HEY YA'LL! Bet you all thought I forgot about you... BUT I DIDN'T! I've just been REALLY busy today. Even in the summer, I have plans! :-) By the way, in regards to people getting confused by my frequent use of CAPS LOCK, I have decided to use CAPS LOCK only when Tammi, the Doctor, or any other character is actually YELLING! Whenever Tammi or anyone else is talking through the speakers, I'll use italics. Got it? Good! Anyway, here's Chapter 8. ENJOY!
"No," the Doctor said, almost to himself. "That's not right. It's not… possible. It's a game. Just a bloody game. If one thing goes wrong, the whole game suffers. So this… No."
Clara looked at him pleadingly, wanting an explanation but knowing she might not get one. So, instead, she turned back to the boy and asked him, "What's you're name?"
"Ralph," the boy said, shakily.
"Ok, Ralph," Clara began, gently, her hand still resting on the his shoulder. "Listen. We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help in any way we can. Now, you say that your friends became frozen. How exactly did they get frozen?"
"I don't know," Ralph said, his eyes scrambling every which way except in Clara's direction, "I mean… one minute we were laughing and jumping around like a bunch of wild dingoes and then the next, they just… stopped. Completely."
Although he had walked a short ways away and began running his hand through his hair multiple times, the Doctor hung on to Ralph's every word. His mind began processing and analyzing it all, trying to look at it from all angles.
"Ok. Ok," Clara said, trying to sound calming even though her whole head and heart was thumping so rapidly. "Um… can you… can you stand?"
"Hold on," Ralph urged, grabbing onto Clara's arm and staggering to his feet. Clara hung onto him and helped pull him up. Once he was moving and walking around again, Clara couldn't help but notice that he was an inch taller than her.
"All right?" she asked, giving Ralph his distance. He turned to look her in the eyes and nodded truthfully.
"Alright," she repeated, stepping just a little bit closer to him. "So, uh… you-you said you went to find help. Right?"
"Yeah. Yeah,' Ralph replied. "I… I tried everyone on our street. But they were all just frozen. I was so scared…."
"It's ok Ralph," Clara tried, placing her hands in front of her and aiming for Ralph's arms. She gradually got there, and rested them on top, comfortingly. "Now are you sure you didn't see… or hear anyone else who may have… not been frozen."
"No," was his simple reply, before he raised his head to look Clara in the eyes again. "I swear I…"
He stopped mid-sentence. His mouth hung open and his eyes looked straight on, not blinking.
"Ralph?" Clara asked, suddenly realizing how stiff his arms felt now compared to before. "Ralph?!" She looked down and noticed his feet were planted firmly instead of fidgeting. "Doctor?!" she called, swinging herself around to see if the Doctor was still in sight. He was. He looked from Ralph to Clara and then back again.
"You saw it too?" Clara asked, carefully.
"Yes," he replied, grimly, his eyes growing wild and fierce. "See?!" he suddenly exclaimed, turning back towards the camera and pointing back at Ralph. "This just PROVES that there is something more going on in here!"
"No," Tammi's voice choked through the speakers. "No. No!"
"You know it's true," the Doctor tested. "If one thing goes wrong in this game, the whole game gets effected. But not him. Not Ralph. He wasn't like the others. He wasn't frozen. So, maybe he got chosen. Maybe he was special. But, then, someone decided 'Oops! No good. Goodbye!' and froze him, too. Someone with the power to choose. To delete. To create. Seems to me the only person capable of having that power would be… Mrs. Ratfield."
"NO!" Tammi yelled, her scream making the speakers give a small POP!
"Tammi!" Clara called, running pas the Doctor to get closer to the camera. "Please! I know this is hard to understand. Especially since you've been working with this woman for so long. But you have to understand that there is the possibility that she is doing this."
"NO!" Tammi yelled again, her voice cracking dramatically.
For a minute there was the sound of muffled voices and, then, silence. Clara took a deep sigh and shut her eyes for a moment. "Poor girl."
"NO! NO! NO!" Tammi yelled, hopping up from Terrance's seat and running over to the opposite end of the office. She was surprised she was able to maneuver past all of the fat wires and loose ends. Not that it mattered. What mattered was getting as far away from that Doctor as possible.
"Tammi! Please!" Terrance pleaded, following her. Dylan went on the other side and tried, "Tammi. Just calm down."
"NO!" Tammi screeched, putting her hands firmly over her ears and crouching as far into the corner as she could. "SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"DAMN IT TAMMI!" Terrance yelled, finally catching up with her and grabbing her wrists. "LISTEN TO US!" Tammi looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. Her mouth felt so dry and her whole body was shaking.
"Why?" she asked, quietly at first. Then she tried again, a little bit louder, "Why?! Why this? Why now? WHY?!"
Terrance could only stare blankly into her grey eyes and hold onto her wrists for support. Dylan remained standing, looking at Tammi with a mixture of pity and confusion. Nothing like this has happened before. To any of them. They've been give specific instructions by Mrs. Ratfield on what to do and when. Nowhere did she talk about a situation like this happening.
