Honestly I had to split 8 into 8 and 9 because it was getting too long. Also, I'm thinking of posting Charls' character sheet onto another document because I wanna explain it but not explain it in the fic until later. I guess if I do release the sheet it'll take away mystery then. I dunno.
We arrived at a metal door, sort of rusted and the air smelled like exhaust fumes. By that I mean, it felt like you were breathing nothing but exhaust fumes - like there wasn't a hint of oxygen left in the air. I bet that if you breathed in that air long enough, you would suffocate. Like all doors this one was locked, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to unlock it. The sound of that thing made my ears tingle and my brain jump.
"Do you use that for everything?" I tried to make small talk.
"Well, yeah." The Doctor shrugged, "Sonic screwdriver is pretty useful."
"What does sonic mean?" I asked as he eventually got the door open.
"It's sonic," The Doctor tossed the sonic up and pocketed it, "Means it's sonic. Now back to Martha."
We walked through the door and stepped onto a balcony of sorts, overlooking what seemed to be a giant parking lot. Except with floating cars. I felt my lungs start to fill with fumes and I heard the Doctor coughing. This air was definitely not meant to be breathed in for a long period of time. I tried to hold back coughing as well but I just ended up choking on fumes which caused me to breath in more air which caused me to breath in more fumes which then caused me to cough more.
Over our coughing, I heard the car in front of us honking. A person with a hat, goggles, and a white scarf for a mask opened the door and waved at us.
"Hey!" the person shouted, "You daft, little, street struts. What are you doing standing there? Either get out or get in. Come on!" He waved again.
I looked to the Doctor as he covered his mouth while coughing, then we proceeded to dash into the person's car as fast as possible. The air in there was probably better than the air here or behind the door. Once we'd gotten in the guy shut the door behind us. I still had a little trouble breathing but eventually stopped coughing. I heard the Doctor continue to hack up his lungs and the lady who was sitting in the passenger seat handed him an oxygen mask.
I growled, trying to clear my throat - not that it worked any. It just made me look weird. I rubbed my eyes, and looked at the guy who'd saved us from suffocation. He was a cat. I blinked. A cat. A cat person. A cat hybrid. I didn't want to interrupt his story about the exhaust fumes so I stared. I knew staring was rude but a cat hybrid! Unbelievable!
"A fifty foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose." The cat hybrid sat back in the driver's seat.
The woman crossed her arms, "Oh, stop it. That's disgusting.
"What, did you never pick your nose?" He asked.
"Bran, we're moving." She said, sounding surprised or maybe excited. Why would you be excited to move? Is traffic really that bad?
"Right. I'm there. I'm on it." The cat hybrid, apparently named Bran, hopped forwards in his seat and pulled the lever between the seats.
We only moved one car space forward. Traffic must be really horrible. Wonder how long it takes to get to work. The Doctor leaned between the two seats, still using the oxygen mask.
"Twenty yards. We're having a good day." Bran turned around to look at us, "And who might you two be? He's very well-dressed for a hitchhiker and you're too casual to look like you belong with him." Bran gestured to Doctor's suit then at me then back at Doctor.
The Doctor slipped off the oxygen mask and handed it to me, I was still having a little wheeze in the corner of the van. I nodded gratefully and took the mask. I had nearly forgotten what actual oxygen was like. It's surprising how easy it is to forget what makes you live.
"Thanks." The Doctor smiled, "Sorry, I'm the Doctor and that's my companion Charls." He pointed back at me and I waved, still holding the mask to my face.
"Medical man and your assistant! My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie." Brannigan laughed.
"Nice to meet you." Valerie said softly.
"And that's the rest of the family behind you." Brannigan nodded to the curtain that I sat in front of.
I looked behind me and the Doctor reached over and pulled the curtain to the side. I poked my head in and saw the cutest little kittens.
"Ah, that's nice." the Doctor gently picked up one of the kittens, "Hello. How old are they?" He turned back to Valerie.
She pet the kitten, "Just two months."
"Poor little souls. They've never known the ground beneath their paws. Children of the motorway." Brannigan sighed.
I set down the oxygen mask and petted one of the other kittens. I smiled, I did like animals. I felt like I could relax around them, like they knew I was safe and I knew they were safe.
"Does that mean they were born here, in the van?" I asked.
"We couldn't stop." Valerie nodded, "We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance."
"What, you've been driving for two months?" The Doctor asked, not completely believing what they were saying.
Brannigan laughed again, "Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now."
What? Twelve years? How could anyone drive for twelve years? What about gas? What about food? What about entertainment? I couldn't believe my ears, and apparently neither could Doctor.
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked, eyebrows raised as far I thought they could go.
"Yeah!" Brannigan confirmed, "Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday."
"Feels like twelve years to me." Valerie gazed out at the cars in front.
Brannigan scoffed, "Ah, sweetheart, but ya still love me." He tickled her stomach and she laughed.
"Twelve years?" I asked, "Where did you start? How far have you come?"
"Battery Park." Brannigan stated, "It's five miles back."
