*A/N Sorry this came a little late. I've been busy. The past three nights I've been up working. I was able to write this, but I had no Internet access and couldn't submit it. Well, here it is.
Chapter Seven:
The Doctor shut his eyes tight when the guns went off. For a moment his ears rang. Wait a minute, he was supposed to be dead, so why were his ears ringing? He wasn't supposed to have any ears! He felt no pain. The guns had missed him entirely. Not even a hair was singed. He opened his eyes slowly. What had happened? If Melissa hadn't shot him, then that meant that she had resisted the Daleks and regained control of her own body. How did she do that? Even though he had encouraged her to fight it, he doubted that anyone would have been able to. This was not brainwashing. This was biological brain rhythm control. One could not rebel against his or her electrical rhythm. So, she must have done something, or the Daleks must have botched the operation, which was unlikely for the Daleks. The Daleks were very good at planning things out. They actually needed his help to ruin their plans.
He looked around. Melissa was slumped over the table by his feet, barely holding on. She did not look good. Whatever she had done must have been drastic. "Melissa?" he asked. "What did you do?"
"I'm sorry, Doctor," she said in a garbled voice. "I couldn't kill you. This was the only way I could think of."
"What? How did you resist them?"
"I overdosed on a sedative. I thought it would change my brain activity enough that they couldn't control me." She looked up at the wall. Two smoking holes stared back at her like a pair of startled eyes. "I was right."
"You – you committed suicide? Just so I could live?"
"If you live, then many others would. It's not because of you. I got us into this whole thing."
"No, you didn't. You didn't know. Very few would have done any differently. You didn't have to do this."
"No, I didn't have to. I chose to." She leaned over, her body too weak to hold her up anymore.
The Dalek came closer. "THE DOCTOR IS STILL ALIVE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO EXTERMINATE HIM!"
"Well, I didn't," Melissa said, tossing her head and glaring right into its one eyestalk.
"EXPLAIN? YOU HAVE BEEN CONDITIONED TO OBEY THE DALEKS! REBELLION IS NOT POSSIBLE!"
"Well, not entirely," Melissa said with a smirk.
"YOU MOCK THE DALEKS! YOU SHOULD FEAR US! WE SHALL EXTERMINATE YOU AND THE DOCTOR!"
"See if I care. I'm already dying anyway."
The Dalek's eyestalk roved over her figure as if it were scanning her. "BRAIN ACTIVITY IS REMARKABLY DEPRESSED. IN TWO MINUTES IT WILL BE AT A COMA STATE. ALL VITAL FUNCTIONS WILL CEASE WITHIN FORTY MINUTES. YOU ARE CORRECT."
"Told you. I'm not afraid of you anymore."
"THE DALEKS SHALL EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR! THE GIRL SHALL DIE! DALEKS REIGN SUPREME!"
"THE DALEKS REIGN SUPREME! THE DALEKS REIGN SUPREME!" The room filled with the grating monotones. The Daleks at the computer turned their heads to look in their direction. The Doctor wondered why they didn't immediately come after them. It must be something to do with the computer. Whatever they were doing, it couldn't be stopped in a hurry. The Daleks were actually making themselves vulnerable just so they could catch him.
Melissa stiffened and looked over at the Doctor. She tried to tug at the steel bands encircling his wrists. "No!" the Doctor said. "Forget about me! There's two dozen Daleks in this room!"
"Any ideas on how to take care of them?" Melissa asked.
"No. Normally that would consist of me getting up and waving my sonic screwdriver at them, but I'm a little incapacitated right now."
"Then let me help you." She fumbled with the bands again.
The Doctor glanced at the other Dalek, the one that was free from the computer. "Well? Why aren't you doing anything?"
"NO INTERVENTIONS ARE NECESSARY. YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE THIS ROOM."
"But with me, you know, things don't always go along the more likely route."
"MY WEAPON SYSTEMS ARE FULLY OPERATIONAL!"
"I wasn't saying that they weren't."
"EXTERMINATE THEM!"
