Unto the Universe

Chapter Five: New Earth: Lockdown

By Lumendea

AN: So, this chapter was actually tough to write after the past year as it deals with quarantines and dangerous diseases so this is a warning about that material. Normally, I wouldn't feel the need to put a warning on it as we all know the original episode, but after the past year, if this is likely to cause you mental harm then maybe skip this chapter. There will be one more wrap up chapter with some Rose and Adam and some Rose/Doctor fluff after this so feel free to skip this chapter and go straight to the happy ending.

…..

The Doctor's eyes widened as the Flesh climbed out of their pods, almost all at the same time, like a wave of inevitably crashing down on the nuns. Layers and layers of pods marked the thousands upon thousands of people who were infected and free. He saw the horror on the faces of the nuns as he pulled Rose to her feet, hoping that she was strong enough to move. She shook her head and swayed but stayed on her feet. The small group of Flesh approached the nuns.

"Please, save us," a man asked the nuns.

"I think we should withdraw," Jatt said. She and the nuns drew back slowly.

"We understood what you did to us," the man said. His words were slow but clear in the dim laboratory. "As part of the machine, we know the machine."

"Fascinating. It's actually constructing an argument," one of the nuns said.

Rose hissed in his arms, turning to glare towards the nuns, and the Doctor almost smiled at her behaving like herself. He watched the Flesh with wary eyes. It wasn't their fault, but he couldn't afford to forget that they were badly diseased. One-touch would kill even him. The TARDIS could do a lot to protect them from diseases, but even Artron energy had its limits. And thousands of diseases all at once was a dangerous notion.

"And we will end it," the man said.

Before anyone could stop him, he thrust his hand into one of the sparking electrical sockets that Cassandra had damaged. Electricity burst out, electrocuted the man, and overriding the system. The locks on all of the pods exploded in showers of sparks. Then the pods swung open.

"They're free. By the Goddess Santori, the Flesh is free!"

One of the women reached forward and touched Sister Jatt. Boils erupted over her body, and she screamed as she died. A soft gasp from Rose reminded Doctor that they were still in as much danger as the nuns. These people seemed to understand that it was the Sisters who had been in control, but he'd seen enough of the universe to know that revenge was possible.

Then the Flesh turned towards them. The Doctor wrapped an arm around Rose's waist and pulled her through the door behind them that Jack had opened. Behind them, Chip was wailing in grief and fear. He felt guilty for not being able to get to the being, despite them being the one responsible for freeing the test subjects, but he was surrounded, and Rose was his priority. She always was, and despite the situation, he was grateful that she fought him for a moment in an attempt to reach Chip. That, more than anything else reassured him that Rose was the one in control. Beyond Chip, he could see the nuns trying to run, but at least one of them was caught in the grip of the infected people. He heard a scream but was too far away to do anything. They ran with Jack in the lead, trying to navigate the mess of tunnels that was the ICU, heading further down into the depths of the lab.

"There's a lift!" Jack called.

"It won't work," the Doctor said. He glanced around; they were in a dark tunnel filled with cables and pipes. "The building is under quarantine."

"What now?" Jack called.

"Keep moving," Rose said. She was looking around. "This way!"

They raced down the tunnel, dodging a group of Flesh that were reaching for them. "There!" Jack yelled.

They entered a small room, and Rose hissed in alarm. The Doctor's eyes found the burned-out frame and knew that this was where Cassandra had trapped her. Jack ran to a door and opened it only to find the Flesh on the other side. He slammed it shut before any could touch him.

"There's a ladder here," Jack said. His eyes moved to the frame and Rose. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Rose said. She looked at the ladder. "Looks like the only way out."

The Flesh pushed down the door behind them. "Up the ladder!" Jack shouted. He pushed Rose ahead of them, and Rose glanced back to him. The Doctor nodded, and she started to climb with Jack right behind her, ready to catch her. "Faster, Rose!" Jack called up. "I know you've been through the ringer, but climb faster."

