The third in what I hope will be five short stories displaying the team's hidden talents. Who will it be this time?
Hidden Talents 3
"Owen, get the kid out of here!" yelled Jack, ducking as the Weevil lunged for him again.
"What about you?" queried Owen, pulling the kid against him. He was reluctant to leave Jack on his own to face three maddened Weevils in this back alley.
"Just get going!" Jack stepped to one side and sprayed the left hand Weevil. It halted, swayed but stayed on its feet. The spray was definitely losing its potency. "Go!" yelled Jack, moving backwards.
Owen took off, clutching the child's hand and running out of the alley. The child, a boy of nine or so, struggled to keep up but the terror of seeing his playmate torn apart by the Weevils gave him added speed and determination. The pair turned a couple of corners in the labyrinth of alleyways and spilled onto a residential street. It was quiet for early evening. Owen was relieved to see the SUV turn into the road.
"Over here!" he yelled, running into the road and waving his arms in the air. The boy had collapsed on his hands and knees, breathing hard, but still looking behind him fearfully. The vehicle drew up and Gwen and Toshiko fell out. Ianto followed a moment later having turned off the engine. "There's three of them," gasped Owen. "Weevils. Jack's on his own."
"Why did you leave him?" snapped Gwen, pulling her gun out of the back pocket of her jeans. She scanned the neighbourhood for threats.
"Had to get the kid away." Owen nodded over at the boy who was standing now looking at the Torchwood team. "He's okay but his mate isn't."
"Tosh, get the boy in the SUV and stay there. Help us track down the Weevils," said Gwen. "Owen, show us the way." She glanced over at Ianto, relieved to see him with gun in hand. It looked vaguely at odds with his well-cut suit and the red shirt.
Toshiko went to the boy. "Hello, my name's Toshiko. Everything's going to be all right now. You're safe." She put an arm round his shoulders and led him to the SUV. "Jump in," she encouraged, and then followed him into the back of the vehicle. The boy was quiet, in shock, and grateful to be inside the reassuringly solid vehicle with an adult taking charge. Toshiko smiled at him the switched her attention to the screen in front of her.
In the alleyways, Owen led them back to where the Weevils had attacked the boys. A skateboard lay abandoned near a bloody pile of clothes which, on closer inspection, contained the mangled body parts of the dead playmate. Ianto turned away to where Gwen and Owen were checking a downed Weevil.
"It's stunned," reported Owen. "Jack must have taken it down." A sudden noise ahead and to the left made him look in that direction. "Come on," he said grimly.
"Ianto, get this one back to the SUV and secure it. Then come and find us," shouted Gwen over her shoulder and she followed Owen down the alley. She opened her comms and spoke to Toshiko as she ran.
Owen slowed as he got closer to the noises, partly because of the builders' junk – bricks, scaffolding, bits of wood – cluttering up the space but mainly so he could pinpoint the origin of the sounds as they echoed off the buildings. He could make out snarling and thuds and thumps and above it all he heard Jack yelling defiance. Gwen came up beside him, panting from the run.
"Where are they?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
"In here, I think." He gestured to a derelict mid-terraced house which backed onto the alley at a T-junction with another. The view was blocked by an eight foot wall containing a high gate which stood slightly ajar. He edged closer and peered through the gap. Inside he could see a Weevil circling round and hear crashes. "This is it."
"Let's go," said Gwen, her face grimly determined. She checked her gun one more time, the clip was full. "You go left, I'll go right." Owen pushed the gate fully open and charged in, yelling at the top of his lungs, Gwen right behind him.
In the space between the wall and the house were piles of junk and rubbish and Jack had used these to confuse and avoid the Weevils. He had disabled one of the creatures back in the alleyway but these two had proved more tenacious. They had trapped him in this confined space, forcing him to hide behind sheets of corrugated iron and bricks for shelter. But he was in the middle of the space and the Weevils had come at him from all sides. His Webley was out of bullets and he had been forced to throw bricks and other debris at them. It wasn't working and he was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds they had already inflicted. His vision was blurring and he could feel himself dying but, he decided, he was not dead yet. With one final effort, he charged the nearest Weevil, spray in hand.
With Owen distracting one Weevil, Gwen watched Jack's desperate charge and halted, trying to get a clear shot at the creature's head. She couldn't get one; Jack was in and out of the line of fire as the Weevil grabbed him and shook him from side to side holding him up off the ground. Almost in slow motion, she saw the Weevil bend Jack's head back and bite into his neck. Blood spurted out and Jack went limp, falling to the ground as the Weevil roared in triumph.
"Bastard!" cried Gwen, attracting the creature's attention deliberately. Jack would revive soon and she didn't want the Weevil taking chunks out of him in the meantime. She fired three shots in quick succession and managed to halt the Weevil but it was still coming for her. She took careful aim at the head but the bullet went astray when Owen was thrown against her. "Shit!"
Both Weevils were now advancing on the pair. Owen had winged the one he had been tackling but it was a massive male who had already tasted blood; there was no way it would pass up another opportunity. Gwen and Owen slipped seamlessly into the classic defensive posture, back to back, circling to keep both Weevils in sight and firing spasmodically to keep them at bay.
"The gate," whispered Owen, seeing it out of the corner of his eye. "We've got to get out of here." He took a step in the direction of the gate and Gwen followed, remaining pressed against his back. Step by step, taking pot shots as they moved, they edged closer. "Not far now, just another few steps," said Owen, guiding Gwen who was unable to see their goal.
Suddenly the Weevils changed direction and put themselves between the Torchwood pair and the gate. One pulled a chunk of masonry and shoved it against the gate, blocking it. The creatures growled and Gwen could swear there was pleasure in the tone; they knew what they were doing. Staying close together though no longer back to back, Owen and Gwen stepped backwards away from the advancing Weevils. Then Owen put his foot onto a fallen roof tile and it moved beneath him, pitching him backwards. Gwen whirled, trying to cover both Weevils, firing blindly. Her gun clicked on an empty chamber; she was out of bullets. Even as she reached into a pocket for her spare clip she knew she would not have time to reload. The Weevils moved closer. Gwen watched them come, fingers scrabbling at the gun.
A flash of colour caught her eye; red. It transformed itself into … Ianto. Ianto! The man flew through the air, or so it seemed, and landed with a heavy thwack on the back of one of the Weevils. They both went down, the creature on the bottom of the heap, and Ianto used his stun gun to subdue it. He sprang away from the unconscious body to meet the second Weevil's charge head on, firing the gun he now held in his hand. The Weevil fell at his feet. In the sudden silence, Gwen heard only her own heavy breathing.
"Bloody hell," said Owen, sitting up where he had fallen.
"Ianto … How did you? I mean, how did you …" Gwen's voice tailed off.
"Pole vaulting?" came from behind her and she recognised Jack's voice with relief. She turned and saw him pulling himself slowly to his feet, grimacing in pain. He had been conscious when Ianto had flown over the wall, the scaffolding pole clanging against the wall and then on the ground as it had fallen back.
"School athletics team," said Ianto laconically coming to his boss's side. "Okay?" he asked, his concern muted in the presence of the others.
"Fine, thanks." Jack put a hand on the Welshman's shoulder and smiled at him. Then he looked at Gwen and Owen and finally at the downed Weevils. "Come on, we have to get these back to base."
I realise that a metal scaffolding pole would not bend sufficiently to be an effective 'pole' but I loved this idea so much I hope you'll allow me some poetic licence.