Disclaimer I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her
Author's Note Super shout-outs to those who reviewed chapter 13; the fabulous JForward and faithful Shifuni
Doctor Who
Chapter 14: The Hungry Earth - Lesser than Human, and Greater
Tony eventually managed to get the door open, with a little help from Alfie and Rory, and very soon after they were inside the church, the Doctor was setting up the equipment - with some help from a white haired Shifter.
"So, we can't get out, we can't contact anyone, and something - the something that took my husband - is coming up through the earth." Ambrose stated disbelievingly, making sure she'd got the story straight.
"In a nutshell, yes." Alfie answered as she stared at the screen of the computer the Doctor had turned on to see the channels branching out beneath them like roots.
"If we move quickly enough, we can be ready." the Doctor informed Ambrose as he walked towards her.
"No, stop, this has gone far enough," Ambrose warned the Doctor. "I mean, what is this?"
"He's telling the truth, love." Tony stood up for the Doctor.
"Come on, it's not the first time we've had no mobile signals, reception's always rubbish." Ambrose denied.
"You should visit Cinoskorb…" Alfie mumbled as she studied the readings and saw the drill mark, she looked over to Tony and Nasreen and clapped her hands softly - impressed at the depth of the hole. "Well done."
"Look, Ambrose, we saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightening in the sky," Nasreen reminded her. "I have seen the impossible today, and the only person whose made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor."
"Him?" Ambrose questioned unhappily, gesturing towards the floppy haired Time lord.
"Me." the Doctor confirmed cheerfully, popping up from where he'd been working at Alfie's feet before disappearing again.
"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asked over the silence that had just began to settle throughout the group. Those six words made the Doctor stop what he was doing and stare at the boy, in fact, everyone else looked from Elliot to the Doctor to see his reaction - all except for Alfie, for she knew what the Doctor's answer was.
"Yes," the Doctor answered, and Elliot nodded his head. "But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."
The Doctor had crossed one side of the church to the other in a few seconds, stopping in front of Ambrose - who was the most sceptical one of the whole group. Alfie had sat back and was helping Rory cope, he missed her badly and was in an almost feverish state of panic.
"So tell us what to do." Ambrose told the Doctor after a few silent seconds of debating with herself.
"Thank you," the Doctor glanced at his watch quickly as he stepped backwards. "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence, bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find."
It took a few seconds for everyone to respond, but when they did their was a frenzy of pillaging houses for what the Doctor asked for. Alfie helped whoever she could, first Rory in the cemetery, then Ambrose attaching a camcorder to a very small wind turbine. She used her inhuman speed to get the cameras and sensors to everyone to put up, before entering the church again, just before the Doctor entered.
"Right guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up, I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going." The Doctor clapped Elliot on the shoulder as he walked past the boy.
"I can't do the words, I'm dyslexic." Elliot confessed modestly to the Doctor.
"Aw, that's alright, I can't make a decent meringue." the Doctor smiled at the young boy as he leaned forwards so he was at his level.
"He's not kidding," Alfie grinned jokingly after going over to Tony to see how he was getting on. "But he does make a pretty mean omelette."
The Doctor smiled over at Alfie before looking back at Elliot, "Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot."
Elliot grinned at the Doctor, then looked over at Alfie who was standing beside his grandfather, she gave him an encouraging smile before me made a move.
"Hang on, I'll help you," Alfie called, grinning at the Doctor as she slipped past him. "I know where all the cameras are."
"Six minutes, forty." the Doctor shouted after them after checking the timer as they disappeared.
Elliot drew the map as Alfie made a quick trip around the village, making sure the cameras were secure before reporting back to Elliot and pointing at places on the map where there were cameras and sensors - it saved the young boy from running about the village trying to find all the gadgets and gizmos.
"Words in quadrants, every movement sensor and trip light we've got," Tony informed the Doctor. "If it moves, we'll know."
"Good lad." the Doctor praised and pat Tony on the back before running outside, Tony didn't look amused however.