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

The Doctor heard frustration ringing in Rose's voice and started to climb himself. How was she really? He was pretty sure that Cassandra had been destroyed in whatever happened, but without the opportunity to check Rose's mind, he couldn't be sure. The Flesh were following them, climbing slowly up the ladder behind them. They were slower than the crew of the TARDIS, but they couldn't afford to slow down.

Above him, the Doctor heard the hum of Rose's sonic pen. A set of lift doors alongside the ladder opens, and he could see Rose stumble through them. Jack was right behind, turning around to reach for the Doctor. The Flesh weren't far behind, and the Doctor clamored after the others. Rose was beside the door and sealed it the moment he was through. Moving to Rose, the Doctor cupped her face and studied her eyes. They were brown with small flecks of gold. Familiar and warm.

"Hi," Rose greeted softly.

"Hi," the Doctor replied. Then, because he could, he kissed her softly on the lips. "How do you feel?"

"Bit of a headache," Rose admitted. "But otherwise, alright."

"Doctor, what now?" Jack asked.

"The building has gone into quarantine," the Doctor sighed. "No one in or out."

Banging started on the door behind them, and the Doctor quickly guided Rose and Jack into the next room, sealing the door behind them. On the other side was Ward 26 and a frustrated-looking Adam Tyler. The assistant of the Duke came rushing at them with a chair before Adam stopped her.

"They're clean," Adam said. "If they'd been touched, they'd be dead at this point."

Clovis glared at him, and the Doctor knew that they'd missed something, but he didn't have time to ask. "What's the status?" He asked Adam.

"We have contact with three other wards that locked down fast enough not to be infected, but that's it. The hospital is in lockdown," Adam explained calmly. It was a contrast to the panicking patients around them. "I managed to get a warning out to the city, but not any details. I've prevented anyone from trying to break the quarantine," he said the last part with a look at the assistant.

"We should send a message," Clovis hissed at Adam. "I'm not dying-"

"And I'm not allowing you to cause millions of death because you're selfish and can't follow medical protocols," Adam snapped back. He shook his head and looked back at the Doctor. "I confiscated their devices, so I'm not popular in here."

"Good, at least the city will know better than to break the quarantine," the Doctor said. He almost smiled at Adam's control of the panicking bystanders.

"Yes, but it does raise the possibility that if they don't hear anything within 24 hours that they will take action to destroy any potential infection here."

"I don't like the sound of that," Rose said.

"It won't come to that," the Doctor assured Rose. "But we can't let these diseases get out. Right now, they're rare, but if they spill it into a large population, then it'll be almost impossible to contain."

"Agreed," Adam said. "New New York is a major travel hub, and it'll be almost impossible to shut down. If it gets out, it won't stop at ten million in the city."

"Even for you?" the Doctor pressed.

"I have some influence, Doctor, but not nearly that much," Adam replied. He seemed amused more than anything at the remark before schooling his features. "Do you have a plan?"

"We can't cure them," the Doctor said. "They were lab rats for the nuns." The novices in the war shifted back in shame but didn't protest. "But they're behaving oddly." He moved to a computer terminal built into the wall.

"They seem to know how to speak," Rose said. "And what happened to them? Are they telepathic? Can we calm them down through that?" She began to pace in the room. "They all moved together. They have some kind of connection with each other." Rose stopped and frowned. "How can they even move? They've been pods all their lives. They shouldn't have much in the way of muscle."

"The pods likely stimulated the muscles to simulate use," the Doctor offered. Most of his focus was on the computer. "Keep them a bit stronger so the Sisterhood could study the diseases they infected them with longer."

Rose made a sound of barely restrained fury. Her left hand rubbed at her right wrist where her bracelet should have been. The Doctor wasn't sure if she'd fully noticed its absence or not yet and regrated that they hadn't had time to search downstairs for it. When this was over, it would be a priority.

