Chapter 4
The chilling night breeze bit into Amy's bones as she stepped out onto the dark London street after the Doctor, but it was not the cold that made her shiver; it was the thought that there were creatures out there, waiting for another victim. She knew now these were not just rumours, there mannequins were out there ready to kill, and wandering around the City in the dead of night could well make them the next victim. Never mind the fact that these monsters were plastic and probably didn't even have a brain, they could and would kill. So why was Amy following the Doctor into danger? She had done it many times before, but suddenly the thrill was no longer there, she no longer felt safe in his presence.
Something had taken the fun of being with the Doctor away, but what? Amy would once have said she would follow the Doctor to the ends of the Earth and beyond, so why had this doubt crept so suddenly into her mind? It was as if she had lost her trust in him, but racking her brains she couldn't think of anything that he had done which could possibly make him untrustworthy, not even when he had left her waiting out in the cold and the dark when she was just a child, she still believed in him.
Perhaps it was because the Doctor had never told her about the plastic dummies, these so-called Autons, which were coming to life and wondering the streets around them, yet the master that was meant to control them was dead, killed by the Doctor himself. He had just sworn that he would try and make peace first with the Nestene Consciousness if he could find it, but now of course now he couldn't.
Was this what was making her feel so uneasy? The thought that the Doctor had once abandoned peace and gone in the for the kill? The realisation for th first time that the Doctor was a murderer?
But Amy had experienced many harsh realities when travelling with the Doctor and she still stood by his side. However this was something more; something that was worrying Amy so much it scared her. She had never felt so much fear for the unknown since she had discovered the extra door hiding in the corner of her eye in her old house. That room once hid something dark and secretive, and Amy had not trusted the Doctor enough then to feel safe, she was having the same experience now. Amy thought she had got over that moment when her trust for the Doctor had faltered, but perhaps not. She also felt, like she had behind that one extra door, that something was hovering just behind her shoulder, watching her.
Amy shook her head and tried to put these nagging thoughts to the back of her mind. That all felt like a long time ago, she was safe when she was by the Doctor's side, she knew she was, there was probably nothing to worry about. It was then Amy realised she was falling behind, the Doctor and Mr Wells were striding ahead while she was lagging behind, she ran to catch up with them before they disappeared into the darkness, and tried to concentrate on the problem they had at hand.
"Doctor you haven't actually said, what is the plan?" She asked.
"It's obvious isn't it?" The Doctor replied, not bothering to turn and look at Amy.
"No, that's why I asked." Amy pointed out, her doubtful mind was causing her to already lose patience with the Doctor.
"We have just let a group of Autons, which appear to have no one to control them, walk onto the streets of London. We have to find them before they do any more damage to this City, and hopefully find out why they're wandering round the City in the first place."
"I agree with the Doctor," said a sudden voice behind Amy, making her jump. She was relieved when she turned around and found that it was only Mr Wells. "These Autons have been attacking and killing my friends, we need to find them and destroy them!"
"There's no need to destroy them, not yet," the Doctor said calmly, and Amy's trust in the Doctor felt a little renewed. Even though these things were nothing but plastic the Doctor's first answer still wasn't violence. "We just need to keep people safe, keep the Autons inside the warehouse or somewhere where they won't do anymore damage. We can't destroy them all, you said yourself there are nearly a thousand. We need to attack the very source of what is bringing the Autons to life, and to do that we need more information about them."
"How do you propose we find the thing that's controlling the Autons?" Amy asked as they continued to stroll through the dark, silent City. "We can't just go up and ask them."
"We could do, if they can walk, maybe they can talk as well." Mr Wells suggested.
"Probably not, the last time I met the Autons, they didn't talk." The Doctor replied, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand.
"They might do, if they have a different controller, perhaps they are a completely different make that will be able to communicate with us." Mr Wells added.
