The Doctor had given Rose her own assignment and, as instructed, she selected a few people to help. She wasn't really selective. She just took the first three people that registered themselves and received their name tags – two boys and one girl. Rose led the way to the front door and paused when she saw that they'd stopped just before stepping outside.
"There's no more of that," Rose insisted. "Everyone helps out. That means going outside. Now, I need a hand. Simple job. Come on."
With a little reluctance, they followed after her.
"Where are we going?" asked one of the boys. Rose turned around to have a look at him and saw that his name was Tim. A quick look at the others showed her that she brought a Rachel and a Trent.
"Erm, our science box," Rose answered, unsure what else to call it. "It's not far."
"A science box? Is that what you guys are? Scientists?" asked Rachel.
"Yeah," Rose agreed. They were sort of, among other things.
"Oh my god, it's a mammoth!" Tim cried. All three students moved far to Rose's left but she kept on walking. The giant creature was a fair distance away and didn't seem interested in them at all.
"I hate to be one of those people who correct others all the time, but that's a mastodon. The reason for the correction is that if the Doctor heard that, he'd-" Rose stopped speaking when she saw the Doctor appear from the other side of the tree they were passing.
"If the Doctor heard what?" he inquired.
Rose sighed. "If the Doctor heard an animal misidentification."
"What misidentification?"
"Don't worry, it's been corrected. That's a mastodon, not a mammoth," Rose explained.
"Of course that's not a mammoth. It's got shorter legs and a flatter head. Mammoths also have the fatty lump on their back. Mammoths do better in more open areas because they graze like elephants. It's not likely that you'd find any in a forest. Mastodons prefer twigs, branches, and leaves so this is a good environment for them. Either way, you don't need to get so scared. They're herbivores. Don't get really close, but you don't need to run away. Vegetarians," the Doctor informed them.
"Thanks, love, but we'd have been alright without the full lesson," Rose teased.
"But what can you learn from the name alone? Although the scientific name-"
"We're on assignment. Think we could go over that some other time?"
"Oh, right. I've got my own work. Carry on." The Doctor readjusted his scientific equipment and headed back toward the school.
"Yeah, that's what the Doctor would do if he heard something identified incorrectly," Rose explained to her assistants.
"Why do you always refer to him as 'the Doctor'?" asked Rachel. "Is he above you or something? You're like his assistant?"
"No, we're on equal footing. It's true that he's far more knowledgeable, but we work together. No rank. As for calling him 'the Doctor' that's just what he's called. No first name. No last name. Just 'the Doctor'."
"What about you?" asked Trent.
"I'm Rose."
"Just Rose?" asked Tim.
"What more do you need?" She shrugged. "If you call 'Rose', I'll answer. How about a question from me now? Freshmen and Sophomores – what years are those?"
"9th and 10th grade," answered Rachel.
"So the ones that are left are…?"
"Juniors and Seniors, 11th and 12th grade," Rachel explained.
"What about year 13?" asked Rose. "Oh, never mind. The Doctor told me before. You call 1st year something else and then 2nd year you call 1st grade. Sorry, as you can see, I'm not from around here. Well, no one's from around here, but you know what I mean."
"So where are you from?" asked Trent.
"Originally, London."
"So where are you from now?" he pressed.
"There," Rose answered while pointing straight ahead.
The TARDIS came into view and Rose's three assistants looked at it in confusion.
"This is the science box," Rose declared. "Or lab? I guess 'lab' sounds better than 'box'. I'm going to ask you to stay out here and I'll be out in just a few minutes."
"That's your lab?" Tim asked dubiously. "That's all you brought with you?"
"Believe me, it'll surprise you. Now, just a few minutes."
Rose moved about the TARDIS, retrieving what she needed and stepped outside a few minutes later with a large jug of water.
"Okay, this is our job," she explained. "We're taking drinking water up to the school. It's eight liters, so it's a bit heavy. I've got two more I'm bringing out so I don't know how you want to do it. You can take them individually or make a line and pass it down between you, or wait for each other and take them all back at once. Your choice. I'll go get the other jugs."
"Wait." Trent stopped her. "You've got all that water in that little box?"
"We like to be prepared," Rose answered. "I'll be back."
The three students waited together for all the jugs before they started back. Rose went back in for one more that she'd carry back herself. She was only a short distance behind them so when they stopped at the doors, uncertain of what to do with it, they waited for her.
"Alright," said Rose, "do any of you know where Donovan's room is? Or where he is?"
"Donovan?" asked Trent.
"The teacher that was in charge of the water," Rose clarified.
"Mr. Brunner. Room 23," answered Tim.
