On high alert, there's efforts to light up areas of the base with all the lanterns and lights they're able to find on hand, meanwhile, guards secured the living quarters as petrified scientists hide in their rooms. They're instructed to disregard any voices outside the doors, that they'll know it's one of the officers when they hear the code word: Rose.
Under orders, nobody's allowed to use it unless otherwise, hoping it prevented the Plague Doctor from mimicking it, and tricking them into opening the doors.
The inaudible code's a mere touch on the forearm, using only three fingers: index, middle, and ring finger. Left hand. This is what they're using to speak with each other without having the Plague Doctor mimic them. It won't risk touching them unless given the opportunity, which they're lowering with every corner of the base with some variant of bright light, hoping to corral the Plague Doctor somewhere they can trap it.
Lieutenant Commander Hoyts didn't hesitate to lash out against Commander Ryan for the Plague Doctor escaping, in his mind, if only Commander Ryan simply euthanized it while it was in the coma, none of this would've happened.
Now, it's somewhere in the base and nobody knows where, the power out, and no way for anybody to leave and get it back on while the storm continues raging outside.
"If you only listened to me!" Lieutenant Commander Hoyts lambasted Commander Ryan as he's seething at the situation, they're in, no way to contact for help, no way for them to find the Plague Doctor. He stopped briefly and asked, "How many have to die before you realize the error of your way, commander?"
He didn't understand why Commander Ryan fervently wanted to keep the Plague Doctor alive and accused him of incompetency. Ranting, the lieutenant commander insisted that they open fire on the Plague Doctor the moment they see it, damn the supposed consequences frightening Commander Ryan. They're trapped with a dangerous being that has already claimed the lives of five personnel, it's not worth trying to drug it again.
"You think opening fire in an unlit hallway's any better?" Commander Ryan fired back as the lieutenant commander paced back and forth.
Shaking his head agitatedly, Lieutenant Commander Hoyts took off his cap and rubbed away the sweat stuck to his face as he put it back on again, before he retorted, "Certainly better than keeping it alive!"
They bickered back and forth until Captain Montoya snapped at them to stand down and they did, she told them that they'll deal with the Plague Doctor by corralling it somewhere it can't escape and then, they'll execute it.
"He's right, commander, it killed five of our men. I can't overlook it. We have to kill it. You can't hope to drug it again, it's proven that it can withstand enough tranquilizers that would've killed a normal man. I'm sorry, Jeffrey," Captain Montoya tells Commander Ryan that she can't order them to apprehend the Plague Doctor again, it's too dangerous, and it already woke up once. It'll wake up again, at a later point, and by the time they're done, they'd used up their resources or inevitably killed it via overdosing from using one too many tranquilizers. Lieutenant commander, you have my permission. Kill on sight."
Standing before them, the commander's unable to say anything, he knew that the captain wouldn't allow him to recapture the Plague Doctor. No amount of talking would've changed her mind. Not even the Doctor.
He watched in solemn silence as Lieutenant Commander Hoyts and Captain Montoya went to coordinate the attack, leaving him in the reddened room.
Chewing on his bottom lip, he frantically searched for a way to get ahead of them, stop the Plague Doctor before it kills again, without having to kill it.
Unable to explain it, there's a deep-seated fear in Commander Ryan, it manifested once they started getting reports of guards hearing voices calling out to them at night, and intensified the moment he saw the Plague Doctor.
It couldn't be nerves, he'd served for over twenty years, he's seasoned, no reason for him panicking at the mere thought that UNIT wanted to kill the Plague Doctor. No one else shared the feeling except him until he reached out to the Doctor.
Unable to explain it, Commander Ryan just knew that killing the Plague Doctor would've befell them a worse fate than death.
A sixth sense, perhaps?
He doesn't know why, just is.
In a predicament that's life and death, Commander Ryan sought the only person capable, and he hurried through the reddened hallways searching for him while watching the darkness.
He sees the officers wielding their MP5s with torches attached, prepared to fire on the Plague Doctor the moment they see it roaming the hallway, and they're following the captain's orders.
She wanted them to search it out and attempt to corral it into one of the holding cells. Pull back if they feel they can't safely corral it. When they do, she doesn't want it even twitching after they're done with it.
Running through the halls with his heavy boots clanking against the grey steel flooring, the commander ran until he nearly slid across the floor, when he saw the Doctor walking with Lila.
Hurrying towards them, he warned that Captain Montoya authorized KOS on the Plague Doctor, they're hunting it as he speaks, and seek to corral it.
"I can't do much, commander, your gut feeling might be right, but there's no concrete proof that there's an omen for killing it," Theodore tells the panicked commander that he's unable to compel them not to kill it without proof. They won't listen to him otherwise and he's the Doctor.
Lila winced as she asked where they're corralling it and Commander Ryan said they're trying to corral it into one of the holding cells.
"Commander, unless we have a miracle, it's us three against them," Lila haphazardly tells the commander they not swimming far without a paddle.
As they're trying to come up with something, there's a loud crash that echoed throughout the hallways and bright flashes coming from the windows.
Once the echo ceased, the red lights dotting the walls faded until everyone plunged into complete darkness with the lights only coming from their portable lanterns and torches.