Melissa gave up on trying to release the bands. She looked over at the wall of Daleks, still attached to the computer, but for how long? She didn't know what she was thinking. All she knew was that in the next moment there was an explosion and the wall burst into flames. She looked down at her hand. She had never thought of using that gun. She didn't even try to find out how one fired it. It was all a desperate reflex. An unearthly metallic shrieking filled the air. The Daleks were still connected to the machine. Smoke and sparks surrounded them. Their casings started to crackle with electricity. And then, one by one, their tops exploded with a pop and they became silent.
The Doctor gaped at them. "So that's why you were afraid to shoot. You didn't want to kill your friends. The psychosomatic feedback would be lethal, even to Daleks, I imagine. That's why it takes so long for you to disconnect."
"DALEKS DO NOT HAVE FRIENDSHIPS! YOU SHALL BE EXTERMINATED! THERE IS NO RISK OF FURTHER DAMAGE!"
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound too good," the Doctor muttered.
Melissa collapsed to her knees. She had to help the Doctor. The Dalek was going to kill him. But she couldn't do anything. Her arms were as limp as seaweed. She could not have lifted a finger to help him. Her eyes could hardly stay open. She fought to stay conscious.
The Dalek approached the Doctor, its weapon trained on him. The Doctor stared him down. Well, there was very little he could do now. Melissa couldn't really help anymore. This was probably the end for him.
Except that there was an urgent call for the remaining Dalek.
"DALEK KAR PLEASE REPORT TO UPPER FLOOR! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! BRING YOUR SOLDIERS!"
"Ooh, looks like they need backup," the Doctor said cheerily.
The Dalek slowly turned its head around to look down on him. "YOU SHALL REMAIN HERE! YOU ARE NO THREAT TO THE DALEKS! YOUR COMPANION WON'T BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU!" Then it slid across the floor to the door.
A muffled thud caught the Doctor's attention. He looked over to where he had last seen Melissa. She was nothing but a heap on the floor. "Melissa!" he cried, but she did not answer. He tugged at his steel cuffs, but they did not budge. If the Dalek was right, then she would be dead in little over half an hour. And there was nothing he could do to save her. Again. Not another one!
-CR-
Dr. Smith suddenly had a headache. It was probably the worst he had ever experienced. It felt like his head was about to explode, as if it were stuffed full of fiery coals that were cooking his brain. It was unbearable, but then it was over. It had come and gone in a little over a second. And now his eyes hurt. They felt as if they were full of sand. He tried to wipe at them, but then he realized that he was wearing glasses. What? Oh, they were sunglasses, but he was indoors. What was going on? He had a gun in his hand! He had never had a gun before. His brother was the hunter, not him.
He looked up, his vision blurring with the flood of tears that were trying to remedy the painful dryness. There was a hazy figure in front of him.
"Dad?"
Dr. Smith rubbed at his eyes again. "Russell? Is that you?"
"Dad? What's going on?"
Dr. Smith's vision began to clear slightly. There was a circle of men around two other men in the center. They all had guns trained on them. One of those two men was his son. As he looked at the group, he realized that a handful of them were shaking their heads bewhilderedly and rubbing their eyes. He wasn't the only confused one. However, there were still a good group of people with sunglasses who still had guns and who looked like they were about to use them.
"You tell me," Dr. Smith said, staring at everyone in the circle. He felt like he had been sleepwalking or something. The last thing he remembered was leaving for work and getting into a little car crash. "What happened to me? Did I get a head injury from that crash?"
"You never told us about a crash," Russell said. "You just came home one day and you were different. You never took of your sunglasses afterwards. And then you took me to work one day and…" he shrugged. "The same thing happened to me."
"What's going on here?"
"Well, you were about to kill us," Russell explained. "You caught us sneaking around. Now, some of y'all look like you're still thinking of that."
"We'd better run," one man said. "This way!"
They began to hurry down the hall. Dr. Smith glanced over his shoulder. The men were just standing there, looking at each other expectantly. They were like a bunch of robots that were awaiting their instructions. "They're not coming after us," Dr. Smith said. "I think we got away from them."
