She hated running. Sam was much more suited to sitting behind a computer than running for her life. When she came to an intersection, she paused to catch her breath. She had three options; continue straight, turn right, or face the monster she was running from; Daleks. Murderous robots, though the Professor had seemed to think they were alive. It was the Professor's fault that she was here and not in the sanctuary of her computers, running for her life from evil trash cans. Ahead of her, she could hear the echoes of a group of Daleks coming from one of the other two hallways. The way their robotic voices echoed off the walls made it almost impossible to tell which hall it was. Behind her, she could hear a single Dalek shouting 'Exterminate.' There was a scream as another member of UNIT was killed by the creature.
Leaning against the wall so that she could see all three hallways she felt the pistol protruding behind her back. Stern, the armored giant, had given it to her when the Daleks had appeared, snatching it from the body of a dead soldier. Despite her obvious disdain for guns, Stern claimed it was 'better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.' She couldn't argue with the accuracy of his logic so she accepted it with the usual frown on her face.
There was a 50/50% chance she would pick the safe hallway if she went to the left or straight ahead, give or take percentage for luck; she didn't like her chances in a one-on-one battle with the Dalek to her right, though it was certainly better than her chances against the horde of them that waited down one of the corridors. Estimating she had only seconds to make her decision before the lone Dalek would be within sight, Sam withdrew her weapon from behind her and aimed at the empty space where the Dalek would soon appear. Seconds ticked by. Sam audibly sighed breaking her aim and stared at the ceiling. She hated fighting. Killing and brute strength were what the weak at mind did to compensate for their obvious lack of thinking capacity.
"Think," she told herself. "There's got to be a way out of this. Just think."
She could imagine the Professor answering her in a slightly sarcastic tone. Are you not smart enough to beat one little Dalek? I'll help you but only if you concede defeat to my superior intelligence.
Sam chuckled lightly. Never, she thought looking back at the hallway with a new determination in her eyes. She had decided she would best this thing with her intellect. Sam holstered her weapon just as the Dalek came into view.
"Hold on," she said raising both hands in a surrender position. "I surrender."
"You will be exterminated," it replied.
"Surely I must be worth more to you as a prisoner than as a corpse. After all, I'm a friend of the Professor's. Imagine the information I could tell you."
Her ploy worked. The Dalek seemed to think it over before lowering its laser. Sam lowered her hands. "You will tell me all that you know or you will be exterminated."
The Dalek's mechanical voice vexed Sam's nerves with every syllable it pronounced, cold and full of hatred. Her thoughts flashed to the pistol once again but the thought left her mind as quickly as it had entered.
"If I tell you everything that I know, it could take a while," she said cynically.
The Dalek raised its laser again and repeated in an almost impossible angrier voice, "You will disclose all that you know about the Professor or you will be exterminated."
Okay! Okay," she said quickly putting her hands up in the stop position. The Dalek kept its laser trained on her. Ingenious, Sam, she thought. Tick off the creature with the big ass laser gun. How about we keep the wisecracks to ourselves? She lowered her hands and asked, "Why must I be exterminated?"
"It is our duty. We are following God's orders," said the Dalek. "All inferior beings will be exterminated."
Sam quickly glanced behind her. The sounds of the other Daleks were getting closer. She estimated they would arrive in minutes. She could now tell which hall they were in but it was too late to run. Her only choice was to defeat this Dalek in front of her before the others arrived. This one had taken the bait but it only took one shot from the Dalek's laser for her life to be over.
She cleared her throat then asked, slightly mocking the Dalek's tone, "How am I inferior?"
"All beings are inferior to Daleks," it said. "All that is inferior will be exterminated. That is the will of God."
Sam forced back a smile. It had said exactly what she wanted it to. "Why were you chosen to exterminate these other beings?"
It was silent for a second. "We follow God's orders because God is supreme," it finally replied.
"Does that not make you inferior to God? What do you think will happen to you when God decides to get rid of the inferior Daleks?" The Dalek fell silent again. The lights flashed on its head.
"It is not the place of a Dalek to question orders. Daleks are soldiers." Ah crap, Sam thought. That completely backfired. "You have no useful information," screeched the Dalek. "Exterminate!"
She flinched and closed her eyes as the fiery explosion sent her flying backwards. She hit the ground with a hard Thud.
Pain, she thought confused. I thought you didn't feel any pain when you died. Slowly her senses came back to her as she heard a muffled voice calling her name.
"Sam? Sam! Oh, bloody hell! I would love to be a little more sympathetic right now but the situation calls for otherwise. Now can you hurry up and get off the ground."
She was fully aware now as she saw the figure of the Professor standing over her. "Professor?" she asked in a confused voice.
"In the flesh," he replied holding out his hand to help her up. "Now if you wouldn't mind getting up, I'm in a bit of a rush."
She took his hand and he helped her up. Still a little dazed it, took her a moment to figure out what had happened. The Dalek she had been speaking with stood a few feet in front of her, its metal casing shattered. The Professor had arrived at a crucial moment and killed the Dalek before it had a chance to fire. However, the close proximity of the Dalek to Sam made the resulting explosion knocked her to the ground, but apart from a couple of burns and cuts, she was fine.
She turned to the Professor and a little reluctantly said, "Thanks… you know. For saving me."
"Yes, yes, yes," he replied very hastily. "You're eternally grateful. You owe me your life. There's no way you could possibly repay me. How about we save the praise till we're somewhere where I can fully appreciate it."
Sam's face flushed with anger but the panicked look on the Professor's face made her look behind him. He had just come from the hall where the pack of Daleks was and they had just caught up. A chorus of 'Exterminate' echoed throughout the hall.
"You've got to be kidding me," she complained.
"Afraid not," answered the Professor with a maniac grin, grabbing her wrist and dragging her. "Come along."
They dashed passed the fiery Dalek and headed down the hallway that led to the TARDIS. "Oh great," Sam groaned. "More running." She hated running.