WARNING!
THIS FICLET CONTAINS DARK HUMOUR ON TOPICS SOME MAY FIND SENSITIVE.
THIS WAS SOMETHING I CAME UP WITH SOMETIME LAST YEAR DURING ONE OF THE MANY LOCKDOWNS TO PASS THE TIME.
IN NO WAY DO I BELIEVE WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD AT THE MOMENT IS A JOKE, BUT SOMETIMES YOU NEED A LAUGH TO MAKE IT THROUGH THESE TOUGH TIMES.
IN NO WAY IS THIS WRITTEN TO BE DISRESPECTFUL.
IF YOU DO NOT THINK THIS IS YOUR TYPE OF FIC, YOU'RE WELCOME TO MOVE ON.
IF YOU DO, I HOPE YOU ENJOY.
EITHER WAY, I HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN.
P.S.
DONT FORGET TO SANITISE THOSE RAZORBLADES.
YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE THEY HAD BEEN BEFORE THEY FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THE CHOCOLATES.
"Come on, Doc!" Shania exclaimed as she rushed to the TARDIS doors. The brunette pulled the door open and stepped outside, only to come to a stop and her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the empty street the TARDIS had appeared on.
Looking back inside the TARDIS, she noticed the Doctor frowning at the scanner.
"Everything all right?" she called, causing the Doctor's head to snap in her direction.
"Yeah," he called back, a grin appearing on his face as he moved to grab his coat, "Everything's fine."
As he made his way to the doors, putting his coat on, the Time Lord glanced at the scanner.
He wasn't too sure as to where the TARDIS had taken them, but something had him feeling uneasy at how silent she had become the moment they landed.
A Few Blocks Away
"Stay indoors! Self-isolation is in effect! Stay indoors! Self-isolation is in effect!"
A Dalek trundled down the empty street.
"Breaching isolation will result in extermination!"
Movement caught the aliens attention, and its eyestalk swivelled in the direction it came from.
"You will cease movement!" it cried as it changed direction and headed towards the human that was trying to hide behind a dustbin.
As the Dalek got closer, the man suddenly shouted, "No!" before making a dash for it down the street.
"Exterminate!" the Dalek shouted and its laser fired.
The beam it the man, who let out a scream before he fell to the ground – dead.
Rolling towards the fallen man, the Dalek stopped a few feet away and its eyestalk looked down at the body. "Infection found!" it suddenly cried, "Request transport for immediate incineration!"
There was a flash of light around the Dalek and the body, and when it disappeared, both had vanished.
As the Doctor and Shania walked, the Doctor's frown only seemed to deepen as they came upon nothing but another empty street.
"Kinda spooky, don't ya think?" Shania asked as she looked around. The brunette tugged her jacket tighter around her in a self-comforting manner.
"Hmm, you could say that," the Doctor remarked as his eyes narrowed slightly, noticing a curtain in a nearby house move.
Suddenly, the front door of the house was thrown open and a woman came running out.
"Wait! What are you doing?!" the Doctor exclaimed as the woman grabbed the duo's arms before started to tug them in the direction of home.
"Shh!" the woman hissed as they came to a stop at her front gate, her wide eyes darting up and down the empty street, "We can talk inside."
Shania and the Doctor shared a confused glance, both having noticed how pale and scared the woman looked. The pair followed her through the gate, though each gave the street one last glance before they did so.
The moment they were inside and the door – much to the Doctor's curiosity – locked, the woman suddenly rounded on the duo.
"Do you two have a death wish?!" she asked, her hands shaking, "What were you thinking of going outside?"
"Well, I felt like a stroll, and the Doctor didn't want to..." Shania trailed off when the woman just shot her an unimpressed glare.
"Why are you scared to go outside?" the Time Lord cut in before the woman could blow up on them, which he had a feeling she was about to if the colour that was quickly returning to her cheeks was anything to account for.
"Don't tell me you don't know?" the woman asked incredulously as she looked between the pair.
"Hermits United," Shania quipped, "Todays our ten year get-together."
"What?" the woman blinked.
"Shania," the Doctor scolded as he glared at his companion before taking a step towards the confused woman. "Why don't you tell us what's going on," he said, his voice softening.
"You really don't know?" the woman's eyes widened as she looked at the Doctor. "Oh, gods. We're gonna need some tea," she quickly said before ducking out of the room.
"She seems nice," Shania drawled as she looked around the sitting room they had been led to. She sat down on one of the sofas and picked up a book from the coffee table in front of her. "Any idea as to what would have her so scared?" she asked.
"Many things," the Doctor said as he raised an eyebrow at the brunette, "You lot like making enemies."
Shania snorted, "Like you can talk."
The pair turned when the woman re-entered the room, two mugs in her hands. "Here," she said, giving one to the Doctor.
"Thanks," he replied before repeating his question from earlier, "Why are you scared to go outside?"
The woman gave Shania her tea, and as she straightened, her eyes darted to the window. "It started a few months ago, in China," she started, her voice soft as if she was afraid to be overheard, "There was a virus, the likes we've never encountered befo-"
"Virus?" Shania and the Doctor chorused, both once again sharing a confused look.