"How do we stop them?" Jack asked the Doctor. "Not to sound cruel, but that is a massive city, and we can't let them out to start touching everyone." He gestured out the window to the city of ten million waiting across the water.

"No," the Doctor groaned. He rubbed at his eyes. "We can't. We need to find a way to stop them."

"Without hurting them," Rose added firmly. "They're victims, and we can't let this turn into a massacre out of fear." She shivered, and the Doctor wasn't sure what part of the last hour had to scare her the most, the Flesh or Cassandra. "There's already been enough death today."

"You're right," the Doctor agreed. "So, we need to contain them and focus on getting them the medicines they need."

"Can their diseases be stopped?" Jack pressed.

"They haven't died yet. I suspect that they've been grown to have greater resistance in order to give the nuns more time to study the subjects. But it doesn't explain what they are doing. Touching everyone is spreading their diseases; they have to know that, but they keep asking for help."

"Touch starvation," Rose said suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "Sharon and Shireen were talking about it once. Babies, human babies, can die if they aren't held and touched. These people seemed to have been created as adults from what I saw, no children amongst them, so they may be in that stage. They are seeking out touch, not to harm, but to connect. If they are all connected to each other somehow, then it would make some sense as to why they are seeking out others rather than touching each other." She hesitated. "I mean if we don't think it's just revenge."

"Both seem possible," Jack sighed. "I'd be more than angry if that had been my existence."

"It would explain their desire for touch," the Doctor said. "And, we can use that to help them." He turned to the others in the ward. "Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"

To his satisfaction, everyone obeyed and rushed off to follow his instructions. Adam stayed close and gathered a few materials from the beds and storeroom, helping the Doctor build a rough harness around his body. The Doctor had a feeling that Adam knew what he was planning. Rose and Adam helped the Doctor link the solutions to his body. There wasn't enough to deal with all of the infected, but it would ease their suffering and make them less contagious if it worked.

"This won't completely cure them, you know," Adam said.

"I know. They'll need more medical care, but they won't be an infectious horde anymore."

"Right," Adam said. He shook his head as if trying to dispel a bad memory. "What is it with this planet and diseases," he muttered under his breath.

The Doctor didn't have time to ask what that was about. There was work to do. Heading into the hallway, he and Jack pulled open the lift doors. Calling Rose over, he grinned at her and jumped into the lift. Rose made a scared sound behind him, but he quickly hooked his newest toy onto the cable. Billions of years and lifts still operated on the same basic principles as in Rose's time. Then again, a pulley was a hard system to mess up.

"Rose, I need another set of hands," the Doctor called. "Jack, you stay here and make sure that quarantine stays in effect!"

"Yes, sir."

Rose jumped over to join him, gripping tight to his shoulders and hooking their legs together. Fear flickered across her face when she looked down, and the Doctor regretted calling her over. After everything that had happened, he should have asked Jack. But Jack would have made the position weird.

"Hold on!"

Rose grimaced but nodded. He released the lock, and they hurtled down the cable. A laugh escaped him with Rose screamed only for the sound to turn into a frantic laugh. Her grip on him tightened, and the Doctor watched the floors whirl by. Then he slowed them down as they reached the bottom. The disinfectant tank was right where it should be. Without a word, he started dumping the medications in. Rose helped him pull off all of the packets, and he could feel her confusion.

"We're going to use the disinfectant system," the Doctor explained. "I'm going to need you to pull that lever when I tell you to. It's going to resist, but that will force the system online."

"There isn't enough medication," Rose said softly. "You saw-"

"I know," he said gently. "It'll make their diseases noncontagious. It'll make it safe to treat them, and they will pass it to each other. It'll be okay," he promised. "Trust me."

"You know I do."

The Doctor grinned and opened the access latch to the lift. With one more glance at Rose, he jumped down and used the sonic screwdriver to open the lift doors. In the lobby, in the light of the natural sun for the first time in their tragic lives, were the Flesh.