Hey guys, so, in case you missed the update chapter, I ended up losing SWW for a few days, but I managed to get all of it back with little issue. This chapter is a bit short, mainly cause DS is weird and I hate it, but also because of the next few chapters are going to be... interesting... to write.
the-apple-seed said: Love Chloe asking about "Songbird." Great work as always
Ohma replies: Aw, thanks Apple! Hopefully you'll like this chapter as well, even if it is small.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, any affiliated books, or comics
"Those things out there will kill you too!" Rose shouted.
"They won't harm us," Klebanov said. "They know that if they drain energy from us it will just feed right back. They'd be wasting their time."
"They might still try," the Doctor told him. "Could be rather painful, I'd think."
The zombie scientists seemed to hesitate at this, turning to their leader, who was frowning. Whether it was from not realizing that issue, or trying to deal with this one at a time, she wasn't sure.
"So we're the food?" She asked, voice shaking as they all started to bunch up, trying to ignore the hammering from the creatures outside.
"Exactly right," he answered, smiling. "It should begin to sate their appetite while we slip away to attend to some unfinished business down at the docks. There is a way out of here, you know, but you'll never find it."
The nukes, she realized with a pained jolt.
"Don't need to," she could just barely hear the Doctor snap. "Jack!"
"Ok, forget cover, just do it!" Jack threw himself onto the floor, and something happened to the door as it collapsed inwards, a writhing mass of tentacles stabbing into the room.
Everything seemed to happen at once as the skeletal remains of the scientists started to rush towards the villagers, forcing them towards the creature, before someone beside Jack, Krylek, set off the charge. Lightning like electricity flickered across the room as the debris rained down on them all, the flashes showing frightened faces and clutched hands as, one by one, the villagers were put through the smoking hole.
She only managed to stay standing due to the Doctor and Rose, and she could see that half of Krylek's face was covered in blood as the lights gave one final flicker. The villagers picked up the pace as the husks continued to charge, and she was acutely aware of the gunshots as the Doctor bundled her and Rose ahead, urging others to go through as well.
And then, she saw her.
"Valeria!" Her and Jack yelled at the same time. Rose paused, giving them a nod, having not yet gone through. Chloe was next, and she was dragging her feet.
"Rose-" she protested, but the Doctor shook his head, turning to Jack
"Go with Levin, keep Klebanov and his mates busy," the Doctor told Jack, and something in the pit of her stomach screamed.
She ducked under the time lord's arm and ran as fast as she could through the crowd. "Rose!" The blonde as about 10 feet in front of her, and she could see the realization dawn on her face, perhaps moments too late as one of the soldiers grabbed her and dragged her away.
Even if Chloe had backup, she wouldn't be able to save the girl.
"We're going to the ships, aren't we?" Chloe asked as they all limped down the hill. "They're wanting power, but they haven't got enough."
"Close," he agreed. "We're getting fuel?"
"Fire?" Perhaps there was too much of a hopeful tone in her voice that got a sudden laugh from him. It lifted the weight, just a little bit.
"Didn't expect you to be a secret pyromaniac," he said, and she let out her own tired laugh.
"Don't you know? All redheads are pyros."
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her leg had started to bleed again, causing her to limp, or it was just the day's events getting to her, but something just made her start crying. It was silent, and even though she tried to not draw attention to it, the Doctor looked at her in concern. Thankfully, he didn't say anything about it, and she honest to god didn't know why she was crying, just that she… she was tired. Of what, she didn't know, but the one thing she was certain of is that she wasn't tired of traveling. Maybe it was losing people?
By the time they had gotten to the docks, torches (the wooden ones) were handed out to those villagers who followed, and they gathered through the harbor, their goal to the dry dock. She still wasn't completely sure if it was for fuel, energy, nuclear, or plain old fuel, only that the Doctor seemed confident, which meant it was almost over, right?
"We need these things to believe they've got us where they want us," the Doctor was telling one of the men.
"The dry dock?"
"If that's where the fuel is. We'll check it out, set it up and then I'll leave you to it."
I'll. Not we'll. Well, to be expected, she supposed, but it didn't stop the sting any less. Apparently, Vahlen didn't like it either. "What? You're just going to let us fend for ourselves?"
"You'll have Chloe," the Doctor protested. "Even then, you'll do all right. Really." He seemed so certain, so she nodded, even as he turned to her. "Your bleeding should stop the further I'm away. Stay sitting even when it does." She knew he was blaming himself, which meant probably another fight, but honestly, she was surprised they hadn't fought more.
