IN PROGRESS

Chapter One

Diary entry #47-73-3Σ7

"I have been in hiding for so long now, I don't even remember what the outside world looks like anymore, just the same four walls. All day, every day. I know they will come for me, that I am on borrowed time and when they do, I won't even be me anymore. I can hear them, out there, crashing around and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Not that there is much left to destroy anymore. Most of the world outside was destroyed when the world tried to destroy them…. we failed. Now I spend my days waiting. Waiting for the inevitable. When that day comes, I pray there won't be enough left of my mind to realize what I will end up doing, When I become…... one of them."

A low mechanical groaning sound came out of nowhere, almost as if a robotic being was in excruciating pain, and then, all of a sudden it stopped. A deep blue wooden box had appeared out of nowhere and was now standing in amongst the rubble of a collapsed shop. It wasn't very large, and it had the words 'POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX' along the top. One of the doors creaked open and a rather tall man stepped out. He was wearing a pair of black boots, smart black trousers, and a black waistcoat with a smart white shirt underneath. Over all this he wore a long black coat with a red trim inside. He had short grey hair and wore a distinguished look on his face. He looked around and noticed a damaged sign on the floor that read 'TRENZO'S BAZAAR', he sighed "What have people got against the little shops?" he asked in a heavy Scottish accent. As he said that another voice appeared from inside the blue box except this time it was a female's voice, "Careful" she said with a Blackpool accent, "Your 10 is showing".

Confused by this the man swung around "Excuse me?" he asked, genuinely puzzled by this. "Never mind." The voice responded from inside. "Well then if you have quite finished Clara, you're letting a draft into the TARDIS and she doesn't like it" The man said to her, sounding rather annoyed like he had missed an inside joke. A women stepped out and closed the door behind her. She was wearing black boots with black jeans and a cream jumper, she had Shoulder length brown hair and a big grin on her face. "Now your 11 is showing" she smiled. The man just stared back as if what he heard wasn't funny. "Lighten up Doctor, it was only a joke." Clara rolled her eyes. "We don't have time for jokes Clara, the TARDIS brought us here for a reason." The Doctor replied. Clara walked over to him with a slight spring in her step. "What reason is that then" she asked quizzically. The expression on his face was that of a disappointed parent. "Medical Advice." He responded. She looked around at the rubble at her feet. "Looks like they're gonna need a lot of help." She sounded concerned. "Come on" The Doctor sounded serious now, "Lets go and see what we can do" They started to walk away from the TARDIS venturing further into the ruins of the town that once existed there, completely unaware that not only were they being watched, but they were being followed

After what felt like forever, they came across a makeshift shack that looked like it was cobbled together in a hurry. The walls were wooden, and the roof was made from tin, it looked just big enough to house a small person for a short amount of time. Clara poked her head inside. As she re-emerged a look of horror and shock was etched onto her face. "Doctor." She spoke softly. "I think you need to see this." She stepped aside and hung her head, staring at her feet. The Doctor looked at Clara, then entered the small shack, ducking his head as he entered. There was a bedroll on the floor and on top of it was a body, or what was left of one anyway. It was missing its left forearm and its right leg from the knee down. There were dried blood stains covering the floor, as if this person had been here for a while. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his trusty Sonic Screwdriver, pointed it at the body and pressed a button. A green light emanated from the tip and lit the whole shack in a green glow. As it did this a high-pitched warbling sound was resonating from the Screwdriver. He moved it slowly over the body, paying extra attention to missing limbs, as if he was scanning it. He also scanned the dried blood on the floor, then with a flick of his wrist, the Screwdrivers tip flung open revealing a green core. The Doctor stared at this intently as if it was a computer screen showing him the results of his scan.

He emerged from the shack with a concerned look on his face. "What happened?" Clara asked. She was sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs, knees up by her chest. "The only time I have ever seen something like that was on the telly on those zombie shows like 'The Walking Dead'. They do that to try to stop the infection, so they don't turn." She sounded like she was close to tears. "I don't know. Even the Sonic could make it out." The Doctor sounded more angry, than upset. "But we will find out and when we do we will do whatever we can to stop this." He extended his hand to Clara. She took it and rose to her feet. They locked eyes and in that moment, Clara saw that familiar determination and knew that no matter what lie ahead, He would make everything right again. She dusted herself off, "Lets press on." She said, "We need to find out what happened here" The Doctor nodded and with that they set off again leaving the shack behind but very much at the front of their minds, letting it compel them, fuel them in their mission to help anyone and everyone they find so they don't end up the same way

