14
Ianto falls behind, stops in the middle of the field. The others look back at him, then to Jack - what's going on?
Jack walks back to him. He stands, arms folded, trying to hide his fear.
" What if they're right? What if I'm sick?" Ianto asks, then gestures at Carys "What if we both are?"
"You're not sick." Jack says forcefully.
"Saying it doesn't make it true."
"If you're sick, I'm sick - we drank from the same tap - and I'm not sick. Not yet anyway. So let's keep walking." Jack reasons, holding out his hand.
After a few beats Ianto takes in and they head back to the others, Ianto with lingering reluctance, the issue not entirely settled in his mind.
.
.
.
The shallow river fed from the bog is their main obstacle now.
Wide, flat, glimmering with the same toxic sheen as the bog.
Jack and the others step carefully from stone to stone.
"See those folks in town?" Andy is whispering to Jack "Man oh man, makes you wonder, don't it? 'Bout human nature?"
"It's not human nature's doing this, it's a chemical."
"Actin' on an instinct that's already there or they'd be group huggin' instead of tearing each other apart." Andy explains. Then ahead of them Carys slips on a mossy rock and falls into the river.
"Shit! Get her out of there!" Jack cries as Ianto swings to see what happened.
They pull her out and tend to her on the opposite bank. Carys sits sobbing in the aftermath, scared to death, soaked from head to toe.
"It's okay, we'll get you some dry clothes at the house." Jack promises.
Ianto shares a private look of concern with Jack, both noticing the creek's toxic sheen.
Carys sees it, too, and draws her own conclusion. "I'm... gonna... die..."
Andy takes off his deputy coat and puts it over Carys for warmth. Squats in front of her, sheriff-in-the-making.
Typical big brother.
"You're getting out of here. Mum and Dad made that my duty." He says forcefully and she snuffles as he hugs her.
.
.
.
The foursome moves in wary tandem, skirting the perimeter of an old farm. A barn. Three silos. Ianto walks beside Carys, who is cold, shivering, and generally miserable, but manages to strike a lighter note:
"Guess this means no prom, huh?" Cays jokes nervously and Ianto half smiles, nods yeah.
"Not all it's cracked up to be" he whispers to her, "My dress suit cost over 300 drerlls and Jack threw up all over it."
She giggles nervously at his face of doom.
"The smell! I gave it a sacrificial burning"
Jack's hand flies up, halting the group. He gestures 'stay' then walks on alone a bit farther.
Listens.
Comes rushing back.
"Down down down!" he hisses and they all hit the ground.
Hearts pounding.
Listening.
Jack and Andy draw their guns. Jack indicates the hillcrest.
And now the enemy comes into view, moon shadowed and lethal a platoon of soldiers are wading through the tall grass in infrared goggles and bio-suits. One of them is carrying a flamethrower.
"Oh man." Andy whines
"In there." Jack motions to three building behind them. They crawl through the grass.
There is a storm bunker with a small door hidden in the long grass and Jack motions them to it knowing that if it can withstand a solar storm it can withstand fire.
Closing the hatch they watch through viewer as the soldiers storm the farmhouse.
We hear a shriek inside the house and moments later the soldiers emerge, dragging a woman off the porch into the front yard.
They stand her up.
Somebody jams a digital thermometer in her ear.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
BANG!
They shoot her.
Point blank.
A battlefield execution.
The guy with the flamethrower steps up and torches the body.
Jack's anger overwhelms his judgment. He reaches for the hatch. Andy grabs his arm "no, chief."
Flushed with rage, Jack tries to pull away, but Andy holds strong. Ianto whimpers with fear and Jack's good senses returns. He backs down. But they're doomed anyway.
A soldier is walking their way.
He checks the first then the second building, working his way toward the last one, coming to the bunker they're hiding in. Panic sweeps the group. Jack searches for some miracle escape. Up. Down. Left. Right. There is nothing.
The only exit is the hatch and the soldier is creeping toward it with his assault rifle.
Andy is readying his weapons.
Jack his.
Ianto in disbelief.
Carys whimpering with fright.
"Shut her up!" Jack whispers and Ianto clamps his hand over Carys's mouth as the hatch is forced.
The muzzle of a Lazer-16 enters first. Then the soldier's masked face. To the right he sees nothing, to the left Andy who smacks him in the head with his rifle butt, knocking him down.
He and Jack drag the semi-conscious soldier into the silo and close the hatch.
"Pray they don't do a headcount." Jack says softly as Andy restrains the soldier.
They wait on pins and needles to see if the missing soldier will be noticed. The platoon regroups in front of the house and move on.
Gasps of relief.
Ianto uncovers Carys's mouth.
Carys doubles over crying.
Andy yanks off the soldier's helmet, ready to crush his skull with the rifle butt. But the face behind the mask is not the face of an enemy...
It's a young boy.
Scared as hell. Far from home.
"Aw Jesus..."