The Time lord made his way out the front and Soniced opened the driver's side door to Ambrose's blue meals on wheels van, 'PEN-Y-FAN' was written in playful writing on the side
"Oi," Ambrose called the Doctor scanned the seats and dashboard, looking for anything useful. "What're you doing?"
"Resources," the Doctor called back as he got out the Sonic Screwdriver again. "Every little helps," - Ambrose appears from behind the van and walked around behind the Doctor, in her arms are a dozen or more common every day items that could be used as weapons, including a gun and a Taser gun - "Meals on wheels, what've you got here then? Warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back?"
"Bit chilly for a hide-out, mind." Ambrose told the Doctor as he walked to the back of the van before laying she lay the weapons on the driver's seat.
"What're those?" the Doctor asked as he stood with his hands behind his back in an innocent manner.
"Like you say, every little helps." Ambrose quoted the Time lord.
"No, no weapons," the Doctor rejected the idea. "It's not the way I do things."
"You said we're supposed to be defending ourselves." Ambrose replied.
"Oh Ambrose, you're better than this, I'm asking nicely," the Doctor spoke to her as if she were a child as he stepped towards her, he looked down at her with a small smile and a look in his eyes that promised to stop her if she tried to use any of the objects. "Put them away."
The Doctor gave her a smile before turning away from her and heading back into the Church, if he had stayed behind he would seen how she eyed the could-be weapons with a defiant look.
The lock said it was less than three and a half minutes until whatever was tunnelling up reached them, the blinking dots tracking the mysterious up-comers as they came closer and closer to the where they were.
Alfie and Eliot appeared and made their ways over to the Doctor, Elliot held the map open for the Time lord to see. Alfie had helped him with whatever had needed spelling.
"Look at that, perfect," the Doctor praised as he gently slipped the map from the boy's fingers and scanned the piece of paper with his eyes. "Dyslexia never stopped De Vinci or Einstein, it's not stopping you."
"I don't understand what you're going to do." Elliot confessed as he glanced at the screen the Doctor had been staring at.
"Two phase plan," the Doctor explained. "First the cameras and censors will let us know when something's arrived."
"Second, if something does arrive, he uses that," Alfie continued as the Doctor lifted out his Sonic Screwdriver. "To send a Sonic pulse through the network of devices."
"A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe." the Doctor finished as he smiled at Elliot, glancing up at Alfie and giving her a playful wink before staring at the screen for a second.
"Knock 'em out, cool." Elliot grinned and enthusiastically slapped Alfie's hand as a high five as she'd extended the limb out after seeing his excitement.
"Lovely place to grow up round here." the Doctor complemented with a smile as he switched computers, Alfie stood in place of the Doctor in front of the screen he'd been looking at previously.
"Suppose, I want to live in the city one day," Elliot said with a smile, thinking about his dream. "Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."
"I was the same where I grew up." the Doctor smiled after taking a reading on the Sonic Screwdriver.
"Did you get away?" Elliot asked curiously.
"Yeah." the Doctor replied without thinking.
"Do you miss it?" he continued.
The Doctor turned away from the computer and stared in the young boy's eyes, he didn't need to think to hard about his answer, "So much."
"Do you miss your home?" Elliot turned and looked up into Alfie's blue and grey eyes.
"Every day." Alfie replied softly as she ruffled the boy's hair.
"Then why not go back?" Elliot asked, surely if she missed her home so much she'd go back for a visit.
"Shame," Alfie breathed out guiltily without a second thought, she knew exactly why she hadn't returned home yet, and Elliot's look became too much for her and she looked back to the screen. "I'm ashamed of something I did."
Elliot didn't question her further, seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, "Is it monsters coming?" - the Doctor glanced at Alfie before walking around the computer's and standing beside her, Elliot stepped over to meet him - "Have you met monsters before?"
"Yeah." the Doctor replied.
"Are you scared of them?" the young boy asked.
"No, they're scared of me." the Doctor said with a smile.
"Very modest of you." Alfie mumbled humorously.