Before the woman could explain, a crashing noise came from outside and the Doctor and Shania were already moving to the window. They paled at the sight of the Dalek that was slowly making its way into the home across the street.
"Wait! You can't!" the woman cried as the pair dashed outside.
"...sensors have detected that you and your family have been infected. By the decree of the Shadow Proclamation, this planet has been quarantined, and the infected to be immediately exterminated and incinerated."
"No, please. It wasn't our fault."
The Doctor had just reached the front door, but froze when he had heard the Daleks words. His face drained of all colour as he suddenly started to back away from the home, grabbing Shania's hand to stop her from entering the house.
"Doctor?" she questioned, looking to him in confusion.
He didn't say anything.
He couldn't as fear gripped at his hearts.
Instead, the Time Lord turned and ran, knowing that he needed to get himself and Shania out of there.
Why the TARDIS had taken them to Earth in 2020 was a mystery.
The time period had been locked by the Shadow Proclamation to stop anyone – aliens and time-travellers alike – from visiting.
"Doctor?!" Shania cried out as he dragged her along, "What about the family? Aren't you going to stop them?" she asked, "It's going to kill them!"
The Doctor paused long enough to glance back at his companion, and she was shocked at his expression.
"They're already dead."
The brunette barely heard the words as shock coursed through her. She hardly noticed that she was moving again as the Doctor dragged her towards the TARDIS.
Once they were inside, the Doctor let her go and slammed the door closed before rushing up to the console and getting her to dematerialise within seconds.
Shania was standing frozen by the doors, her expression horrified as the Doctor sent them into the vortex.
"Doctor," she called when he stopped and successfully drew his attention, "Why didn't you save them? The Dalek was going to kill them. You once told me that they were the most deadliest creatures in the universe, and you just let them slaughter that family.
The Doctor didn't say anything, his gaze dropping to the console.
"The woman said there was a virus," the brunette continued as she took a step towards the Time Lord, "Couldn't you have helped them? You have the TARDIS. I thought you'd have a cure for any disease in the med bay."
Turning his head slowly, the Doctor met his companions gaze, his face set like stone.
"There is no cure."
"What?!" Shania exclaimed.
The Time Lord shook his head. "The corona virus was contracted by a man in China. It spread like wildfire across the entire Earth; killing anyone it came into contact with. That Dalek, it was helping you humans. If they hadn't appeared, the Shadow Proclamation would have burned your planet to stop the virus from spreading throughout the universe," he explained.
Shania reeled back in shock at what she had just heard.
A virus that had no cure?
That should be impossible.
"But, Doctor. There must have been something you could have done?" she asked.
He was the Doctor.
He was always helping.
"I am doing something," the Doctor replied as he pulled out his sonic and begun to scan the brunette.
"What?" Shania asked, eyeing the Doctor as he moved back to the scanner.
The Time Lord glanced at his sonic, his eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly as he glanced towards his companion before he was off again; moving around the console with another grin on his face as he put his ship into flight once more.
"How do you feel about visiting the planet Zogg?" he asked as he pulled the lever, landing the TARDIS.
"Planet Zogg?" the brunette enquired, a little dumbfounded that the Doctor would want to go somewhere else after what they just went through.
"Yeah," the Time Lord replied, "Wonderful planet. Off you go, I'll be out in a second. I just need to check something."
He moved around the console and back to the scanner, missing his companion's frown as she glanced at the doors. When she turned back to the Doctor, he gestured to the doors and all but shooed her out.
Shania sighed, knowing how stubborn the Doctor could be, and reluctantly opened the door and stepped outside.
She didn't see the Doctor's face fall as his eyes drifted back to the scanner.
"I'm sorry, Shania," he whispered as he snapped his fingers. The door to the TARDIS shut, leaving Shania outside on Earth – right after they had left.
His lips tugged downwards as he read the positive result that was flashing on the scanner, and with heavy hearts, the Doctor piloted the TARDIS away; ignoring the shouts from Shania as she screamed at him to let her back in.
As soon as he was in the vortex, the Doctor knew that it had started before he had even glanced down to his hands, that had begun to shimmer with golden energy.
"Fuck!" he cursed, right before he threw his head back and regenerated.
Several Years Later
"Where to?" the Doctor asked his latest companion as he dashed around the console.
"What about the 2020 Olympics on Earth. I heard that it's expected to be a good year."
The Time Lord froze, his good mood gone as he stared at the console in front of him.
He slowly raised his head to meet his companion's eyes.
"Never, and I mean never mention that year in my presence again!" he stated rather coldly.
His companion took a step back, startled by his sudden change in demeanour.
"O-okay," she squeaked.
No one knew why the Doctor always seemed to be running.
No one had seen what what's had as he stared into the Untempered Schism at only eight-years-old.
But it would have come to a shock to those who thought they knew him that during the year of two thousand and twenty, the Doctor left the humans in the hands of his greatest enemy.
The year the Corona Virus threatened to wipe out the universe.
It was the year the Daleks saved us all...