As expected, the door was unlocked when they got there. With no water to give the last two days, locking the door wasn't necessary. Tim and Trent were dismissed and Rachel was sent to find Donovan. If he was busy, she was supposed to bring the keys. A few minutes later, Donovan showed up himself. When he entered the room, his eyes widened.
"Water? Drinking water? Real drinking water?" He looked so relieved and emotional that Rose felt it, too. His eyes were misting and he shook his head to regain his composure. "We're going to have to do some math though and figure out rations. How much is here? Do you know how much longer we'll be here?"
"32 liters. Oh, but Americans prefer gallons, don't they? Erm… I think that's between 8 and 9 gallons. As for how long we'll be here, I really don't know. My guess is just a few days, not more than a week. Don't ration by days. This is just for this evening. Is everyone registered? Do you have a count?"
"This water is just for this evening? You can do this twice a day?" he asked hopefully.
"Yep. We brought a lot more than you'd expect. Anyway, the count?" she requested again.
"Oh, yes. No one was allowed to leave the gym until they registered, with exception of the ones you call the adventurers. I got them when they came back. We've got 263 including every staff member."
"Perfect. Do you have a math teacher around here? I was thinking he or she could do some portions figures. I saw the cooks were outside getting ready to make the pasta."
"Yes, we've got a couple math teachers. I'm sure they'd be happy to help. Do you want me to go find them?" he offered.
"No, it'll be easy to catch them when they come through here. After going without water for so long, I want everyone here now. I'm going to make another announcement in just a moment. Think you can figure out some water allowances while I do that?"
"Yes, but first, I wanted to talk to you about one of the students. He has epilepsy and his seizures have been getting progressively worse. I'd like to give him extra water because I think it would help. I just want to make sure that's alright. I know I'll be second-guessed in that decision, so I'd like your opinion."
"Definitely. Give him double. In fact, I think I'd like to talk to other people with medical problems. I'll have them step to the side. But first, I want to make some copies of that list. I want several copies. We're going to put a mark next to the person's name for each time they get water and a different mark for when they receive food. I'll have one sheet for morning and one for evening. I don't want anyone sneaking back in line for extras."
Rose took a brief look for the Doctor when she exited the school, but didn't see him anywhere. She peeked around one side of the building, just in case, but when she still didn't see him, she headed for the TARDIS. He wasn't there either, but she hadn't expected him to be. She was just there to make some copies and then an announcement.
She used the TARDIS to call out again. She instructed that they form an orderly line outside Mr. Brunner's room and wait patiently for her return. She then requested that anyone with medical needs step to the side to speak with her. Once finished, she walked back to the school. Before entering, she walked over to see the cooks.
The Doctor had praised Troy for his cooking fire and it was worthy of praise. He and a few others dug a trench and filled it with dry wood. Once the fire was lit, they situated a shelf from the large kitchen oven on top of it, making a perfect grill. On top of the grill now, were a few large pots filled with boiling water. The cooks were just measuring out pasta to put in.
"You two are amazing," Rose told them. "Since you're going to miss the water distribution, I thought I'd bring you some now. Thank you very much for all you're doing."
"No, thank you for all you're doing," the head cook insisted as she took the water bottle from Rose. "We're not sure how to go about serving it though. We're not sure how many people there are."
"263, but I'm going to have a couple of math teachers over here to figure out how much should be served to each. You just get it ready and relax a bit before we serve it up."
Rose waved and went back to Donovan's room. It was really hard to picture 263 people, but when you saw them single-file wrapped around the hallways, you realized just how large that number really was. She passed them all and when she got to the front of the queue, she handed the copies of the list of names to Donovan. He attached the list to his clipboard and hired the first two people in line to assist him with the distribution process.
Donovan, it turned out, was the chemistry teacher. One of the reasons he took the water to his classroom was because he wanted to measure it out perfectly. They used a beaker to measure it and each person drank directly from the beaker. At one point, they had probably all been disgusted by the idea of drinking after everyone else in school, but at this time, they were just too relieved with getting water to care. Today, they got 4ozs. each, their biggest allowance by far.
Rose stood on the other side of Donovan to wait for anyone in need of medical care. When Rose saw one boy with double the water allowance, she wasn't surprised to see him walk over to her. Both math teachers went to see Rose when Donovan sent them over and she immediately asked them to assist the cooks. A small group was forming around her. As the line was dwindling, she saw one girl stop and look at her. She looked conflicted.
"You alright?" asked Rose. "You need some help?"
The girl gave a slight shake of her head, looked down, and started walking away.
"You sure?" Rose called out.
"No, I'm fine," she forced a smile and walked away.
Rose was concerned, but wasn't sure that she should push the matter. She might keep an eye on her though.
Rose assembled her group and went off in search of the Doctor. She walked almost all the way around the building and decided it was best to call out for him. It took several calls before she got a reply. She found him a further distance from the school than she'd expected and he was walking around, just searching the ground.
