Chapter Ten - Train Carriages and Ticket Barriers Part 2
Jenny was outside the entrance leading into London Waterloo station she was pacing up and down in front of the stone steps that led into the station . The emergency services were still waiting behind the police tape to be allowed inside the station, and most of the press and reporters had been moved on. Sirens wailed in the background and in the sky, a military Apache helicopter hovered above the station, on the orders of Lester and the minster. Jenny pressed her finger to her ear and spoke to Jess.
"Jess, any idea what's going on, have you heard anything from the others?" Jess's crackled voice replied in her ear.
"No, the rad- went dead af- the seco- explos-. They'll be fine, wo- they?" was the cracked response Jenny received.
"I'm going inside, can you get a back-up unit down here" Jenny said, walking over to the ARC's black pickups.
"Will do. Jenny, be car- in there, we d- know what we- deal- with" Jess replied, and Jenny was glad her Jess had got her message.
"I'll be fine" Jenny said, pulling an EMD rifle from the backseat and running up the steps towards the station.
As she walked through the dust covered entrance, the first thing Jenny noticed was how quiet the inside of the station was, normally when she came to Waterloo, there was hundreds of people walking about, and the general noise from the trains filled the air. But now, there was just an eerie silence, one that threatened to consume Jenny.
Jenny took a deep breath to calm herself before walking round the corner, she let out a small gasp at the damage she was facing James is going to bloody kill me this time Jenny thought to herself.
She just looked at the over turned train carriage for a moment before taking a look around the rest of the station, then she saw the anomaly just floating in the air. The silence in the station told Jenny that whatever creature had come through wasn't here anymore. Then she saw Connor.
He was kneeling beside a pile of rubble next to the carriage and Jenny could see he was he had something black on the ground in front of him. Then Jenny's heart sank.
"Becker" she whispered before running over to where Connor was knelt. When she finally reached Connor, she could clearly see Becker lying on the floor.
"Oh my god, Connor, is he okay" Jenny asked him, fearing the worst.
"I'm fine Jenny" Becker said, rather groggily, brushing the dust from his eyes and siting up, he let out a small winch as he rose.
"What the hell happened in here?" Jenny said, looking round at the damage, she had no idea how she was going to explain this one to Lester.
"An angry Diplodocus" Becker said, attempting to stand up, he groaned and clutched his ribs.
"Where is it now?" Jenny wondered, looking round the station again.
"It went home, just after I came inside" Connor said, he looked like a ghost with all the dust sticking to his skin.
"Hang on, where's Matt?" Jenny asked, realising the Irishman was nowhere to be seen. Connor and Becker both looked round, rather helplessly at the huge pile of rubble next to them.
"Matt…Matt" Connor shouted loudly, listening out for a response. There was silence and no reply. Then the escalator rumbled into life.
Jenny and Connor both spun round and faced the escalators, their EMD's raised to their shoulders. Before they could shoot, they saw Matt standing on the moving stairs, two EMD's in his hand, and a nasty looking cut above his eye.
"Someone called?" he said to them, Jenny and Connor watched as the three ARC soldiers followed him out of the escalator entrance, their black uniforms also turned white from the dust.
"Matt, what the hell happened to you?" Conner asked the team leader as he gently probed the cut on his forehead, he winced slightly as he spoke.
"Well, the creature was coming towards me, so I took the roll and dive approach. Anyway, I ended up at the bottom of the escalator. Took a nasty bump as I fell though" Matt said, noticing Becker on the floor "How's solider boy?" Matt asked, walking towards his teammate.
Becker glared at him before answering "I'm fine thanks Matthew" he said through gritted teeth, he eventually managed to stand up, but he was still clutching his chest.
Matt pressed his finger to his ear.
"Jess, the creature's home. Were on our way back, the anomalies about to be locked and we'll leave the soldiers to watch it till it closes. Can you get the medics on standby for when we get back" Matt said into his earpiece.
"Sure thing Matt, is everyone okay?" Jess asked him.
"Yeah, were all fine, just a few cuts and bruises. I just want everyone checked over" Matt said.
