Sorry for the delay of one week. It was a very busy week with emotional ups and downs. Fortunately, I've been able to do some actual writing! Okay, it's only for an hour every day but at least it's something and I'm actually making progress.

I really hope that this story is being read. I haven't been getting a lot of feedback on it and I really want to know how you are liking it. I know some people think that asking for reviews is just begging for attention but writers need to know if their work is being read. It gives them the necessary encouragement to continue. So, please feel free to let me know what you think. I'm always open to comments, both positive and negative. But I also ask that reviews be spoiler-free for the sake of fellow readers.

Again, I will try to post every week but, as you see from this time, sometimes it isn't possible. Be patient and kind.

Chapter 5

An Earth week had passed and the duo hadn't found even one of the troops that Nuru had spoken about. Alex and Rose made a second fur blanket and were in the process of making a portable shelter from any skins or furs they could procure, mostly thanks to Alex's hunting skills. He had fashioned a couple of water bags from fur and taught Rose all the skills needed to hunt and prepare the variety of animals they came across as well as additional survival skills she hadn't learned as a Torchwood agent. When questioned how he learned how to survive in the wild, Alex just gave her a sad smile and told her "It's a long story."

The small river they'd found led them further into the Death Zone towards what they hoped was a way out of the Zone and back to Earth. The couple remained close to the river, hunting and gathering as they went. As they traveled, they'd encountered a small number of fellow prisoners with whom they bartered or vied for resources, gaining a small lantern in the process. One person in particular was quite helpful. He didn't tell the couple his name nor did he ask for their names. He did, however, emphatically explain that they had encroached on his patch and that he was willing to share his plot of land and the water on it in exchange for one of Alex's water bags. He was also willing to convey his knowledge about Gallifrey.

He confirmed that the Time Lords were indeed in control of a vast empire. There were several subclasses in Time Lord culture: the Time Lords, civilian Gallifreyans, Outsiders, Shobogans, Nere'ii, and aliens. Time Lords and civil Gallifreyans were, of course, the rulers of Gallifrey and had the most clout in the society. Outsiders were Gallifreyans who wished to live a simpler life outside of Time Lord society. They kept to themselves outside of the major cities, often hunting or farming for themselves, and weren't considered much of a threat to Time Lords. Shobogans, on the other hand, were a great concern. Rebels, they often caused problems with law enforcement. Their offenses ranged from civil disobedience and vandalism to outright terrorism. However, since they were pure-blood Gallifreyans, they were still considered to be higher on the social scale than Nere'ii, those people born of a Gallifreyan parent and an alien parent. Nere'ii and aliens were the lowest class in Time Lord society, often used as slaves. Occasionally, Nere'ii might be able to better their positions and become free citizens but the work they received was always the least wanted, such as reclamation or mining. Apparently, there was only one alien to have gained some status in the Citadel but even he was still a slave.

Learning the caste system on Gallifrey may have given Alex and Rose answers but it also brought more questions. Nuru and his men had called Alex a Nere'i, which made sense in that he was only half Gallifreyan. Yet they talked about Nere'ii moving in troops, which indicated to the hybrid that the subclass had to be somehow militaristic. In addition, Nuru and his men had shown some genuine dislike for the subclass, possibly even fear. The only speculation that he could make from the information was that, in the Death Zone, the Nere'ii had much more power than they had in the cities. And yet neither Rose nor Alex had encountered a single Nere'i since they arrived on Gallifrey. How could they be so feared, or at least respected, if they were so rarely seen?

That night, after they had said their goodbyes to the kind stranger, the couple had settled down further up the river where they were fairly certain they would be safe for the night. After they'd made a camp fire, Alex worked on another patch of fur, preparing to add it to their work-in-progress tent, while Rose set up their sleeping area. Even as she did so, she gave out a loud yelp as she kicked at something, causing the hybrid to instantly ignore his work and go to her side.

"Rose, are you all right?" he questioned with concern as he held her shoulders gently.

"Yeah, I think so," she told him, though it was clear by her features that she was in some small degree of pain. "I think something bit me."

"Bit you? What bit you? Where?" He firmly guided her to the ground so that she was sitting while he looked around for the offender.

"My right leg, just above the ankle." She pulled her jeans up slightly to show him the location of the injury. "It's nothing, though. Doesn't even hurt that much anymore."