They may have been very smart… but they weren't very bright.
They also weren't very good at dramatic emotions.
Tammi felt like crying. She was close to crying. But she couldn't cry. It just didn't feel right. It was so…. different to her. All she could do was sniffle and dry her eyes, once Terrance let go of her wrists. He placed his hands on his knees now, still keeping his balance on his toes while looking directly at her.
After a few more gulps and sniffles, Tammi composed herself enough to get out, "I'm sorry."
"I know," Terrance whispered.
"Yeah, me too," Dylan piped up, finishing his walk towards the two and settling himself next to Terrance. He took one of Tammi's hands and said, "Look, Tammi, I know we're used to fun and games around here. Hell, I know we could do our job blindfolded, that's how good I know we are. You remember what our job is?" He gave Tammi a few seconds before going on. "We help people. Whenever they need help, we're there to guide them. Now, they need our help. More than ever now. We have to guide them. We. Have. To. Help. Them."
Terrance nodded respectfully. He couldn't have put it better himself.
Tammi followed each syllable that left Dylan's lips.
He was right.
He may be goofy at times.
He can be down-right freaking creepy at times, too.
But he was right.
With a newfound determination and purpose, she bolted up from her spot and pushed past the boys. After another round of skillful maneuvering, she finally reached Terrance's computer screen. The Doctor and Clara were still visible but, just to be safe, Tammi called out, "DOCTOR? YOU STILL THERE?"
"Yep," the Doctor responded, emphasizing the 'p' while looking up at the camera lens. He took a few baby steps forward and asked, "You still there?"
Tammi smirked a little before saying, "YES. I AM. I'M SORRY ABOUT MY OUTBURST. IT'S JUST THAT….." She hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain herself. She, immediately, shook her head and went on. "NEVER MIND. THAT'S NOT THE POINT ANYMORE. THE POINT IS, SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG HERE IN THIS GAME. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. WE DON'T KNOW WHY IT'S HAPPENING. WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO'S DOING THIS. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT IT'S HAPPENING NOW , AND WE NEED TO STOP IT."
"Agreed," the Doctor said, his hands in his pockets, his feet planted.
"Agreed," Clara added, standing next to the Doctor defensively.
"GOOD," Tammi said. "NOW…. I DON'T DO THIS OFTEN…. MAINLY BECAUSE I'M NOT FACED WITH THIS KIND OF DILEMMA EVERYDAY…. BUT, SEEING AS HOW YOU MIGHT KNOW A BIT MORE THAN WE DO ABOUT HANDLING THIS, I'M NOT GOING TO DELETE YOU."
"Ah!' Clara exclaimed, bringing up a smile and a gleam in her eyes. "Thank you! Thank you!"
"BUT," Tammi put in, "IF YOU TWO EVEN THINK ABOUT TURNING ON US, I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL DELETE YOU FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY 'MOBILE PHONE'. GOT IT?"
Clara clammed her mouth and nodded her head solemnly.
For a time, the Doctor didn't move. He just stared up at the camera, his face blank. Tammi, Terrance, Dylan, and Clara held their breath, waiting anxiously but patiently to see if the Doctor was going to blink.
Not three seconds later, he blinked.
"You have my word… that me and Clara will do everything in our power to help save your game."
All of them sighed with relief.
Finally, they were getting somewhere!
"ALL RIGHT," Tammi began again, "NOW THAT THAT'S THAT, I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO ANALYZE THIS A LITTLE MORE. AND THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS WOULD BE TO MEET FACE TO FACE."
"Ok!" the Doctor exclaimed, taking his hands out and rubbing his hands together excitedly. He started jumping and running up and down the street like a giddy child. "So, where do you want to meet? The diner? Ooo, on second thought… bad idea. How about… the library? Or the community pool? Or… the zoo? Surely you have a zoo? Filled with exotic pets like koalas and elephants and…. Gophers?"
Clara just stood in place, her arms crossed across her chest, her face giving off another Really?
"ACTUALLY," Tammi stated, "I THINK IT WOULD BE BETTER IF WE MEET HERE. ALL OF THE RECORDS AND DATA ARE HERE. WE HAVE COMPUTERS FOR RESEARCHING. WE'LL HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF GETTING SOME ACTUAL WORK DONE IF YOU COME TO THE ADMINSTRATIVE BUILDING."
"Hmm," the Doctor said, stopping in place and giving a small, disappointing pout. However, he gave in and said, "All right. The Administrative Building it is! Come on, Clara!" And with that, he grabbed Clara's hand and began running up the street, all the while yelling, "TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING!"
Tammi, Terrance, and Dylan broke out into a fit of smiles and giggles. They were, suddenly, interrupted by the Doctor running back up to the camera, Clara in tow, asking sheepishly, "Where is the Administrative Building?"
HEHEHE! Had to leave this chapter on a good note! Please read and review and keep on giving me good, strong criticism. It only helps me get better and better! And be sure to check out my new story, "The Human Dalek." Oooooo...!
