Chapter 3: Signs and Portents

''Homo homini lupus'.'
(Man is a wolf to man)
—Unknown, attributed to Plautus

April 25th 2008

Rose stepped out of the trailer into the dim morning. Mud squelched under her boots. It wasn't a bright sunrise. Instead, the colors felt dreary, the view unremarkable, as if someone had drawn a thick haze over the world. It was very quiet, save for the sounds of birds continuing to rise from the trees. All and all a miserable day to be outside.

The distant rumble of thunder made her glance up. Lightning flared in the distant clouds. Black clouds were sweeping in, blocking out the orange tint of sunlight and sweeping the gray clouds back. A storm was coming.

Hearing the door swing shut, Emily looked up from where she stood, looking at Rose with an inquiring expression. Yet Rose could tell she wasn't hopeful about the answer.

Reluctantly, Rose shook her head. Emily's expression fell. Reaching for her belt, Rose pulled out a radio and spoke into it. "Ashley, you there?"

"Yeah, I hear you. Any luck?"

"No. We must have looked into every trailer in the area and there's no one here." Rose said, with a calm she wasn't feeling.

Ashley's frustration was clear over the radio as was her worry. "Same here. Nothing missing from the motor pool either from what we can see. No sign of Micah either."

"Understood. We'll meet you down there soon. And Ashley, for what it's worth I'm sorry. I know you two were close. Over and out." A prickling crawled up Rose's neck as she placed the radio back on her belt. Glancing back, Rose only saw the silent rows of trailers standing dark and abandoned. She shivered.

Several things happened at once. There was a crackling of glass breaking. Emily gave a yelp and Rose caught a glimpse of her slipping in the mud as she stumbled back. Turning, Rose now saw a muscular green arm, its fingers tipped with long claws, which had forced its way through a window. Through it, Rose caught sight of a round face with huge black eyes.

In an instant Rose realized what happened. Pulling her gun from its holster on her belt, she fired.

When her first shot missed, punching a hole in the side of the trailer, she adjusted her aim and fired again. Even as the arm pulled back, there was an alien shriek as the bullets hit the arm or sailed through the window. After the fifth shot the shrieking cut off. There was an audible thud as the arm went limp.

Lowering her gun only a little and keeping a wary eye on the arm, Rose hurried over to Emily. To her relief, sheer luck had kept the alien's claws from ripping her throat out.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I fell down, but I'm not dead so that's good." She jittered, her shaking hand touching her throat as she started to sit up.

Flipping the safety back on, Rose returned the gun to its place on her belt. She wasn't terribly fond of guns, but at the same time they had their place, unlike...

She felt a twinge of pain at the thought of him but roughly pushed it aside as she helped Emily to her feet. The walls of self-control snapped up. Now really wasn't the time.

"Thanks, you sure that thing's dead?" Emily said.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

Rose hurriedly spoke into the radio. "Ashley we just had a run in with an alien called a Slitheen-"

At this Emily gave Rose a startled look, but said nothing.

"-be careful if you meet anyone. Check for a zipper on the head. Otherwise keep an eye out of for fat green aliens. Don't underestimate them, they can move really fast when they want to."

"Ashley, are you there?" Rose asked when all she got in reply was static.

Silence.

"Emily, try to contact them."

Giving Rose a quick nod, Emily reached for her radio. "Daniel, Ashley can you read me?"

After a moment, Emily shook her head.

The unpleasant feeling of apprehension that had hung over Rose since they started searching the camp wrapped around her tighter.

Before she could speak, Emily said "Wait a mo', do you hear something?"

Listening, Rose could hear a flapping sound, like wet leather that was growing closer to them by the moment.

"Come on, let's get inside," she hissed under her breath, not waiting to risk whatever it was overhearing them.

Hurrying inside, the pair flattened themselves against the walls. Peeking through the curtains, Rose watched an angular bat-winged pink shape settle with a thump on top of a trailer opposite of them. Not a moment later, another creature joined it and the aliens started speaking to each other in trilling voices.

Ducking back against the wall, Rose turned back to Emily. "We've got company. There's two of them. But there's probably more of them nearby."

"So no chance of us killing them without more showing up?" she whispered back.

Rose shook her head. "Doubt it. Even if we could, they'd know something's up if they don't come back. And they probably don't know exactly where we are. Killing those two would tell them that if they start looking."

Outside, the two Krillitane stopped talking. Through the window, Rose observed one of them take to the air and head back the way they'd come. The other one remained on the roof, its head turning back and forth.

"Now what?" asked Emily.

"I think one's gone for reinforcements. The other one's still here and I don't think it's leaving anytime soon. We need to get out of here before any more of its friends show up and start searching. We have to get out without being caught."

"What about the back door?" asked Emily, in the tone of someone whose spotted the obvious and isn't sure how anyone else missed it.

"Back door?" asked Rose in confusion.

Emily pointed the corner opposite of them and Rose could see the dim shape of another door. Resolving to figure out how she'd missed seeing it later, she whispered. "Alright then. If we get separated, head for the woods. The roads will probably be watched."

