AN: Let's get on with it, shall we?

Chapter 6

(Rose Tyler P.O.V)

Every day went by in a blur for Rose, especially today. She got up at 7:30 sharp, ate breakfast and headed to work. She ate lunch with her boyfriend Mickey and worked at her job until 8:00 at night. Just as she was about to leave for home, the security guard handed her a bag to take down to Wilson, her boss. As she got into the elevator, there was a bad feeling in her gut, but this was her job, nothing she could do to change it.

The doors opened with a ding.

Rose stepped out into the darkened hallway and called, "Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money." She pulled on his office door to find it locked. "Wilson? Look, I can't hang about 'cause they're closing the shop. Wilson! Unh, come on!" She turned around to hear a clatter somewhere in the hallway. "Hello?" She said. "Hello, Wilson? It's Rose!" She started making her way down the corridor. "Hello?" She called out again. She was starting to feel anxious.

"Wil-Wilson?" She stammered, fear obvious in her voice. She pushed open the door to one of their storage rooms, pitch black. As she turned on the lights, she saw dozens of mannequins in differing stages of dressed and non-dressed. "Wilson? Wilson!" She pulled at another door when the doors she had come through slammed shut. She ran to them and pulled as hard as she could with no luck. She was locked in. "You're kidding me!" She moaned. She turned around, hearing footsteps.

She wasn't alone. "Is that someone mucking about?" She said, fear rising in her chest. She walked deeper into the room. "Who is it?" She yelled. Unnoticed behind her, a mannequin turned its head. She pivoted to see the mannequin emerging from the shadows. It started to move towards her. "Heh. You got me. Very funny." The mannequin said nothing, still advancing on her. "Right I've got the joke!"

"Whose idea was this?" She said, disbelief in her voice. "Is it Derek's? Is it! Derek, is this you?" More mannequins started to move towards her. Soon they were on every side, moving her closer to the corner. She tripped over a few boxes as she scrambled backwards away from the mannequins. They backed her up to the wall, and with nowhere to run, Rose closed her eyes, defeated.

"Run!"

A man had grabbed her hand and pulled her away. He had a pointy nose, close-cropped hair, and the biggest ears you've ever seen, but now was not the time for stranger evaluation. They were being chased. As they ran down the hallway, Rose looked back at the mannequins. They seemed to be real, but how could that be? He ran towards the elevator she had come down in and the doors opened instantly, revealing a girl around Rose's age, finishing what looked like a bomb. Rose stared in curiosity as the man quickly chose a floor. The mannequin approached, one getting it's arm stuck in the closing doors. The stranger pulled and pulled until the arm pulled away from the mannequin. The elevator doors closed.

"What're you assembling there?" She asked the girl. "Never mind that! Plastic." The man interrupted, tossing the arm to her. Rose replied, "Very clever. Nice trick. Who were they, then – students? Is this a student thing, or what?" The man glanced back at her like she was mad. "Why would they be students?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you said it."

"Why students?" The girl with the device asked.

"'Cause," Rose retorted back, "to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students."

The man grinned, "That makes sense. Well done."

"Thanks."

"They're not students."

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's gonna call the police."

"Who's Wilson?" The girl inquired.

"Chief Electrician," Rose answered.

"Wilson's dead," she stated, fiddling with her device.

Rose looked at her in horror while she and the man stepped out of the elevator. "That's not funny! That's sick!" Rose started when the man turned to her and said, "Hold on. Mind your eyes." He pointed a slim device at the elevator button and it exploded in a shower of sparks. Rose backed away and said, "I've had enough of this now. Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there?" And when they didn't reply said, "I said, who are they?"

"They're made of plastic," The girl said, pressing buttons on the machine. "Living plastic creatures, and they're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a great big problem if we didn't have this," She stated holding up the device.

"So," the man started. "We're gonna go upstairs and blow them up," He continued, pushing the door open. "And we might well die in the process. But don't worry about us, no. You go home, go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast."

"Don't tell anyone about this 'cause if you do," the girl added, "you'll get them killed." She slammed the door, leaving Rose in the alleyway. She turned away, when the doors opened again. The man said hurriedly, "I'm the Doctor, and this is Alice, by the way. What's your name?"

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose!" Alice said, glancing at the Doctor. "Run for your life!" He said with a grin on his face as he and Alice ran back inside the building.

She dashed out of the alley, slightly confused about her experience and the two strangers. She tried to cross the road, paranoid that the mannequins could be following her. She nearly got ran over, still clutching the arm. She glanced at the building one more time before rushing to go home.

And then the shop exploded.