"Still, we need to hide somewhere," Russell said. "We may run into another patrol."
"My office," the man who was with Russell said. "We could hide there for now." He looked like a good guy, a little simple perhaps, but still a nice chap, Dr. Smith thought.
They had a small group, about a dozen. They packed into the tiny office tightly, but twelve people couldn't do much about an army of brutal brain-washed soldiers. "Now, what happened, son?" Dr. Smith asked.
"You were being mind-controlled by these… creatures called Daleks," Russell said. "They think they're top dogs and deserve to rule the universe, but there was this guy who keeps stopping them. They call him the Doctor. I'm not sure who he is – what he is – but he's in trouble now. They put all this together just so they could catch him and kill him. If we could find him and help him, then he may save us. We're next, you see."
"So they used me and turned me into a zombie just so they could have their revenge?" Dr. Smith asked.
"And take over the universe. It'll be easier without the Doctor."
Dr. Smith sighed. "So, what happened to you? How did you get free?"
"There was a girl they found. They used me as bait to get her. But she was smart enough to figure out how to cure me. What about you?"
"I don't know. All I remember is getting a bad headache. What happened to this girl?"
"They took her to make her like what we were. They wanted her to kill the Doctor, but she took some pills to stop herself."
"What kind of pills?"
Russell reached into his pocket and pulled out the container. "She took the whole bottle."
Dr. Smith looked solemnly at the bottle. "There's still hope for her. There's an antidote… and we can support her if we find her in time."
"We do have the antidote," Russell's companion said. "In case of emergencies. They use it a lot here. I think we also have some life support. I'm trained in intubation."
"They used a CPAP on the Doctor, Max," Russell said. "If we could get her down there, we'd be able to save her."
"But first the Doctor," Dr. Smith said. "The way I understand it is that if he goes, we all go."
"That's about it."
"Where did they take him?"
"I-I don't know."
"Fifth floor," Max said. "They were talking about it while I was there. He's on the fifth floor in the south wing. I've never been up there, though."
"So, we all go up there with all our guns," Russell said.
"I'll find that room if you give me directions to it, Max," Dr. Smith said. "The one with all the life support equipment. I've never fired a gun before. I'll be more use down there than with y'all."
"It's very easy to find," Max said. He quickly gave him directions.
"Dad?" Russell said. "Keep the sunglasses on. That seems to work well as a disguise."
Dr. Smith turned to his son. "Russell, what happened back there? Was I – was I about to shoot you?"
Russell looked down at his feet. "Well, that's kind of obvious."
"I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, Dad. I know you'd never do something like that. It was the Daleks. You're okay now."
"We've got to get moving," another man said.
"I love you, son," Dr. Smith said. "I don't remember the last time I said that."
"I know," Russell said bashfully. "You don't have to tell me. It's sort of understood. Come on, we've got to hurry."
-CR-
The Daleks had been watching as Melissa neared the Doctor with those two guns. The air was still and silent with expectation. In less than a minute the Daleks' worst enemy would be history. However, when the girl resisted, discord broke out among them. "SHE BROKE THROUGH THE CONDITIONING! THE IMPLANT WAS FAULTY!"
"THE IMPLANT WAS TESTED BEFORE THE OPERATION! IT'S FUNCTION WAS ADEQUATE!"
"THE GIRL IS RESISTING! THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN SPARED!"
The Daleks fell silent as they saw the console being destroyed and their fellow soldiers perishing in terrible pain. They did not mourn the loss, but they knew that it was inexcusable.
"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? DALEKS ARE SUPERIOR! DALEKS CANNOT BE DESTROYED BY THAT WEAPON!"
"THE DALEK SOLDIERS WERE NOT DESTROYED BY THE WEAPON! THEY WERE DESTROYED BY THE FEEDBACK OF THE COMPUTER WHEN IT WAS DAMAGED!"
"EXPLAIN!"
"EACH DALEK CONTROLS DOZENS OF HUMANS! THEY MUST KEEP THEIR BRAIN ACTIVITY AT A SIMILAR LEVEL! ONCE THE CONTROL BREAKS, BRAIN ACTIVITY DRAMATICALLLY INCREASES AND CAN DESTROY LIFEFORMS!"
