The deserted landscape of Hades stretched on for miles ahead of him, behind him the village they fled from was no longer visible in the darkness. Not that he turned around to look. Instead, he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping the Doctor and Carys alive. There was nothing to see on Hades and no animals making noise. It was eerily quiet except for the crunching of the ground beneath his feet as he walked. One more step, he told himself. One more and then he could rest but each time he forced himself to take another. The Doctor moaned in his arms as he walked and occasionally would whimper or cry out in his sleep. Jack hoped silently that the Doctor would survive long enough to be treated and that Carys would also survive the long journey.
"Jack," The Doctor whimpered after awhile. Jack ignored the whimper as he kept walking. The Doctor opened his eyes a crack, seeing that the darkness of Hades surrounded them. He groaned, not sure if this was real or just another dream. One thing he knew for sure though was that his shoulder was burning as if someone was digging the knife into it still. There was a weight on his chest, he realized was Carys, but she felt heavier than before. He was also thirstier than he had ever been since getting in this body. If he was on Hades that meant that no tea was available. "Jack water."
"Hold on a second Doctor," Jack told him as he looked down and realized that the Doctor was actually awake. Breaking his stride, he carefully knelt down, lying the Doctor on the cool earth. Pulling out the water from the rations, he helped the Doctor take a sip.
"Where are we?" The Doctor wondered as he took another sip.
"We were forced to leave the village Doc. There is supposedly another village about a day's walk from here. We just have to keep moving until we find it," Jack told him.
"I can walk," The Doctor informed Jack.
"No, you can't sweetheart. You're burning up with fever," Jack told him. He kissed the Doctor on the head and cuddled him close. Within a few minutes, the Doctor had once again fallen asleep or passed out. Jack wasn't sure which. Either way he couldn't do anything for the Doctor at the moment but get him to safety. Against his better judgment and everything he had been taught, Jack gave Carys a few mouthfuls of water to try to calm her hunger until he could get her a proper meal. She hadn't ate anything since the milk with the sedative in it and was miserable on their journey. One he was satisfied that both of them were as stable as possible, he gently picked them up once more.
The journey seemed even harder now. His legs and arms both felt numb as he continued to walk towards what he hoped was help. At one point, Carys began to cry and the Doctor lifted his arm, placing a gentle hand on her back. He was sleeping more peacefully now that he had a drink of water and Jack hoped that he was feeling better. He couldn't worry about that now though. He had to contrate on moving forward. He told himself that he would take another ten steps and then he could rest. He didn't though as he continued forward. Every time it got too hard or seemed to far, he told himself another ten and would carry on. Eventually though he reached the point that he had to rest. If he continued on, he would end up dropping the Doctor and Carys. He wasn't going to risk hurting them so he found a place he could stop.
It was a small group of rocks, much like the ones he had rested with the Doctor at on the first night with the men from the village. Then he had also not known where they were going. He just walked knowing it was somewhere new and that he would still be with the Doctor when he got there. As carefully as possible he laid the Doctor next to the rocks. He took Carys off of the Doctor's chest and laid her beside him, with her blankets protecting her from the harsh ground. Rolling the Doctor gently onto his side, Jack got the first good look at his shoulder.
"Oh, Doc," Jack whispered. The Doctor's shoulder was bright red and the cut was still open. Jack could see that it was deep. He needed stitches and at the very least antibiotics. Jack ripped off a piece of his shirt and wet it with a little water. He then poured a little bit of water on to the cut. The Doctor screamed in pain, trying to move away from Jack.
"Stop," the Doctor whimpered as he squirmed.
"I know it hurts sweetheart, but I have to clean it," Jack apologized as he continued to clean the wound. He continued to make gentle shushing noises as he cleaned the knife wound the best he could. He cursed the fact he had no clean bandages that he could use on the Doctor's shoulder. Gently he allowed the Doctor to roll onto his back again. The Doctor stared up at him with sad eyes.
"Water?" He wondered. Jack helped him to take a drink.
"Do you want any bread?" Jack questioned as he broke himself off a portion. The Doctor made a gagging noise as he closed his eyes again. His breathing evened out once more as he drifted off to sleep. Jack picked up Carys and held her close to his chest as he finished eating. He then laid down on his side, putting her between him and the Doctor. His back was to the world and in front of him was his family and the rocks. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment, but soon he joined the Doctor in sleep.