"Lose something?" she asked.
"No and yes," he replied. "I've got all kinds of readings, but I don't just want readings. I want to find the thing that did this to the school. I'm hoping to reverse exactly what happened and I also want to figure out who was responsible. I haven't got a clue. Literally. I'm looking for clues and I have found any. Maybe-"
The Doctor finally looked up and saw the group with her. He looked at them quizzically, but then shrugged off his surprise.
"Hello," he greeted. "So how are things going at the school? I heard your water announcement."
"We brought 32 liters of water which gives them 4oz servings. We'll do that twice a day. The roster is finished. There are 263 people total, not including us, of course. We're using the list of names to mark when someone gets something to eat and when they get water. The pasta should be ready in a minute, if it's not already done, and the mathematicians are figuring out servings."
"Brilliant!" the Doctor said enthusiastically. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Amazing as always. Sounds like you've got everything under control… So who are these people?"
"If you heard my message, you know that I asked for people with medical problems to come see me. This is the group," she explained.
"Ah, yes. In need of a Doctor. That's me. What are the problems?" he inquired.
"First, this is Alex. He has epilepsy and his seizures are bad and getting worse. We're pretty concerned."
"Rightfully so. Hello, Alex. I'm assuming you need medication and haven't had some for a few days, right?" When Alex nodded, the Doctor continued, "What kind of epilepsy?"
"Juvenile Myoclonic," he answered.
"They say your seizures are getting worse. More myoclonic – just a jerk of a leg or an arm here or there? Absence seizure? Well, you can't tell those on your own, but have other people noticed you staring out and being unresponsive? Any tonic-clonic?"
"I've been having more myoclonic, but I've had two full-blown tonic-clonic seizures. Unconscious, flailing on the floor. Sort of freaking people out," he explained.
"We could medicate him, but easier just to cure him," the Doctor told Rose. "Just mix up a GSTVI. The recipe's in the green file cabinet."
"Cure?" asked Alex.
"GSTVI," Rose acknowledged. "Doesn't involve heating things, does it? Those make me anxious."
"Just mixing. Easy-peasy."
"Alright. GSTVI. Remember that, Alex. GSTVI."
"Next?" The Doctor was back to searching and the group followed.
"Possible fractured wrist," said Rose.
"Give something for accelerated healing and pain relief. Scan it. If there's a small fracture, use the sonic setting 352b. If it's a complete break, let me know and I'll take care of it." The Doctor reached in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver and handed it to Rose. Rose didn't need to be reminded of that setting. She knew it all too well.
"Okay, this boy's got a cast on his leg. He said it was supposed to be removed four days ago."
"Scan it. If it's good, use setting 819."
"This girl's got a nasty staph infection."
"Clean it. Sunji'iro oil. Bandage."
"Alright," Rose said, perking back up. "We'll leave you to your search then."
"Wait." The Doctor looked up. "There's more people than that."
"Don't worry. I can handle the others," Rose assured him.
"No, but I want to know," the Doctor pouted. "I've been bored out here. You're giving me something fun. I'm the Doctor. They want a Doctor."
"No, the rest of them want a nurse."
"What does that mean?"
"Women stuff."
"What women stuff? I know women. I can help women, too," he protested.
"Okay, you grab the pads and tampons then. They're tired of using fluff from bulrushes. Or cattails? I think they call them cattails here. Anyway, you want to take care of women stuff while I treat the rest?"
The Doctor's nose scrunched in disgust. "Sorry, but I'm a bit busy. I'll let you handle the women stuff."
"That's what I thought," Rose chuckled.
She led the group back toward the school then up in the direction of the TARDIS.
"What's that?" asked the boy with the cast.
"That's the lab," Rose announced. "Now I know things are supposed to go in the order of importance, but I think I'm going to go with easiest to hardest. So, if you'll just hold on a minute, I'll be right back."
She came out first with packages of pads and a boxes of tampons and told the girls to spread the word. If more were needed, she had more. She stopped them before they got too far and ran back in to retrieve an enormous pack of toilet paper for everyone. She and the Doctor hated going out to buy personal or household necessities, so when they did, they bought enough so that they wouldn't have to do it again for another year or so.
Everyone was staring in disbelief at how much she was bringing out, but Rose hadn't noticed their expressions. She came out next to treat the staph infection and sent the girl on her way. She brought out a tablet computer. As she moved it down the boy's cast, an x-ray image moved on the screen. It would inform her of any abnormalities, but there were none. She asked Alex to hold the tablet for her and she took out the sonic screwdriver. When she pointed it at the boy's leg, he jumped back.
"What is that thing?" he worried. "What's it do?"