"WHY DID DALEKS MAKE THEMSELVES VULNERABLE? DALEKS REIGN SUPREME! DALEKS ARE IMMORTAL!" Well, unless the Doctor was around.
"HAVING THE DOCTOR DESTROYED IS WORTH BEING VULNERABLE! THERE IS SAFETY! WE PROTECT OUR SOLDIERS!"
In just a few moments it would be seen just how effective that protection was. There was a pounding at the door.
"INTRUDER! NO HUMAN IS AUTHORIZED TO COME TO THIS WING!"
The door burst open and a group of yelling, angry men barged in, waving pistols at the Daleks. Of course, the Daleks had their weapons at the ready, but there were consoles all around the room. If they did not shoot with accuracy, then many Dalek lives would be lost as a cost. There were numerous Daleks in the room, all with deadly weapons, but only half a dozen were not connected to any computers, and they were hesitant to fire. However, the other Daleks were aware of them, and they were hastily trying to disconnect themselves. Within minutes the men would be hopelessly outnumbered.
"HUMANS! WHY DO YOU PENETRATE THE STRONGHOLD OF THE DALEKS?"
One of the men sneered at the Dalek that approached. "You don't belong here. We've been on this planet for billions of years. We've got no place for talking garbage cans."
"YOUR PRIMITIVE WEAPONS CANNOT PENETRATE DALEK ARMOR! YOU SHALL BE EXTERMINATED!"
The group hesitated, and then they scattered. The few Daleks who were able were pursuing them, but their pace was not as swift as a human's. Usually this did not impede them, as their weapons were speedy and efficient. Now, however, they couldn't use their weapons as indiscriminately as they usually did. If those computers were destroyed, their population would decrease dramatically. This wasn't as bad as it sounded, as a few Daleks could still do a lot of damage, but there were worse things. Once those computers were gone, hundreds of people would be out from under their control. They would be outnumbered. This wasn't too bad, though, because their weapons could slaughter thousands of them, but what if one of them found the Doctor? Then the Daleks would definitely be in trouble. Therefore, it was not a good idea to shoot at the computers.
"SEAL THE DOORS!" one Dalek screamed. "THE HUMANS WILL BE CONTAINED UNTIL THEY CAN BE EXTERMINATED! THERE IS NO WAY OUT FOR THEM!"
One of the men fired at a Dalek. The bullet didn't even scratch its metal armor. Its eyestalk stared at him gloatingly, daring him to try again. However, the man only fled. Russell saw this. He looked over at Max. The poor man was looking down at his gun. Their weapons were useless against the Daleks. They were sunk.
-CR-
Dr. Smith was almost at his destination. He slipped through another pair of double doors. His eyes were quickly returning to normal. They only felt a little dry now. He didn't need the sunglasses at all. However, he kept his son's advice and wore them. He didn't know who he'd run into.
He smiled. Yes, there was the room. He was on the observation balcony, the very place Melissa had been only a few hours before. He looked down into the white room. There was only one bed in the middle, but it was surrounded by equipment and cupboards and all other kinds of stuff. He found the staircase and descended.
He quickly found all the equipment he thought that they would most likely need for Melissa. He was a doctor, so he knew what he was looking for. He found the ventilator. It only had a facemask, and he couldn't see any intubation equipment in the room at all. He hoped that Melissa wasn't too ill. There was only so much positive pressure could do without a patent airway. And then there was the ECG. Very good. It even had paddles attached. He was heading over to the cupboards to see what kind of medications he could find when the doors opened.
"What are you doing here?" a single voice demanded.
He looked behind him. A whole group of men in dark sunglasses were looking at him. This didn't look good. Oh wait, he still had his sunglasses on. He wondered if he could carry this off. He had never lied before. Well, lied convincingly. He always seemed to get caught.
"There's been an accident," he said. "I need to get stuff ready for the casualty. It sounds pretty serious."
