"Doctor. I don't like it" the Master sneered as he stepped out onto the planet for the first time, keeping close behind the Doctor. "It's too….empty"
"Yeah, well it shouldn't be" was his only response as he looked around the scene of utter….nothingness. This did not bode well, and the stench of human population lingered. They hadn't been gone long, he was sure of it, but it was unnerving the amount of fog that drifted through the winding streets, leaving them blind to the buildings that towered over them and spanned off into the unforeseeable distance.
"It's—"
"Like a shopping mall at night, a school after hours…" the Doctor whispered, moving closer to the Master, who looked the slightest bit annoyed at the interruption. "These streets should be teeming with live, it should be thriving…"
"Doesn't look like it to me" the other scoffed, striding off into the streets, hands in his pockets. The Doctor took after him quickly, frowning as the TARDIS disappeared behind them, leaving him feeling distinctly cut off. He didn't like this; the TARDIS should be with them always, always visible, always within reach. And without her around, it was difficult to get their bearings as they wandered through the haze.
Every so often, they would pass a building, or seven or thirty, stemmed with lights all over, stretching high into the mist and lighting up like a Christmas tree. It was like walking into the 1920's just….more. And the Doctor was somewhat content with the situation for a while, and the two walked in silence beside each other, the only sounds in the fog being their footsteps echoing off empty streets.
"It's unnatural" the Master finally commented, pulling his coat colder around him. Not that it was particularly cold in any way, it was security. The place unnerved even him, and when the Doctor looked back in confusion, he pointed towards the bulbs balancing off of the sides of buildings like twigs lighting up the dim, dreary world they had stumbled upon. He didn't have to elaborate much on his statement; the Doctor knew exactly what he was talking about. Each and every one of the lights in the city was flickering, casting shadowy claws into the fog.
The Time Lords looked to each other, lumps forming in their throats as they stood in the quiet.
Though even in this quiet, the Master seemed distracted, eyes darting from building to building. He could hear things, whispering in the fog, directing him towards something shrouded by the mist. The streets were hardly quiet, not by a long shot. Voices. Crying, right there in his head, heart-wrenching, painful things and he could feel it. A sharp intake of cold air, which earned the Doctor's attention, and he looked to the endless streets. "Ca…" he trailed off for a moment, pausing to take a deep breath to steady himself, composing himself. "Can you hear that?" he whispered, distractedly bringing one hand up to his head, trailing fingers through his hair.
The Doctor frowned, looking towards the empty streetside. "Hear what?" the other asked, turning to look at him with a small frown.
The Master looked at him, unamused. "The voices! Can't you hear them, Doctor? In your head… Just listen… Voices," he replied quietly. "Dying voices…"
With a quirked brow, the Doctor obliged, sighing. Absolutely nothing, it was completely silent in his head, and silently wondered if the drums had evolved in his head. But that was until he heard the first wisp of a voice, a faint cry of pure anguish and sorrow and he stopped. Almost childlike voices, pleading in his head. He tensed, taking the Master's hand in his, holding tight. "Its…" he began, looking around. "They're in the fog! Well…I say fog, but this is something completely different entirely…"
He hesitated slightly, tugging the sonic out of his coat pocket, swinging it around as he scanned the area, glancing at the readings while the voices cried away in his head.
"It…it's alive…"
"If it's alive then that means…"
They looked at each other, frowning. The Master seemed to sneer, voices touching his coat, the screams of dead or missing surround them both. "We should go. There's nothing left here anyways. Everyone is gone, and they're just floating around. Come on Thet—"
"Shh"
"Wh—"
"Shut up" the Doctor hissed, holding fingers to lips.
There was silence. Absolute silence and not even the wind seemed to breathe in between the buildings. The Doctor motioned towards a building, grabbing the Master's hand and fleeing towards the cover of one of the buildings, putting a protective arm across his chest. "Doctor, wha-?
"Shhh..." he quieted, looking to him with the intensity of the Oncoming Storm. The Master's eyes didn't waver but he remained mostly silent, moving closer to him as they hunched behind what could have been a newstand. A mental knock.
What are we waiting for?
The Doctor looked at him, then looked back out over their small shelter. I heard something.
Doctor there's voices in the fog.
Not like that. Footsteps.
The deathly quiet that passed between them was interrupt though, by a cough that did not come from either of them.
"Someone? Hello? I heard someone out here..."
"Master, it's a kid" the Doctor whispered, standing up.
"Doctor, you don't that that for sure" he hissed back, grabbing his arm and pulling him down. "This entire planet has been wiped out; don't you think it's a little suspicious that there's a small girl wandering around by herself?"
"Last of her kind, and you're going to leave her out there?" There was a stunned glimmer of confusion on the other Time Lord's face as the Doctor pulled away, standing up and walking out into the street.
"Hey! Little girl, over here!" he called out, waving and making himself bigger through the whispering fog. Rapid footsteps, heavy rapid footsteps and the little one's form appeared in the fog, sprinting towards him and practically barreling into him. She was small and fragile, looking quite dirty in clothes she'd survived in for far too long and frail under his flushed skin. Pale, hungry, scratches everywhere. "Oh you poor thing, what happened…?" he whispered, stroking greasy hair.
"I-It was the wolves." She whimpered, trying to look back at the way she came. In turn, the Doctor looked up towards a shimmer, a gap in a veil somewhere that he couldn't quite place, and his attentions fled.
"Doctor" the gruff voice of the Master rose, and the lanky man looked towards his counterpart, frowning slightly. "Let's just get her on the TARDIS and be out of here. There's nothing more we can do here, I'm sure of it."
He was about to respond, to retort how he was, in actuality, correct and the barren city had nothing left, when somewhere off, somewhere unknown, was a crackling, and a long, drawn out siren that evolved and contorted into a howl. The girl clung tighter to the Doctor's coat, he wrapped arms protectively around her, and frowned, looking to the Master. "They're hunting" she whispered, hiding her face.