"Perhaps you have a point." The Doctor said slowly, thinking through what had just been said. "If we find a functioning Auton, perhaps I might be able to communicate with it and find out what's controlling it. Or the Autons could be heading to what's controlling them at this very moment! A master needs protection, just in case people like us come along and try to stop it." The Doctor's face lit up and he spoke faster as his excitement grew; finally the road seemed to be becoming clearer. "Right then gang, here's what we must do," he said enthusiastically, stopping suddenly and turning round to face Mr Wells and Amy.
"We're not a gang," Amy put in.
"OK then…crew!" Amy rolled her eyes, but there was a smile of amusement on her face as the Doctor continued. "The Autons will probably go back to the storage building and become nothing but motionless mannequins again by morning if they don't want their cover to be blown in broad daylight, by that time they won't be much use to us. In fact if they already know they're being followed they might not emerge from the warehouse again for days, weeks even, in which case we only have tonight to find a functioning one, so I suggest we split up. That gives us a better chance we have to catching one before morning. Mr Wells, you know this place best, would you be happy heading out alone?"
"Whatever it takes." Mr Wells nodded, he was used to spending much of his time on his own and knew the streets well enough to walk through them in darkness. Now he finally knew what was stalking the streets at night, he felt less afraid and more determined to help.
"Great, start somewhere where most people are afraid to go or where most of the mysterious sightings have taken place and continue your search from there. Keep your eyes peeled and take care of yourself." The Doctor gave Mr Wells a reassuring pat on the back as he said this.
Mr Wells smiled bravely, "I'll be fine."
"Amy and I will wander around aimlessly and see if we can encounter something mysterious to follow." The Doctor continued cheerily, "I'll use the sonic screwdriver to see if I can pick up anything."
"Do I have a choice in this?" Amy asked.
"Sorry, not enough time to make choices. We'll meet back at the warehouse at…" The Doctor glanced at his watch, "…sunrise. Last one without an Auton's a rotten egg!" He added happily and without another word, he turned and rushed off through the darkness of the streets.
"He runs off a lot doesn't he?" Mr Wells said to Amy as they watched the Doctor's disappearing back. "You almost think he enjoys causing trouble."
"If he didn't I probably wouldn't be here," Amy admitted, and with that she rushed after the Doctor before she lost him completely.
The way the Doctor strolled through the streets of London, it almost seemed like he knew perfectly well what he was doing and where he was going, though when Amy asked him he replied happily that he had, in fact, no idea. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and allowed it to light up a path a head of them, drenching the walls of the old buildings and cracked pavement in a sickly green glow, which gave it an even more eerie atmosphere.
The Doctor explained that the sonic screwdriver would help detect anything robotic or unusual, but to Amy the whole of London seemed unusual, as they headed down more gloomy streets that all looked exactly the same to her. How were they even supposed to find their way back to the warehouse if they caught an Auton? Amy wasn't so sure how long they had been wandering around for, but so far they had seen and detected nothing. There was nothing out there, living or plastic, Amy hoped that Mr Wells wasn't having such bad luck, and the safety of daylight would come soon.
Amy's dull mood was suddenly turned on its head when she heard the unmistakable sound of crunching footsteps. The wish for her to see another living soul had come true, but it filled her with fear. She froze and gazed off into the dark, her senses prickling, but she couldn't see anything. For a moment Amy thought that maybe she had just imagined it, but then she heard it again. The slow, unmistakable sound of footsteps, leading off somewhere down a narrow alleyway to her right.
"Doctor did you hear that?" Amy whispered, not wanting to alert whatever it was to the fact that she was nearby. She was frozen to the spot in fear ye burning with curiosity, peering into the darkness.
The Doctor didn't reply.
"Doctor!" Amy hissed, looking up to see why the Doctor wasn't listening to her.
When Amy found out why the Doctor hadn't replied, her stomach seemed to dissolve with fear and her heart skipped several beats. She opened her mouth as if to cry out, but could utter no words.
The Doctor wasn't listening to her, because the Doctor had vanished.