"You travelled five miles in twelve years?" The Doctor asked again. I could understand why, I mean at that rate it's surprising that anyone got anywhere.
"I think he's a bit slow." Brannigan glanced at his wife.
"Where are you from?" Valerie asked as the Doctor set down the kitten.
"Never mind that. I've got to get out." The Doctor leaned forwards, looking out the window, "My friend's in one of these cars. She was taken hostage. We should go back to the TARDIS." The Doctor slid open the door and looked around.
"You're too late for that." Brannigan told him, "We've passed the lay-by. You're passengers now, Sonny Jim."
The Doctor closed the door, I could feel frustration flying off of him. I backed away a bit, taking refuge with the kittens.
"When's the next lay-by?" The Doctor asked through gritted teeth.
"Oh," Brannigan thought about it for a moment, "six months?"
My jaw dropped, we could not be stuck in a van for six months. That wasn't possible. I suppose if five miles took twelve years then maybe, but it couldn't be happening. We couldn't possibly wait six months to see Martha again. I would go insane with only a van to roam around in and the Doctor might go mad not knowing what was happening to Martha.
The Doctor had pulled out his sonic screwdriver again and apparently hacked the communications system in the van. I wondered how this man had never gotten arrested before. Actually, I didn't know that - maybe he had thousands of arrests on his record.
"I need to talk to the police." The Doctor spoke into the mic while a New New York police badge was rotating on the monitor.
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold." An automated voice spoke.
"But you're the police!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold." The voice repeated.
"That's kinda stupid," I muttered, and looked behind me. The Doctor and I were sitting at the very back of the van, he had wriggled around and back to behind the driver's seat.
"Is there anyone else?" The Doctor asked, "I once met the Duke of Manhattan. Is there any way of getting through to him?"
"Oh now, ain't you lordly?" Brannigan asked sarcastically.
"Is there still a Duke of Manhattan?" I thought aloud. I don't think I'd ever even heard of a Duke of Manhattan. Wonder what time period the Doctor met him.
"I've got to find my friend." The Doctor told him.
I huffed and muttered under my breath, "You mean our friend?"
The Doctor glanced back at me, "Well, I just thought that you didn't really know her too well."
I looked up, I didn't expect him to hear me. Fuck. I took a breath, "I suppose you're right."
"You can't make outside calls. The motorway's completely enclosed." Valerie shrugged.
"What about the other cars?" I asked. My comment earlier didn't really put me on Doctor's good side at the moment.
Brannigan bobbed his head, "Oh, we've got contact with them, yeah. Well, some of them, anyway. They've got to be on your friends list. Now let's see. Who's nearby?" He turned to the front screen and clicked on one of the boxes which pulled up an image of two old ladies and another box with a bunch of numbers. "Ah, the Cassini sisters!" He picked up the speaker, "Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here."
One of the ladies replied in an annoyed tone, "Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace."
Brannigan shook his head at the mic, "Oh, come on now, sisters. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"
The same lady responded, "You know full well we're not sisters. We're married."
My jaw dropped a bit. Not sisters but married?! The future must be such an accepting time. I wonder what their wedding was like.
"Ooooo," Brannigan sat up a bit, "stop that modern talk. I'm an old-fashioned cat."
I raised an eyebrow as Brannigan and Valerie held in laughter.
"Now, I've got two hitchhikers here, one of them calls himself the Doctor and the other one is Charls." Brannigan started to introduce us but the Doctor took the mic from him.
"Hello. Sorry," the Doctor settled his elbows on the back of the seats, "I'm looking for someone called Martha Jones. She's been carjacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."
I heard a second voice speak, "Wait a minute. Could I ask what entrance did they use?"
I looked down at the kittens who had piled together in a blanket and were sleeping. I let my mind wander, it wandered all the way to the girl. The strange girl, apparently from Pharmacy Town, who wanted to forget her parents. What a coincidence that I forget on accident. I tried to recall that faint feeling that I had when I had touched her shoulder. I closed my eyes and leaned back on the wall, the feeling was like when you thought you'd misplaced something. Like you know that it's supposed to be there but it's not. I wondered what could possibly be there that shouldn't or what should be there but isn't. I came to the conclusion that I didn't know, or rather I shouldn't know, the answer. How could I? I'd never been to New New York before. How would I know if something should be here or not?
It didn't make sense and the more I tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle - the more confused I got. The feeling of that broken, misplaced thing that I didn't know became stronger the more I thought. It was almost like I could grab it, strangle answers out of it, and know everything. Almost. I buried my face in my hands, staring at darkness. It frustrated me that I knew but didn't know. It was even probable to think that I knew the answer but forgot it.
I wandered around in the darkness, searching the dusty floor for some answer. Another piece of the puzzle, a forgotten memory, anything. I could only shuffle my feet on the floor, feeling for something that wasn't there. I was without a flashlight.
My head jumped out of my hands once I'd felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Doctor, he was squatting in front of me, concern dashed on his face for a moment. Then it was back to worry, worry for Martha's safety. I mustered up the strength to smile and stand up, he must've thought of a plan.