"Watch out!" The Doctor cried out as he jumped back from the wall that he had been working on. Rose and Arthur followed suit, just in time to avoid their toes from being crushed by the panel dropping. As it now lay flat on the floor, the Doctor used it as a step, giving him an extra few inches to examine the wall behind with; he was, after all, quite short.
The panel had been approximately a meter squared, The Doctor guessed, and quite thick. He saw that on the back of it there were four discoloured circles, which presumably had been magnetically attached to the four metal rods protruding from behind. He tested a rod with a coin from his pocket: it stuck fast, having only demagnetised the front panel.
Now he examined the substance that stood behind, gently tapping it with his finger tip. "Rose, do you know what this is?"
She stepped forward to look. It was beige, and dusty. Caressing it softly with her own finger, she realised quite how much, as the dry spread onto her skin. Pressing a little harder, she felt it give way under the pressure, and as she released it, it crumbled, dropping onto the floor below, leaving behind a cracking dent.
"Is it earth?" She asked, surprised. Not that earth is that surprising, but she had been expecting concrete, at the very least.
"Yup, just dirt." He scraped at it with his fingers, and more dropped onto the floor, leaving a larger, dustier crevice. "Dried out dirt. Brilliant to fill in the gaps, and very convenient, considering we're underground."
"Doctor?" Arthur called from behind them. Rose turned to look, the Doctor scrabbled a bit more in the earth, creating a dusty pile at his feet. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" He asked, and Rose shushed him. He stopped scraping, and listened. He could hear a gentle thudding, metallic and distant.
"What is it?" Rose asked. "Is it from the war?"
"I doubt it," He answered. Hopping off his platform, he went to the door, placing his palm and his ear on the cool surface. "It's from in there." His voice was solemn as he was once again reminded of the strength of the man imprisoned in the room.
"Is that Amy?" Rose asked hopefully.
"No." He told her gruffly. "You'd need a lot more strength to be heard through that door.
He got back to work. Reaching into his pocket he took out a rusting, battered old teaspoon, and used it to dig into the dirt. As he got deeper, it became harder to dislodge, but soon he found himself with a widening hole, and a few minutes later (and about six inches deeper), the spoon made the harsh screech of metal on metal. "Bingo." He muttered. Twisting the spoon to clear the earth, he saw the dirty silver metal through the brown.
"Now what?" Rose asked, not unhelpfully. The Doctor gave her the spoon, and retrieved a second one from another pocket, tossing it to Arthur.
"Dig." He told them. They began their task as the Doctor knelt down, working to get the panel below removed. After a few minutes the panel fell away, this time caught neatly by the Doctor and shoved aside, and he looked up to see much more silver than before. He stood up to view their work.
"Maybe this will be quicker." He said, and gestured to Arthur to move aside, which he did.
The Doctor squared his shoulders and turned slightly to the left. Then he raised his elbow, and rammed it into the dirt. It resisted, for a second, before cracking, a split continuing down the wall, and along behind the metal beyond their view, where, had they been able to see it, they might have remarked upon how eerily similar it looked to a crooked smile. Instead, they watched as a large chunk fell to the floor, and grimaced as the Doctors elbow slipped, bashing into the unforgiving metal.
"Did you hear that?" Joseph asked Amy, his voice a gruff whisper.
She turned round. "Yeah..."
"OW!" The Doctor cried out. "That hurt! That really hurt!" Rose and Arthur did little but look at him incredulously. He brushed himself off, ignoring his elbow, attempting to regain his dignity. Grabbing Arthur's spoon, he rammed it into the dirt, which was now falling in chunks. Rose joined in. Every so often a spoon would hit the metal behind, making a muted ding.
Amy stood up, the pain in her leg now nothing but a slight twinge. She cocked her head, listening to the small metallic sounds now ringing, like a bell. After the eleventh time, she walked up to the wall, and rapped it hard with her knuckles.
"STOP!" The Doctor yelled out, making Rose jump.
"Why?" She asked, only to be shushed by the Doctor's grubby hand to be placed over her mouth. Then she heard it: a faint tapping through the metal. She looked expectantly to the Doctor, whose smile was wide from ear to ear.
"Now, that's Amy."
I had me a bit of writing session last night, got several short chapters done, and I'm feeling pretty confident that I can finish all this by Christmas!
Love you all xx