, the survivors were packed into trucks and lorry's and driven away. The three men watched in deepening silence as their world was taken apart piece by piece.

It became impossible to move in daylight and Ianto drove them underground as much as was possible as they moved their way out of Wales and across England trawling through sewers, drainage channels and any other tunnel they could fit through. The three men rarely spoke, they had nothing in common other than the fact that they were all Welsh and were all still alive. Occasionally they would cross paths with another person wandering what was now a wilderness of abandoned cars and houses. Ianto made sure absolutely no contact was made. No one could be trusted. If UNIT could collaborate then so could anyone else. It would be too easy to sell someone out for a half decent meal or a warm coat now that winter was on the way. In Ianto's experience humans could be just as bad as the aliens they were currently up against. He had wondered about that too. The Toclafane spoke in English, had 'human' voices and seemed to have humanlike personalities, how could a metal ball have that? They were nothing like the Cybermen or the Daleks. Jack had told him once just how far humanity had spread out there in the universe. He had also told him in no uncertain terms, to get to know ones enemies better than you know your friends.

Intel was almost non-existant and Ianto realised that once he got to the weapons depot and collected what he thought he would need...... well the hardest test was in front of him. Jack was gone, the Doctor held prisoner by all accounts and rumour had it that Saxon wasn't even human, no surprises there then really. There was nothing he could do about the metal balls, but Saxon was flesh and bone, like him, which meant he could be killed, human or not, and that was Ianto's only aim. What else was he supposed to do? Sit down and wait out the occupation or die, trying to put an end to it?

Ianto knew there was no choice for him, if there was even the slightest chance that his sister and her children were alive, he owed it to them to try and put a stop to this madness. It was his job, after all. He wasn't certain about the two men who followed him each day. Ianto had no idea what to do with them or how they could help him, but he was glad of their presence, reassuring footsteps that trudged along in his wake. He wondered what they were expecting of him. Neither one had challenged his plan to head East, but he hadn't told either of them about where exactly he was headed either. It puzzled him that they followed. Andy he could understand, the man was a police officer and perhaps held the belief that he could help in some way put an end to this, but Rhys? Perhaps he believed that Ianto would lead him to Gwen. Ianto was pretty sure that the woman was dead, that all of his colleagues were dead. The loss nagged at his gut because there was no way to know for sure what had happened to them and absolutely no way of finding out. On the first day of their trek he had handed Rhys a picture of his fiancé and told him to hold on to it, to hold on to her. It was the best he could offer. Rhys had accepted the underlying apology and stuffed the photo in his shirt pocket right over his heart. Ianto noticed things like that. He had a picture of his niece and nephew sat in a similar place, they were his family's only future because he knew he would never have children of his own, even if things hadn't gone to shit. Some part of him wondered whether or not he would've had anything with Jack, but of course Jack was gone, was always going to be. Ianto couldn't blame him, didn't blame him but it broke his heart non-the-less.

Days and nights slid by, the wind got colder and there was always the smell of acrid smoke drifting in the air. There didn't seem to be any birds flying about. One day they found a child, a toddler wondering along through a field all alone. Ianto had barely glanced, not even taking in what gender it was, but Rhys had halted their night time marching. He had bent down bringing himself level with the little girl.... yes a girl he confirmed. Ianto had fumed, there was nothing they could do for her, she could not come with them.

He and Rhys had stood in the mud and argued in hushed, hurried voices. Then Ianto had kept walking, turning his back on his own compassion. Rhys did not follow, he knew he had to make a choice and nothing in his conscience would allow him to walk away from the girl who had no one and only the prospect of a lonely death. He apologised to Ianto and Andy, they bade him farewell.

Ianto realised that part of him had died that night in that field and he couldn't quite work out which part. He tried not to think on it and was glad that Rhys had found purpose though he suspected it would only lead to an early grave.

Andy had not passed comment on Rhys' departure, he simply followed, his head down, his feet sore and his back aching from too many nights of trudging and too many days of broken sleep in uncomfortable surroundings. They avoided all buildings. Buildings meant silver spheres. They were always about, whizzing across the leaden sky, often singing with glee. All Andy craved was clean clothes, a shower and a shave and he found himself wondering if he stank as bad as his companion. He didn't dare ask. They moved on through each day and night, heading steadily East. Andy had no idea where they were and he totally trusted the Torchwood officer to get them where ever it was they were headed. He found himself somewhat surprised to be hiding in an abandoned Renault estate car on the A303 overlooking what was left of Stonehenge. He'd always wanted to see Stonehenge and now he could, but none of the stones were standing.