The half-Gallifreyan pulled out his glasses and perched them on his nose before using their lantern to shed some extra light. He grimaced as he examined the wound. "That's not a bug bite. Something bigger, like a small rodent. Not a cherote, that's for sure." He looked up at her. "What were you kicking at?"

The blond shook her head. "I don't know. It was dark… hard to see. I'm pretty sure I hit it, though. It might still be over there." Seeing him stand to investigate, she warned, "Be careful."

"Always," he answered automatically, using the lantern to scan the area where Rose had been setting up. He stopped at the sight of the small creature, no bigger than that of a mouse. Slowly crouching down, he got a better look at the animal.

"Did you find it? What is it?"

He didn't move, staring at the dead animal with wide, worrisome eyes. "It's a japilon," he answered after a moment. Slowly standing, he removed his glasses and put them away as he walked towards Rose, his eyes reflecting a change from worry to anger. Scooping up a rock, he hurled it into the wilderness with a deafening bellow, frightening the blonde woman. "It's not fair!" he cried at the sky.

"Alex, what is it? What's wrong?!" When he didn't answer immediately, she pleaded, "Doctor, talk to me!"

Swallowing tightly, he closed his eyes for a moment before going to her. He lowered himself to his knees so that he could look into her eyes without straining his neck. "You've been bitten by a japilon. They're rodents the size of mice but look more like beetles. And they're venomous."

"How venomous?" she asked with trepidation.

"It's a slow acting venom… but it's… it's rather nasty." The tone in his voice showed how upset he was with the situation. "If I can't find antivenom by this time tomorrow, you'll be… dead before dawn the next day, perhaps even sooner."

Rose stared at him, stunned by his words. "I'm going to die," she stated for clarification.

Determination filled the half Time Lord's eyes. "I'm not going to let that happen. I'll find antivenom. I'll save you."

She lowered her eyes, not wanting to see the fear on his features. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep, remember?" Getting no response, she looked up to see Alex pulling his dress shirt out of his trousers. "What are you doing?"

"Tending to your wound. If we're going to have even a chance, I need to restrict the venom's progress. It won't stop the venom but it might give us more time." As he spoke, he took off his coat and then his jacket before removing his dress shirt, leaving him only in a plum t-shirt. Retrieving their knife, he proceeded to cut the dress shirt into long strips, placing each strip on his coat to keep them from touching the ground. Once that was done, he cut Rose's jeans so that the lower half of her leg was exposed. "Sorry about the jeans."

"We'll just sew them up again later, yeah?" she commented, watching his actions. "Don't you need to suck the venom out or something?"

"We don't have the equipment and doing it with my mouth is a very bad idea. The last thing we need is both of us being poisoned. The best I can do at the moment is clean and wrap it." Pulling the jean's leg up and out of his way, he took one of the strips he'd made and wetted it with a splash of water before dabbing the bite gently. Putting the rag to the side, he collected the remaining strips and used them to bandage her leg starting at her knee and going down to her heel. "There we go. That should keep the venom from spreading too quickly." Then, without a word, he carefully picked Rose up from the ground.

"I can walk," she protested gently, not really minding the chivalry but still slightly annoyed by it.

"Not a good idea. Physical activity will cause your heart to beat harder and thus cause the venom to go through your body quicker," Alex told her as he moved her to her blanket, which she had placed close enough to the fire to gain from the heat but far enough that it wouldn't catch. "Comfortable?"

"Emotionally or physically?" the blonde retorted with a slight smile as she tried to hide her distress.

The Doctor returned the smile, feeling her anxiety clearly. "Try to remain calm. I know it isn't easy under the circumstances but the calmer and more relaxed you are, the better our chances." He retrieved their water bag and handed it to her. "Just a sip, enough to wet your mouth. We have to limit your food and drink intake."

"This sucks," she exclaimed firmly before taking a sip and returning the bag to him.

"Yeah, it does," he agreed, "but we'll make it just fine." He kissed her gently to give her further reassurance. "I'm going to see if I can find something for you to lean back on. We need to keep your heart above the wound. And then you are going to get some sleep while I work on that antivenom."

Under normal circumstances, Rose would have protested Alex remaining awake while she slept. However, since she couldn't help him in his search to save her life, she allowed him to tend to her needs, drifting off into sleep while leaning slightly on the log he'd pulled over to her.