"Will you really get my dad back?" Elliot questioned as he stared up into the Doctor's eyes with the amount of faith only a child could have.
"No question." the Doctor smiled as he gently took Alfie's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
It took a second and then Elliot remembered he'd forgotten something, "I left my headphones at home."
The Doctor waved him away, but Alfie slapped his shoulder, "Careless idiot," Alfie rolled her eyes and jogged after Elliot. "I'm coming with you."
"Okay, cool," Elliot smiled happily, seeing as Alfie was no longer sad. "So what's your favourite audio-book?"
The Doctor was too engrossed in monitoring the signals the computers were receiving to fully take in the departure of Elliot and Alfie. Rory was checking one of the cameras when the sky began to grow dark, he looked up worriedly as the Doctor was walking past, he caught Rory looking up and stopped.
"Who you doing?" the Doctor asked.
"It's getting darker," Rory stated as dark patches appeared in the sky. "How can it be getting dark so quickly?"
"Shutting out light from within the barricade," the Doctor concluded as he watched the patches of dark grow in size. "Trying to isolate us in the dark, which means…" - he stopped talking as the ground rumbled beneath their feet. "It's here."
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
Tony flicked on the lights in the church as the beeping coming from the computers grew louder, and louder, and more frequent.
"They're close to the surface now," Nasreen informed him as he stood beside her, she gripped his hand and they stared at each other. That was when Tony made his move, he pulled her close and kissed her. "Tony."
"Like you didn't know." Tony replied with a smile, this time Nasreen pulled him to her and kissed him back - all the while the countdown reached 00:00.
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Have you found them yet?" Alfie called upstairs as she waited at the front door for Elliot.
"Aha!" Elliot exclaimed before he came thundering down the stairs, the missing headphones hanging around his neck. "They were hanging on the back of my door."
"Good stuff, kiddo," Alfie grinned down at him. "But we better go before you mum starts to worry."
"Right." Elliot nodded his head in agreement as Alfie pulled open the door - it was dark outside.
"What, that isn't right, It's too early to be dark," Alfie thought aloud as she and Elliot stepped out of his house and she closed the door behind them. "Come on, the Doctor's bound to know what's going on." - Alfie and Elliot quickly made their way back to the church.
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
The Doctor and Rory had went in search of Ambrose to tell her they needed to get into the Church, they eventually found her and they dashed to the church.
"I can't open it!" Ambrose cried in panic as she pushed against the heavy scarred wooden door that wouldn't budge, the Doctor went over and tried to help. "It keeps sticking, the wood's warped."
"Anytime you want to help." the Doctor suggested sarcastically to Rory, who had just been standing there.
"Can't you Sonic it?" he answered with a question.
"It doesn't do wood." the Doctor replied quickly.
"That is rubbish." Rory commented bluntly.
"Oi, don't dis the Sonic." the Doctor snapped defensively, moving almost threatening towards him. Rory took a step back in shock, before helping the two try to push the door open.
Finally it gave way and they all stumbled into the church and the Doctor slammed the door shut behind them, they were all relieved to be in the safety of the church. Tony and Nasreen had swirled around as they'd crashed through the door.
"See if we can get a fix." the Doctor announced as he jumped over to the computers.
The ground continued to rumble, it seemed to be getting worse as the things that had been stacked up against the wall shook and began to fall. As the Doctor tried to home in on what was coming up, the computers suddenly exploded in a chaos of sparks as the lights went out, the Doctor jumped back in shock and every one just stood there. Trying to be as quiet as they could, their breathing disrupting the silence. It lasted for only a few seconds before the Doctor and Tony jumped into action, the Time lord over to the computers and Tony to try the lights.
"No power." Tony concluded as he tried the switch.
"It's deliberate." the Doctor replied.
"What do we do now?" Rory asked as the Doctor paced a little, trying to think.
"Nothing, we've got nothing," the Doctor threw his hands out in frustration. "They sent an energy surge to wreck out systems."
"Is everyone okay?" Rory asked, his nursing skills kicking in. "Is anyone hurt?"