The man in front remained silent. It was as if he were waiting for a reply. In fact, he probably was, from what Dr. Smith knew about this kind of mind control. "No accident has been reported," the man suddenly said. "There is no need for you to be in this room."
"Perhaps I was mistaken."
"There are no mistakes here. You are an intruder. Exterminate the intruder!"
Everyone aimed their pistols at him.
-CR-
Russell's phone vibrated. He felt it in his pocket. Even though he was hiding from Daleks and just trying to survive (although he didn't know why, as there was really no way to escape) he still took it out and looked at the number. Clarice. His girlfriend. He smiled.
"What's happened to you, Russell?" she asked.
"I was brainwashed by aliens," he said in a low voice. "I know it's hard to believe, but please, trust me."
There was a pause. "That's too ridiculous to believe."
"It's true, Clarice."
"Well, it's gotta be. That's not really a good excuse for ditching your girlfriend."
"Did I ditch you?"
"Something like that. You were just acting really weird. Ever since your dad recruited you, you'd think of nothing else besides that Doctor person. I-I had to leave."
"I'm not like that anymore. I can explain the whole thing. There's these aliens called the Daleks. They want to take over the universe or something. Except they've never been able to because this guy called the Doctor stops them every time. So they decided to finally get him out of the way."
"So the Doctor's the good guy?"
"Yes. Sort of makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, they got all these people and put them under mind control so they could track down and catch the Doctor. I was one of them."
There was another pause. "I'm so sorry, Russell."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have let them do this to me. Now things are looking pretty hopeless. The Doctor's stuck, the girl who helped him is dying, and we're trying to stop those monsters but we can't. They're too powerful. I think – I think that this is it."
"What?"
"I don't think I'm going to get out of this. I-I love you."
"What's going to happen?"
"Well, they're going to kill us here, then they're going to get the Doctor, and then they're probably going to get rid of everybody else on this planet."
"Is there any way we can stop them?"
"Get the Doctor, but we're stuck. I'm sorry, Clarice, but it's pretty bad right now."
"Well, you did your best."
"I'm so sorry, Clarice. I'm sorry I put you through this all."
"No, it's not your fault. I love you, Russell. At first I blamed you, but not anymore. Not now that we've talked."
"Thank you."
"Get out there. Get some of those… whatever you call 'em. Get the Doctor. Save the world."
"And you pray for a miracle."
"Right."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Russell stuffed his phone in his pocket. He looked around. No one had been injured yet, but it was nothing to do with skill or courage. The Daleks just followed them around in no particular hurry. They seemed to be just waiting for something. They weren't shooting, but they weren't concerned either. They were acting like the people were just annoying little flies that buzzed around one's head, not able to do much else besides buzz and maybe give them an itchy bug bite. In a little bit they'd get out the flyswatter, but there was no hurry.
Russell was ready. There was no way out of this one. He had cleared things up with Clarice. He had taken care of things.
There was a screen up on one of the walls. He watched it for a while. It showed a room with a crumpled heap on the floor. There was a bed in the upper left corner, and someone was chained to it. It was the Doctor. An expression of weariness and sorrow was on his face. He had seen too much. Was this the face of the man who saved worlds? Was this the man who brought down terrifying, brutal civilizations? No, this was the face of a man who was tired of what life had thrown at him. He wasn't sure if the two went together, heroism and suffering.
He looked again at the crumpled heap on the floor. It was a person. A person with dark hair. It must have been Melissa. He couldn't see her breathing. He wasn't sure if she was still alive. Even if they defeated these Daleks, they may still be too late. Poor Doctor, having her die right in front of him, after all he'd been through. It must be unbearable, especially since he could have been to blame. Not that he was. He hadn't done anything wrong, besides the odd mistake or two. However, that didn't matter much in hindsight. Looking back at things revealed more options than looking forward to them did. Still, he wished that the Doctor didn't need to suffer as much. If only this had never happened…
*A/N One more chapter to go! How's the Doctor going to escape? You know he has to. Will Melissa survive? Will she travel with the Doctor? Come back next week to find out!