Slowly edging around the walls of the trailer, Rose hurried Emily out the open door. Rose stopped at the shriek of metal tearing. She turned, just in time to see the closed front door being torn off its hinges.

The black, all-too-familiar-shape that stood in the gaping hole regarded her with its single cold blue eye. Rose caught a glimpse of the metal door, still held in its single plunger-like arm.

For a single heartbeat Rose froze, not believing her eyes. Then it spoke, the harsh electronic voice spitting out each word as if it alone could kill.

"You will be ex-ter-min-"

Rose didn't stick around to hear the rest. In a move that was more instinct then conscious decision, she slammed the door shut and tore down the steps in one adrenaline-filled motion. All the while frantically shouting at Emily to run.

They'd barely gone a handful of steps when there was a low humming sound that Rose recognized as the sound of a Dalek taking flight.

Emily gave her a quick nod, before dashing down one of the side paths. As she fled deeper into the maze of trailers, a thought muttered in the back of her mind. Had the camp always been so large? But she had no time to dwell on it as her desperate gaze darted over the different paths.

For a moment, she thought she saw a shape of a door in the darkness. But the sound of the Dalek drawing closer drove her forward with greater speed. But, there was no way she could outrun it. Rose drew herself to a halt. Half-blinded by the sweat in her eyes, Rose's hands fumbled on the lock of the door.

She staggered through the doorway. She only managed a few more stumbling steps before falling to her hands and knees. She panted, breaths coming in sobs.

After a long moment, Rose gradually became aware of how quiet it was and the dry leaves underneath her. Wiping the dirt from her face, Rose climbed back to her feet. Shakily looking around the mountainside clearing that she was standing in the middle of. Trees towered over her on all sides and scattered stalks of high grass peeked through the thick bed of leaves that covered the ground. There was no sign of the door that'd led her here.

A harsh caw made her look up to see a lone crow perched on the branch above her. While she watched, growing more troubled, more birds joining in ones and twos, uniting to create a black cawing mass. As she hurried onwards, something about the trees around her filled her with a sick unease.

Some animal had mercilessly clawed at the trunks. Fresh scars glistened in the dawn light, dangling shreds of bark and moss. Some of the claw marks reached higher than her head. In the distance a wolf howled in fear, the sound scraping at Rose's ears. The shrieks echoed, as if the howl was being repeated by a pack elsewhere. The pitiful cry clawed at her heart.

Alone, alone, alone. It seemed to sob.

Then, with a flutter of wings, the dark shape of a hawk peeled itself out of the misty distance to settle on a low branch. Tall and proud, its gaze swept the clearing as if it were the master of all it surveyed, before settling on her. Sharp green eyes studied Rose for a long moment, giving her careful inspection. At the sight of this bird of prey, the agitated ravens fell silent. Abruptly, the wolf's call died- screaming, not in fear or pain, but in fury.

In the silence, she could hear a slow dripping and Rose noticed for the first time that the hawk's talons were drenched in blood.

The hawk tilted its head as if listening to something. Rose stepped back, startled. A lupine shape had appeared by the root of the tree. The wolf looked almost starved; its thick gray fur was ragged and dirty. Saliva dripped from its open jaws, and it panted wetly. Sickly yellow eyes, surrounded by black markings, regarded her with a fierce intensity. Rose could see the wolf's hunger and bloodlust in those eyes. It was a creature of rage, want and she couldn't help but pity it. Something stirred in the back of Rose's mind, twitching-

the bad wolf howling through her lips

-And then it was gone.

A rustling sound of branches from off to the side and Rose belatedly scrambled for the sidearm at her hip. Feeling nothing, she glanced down to find that both the pistol and holster were gone as if they'd never been.

There was something wrong about that, her mind decided fuzzily. Her head felt like it was full of cotton wool and the sensation only grew when she tried to think about the situation.

With a low growl, a black panther stepped quietly out of the shade of the trees, its gold eyes staring up at the hawk. The bird looked down in interest and, maybe it was just her imagination, surprise. A strange, curiosity filled whine came from the wolf's throat.

For a moment the clearing was still, silent. Both groups simply watched the other. The panther's eyes narrowed, and it suddenly snarled, tail lashing from side to side. A long, low growl left the wolf's muzzle

.

The hawk screamed back, taking flight in a fury of steel-gray wings. The wolf leapt forward, teeth bared, only to be forced back with a yelp as the big cat clawed at its face.

Diving down from the sky, the hawk's claws raked at the black fur. The wolf darted forward again, bowling the yowling panther over. In the chaos of pain, growls and fur, Rose lost track of what was happening.

The bird of prey fluttered back into the air as the wolf and the panther tumbled down the hillside. Rose scrambled forward and looked down to where the animals had landed. The ground was nearly invisible through the mist, but she thought she saw a quick shadow move, limping deeper into the forest. Close behind, another gray shape carefully followed.

Rose hurried down the slope after them, branches and other brushwood brushing and snagging at her clothes. She couldn't understand why she felt such a compulsion, a need to follow. She felt pulled along, as if on a string. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Her legs screamed in protest from her earlier desperate, frenzied run. As she descended down the mountain, the mist grew thicker, until it seemed that the forest was dissolving into it.

