Chapter 21: Ready or Not

A/N- So, I am super sorry! I know I said I would update in two weeks and it's not been three. I was at camp longer than I thought so I couldn't update. Again I really sorry for the wait. I'm also sorry this was posted on Sunday and not the usual date. I just moved back to school so things are a little chaotic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to BBC

Tessellate- ALT-J

Three guns and one goes off

One's empty, one's not quick enough

One burn, one red, one grin

Search the graves while the camera spins

This is a horrible idea, was Kit's first thought when they came near the cage. This is a terrible, stupid, borderline idiotic idea!

She should have done a better job at convincing Rose not to go. She should have knocked her out or hand cuffed her to a table. She should have done anything except come along.

Even though she was mad, she couldn't hate Rose. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know what the Daleks were. She thought she was doing the right thing and if this was any other alien species Rose would be doing the right thing. But this wasn't a different species. This was a Dalek and it was going to kill them when it got a chance.

Adam showed his badge to someone who tried to stop them from going. The door opened for them and they walked slowly inside. Kit was feeling very nervous at this point and really just wanted to run straight to the Tardis and drag Rose with her.

Kit gulped when they came face-to-face with the Dalek. Even though it was chained up and was looking worse for wear, her body and mind were on high alert.

"Don't get too close," Adam warned as the door closed behind them.

Even with this warning, Rose kept moving closer to it. Kit grabbed her arm stopping her from moving any closer.

"Rose," she cautioned. "Be careful."

She pulled her arm out of Kit's grip and glared. "It's fine, Kittredge." She started walking towards the Dalek again. "Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler and over there's Kittredge. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?"

Kit took a sharp breath in. It was bad enough that they were so close to it but now they were mentioning the Doctor's name? This couldn't end well.

"Yes," the Dalek finally spoke.

"What?" Rose questioned.

It moved its eye to look at Rose. "I am in pain. They torture me, but still they fear me."

Kit rolled her eyes. It was laying it on pretty thick trying to make them feel bad for it. It didn't matter what this Dalek said, she wasn't going to feel bad for this thing. She knew it was just putting on an act because it thought they didn't know what it really was but she did.

"Do you fear me?" It asked.

"No."

"Yes." Kit said instead.

Rose gave Kit a sharp glare. "She doesn't mean that."

"Ah, yes I do."

"How can you fear something you know nothing about?" Rose questioned her.

"How can you trust something you know nothing about?" Kit countered.

"Why do you fear me?" It asked her.

Kit crossed her arms. "Give me a reason not to."

"I have done nothing to hurt you."

Kit wanted to laugh at that but instead shook her head. "Yet."

"Kittredge!" Rose snapped. "What's wrong with you? It's dying and you're acting like you don't even care!"

"I welcome death," it cut in.

"Don't say that!" Rose urged. "We can still help you."

"No but I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid."

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"My race is dead, and I shall die alone."

Kit knew that this Dalek was really playing with Rose heart string. She could see the tears in Rose eyes. She wasn't prepared though for Rose to reach out to the Dalek.

Kit's eyes widened. "Rose! Don't!"

It was too late. The minute Rose touched the metal head, she pulled back like it burned. The Dalek started shaking violently and Kit knew something bad was going to happen.

"Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!" It shouted as it broke the chains around itself.

"Oh, that's not good," Kit muttered as she started moving backwards.

The door opened and the man in the orange suite burst in. "What the hell have you done?"

It ran over to the Dalek with his drill in his hands.

"No! Stop! Don't go near it!" Kit yelled but she was ignored.

The Dalek raised sucker up to the man. Kit's eyes widened as she knew what was going to unfold.

"What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?" The man said sarcastically.

All of a sudden, the sucker reached up to his face and covered his nose and mouth. The man screamed in pain. Kit was about to go help but Rose grab her hand and drag her out of the room.

"It's killing him! Do something!" Rose yelled, running to one of the guards.

"Condition red! Condition red!" The guard shout into the comm. "I repeat; this is not a drill!"

Kit grabbed the guards arm and made him face her. "We need to seal the doors shut. That at least will give us some time!" The guard seemed unsure and panicked. "Close the God damn door!"