"Oh, it's just a sonic device," she explained. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just so used to it, that I forget it looks kind of threatening to others. Doesn't hurt. Just sonic waves. If the sonic waves vibrate at the right frequency it can affect things in all sort of ways. Setting 819 will crack the cast open but won't do a thing to you."
Rose held it up and let it buzz. Just to prove her point, she held it to her skin and pressed the button again.
"Trust me now?" she asked.
The boy still look wary, but he nodded. Rose drew a line down the cast with the sonic screwdriver, and the cast cracked open neatly. Together, they pulled it off. The boy stared at the sonic screwdriver in confusion and looked up at the TARDIS the same way. After a few moments, he finally turned and went back in the school.
Rose turned to the last two, Alex and the girl with the injured wrist, and they were staring down at the tablet she'd entrusted to Alex. She hadn't thought to turn it off and they had their hands beneath it, watching how the bones in their hands moved on the screen.
"Having fun?" she asked.
"Where did you get this kind of technology?" Alex inquired. "This is amazing. And that sonic thing? That Doctor made it sound like it could heal a broken bone, too."
"It can. Let's see if that's necessary though." Rose took back the tablet and held it over the girl's injured wrist. A tiny red spot flashed. Rose paused on that image and zoomed in. "Tiny, hairline fracture. Tiny, but still painful, I'm sure."
Rose set the sonic and the girl showed no fear when Rose aimed it at the injured location. In fact, she looked excited. When Rose was finished, they scanned her wrist again and the image showed no more injury.
"It didn't hurt?" asked Alex.
"Not at all. That's so awesome!"
"Oh, before you go…" Rose reached in her pocket and took out two tiny bottles. "The Doctor ordered these for accelerated healing and pain relief. The bone might be fixed, but there's still inflammation and swelling around it."
Rose used a tiny dropper to put a little of each on the girl's tongue. When finished with that, she gave permission for her to leave.
"Now, Alex. I'm sorry I've made you wait so long, but I'm going to ask you to wait a little longer. I don't have what you need on hand. I've got to put it together. I can do it, but it'll take me a little bit. Fifteen minutes maybe?"
"He said it's easier to cure me than medicate me. Do you guys mean you can actually cure epilepsy? I mean, it's supposed to be incurable." He sounded both hopeful and skeptical.
"From what I've seen, nothing's incurable. Incurable just means no one has found the cure yet. Well… The common cold is something else. More trouble than it's worth trying to cure that."
"So you can cure me? Epilepsy gone for good? In fifteen minutes it will just be gone? Never have to deal with it again?"
"If the Doctor says it's a cure, then it is," Rose stated. "Now, just about fifteen minutes. I'll be out as soon as I'm done."
"Wait. Can I come in and watch?" he asked hopefully.
"I wish you could, but the rule is, 'no one in but me and the Doctor'. I'll be back soon."
Rose came back out almost exactly fifteen minutes later with a smaller beaker containing a light blue liquid.
"Here you go," she offered it to him. "One GSTVI."
Alex took it and just stared at it. "This is really it? This is the cure?"
"Yep."
He continued staring at it in thought.
"Are you nervous about it? I promise I mixed it right. Even added the green apple flavoring as directed."
"Green apple?" he chuckled. "I always figured that if anyone came up with a cure, it'd be some kind of long drawn out procedure of electric brain stimulation treatments or something. Just a couple ounces of this stuff and that's it. I just can't understand it. How can you have a cure when it's supposed to be incurable? Wait, this isn't that conspiracy thing is it? Companies withholding cures because the medical community makes too much money from long term treatments and medication? Who do you work for?"
"Wow, I've never actually heard that conspiracy before. But, no, that's not us. We don't work for anyone. Just me and the Doctor. And I'm sure it seems really unfair that we have these cures and aren't sharing them, but it's really something we can't do. It's not that we don't want to help people because we do. In fact, that's actually what we do. No employer, just going and helping out where we can. Like here," Rose tried to explain.
"That's another question: how did you even get here?" asked Alex. "That Doctor said he was trying to figure out who and what did this to us so he could reverse it. Can he really do that? How does he do that?"
"He's a genius," Rose said simply. "You'll never meet another person like him. Give him a science theorem and he'll have it proven or disproven halfway through. Math – he's a living calculator. He knows every plant and animal type on Earth throughout history. A school disappears into prehistoric time? Not only will he find them, he'll put them back in just a few days. A boy that suffers from epilepsy? Easy-peasy."
"Easy-peasy…" Alex repeated. He shrugged his shoulders and drank the liquid cure he'd been offered. "So what happens now?"
"Dinner. It's probably getting cold. See ya later." Rose waved at him and disappeared into the TARDIS.