Leading them with his torch, Commander Ryan looked for an officer, and when he found one patrolling near the corridor towards the labs, he rushed up to him, and with his three fingers communicated in silence.
Once he conversed silently with the officer, he rushed back to Theodore and Lila, leaning forward he told them that lighting struck one of the towers directly, causing a small fire to start.
Exacerbating their situation worse, it split their forces by threes. One half dealing with the fire, one half patrolling the hallways, and one half trying to get the power back on once the fire's stopped.
Chewing on his inner lip as he's thinking, Theodore said to the commander he'll help him with the Plague Doctor.
If it still had part of a human mind, maybe Theodore's able to reach it, and stun it long enough that the commander's able to capture it.
Looking at him, Lila's eyes pleaded and they talked in telepathy. Lila mustered with concern, "You out of your gourd, you can't possibly read that thing's mind!"
She's against the idea and for good reason, the Plague Doctor's not human. Maybe it was at one point, maybe the DNA has a few strands of human DNA, but it's not human. It's furthest from human than mushrooms. Theodore can't possibly read its mind without some sort of issue arising, he doesn't even know if he can reach the Plague Doctor, much less know if something happens if he tries.
Comforting her, Theodore tells her that he has to try, much as he doesn't know what he can do, it's better than nothing, and they have to do something.
Thinking, Theodore said to Lila that he's getting an officer to escort her back to the TARDIS while he and the commander go off and do a stupid thing to prevent an even worse stupid thing from happening that would've resulted in the ultimate worse thing from coming true.
Lila held reservations and Theodore told her that she had the only key to the TARDIS. He reminded her if anything happened to him, she had to leave with the TARDIS, and do what they discussed since they started their adventuring. Find Hamon, go from there.
"Don't get hurt, spaceman," Lila warns Theodore as he turned his head to tell Commander Ryan, he needed the officer to escort Lila back to the TARDIS. Commander Ryan granted him his request with the little power he held and Theodore motioned with his hand for Lila to follow the officer back to the hanger.
Lila hesitated, but eventually with prodding from Theodore, went with the officer, as he led her towards the hanger. She told him as she passed him, "I mean it, don't get hurt, or I swear, spaceman, I'll hurt you!"
Smiling, Theodore teased her in her mind with, "Aw, you do care!"
Lila fired back, "Only because Hamon and Hammond scares me!"
Odette's the only calm one of the bunches, but she still has her spots, at least she's diplomatic when she's incensed. That's as best of a situation Lila had in the scenario that she had to tell them that something happened to Theodore. Lord knows what they'll do when they hear those words. Lord, Lila hopes she never had to say them.
Of course, the aloof giant had to remind her not to worry, they're his problem, but the scenario Lila imagined said otherwise, and he assured her that he'll handle himself.
"Said the aloof giant when I had to cover up the fact you had a brush with death last week!" Lila fired another shot at his attempt. She wasn't letting him down the fact she had to cover up the injury he received from a previous adventure.
Let's say the aloof giant's predecessor got him into deep trouble with a royal family somewhere in Italy. Something to do with that Doctor sleeping with a princess, didn't marry her like he'd promised, as they told Theodore while they attempted to kill him for the slight. They didn't believe Theodore when he tried to tell them that he's not the one they're after. Damned the rules, he didn't spend the night with a princess, it's not him, it's someone else!
The family didn't believe him and nearly got him with their rapiers hadn't Lila laid down the law with landing a chandelier on their heads.
No one died, at least Theodore hoped, he didn't get the chance to ask, he and Lila escaped with the skin barely on their teeth.
They had to stay in the TARDIS for what felt like weeks somewhere else before they even discussed going home, because Theodore didn't want his brother finding the scars from the rapiers, and rather have Hammond on a tangent, Theodore kept it mum and Lila had to pretend nothing's wrong.
Theodore still has scars on his chest, but thankfully he doesn't partake in swimming often for anyone to notice, and Lila poked fun at his plight by saying he'd have women lining up outside his door if he had a scar over one of his eyes, claiming it gave him a sense of mystery.
"Basing on something?" Theodore had to ask her after she said this and she didn't say anything more, because they had to deal with books coming into the library.
Simple times, that was, now they're dealing with a very real possibility of death.
"There's a difference, Lee," Theodore stated before he prodded her to leave and she left with the officer while he went with the commander as they hurried.
Running through the halls with the commander flashing his torch, Theodore looked around as he searched for the Plague Doctor while Commander Ryan led him towards where they kept their tranquilizers.
There's no one patrolling in the hallway, just them, and it's eerily quiet. Everything radio silent, Commander Ryan doesn't know where anyone is and where they're positioned.
The darkness and the storm outside not helping them in their dilemma while they're going up to the sliding doors. Commander Ryan rattled as he's trying to get inside, but he found it heavily secured with non-powered locks.
They're making sure the Plague Doctor couldn't backtrack into any cleared rooms, further corralling it where they wanted it.
"Damn," cursed Commander Ryan as he turned around to face Theodore as he tells him that they can't get inside, the doors' sealed, and he doesn't have a key.
Showing his pearly whites, Theodore dug into his pocket and brought out his Sonic Screwdriver as he tells the wearied commander, "When in doubt, sonic it!"