That seemed to snap the guard out of his trance. He ran over to the door and sealed in shut with some help.

Rose turned to her. "But the man that was in with us is—"

"Dead! We can't save him," Kit stressed.

"But—but I—"

Her eyes were watering and scared. Panic and shock was clearly written all over her face. Rose was starting to grow hysterical.

"Rose! You need to focus!"

She took a shaky breath in. "I didn't know. I didn't know this would happen."

Kit sighed and rubbed the back on her neck. "I know, that's why I don't blame you."

"You're not mad?" Rose questioned.

"Oh, I'm mad… I just don't blame you."

The video screen on the controls in front of them suddenly turned on. It showed a worried Doctor, Van Statten, his assistant and a guard. Kit felt a bit better seeing the Doctor.

"You've got to keep it in that cell!" The Doctor told them.

Rose rushed to the screen. "Doctor, it's all my fault."

Kit pushed passed Rose. "We've done that but I don't know how long it'll hold."

"For a while," one of the guards cut in. "That lock's got a billion combinations!"

"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat," the Doctor stressed.

"Then we need to get everyone out of here," Kit concluded.

"No!" Van Statten urged. "Stand your ground. I'm not letting it get away from me."

"Are you that stupid?!" Kit exclaimed. "It's already killed one of your men without even trying!"

"Listen to her! She's right!" The Doctor barked.

"I said no!"

Before Kit could reply the numbers on the lock started going crazy. Everyone was silent knowing that the Dalek was trying to get out and that it would very soon. The two guards went in front of them and raised their guns.

Nobody moved for a second and then all hell broke loose. The lock unlocked and the siren went off. The door opened slowly to reveal the Dalek.

"Open fire!" One of the guard shouted and then they started firing.

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed," Kit heard Van Statten shout.

"Rose, Kit, get out of there!" The Doctor yelled.

The bullets were doing nothing to the Dalek and it kept advancing forward pushing them back. The Dalek suddenly became distracted with something else and made a sharp turn.

"De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?" One of the guards ordered the other one.

"You, with me," the women guard ordered.

They ran with the guard down the hall. Outside the room, sirens were blaring and lights were flashing. Kit had no idea where she was or where she was going. She felt extremely lost. They turned down a corner and saw guards rushing towards them with their guns raised.

"Civilians! Let them through!" The women guards shouted to the others.

They run through the incoming phalanx of guards and down another hallway. She could hear guns going off and screams. She forced herself not to think about all the people that were being killed.

They ran until the came to a staircase. Rose stopped causing Kit to almost run right into her.

"Stairs!" Rose exclaimed. "That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!"

"It doesn't matter! We need to keep running!" Kit urged, knowing stairs weren't going to stop it.

Their guard ran up behind them. "It's coming! Get up!"

They ran up a flight of stairs but then everyone stopped. Kit groaned in frustration as the others thought they were safe now.

"We have to keep going!" Kit pleaded.

"We're fine now. It can't reach us," Rose told her.

The Dalek came up to the stairs and then stopped at the bottom. Kit watched it. It was waiting.

"Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs," Adam smiled in triumph.

"This is a highly intelligent alien species that wants to kill everyone in sight and you think stairs is going to stop it?!" Kit roared.

Adams smile wavered. "You're wrong. Look at it, it's not doing anything."

"Now listen to me," the guards started talking. "I demand that you return to your cage."

"What are you doing?" Kit questioned.

"Negotiating with it."

"Does it seem like something that negotiates?! We need to leave!"

"I have to try." She turned her attention back to the Dalek. "If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"

There was nothing and then it spoke, "Elevate."

The Dalek lifted up from the ground and started to glide it's way up the stairs.

"Oh my God," Rose muttered.

"Why does no one listen to me?" Kit said under he breath.

The guard turned to Adam. "Adam, get those two out of here."

"You need to come too," Kit pushed. "There's no point staying behind. It'll kill you!"

"I've got to try and stop it," She said bravely. "Now get out! Don't look back. Just run!"

They obeyed and ran up the stairs. After a flight or two, they went through a door and into a new hallway. They could hear a gun firing and then an blood curdling scream. Then there was nothing. Kit tried not to think about the women who was probably dead. She had to keep going.