The half-Gallifreyan stayed awake all night looking for a way to counteract the poison running through Rose. He'd procured as much venom as he could from the dead japilon, storing it in one of the containers he and Rose had gained through barter. Making antivenom, however, had proven to be near impossible with the resources at his disposal. None of the plants within a hundred foot radius had any kind of effect on the venom, from what he could see with his limited resources – namely heat, water, and his keen eyesight which was no substitute for a microscope.

Alex didn't feel safe going beyond a hundred feet with Rose asleep and unable to defend herself. Deciding that they needed to move on in order to give themselves a chance at finding a solution, he spent the last hour of the day making a wooden sled, the idea being that he could pull Rose with him as he traveled.

When his beloved awoke with the rising of the second sun, he again offered her a sip of water before moving it away from temptation. He felt her forehead and noticed that her body temperature was starting to rise. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a stethoscope, fitting the eartips in place before placing the chest piece above Rose's heart. Her heartbeat was starting to become erratic, causing him further concern.

"A stethoscope?" Rose commented with a smile. "You brought a stethoscope on our vacation?"

Alex looked up with amusement. "Well, you never know when you'll need a stethoscope."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "Can't see a reason to bring one on a vacation unless you were planning on playing doctor, which I know you weren't."

A second later, she started to tremble uncontrollably, prompting the Doctor to finish his examination. Her ankle had swollen where the japilon bit her, yet another symptom of the venom's virulence. He knew she would feel nauseous and sweat heavily soon, followed by difficulty breathing. The poison was running through her body quickly, he realized, meaning that he needed to find a solution before nightfall.

"We have to move," he informed her quietly. Seeing the startled expression on her face, he clarified, "I can't find a cure within a radius of a hundred feet. None of the plants around here are helpful. I've tried them all, tried every combination of them to counteract the venom with no success."

"But you said I shouldn't walk," she pointed out.

"I've made a sled for you to ride on. It's rudimentary but it should do. I've already packed our things. I just need to put you on the sled and we'll go."

"Okay," Rose replied quietly, too tired and ill to voice the questions running through her mind, namely where they were going and what it was that Alex was looking for to make antivenom.

Hearing her mild response, the Doctor gently lifted her from the ground, bringing her blanket in the process. Then placing her on the sled, he made sure the blanket was wrapped around her frame before securing her with reed rope they had made days before. Knowing that she would at least remain on the sled, he grabbed another rope attached to pull the sled and preceded further into the Death Zone.

As they journeyed, the Doctor collected various large samples of every new plant they encountered, hoping that they would be the solution to Rose's illness. When midday came along, he stopped to rest and woke Rose long enough to ensure that she was comfortably situated, to check on her leg, and to give her another sip of water – he didn't dare give her any food as the process of digestion could cause her blood to flow faster and thus spread the venom more rapidly. He then continued to run experiments on the samples he'd procured, along with those from the previous night. He stopped only once to again tend to Rose's comfort and to check on her condition, which was deteriorating rapidly. Despite going through as many permutations that he could in the time and resources he had, he found nothing to counteract the poison running through Rose's blood.

Sheer exhaustion was taking its toll on Alex' half-human body. Thanks to Gallifrey being a larger planet than Earth, the days were much longer which also meant that the hybrid had been awake for over forty hours. While as a Time Lord such a length of time wouldn't have bothered him, being a mixed breed now meant that he needed more regular rest like a human. He'd found himself forcing his eyes to remain open several times and his concentration was growing increasingly diminished. In addition, he'd foregone eating since Rose couldn't eat herself. The lateness of the day only added to his anxiety since it meant that night was coming upon them.

When the sky turned dark maroon, indicating that the suns had disappeared behind the horizon, Alex stopped briefly in his work to make a fire, ensuring Rose was close enough to at least gain some warmth. Even as he placed her on the ground, he noted now violently quaking form which told him that he was quickly running out of time. If he didn't find antivenom in the next couple of hours, Rose Tyler would die. He felt his single heart break when the sound of her ragged, shallow breathing touched his ears.

"Fight, Rose," he ordered, touching her fevered cheek. "You don't stop fighting. Not even for a second. I love you, Rose Tyler. Do you hear me? I love you."

As if in response to his words, the blonde woman opened her eyes and looked up into his. "Alex?" she breathed.

"I'm here," he assured.

"Doctor, save him."

The hybrid frowned slightly in confusion. Surely he misheard her. "What?"

"Save him," she repeated. Before he could question her words again, she closed her eyes, falling back into unconsciousness.