Back to the Doctor
Hit the Road Jack Part 5
"We have to get to the other side," Marty looked at the building next to the wooden fence, trying to see if there were any footholds. Rex might be able to get Marty over the fence, but there was no way Marty would be able to lift Rex over it.
"Shouldn't we wait?"
"He'll catch up, he always does," Marty jumped up and grabbed a windowsill. He managed to pull himself up, and from there he could just swing his legs over the fence and drop down. "Come on."
"Wait, you think killer robots, or whatever, might be manufactured here, and you just want to go in without any backup?"
"Backup's on its way," Marty grinned, and fell away from Rex's view.
"You people are nuts," Rex muttered, but he pulled himself up and followed Marty over the fence. "Not very good security for a corporation the Three Families used to own."
He dropped down next to the teenager, who looked over the dark and lifeless field.
"I think I agree with you. There should be something else protecting this place."
"Killer robots?" Rex asked, but only half sarcastically. The ridiculous things he had seen working with Torchwood had sobered him up to the idea that even something as stupid as killer robots was a plausible situation.
"I'll keep my eyes open," Marty nodded, then, with a determined look on his face, plunged forward. "Stay close."
Rex looked up at the sky for a moment. "Christ, when did I start taking orders from kids?
OOO
"One guard?" Jack asked as he stared at the entrance of the fence that surrounded the property owned by Tom Nor through a pair of night-vision binoculars. A sole guard sat on a bench outside the door, his head resting against the fence, his eyes closed, his riffle casually leaning next to him. They had gone the long way in hopes of finding the entrance and assessing the situation.
"Some flimsy fence and a single guard…" the Doctor's face was scrunched up, trying to figure out the catch. "I suppose it's possible they haven't started building anything yet. The robots we saw in California were still in their prototype phase."
"Could be a trap though. I doubt Morton Robotics, or Tom Nor, or whoever, want to draw attention to themselves, so they only let you see one guard, a deterrent for any neighbourhood kids who might want to explore. They might have an entire army of robots in there."
An entire army? That didn't sound right to the Doctor. If they had the ability to make an entire army of robots in 2015, then surely they would be able to manufacture more robots in the future. Undoubtedly there were several of the robots popping up through time, but if they had sent out an army after time travellers he would have been tripping over them at every turn.
"There's only one way to find out," the Doctor said casually, getting up to his feet. He walked towards the sleeping guard and Jack was fast on his heels. He was hoping to either sneak past the sleeping guard, but just as he walked past the man he stirred and got up.
"What the hell?" The bearded man looked the Doctor over. "What do you want man? Private property, shove off."
"I have a meeting," the Doctor smiled politely, holding out his psychic paper as an ID. "See? We're expected."
"No way man, no one goes in," he grabbed his weapon, getting to his feet, but he wasn't threatening them with it yet. "You got the wrong place man."
"No, I'm pretty sure Mr. Nor said to go to the great big fenced off area in the middle of the city. Unless there's another great big fenced off area in the middle of the city owned by Tom Nor?"
"Get lost man."
"Oh forget this," Jack muttered, grabbing the man with one hand, and punching him in the face with the other. The man fell back, his head bouncing off the fence, and he hit the ground unconscious.
"I had that under control," the Doctor protested. "He was about the let us in."
"Come on, he hadn't even started believing you."
The Doctor tried to push away his annoyance at Jack's violence. He knew it was an unavoidable part of who Jack was, just one of the many reasons why the Doctor had tried to distance himself from the man.
"Next time let me handle it," the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver. The gates to the fence were chained together, and with one button press on the screwdriver the lock undid and the chains slipped away. "Someone will notice him soon, we better move fast."
OOO
Marty and Rex hadn't lost sight of the city. The field was huge, but all around them they could see lights just visible over the fence, reminding them that although they felt completely alone, there were hundreds of souls just an arm's reach away. Inside the fence though, there wasn't a single light or living thing. The crunch of the dirt beneath their shoes was the only noise they heard as they walked across the field.
They nearly walked right into the building. It was a small one-storey cement building, the only thing left of the neighbourhood that had been bulldozed over.
"Too small to be a warehouse," Rex said.
"Yeah… but what if it's just a front?"
"You mean, maybe they built their warehouse underground?"
"Either way, we should check it out."
They made their way around to the other side of the building, feeling their way along the walls until they finally found a door.
"Do you hear something?" Rex asked, certain he had heard someone speaking just then.
Marty shrugged. "Maybe, sounded distant."
Rex tried the handle. "It's unlocked."
He opened the door and it led into a small room. A door was on the other side, they could see a small line of light outlining the door.
Rex took out his gun, stepping in front of the teenager. "Just stay back, okay?"
"Okay," Marty stayed in the main entrance, as Rex put his had on the doorknob and opened the second door.
Light flooded into the small room and for a moment Marty could see nothing but Rex's outline, then there was a great amount of noise, of metal scraping across cement, as a dozen men in the lit room suddenly pushed back their chairs and got to their feet, each one holding a gun, pointing it directly at Rex.
To Be Continued…
(Oh Rex, the more I write you the more I want to keep you in my story forever.)