"Okay, the medics will be ready when you get back" Jess said.
"Thanks Jess. Out" Matt hoisted his EMD round his shoulder before looking at his battered team "Right, Connor, lock the anomaly and we'll head back to the ARC" Matt said. The walked over to the entrance, Conner grabbed the case carrying the LM and headed towards the anomaly but before he could close it, it began spinning slower and pulsing before it disappeared from existence. This left Jenny and Becker standing by the rubble.
"You sure your okay Becker?" Jenny asked the military captain as they began to leave the station.
"Yeah, I just hate these bloody creatures" Becker said, running his hand through his ruffled hair. Jenny couldn't help but smile at him.
xxxxx
Jess turned around as the team returned from the Waterloo anomaly, they all looked battered and tired. Abby had been sitting in the Hub, knowing this would be the first place they came to. Looking at Matt, Jess noticed a rather large gash on his forehead, a trail of blood was down the side of his face. Then she saw Conner, he was covered in dust, but apart from that, he looked fine. Then Jenny, she looked the way she did before they had left, only now, she looked a little flustered and her smart trousers were covered in whit dust. Then her eyes fell on Becker, he looked the lost battered of the four of them, he was clutching his rib and it looked like he was in pain, he was also covered in white dust, and his normally neat hair was all ruffled to the side and messed up.
"Well…" Lester began "If I had wanted you to destroy Waterloo station, I would have gone down there and done it myself" he said to them, they weren't really listening to him.
"Becker, go get checked out by a medic, Connor, help him get there" Matt said, watching as Connor and Becker left the Hub. Jenny walked through the Hub and sat down at her desk, she pulled a laptop towards her, this was going to be a long night she thought to herself, without another word Matt left the Hub and walked towards the medical bay.
Lester was left stood by his office door.
"I had loads of train-related remarks" he said to the room before turning round and closing the door to his office.
xxxxx
"Captain Becker, as far as I can see, you're okay; there's just some bruising on the ribs, nothing major. I'd advise you take a few days off and let the ribs heal themselves" Doctor Andrews, the ARC medic, told Becker who gave him a nod.
"Thanks" Becker said, pulling his black t-shirt over his head as he winched faintly, he knew the painkillers the doctor had given him were working. Becker got up of the bed and left the ARC medical wing, he found Connor standing outside the door, waiting for him. He was still covered in the dust from earlier, Becker wondered if Connor had waited all the time.
"Everything okay mate?" Conner asked him, stepping forward.
"Yeah, the doc just said to rest for a few days and I'll be as good as new" Becker said, mentioning Connor to walk with him.
"That's cool, will you be okay?" Connor said, the worry was clear in his voice. Becker stopped walking and looked Connor in the eye.
"Connor; I'm going to be fine mate, what's up with you? Where's all this worry come from?" Becker asked.
Connor looked at Becker, as if he was struggling with what to say. Then he started slowly "Just finding you on the floor at the station, I thought for a moment you were…you know. I just don't want to lose anyone else in this job, first my mate Tom, then Stephen, and Cutter, and Sarah as well. I just…I dunno, can't lose anyone else" Connor finished, looking down at the ground.
"Connor, no one else is going to die because of the anomalies. I promise" Becker said to Connor, walking forwards towards the showers.
"You can't say that Becker. You just cant, it could be me next, or Abby" Connor argued back, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Okay, I promise I'll do everything I can to stop anyone else dying because of the anomalies" Becker said, smiling slightly at Connor.
"That's better" Conner replied.
"Right, I need a shower, I have dust in places I didn't think it was able to get" Becker said, grinning at Connor, who just smiled "Are you coming?" the solider asked Connor.
"Yeah, I've got the stuff in my-" but Becker interrupted him.
"Too much detail, I don't want to know" Becker said to him.
"I was gonna say hair Becker" Connor said, laughing.
"Sure you were" Becker smirked "Sure you were"
A/N - And that's part 2, hope you enjoyed! The next chapter has a pretty big revelation in it! That's coming soon...
D