"I'll do my best," she promised before lowering her voice. "You're going into the subs, aren't you?"
The Doctor just barely nodded.
Chloe sat on one of the metal crates on the dry dock, looking between Levin, Krylek, and one of the scientists, Kornilova, as everyone else gathered behind her, the soldiers fanned out at the end in the defensive. All around them, the redhead was acutely aware of the submarines. The fires were on their last embers, but the sun was slowly starting to come up.
"Looks like we're on our own this time," Krylek said.
"I'm here," she reminded them, and like the Doctor had said, her leg no longer hurt, and the bleeding had stopped. Of course, that's when the first of the creatures began to push through the smoke, the fire making it's skin hiss and crack open, but it still came through.
"No grenades or ammo," she murmured. "And I can't touch it. Ideas?"
"There's a life belt over there."
Chloe blinked at Kornilova's suggestion, glancing at the other woman. She was smiling. "I can tell none of you are local, and these two are army, not navy."
"The water is iced over," Levin protested. "And if it weren't, one life belt would hardly help us all, and if it did, we'd freeze to death."
"Retreat, ser?"
"I don't think there's anywhere very much to go. A bit of beach, then cliffs. We might as well stay here."
Chloe reached down to grab the wooden box beside her, snapping the rotten front off to see a flare gun and three shots, as well as rotten scraps of fabric that used to be a life belt. "Colonel, here," she handed the gun off to him.
"It won't hold them back for long," he mused. "But it'll give them something to think about."
But, sadly, almost immediately, the flares had to be used, every three minutes, and they could all see how the shot went into the jelly-like mass before exploding, only to be replaced by a new one.
She went to stand as the last one was shot but stopped as she saw it sway before it began to collapse in on itself, simply melting away. She wasn't sure what the Doctor had done, only that it had stopped the creatures, and most likely the husks as well.
"What's happening?" Kornilova asked.
"I have no idea. Nightingale?"
"The Doctor," she answered. "He stopped it."
She could see Rose and Jack talking in the stone circle that started it all, and as she watched from the TARDIS doors, she could see the Doctor finishing his own goodbyes and walking towards her. She handed him back the leather jacket, and watched in amusement as he put it back on. "Why haven't you water proofed that thing yet?" She asked, getting an affronted look.
"This is pure Satturan leather," he said it like she knew what it was, and just raised an eyebrow.
"And you spend how many credits buying a new one when we end up going for an accidental swim again?" He went to open his mouth, but quickly shut it, making her just shake her head. "You're always so…"
"Funny?"
"Fussy, at least when it comes to outfits," she tacked on hurriedly at his even more insulted look. "You are incredibly funny, but I thought that went without saying."
"You're short, but I don't bring it up."
She wanted to bring up exactly how many times he cracked short jokes whilst helping her cook (he could, in theory, cook, but in his 9th body, he was banned from even touching a utensil), but instead just nodded in defeat. "Fair enough. What exactly happened down there?"
"Simple, really. I attached the refuelling hose to the torpedo seawater intake."
"Flooding the fuel tank with water and diluting it to where it can't start," she hummed. "But that wouldn't've explained why the blobs suddenly imploded."
"I reversed and boosted the signal,"
And didn't that just make a whole lot of horrible sense? "The feedback overwhelmed them," she watched as Rose started to walk away, and Jack hugged Valeria, who slowly hugged him back. "Will you be able to help Rose?"
"We're getting close to the deadline," he answered. "Too late for Valeria, but if we're quick, we can fix your hand."
Rose was caught up, and the second Jack was in, the TARDIS was set to automatically go into the vortex, humming reassuringly as they went into the medbay, Chloe not at all surprised to see the dermal regenerator waiting. She went first, with her hand, not at all surprised when Rose got her face fixed before her leg. The blonde had a few gray hairs remaining, but she didn't seem that bothered by it as Jack gave Chloe and the Doctor a cheeky wink, ushering the slowly crashing Rose towards their rooms.
"Why is it you always get hurt?" he asked, and she just shrugged.
"I know a few times why, but not this," she answered, equally as quiet. "What's next after our rest?"
"How about some history," he suggested. "Maybe, say Queen Elizabeth the First?"
Her heart leapt in her throat as she realized what he could be hinting at before she forced herself to smile. "Sounds… fantastic."
If you see something wrong, have a question, or just want to let me know what you think, please, leave a comment!