As they walked on, they passed more of the makeshift shacks, some looked like they had just been built, others looked as though they had been there a while. The Doctor looked inside each one, Clara refused, she had enough trouble trying to shake the sight of the last shack. "They're empty." The Doctor said. "But there is a connection with all these shacks, the blood." "What about it?" Clara asked worryingly. "Its not blood, Well, it was but it's not anymore." The Doctor answered. "It's like something re-wrote their DNA and changed them, but why? What for?" He was trying to think what this could be, but his mind was coming up with too many Questions, He needed to focus and to do that, he needed answers. "Doctor?" Clara called from behind him. She sounded scared. He turned around and as soon as he saw why she was scared, his face turned from confused, to angry. Standing next to Clara was a man of average height, wearing scruffy and torn clothes. The Doctors eyes trailed along his outstretched arm and there, in his hand, was a gun, pointed at Clara's head.

The Doctor was about to reach into his pocket to grab his Sonic Screwdriver to disarm the scruffy man but before he could do this, he felt something cold pressed against his neck. "Don't go getting any ideas." A deep voice spoke from behind him. "Turn around slowly keeping your hands where we can see them". The Doctor slowly raised his hands so they could be seen and slowly turned to face the voice. He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. The man that was holding the gun was wearing torn clothes as well except this man had an eyepatch and was staring straight at The Doctor.

"What have we got here then?" He asked. The Doctor didn't respond, instead he just stared at the man standing opposite him. The man cocked his gun "I won't ask again." "Stupid" The Doctor mumbled. The man opposite looked taken aback, as if he couldn't believe that someone dared to offend him. "What?" He asked through gritted teeth. "I called you stupid." The Doctor replied. "Not only are you pointing a gun at the one person who could help you lot, but you're pointing a gun at his friend and that's not gonna get me to help you." The Doctor stepped closer, so the gun was now pressed against his forehead. "That's gonna piss me off!"

"Who the hell are you?" The man asked The Doctor, now slightly concerned. "I'm The Doctor, and that's Clara." The Doctor answered, still visibly angry, "Now if you want my help, lower your damn weapons." The man stepped back slightly and nodded to the scruffy man by Clara. Both men lowered their guns. "A doctor you say, would be handy to have you around." The man extended a hand to The Doctor. "The Names Malthis, and that's Pola." The Doctor turned away from him and walked over to Clara. "Are you alright?" He asked her calmly and sincerely. She nodded "I'm fine, just wasn't expecting it." She answered. "Look I'm sorry about the guns" Malthis said. "But you can't be too careful these days." The Doctor didn't respond "Can you help? Pola asked sounding hopeful. "That depends." The Doctor responded. "On what?" Malthis asked him. The Doctor swung round to face him "No More Guns." He spoke slowly but sternly.

They both nodded and put their guns away. "Right, that's better now who can tell me what happened here?" His tone and mood changed instantly from angered to friendly. "It all started when a meteorite struck the planet." Pola explained. "At first, everyone was excited. It was new, it was from space." His face dropped. "Then it cracked down the middle and this mist appeared. Everyone started panicking and running around, trying to get away but these tentacles appeared from the meteorite and were dragging people away. By the time the military had showed up the tentacles had disappeared, and the mist had gone and whatever was inside that meteorite had fled." The Doctor looked concerned, and Clara looked worried. "Then after a while people started changing." Malthis joined in. "Turning into these godforsaken beings. All they care about is making everyone like them." The Doctor looked at Malthis. "Take me to the meteorite" He demanded.

"Well to do that is gonna require stealth" Pola replied. "But its too late to go today" Malthis said looking at the setting sun "The Changers seem to get more active at night." "Changers?" Clara asked. "That's what we call them" Malthis replied, "On account of what they do to you." "We need to get back; we can leave first thing." Pola said. He turned to Malthis "Think the boss would want in on this? He did say to be on the lookout for any suspicious beings." He asked quietly. "We can ask, at the very least he could spare some men and some equipment." Malthis responded, then they both turned to face The Doctor and Clara. "This way you two, we can put you up for the night." Malthis said. Clara and The Doctor looked at each other then looked back at the two men. "Well then." The Doctor said, "Lead the way" Clara finished.