"Fine." Nasreen replied.
"I'm good." Tony answered.
"Me too." Ambrose agreed.
The three looked lost, not knowing what to do. They were all quiet again, until the ground shook and they gasped.
"Doctor," Rory spoke unsurely at first. "What was that?"
"It's like the holes at the drill station." Tony connected the unfamiliar setting with a comfortable one, to try and ease the tension.
The Doctor got down on his hands and knees, pressing his ear into the cold dirty stone floor, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."
"What is?" Nasreen asked fearfully. The Doctor jumped to his feet as the ground went still.
"The banging's stopped." Tony breathed out.
"Where's Elliot?" Ambrose asked after looking around. "Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"
"I did." the Doctor confessed after a few tense seconds had past, they all looked at him.
"Where is he?" Ambrose asked as she approached the Doctor.
"He said he was going to get headphones…" the Doctor replied cautiously.
"And you let him go?" Ambrose questioned, not believing what she was being told. "He was out there on his own."
"No, no he's not," the Doctor tried to defend himself from the angry mother. "Alfie's with him, he'll be okay."
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Your mum's going to kill me," Alfie tried to joke as she and Elliot made their way up to the church. Something ran across the graves behind them, making the two freeze, Alfie stood in front of Elliot as she turned to look, she could smell something - it wasn't human, and had the scent of centuries clinging to it. But she seen nothing. "Lets hurry up."
They started running up and over the graves, Alfie almost lifting Elliot off his feet so they could go faster. Something hissed behind them and Alfie looked behind them to see a lizard-like humanoid chasing them. They made it through the graves and to the heavy wooden door of the church. The two banged on the door after trying the handle.
"Mum!" Elliot shouted as he banged the door with his fist. "Grandpa Tony! Let us in!"
"Doctor!" Alfie shouted as she tackled the door, it didn't budge. "Doctor! Rory! We can't get the door open!"
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Elliot!" Ambrose rushed to the door and pulled on the handle, but the door still wouldn't budge. "He's out there! Help me!"
"Alfie! Alfie are you and Elliot okay?" the Doctor shouted out to her.
"Open the door! We've been followed by something!" her reply was as she hammered against the door.
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Open the door!" Elliot copied the white haired shifter, glancing around Alfie to see if he could spot what was coming, he heard hissing. "Mum let us in! There's something out here!"
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Push Elliot!" Ambrose commanded desperately as all six of them pulled on the door.
"What is it Alfie? What's chasing yous?" the Doctor shouted to her.
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"It's some sort of reptilian humanoid!" Alfie shouted back, she looked over her shoulder and watched something run past. "It's here! Doctor!"
"Mum!" Elliot rushed. "Hurry up!"
Alfie slowly stopped her hammering on the wooden door, and Elliot closely followed as they both turned around and stared at their masked pursuer. Whoever or whatever it was looked down at Elliot and then over to Alfie, who pushed Elliot behind her.
"Hi there." Alfie greeted with a glare as she went to punch the thing, but they were faster than she'd thought and they caught her fist, striking her harshly on the temple with the gun they'd been holding.
"Alfie!" Elliot cried as he watched the white haired shifter crumple onto the ground, the masked person turned back to him and he stared at it in fear. "Mum.
*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*
"Come on!" Tony urged as Rory managed to pull the door open, they all rushed to see if they were alright. But there was no one standing in the hall.
"Where is he?" Ambrose demanded as she rushed out to the grave yard. The Doctor rushed out after her, looking for Alfie. "He was here! He was here! Elliot!" - she took off down the slope littered with gravestones.
"Ambrose don't go running off!" the Doctor shouted after her.
"Ambrose!" Tony barked as he chased after her.
"Elliot!" Ambrose continued to shout. "It's mum!"
"She was right here," the Doctor ground his teeth together as he looked around for clues frantically around the doorway and hallway. "Where did they go?"
Very, extremely late update - but better late than never, right?
2nd last chapter of The Hungry Earth, one more installment and it's on to Cold Blood.
Do what you guys do best, review for me!