She grabbed the trunk of a downed tree, its rough bark digging into her hands, and hauled herself over it without caring. Above, thunder rumbled. No sooner had it died then a demonic howl filled the air, seeming to echo from everywhere at once. Before it also faded away and ended.

Reaching the bottom of the hillside, Rose forced her aching legs to go faster. She pounded through the thick woods, heading to where she'd seen the pair disappearing into the mist. She slowed and then followed the trail of paw prints and blood that'd been left. Once, Rose thought she caught a glimpse of the hawk, flying though the treetops.

The howls became louder, more urgent.

Abruptly, the forest gave way to a clearing; in its center was a lake.

Standing on its shore, Rose looked around, trying to catch her breath. Gazing at the lake, she watched the reflection of the blue sky give way to a harsh bank of thunder clouds. A breeze made the lake ripple and for one brief moment Rose caught a glimpse of something. A man, dressed in ragged clothing darting from shadow to shadow on desolated streets. The streets almost seemed familiar to Rose.

A harsh cry drew her eyes upwards. The hawk from earlier darted overhead. Turning to see where it was headed, Rose froze as a pair of shapes appearing from the mist. The panther gave a deep growl. Oddly, a gray band, like a collar encircled its throat now. A racking, tortuous noise made her turn around. The wolf had lifted its head slightly, and as she watched, it coughed again. It became worse when she realized it wasn't coughing, but laughing. The noise grew louder and more terrible until Rose finally yelled, "Stop it!"

The wolf went silent, looking at her with a mocking grin that showed the tips of its teeth. Rose glared back at it defiantly. In response the wolf started to growl, a jagged, sawing sound punctuated with hatred. Suddenly, the wolf darted towards Rose. Startled, she stepped away and fell over the edge of the lake bank.

Rose slid into darkness with a shower of dust and leaves. She scrambled for purchase on shale and loose dirt. But nothing slowed her descent until her flailing hands grabbed an outcropping of rock. Rose was jerked back against the side of the ravine, knocking the breath out of her lungs. The sudden stop felt like it would tear her arms from her sockets. Gritting her teeth, Rose grimly hung still against the almost vertical drop. The sound of stones clattering down died away, leaving nothing but her gasps for breath.

Yet, the silence was short lived. It was broken by the sound of footsteps- casual, almost relaxed. Above her, Rose saw the shape of a man, looking down at her, materialized out of the gloom. She couldn't make out his face. It was blurry, as if her eyes couldn't focus on it.

"Tales of beasts getting involved with humans always end on a bad note." The man in black observed, bending over and reaching his hand out to her. The voice was blank of any distinguishing characteristics.

A black sun shone down. Behind him, Rose saw the things she'd glimpsed at earlier were in the mist. The shadows moved. Over the blood thundering through her ears, Rose became aware of whispering sounds. They were alien voices speaking words whose meaning hovered just beyond understanding. The darkness shifted, half-glimpsed shapes gaining edges and curves.

"Who are you?" she asked, her arms trembling with the strain of holding on.

"I am the man in between." Was the answer.

Before she could act, the rock under her hands broke with a snap. Helpless, Rose fell down into the darkness.

(*)

Rose jerked awake. There was no hazy in-between dividing sleep and wakefulness; her night's adventure had been a dream. That didn't make them feel less real.

A clock on the wall told her it was still several long dark hours till dawn. Besides her, everyone else was asleep. Which was to be expected. Not even the first hint of sunlight shone through the three tiny windows placed on different sides of the trailer. Each one was framed with yellow curtains so faded they were almost white. In a nearby corner, a wall-mounted lamp with a dusty bulb almost filled the room with faint light. She didn't notice the distant put-put from the nearby generator any more. She hardly noticed the faint smell of the exhaust, either.

As she tried to fall asleep again, Rose's mind turned to her life over the past months. A feeling of wistful loss settled over her. Sure the work she did at Torchwood was helping people and had almost certainly saved people's lives. All of which were good things without a doubt, if not exactly world shaking. Large scale alien attacks just didn't seem to happen very often in this universe. But that wasn't the issue for her.

In comparison to the places she'd traveled, all she'd seen and experienced, being stuck at Torchwood identifying alien technology or being shuttled around from one place to another just wasn't the same.

Unconsciously, her thoughts went to the Doctor. She couldn't help it; she jolted, heart-sick. Not for the first time, Rose wondered what he was doing, wherever or whenever he was. If he'd found someone new to travel with. If he'd moved on from her...That was an idea that she still wasn't quite sure how to feel about. She loved him and was almost certain that he loved her back. All the same, she didn't really want or expect him to mourn her forever. Once she almost might have, but not anymore. At least she didn't think so.

Sleep was a long time coming. Just like almost every night. When it came, Rose slipped into slumber as the warmth of the trailer lulled her thoughts away.

AN: Oh dear god this took too damn long. It's been so far on the back-burner it somehow ended up in the freezer!