Chapter Ten
Rose had to walk at twice her normal speed to keep up with Xander's large strides. Occasionally he'd stop to look at his watch, which was also a compass, Rose noticed. Every time she thought she heard a creak or a door slam in the distance, she remembered the video footage Leon had shown them, but she shook her head and carried on. It's just my imagination. Alanna's voice crackled over Xander's communicator.
"Are you two there? Is everything all right?" her voice altered in volume and Rose realised the reception wasn't strong.
"Fine," Xander said into the speaker, "Why?" There were a few seconds of static noise, before Alanna could be heard again. She was saying something about CCTV going down but it was hard to distinguish anything else and Alanna soon gave up – or there's no signal Rose thought, shuddering at the thought of being isolated down here, even if she was with Xander. He didn't really talk much and it made Rose feel a bit uneasy. You've been in worse places than this she thought to herself again and again, repeating it in her mind as if it would make her feel better. She couldn't convince herself, so bit back her fear, wanting to be brave. The Doctor would want her to be brave.
The walk seemed to last forever though Rose wouldn't be surprised if it had only been ten minutes or so. The concept of time was hard to grasp in this place. There was a rumbling in the distance and the two of them stopped, glancing around. Then a second storm hit and the force hurled Rose to the ground and Xander head first into the wall. The sheer power of the storm made Rose feel like her head was full of static. Her arm smashed into the wall and she cradled it as best she could. She could hear Xander's cries of pain but he was just a blur in her vision.
And then it stopped, so suddenly Rose had to have a few seconds to regain her thoughts. Shaken and exhausted, she propped herself against the wall, still holding her upper arm in support, wincing at the sharp pain in her shoulder. She looked down at her belt and found a pouch labelled with a cross and pulled out a first aid kit around the size of her hand, she tried to open it with her left hand but struggled. Xander opened it for her, ripping open a small plastic package labelled 'sling' and folds of previously compressed fabric fell out. Xander fixed her right arm up in the sling before using a wipe to sterilise the gash that had appeared on his forehead during the storm.
"Thanks," Rose said and Xander nodded, attaching what looked like a plaster on to his cut, which changed to match the colour of his skin before disappearing completely, yet still covering the cut.
"You all right?" he asked, helping her up and checking her for any injuries other than her arm.
"Yep," Rose lied, trying to ignore the pain in her arm, though it was subsiding a little since putting on the sling. Without a reply, Xander turned and continued walking down the corridor, seemingly unperturbed by the previous events. Avoiding the fresh cracks in the floor, Rose followed, making sure not to touch any of the wires poking through the now damaged walls.
The further they walked, the faster Xander's pace became and before long Rose found herself almost jogging to keep up.
"Oi mate!" she panted, "Fancy slowing down a bit?" But Xander seemed not to hear her. She sprinted awkwardly, trying not to jolt her arm too much, to come level to him. His eyes were looking dead ahead. "Hey Xander, we're not all athletically trained, can we slow it down?" she was almost shouting at him, but he only ran faster. Rose grabbed his arm and before she could stop him he grabbed both her shoulders and shoved her into the wall, holding her there, ignoring her cries of pain. His grip sent strikes of pain through her shoulder and Rose thought she might pass out. His eyes were staring into hers and Rose's stomach lurched. They were black. All black. Not even a trace of white or an iris. She struggled violently, forcing herself to ignore the hurting in her arm. Her screams seemed to be going nowhere in the empty corridor, but just a few seconds later Xander reeled backwards throwing his hands to his head as if in intense pain. Rose didn't falter. She grabbed and pulled the door pass from Xander's neck and ran as fast as she could down the hallway and through the first door she came to, not stopping for anything.