"We should have stayed," Rose argued breathlessly as they ran.

"I know but there was nothing we could've done," Kit replied, trying to make Rose feel a bit better.

Rose didn't say anything to that which was probably for the best. The last thing Kit wanted right now was to get into another argument with her.

They turned a counter and Kit gasped. In a large open room was a bunch of guards and some people in lab coats with their guns raised and ready to fire at them.

"Hold your fire!" Someone yelled. Everyone lowered their guns slightly. "You three, get the hell out of there!"

They didn't need to be told twice. They bolted pasted the guards and over to the entrance on the other side. Again, much to Kit's annoyance, Rose and Adam stopped and watch the Dalek. It entered the room and turned to face everyone. Kit noticed how intensely it was staring at them or, more specifically, Rose. She found that odd at first but then she thought about how Rose touched the Dalek and her brain started working a mile a minute.

She felt someone grab her hand and drag her away from the scene in front of them. Before they could go any farther, Rose stopped.

"It was looking at me," Rose concluded.

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us," Adam agued.

Kit shook her head. "No, Rose is right. It was looking at her."

"You guys are over thinking it. It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around," he insisted.

"No, you don't get it. It was like there's something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me."

Kit rubbed the back of her neck as she thought. "I think it might have been because you touched it."

"So she touched it, no big deal," Adam tried.

"It is a big deal, moron!" Kit snapped.

"By why?" Rose asked.

"Because it might have taken your DNA."

"My DNA?"

"I think it used your DNA to—I don't know—replenish itself?" Kit shook her head. "It's just a guess. I can't be certain but that would explain why it feels like it knows you."

Before they could talk more, they heard guns being fired. It didn't take long before they started hearing screaming. Next thing they knew everything was quiet. Kit really wished she could do something except run but she had no weapon and no plan in mind. She was useless and that was the most frustrating thing to her.

"We need to go!" Adam yelled.

They started running again but Kit noticed that everyone was going a bit slower. It wasn't a surprise really. They hadn't stopped running and they were getting tired. Even Kit was starting to feel it.

They ran into another stairwell. Rose phone suddenly went off as they climbed the stairs.

"This isn't the best time!" Rose yelled into the phone and Kit knew she was talking to the Doctor. There was a pause and then she said, "Level forty-nine." There was another long pause. "Can't you stop them closing?"

"What's he saying?" Kit asked.

"The vaults being sealed! If we don't hurry, we'll be locked in with it!"

Kit gulped and yanked the phone out of Rose hand. She didn't want to believe the Doctor would do this to them.

"What the hell?" She yelled at him as they went through a door and into another hallway.

"Kit?"

"Yeah, why the hell are you sealing us off?!"

"I don't want to, believe me but if we don't then it'll kill everyone."

She knew he was right. It pained her but she knew. Still, she was worried. Kit knew she could make it but Rose was really dragging behind.

"Are you sure this is the only way?" She asked.

There was a pause. "Yes."

"Can you wait for two seconds?"

She could hear Van Statten on the other end say, "Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."

Kit bit her lip. "Do it, Doctor." And then she hung up.

She looked back at Rose who was really struggling to keep up. Kit slowed down and took Rose hand trying to get her to speed up.

"Hurry, Rose!" She yelled to her. She was able to get Rose to go a little bit faster but it still wasn't enough.

They rounded a counter and saw the bulkhead starting to lower. Kit knew there and then that Rose was not going to make it. She had to make a decision; let go of Rose hand and probably make it or stay with Rose.

"Kittredge, go! Your faster, I'm slowing you down!"

They were getting close to the entrance but the bulkhead was coming down fast. Adam was able to make it in time and rolled under.

Kit had a third option that she didn't like but looking at Rose she knew she had to do it. Kit was good a distracting Daleks. She could probably stall long enough for the Doctor to find a way to save her. If not then, it was better if she died then the both of them.

Kit slowed and moved behind Rose. She gave her a big shove that caused Rose to go just that little bit faster. Rose fell to the ground and roll under the bulkhead like Adam did. Kit, because of that push, slowed down way too much.

"Kittredge!" She heard Rose scream.

It was too late though and the bulkhead fully sealed. That left just Kit and the Dalek.