They reached the edge of the forest finally, early the next day. "Alright, you two" Samuel said. Alice and the Doctor both looked up from what they were doing and looked over at him, only to realize he was talking to the two elves. "Are you staying with us?"

Matt and Mark looked at each other, seemed to exchange a silent thought or two, then turned back to Samuel. "Yeah sure" Matt said "we'll stay."

A small cheer went through the crowd of children, leaving Alice and the Doctor feeling as left out as ever.

"Right then" Samuel said "brace yourselves, we've got about half a mile of desert ahead of us until we reach the safe zone. And I sure hope I'm not going to lose any of you. Wolf kids; going wolf is strictly prohibited, unless I say otherwise or we're attacked."

A groan now bounced around out of the mouths of a few of the people. Apparently a few of the wolf kids didn't like this idea so much. That all done and said, everyone set out into the desert that awaited them.

"So," the Doctor asked Samuel later "where is this safe zone? It's not in the middle of the desert is it?"

"Course not! It's in the hills past the desert."

"Oh. You sure that's protected enough?"

"Yeah. It's in the hills, past a desert, past a forest, past, I think, a lake. We were in that forest a while, I can't exactly remember"

"Are you guys going to be the only ones there?" the Doctor asked after a moment

"We shouldn't be, at least two more groups were at that safe zone last time I'd heard. I just wonder if that's a good thing or not…" Samuel trailed off, getting lost in his own thoughts.

The Doctor left him alone and went to go find someone else to talk too.

"Here we are!" Samuel called at last when they reached the top of the hill. Down below them was a building, maybe two stories high, with a few windows and a door or two.

"Doesn't seem too hidden" the Doctor mused

"Not to us, no" Samuel replied "but we're meant to see it."

The Doctor didn't seem to sure about that though…

"What?" Alice asked, coming up behind him. In front of them, the group moved on.

"That awful feeling, it's worse than before" the Doctor replied "I don't like what's going on here."

"This place is probably covered in protection spells and stuff," she told him "that's most likely the reason why you aren't getting a good feeling off of it. There's probably more magic around here than anywhere else."

"Can you tell for sure?"

"No, it's all foreign to me… not to mention the fact that I'm most likely not as magic inclined as them. I bet I've only got half of what they've got, not even."

The Doctor cast a glance at her, and then turned back to the building.

"We need to investigate this building."

They followed after the group of children, hoping that this safe zone was as safe as it should be, despite all odd feelings.

Downhill travel went quickly, and they were inside the building within no time. It looked deserted, and it seemed a layer of dust coated everything. The Doctor ran a finger over a table, leaving a nice streak of dust-free wood where his finger had been.

"Something's not right" he muttered, then called "Samuel! Don't let the kids get too comfortable… I have a feeling we might have to leave soon."

"Why would we have to leave?" Juli asked

"Well, for starters, this building's empty" the Doctor replied

"So, they're probably looking for food or something" Samuel said

"All of them?"

"Well…"

The Doctor continued searching, trying to find what else wasn't right. "It doesn't look like anyone's been here for ages…" he muttered

"I'll look upstairs" Alice said, already heading that direction.

Upstairs wasn't a pretty sight either. Windows were smashed, doors were taken off their hinges, and one door was even broken in half. There was a nasty dent in at least two of the walls, and the ceiling was caving in some places.

Alice bent down next to a hole in the floor and looked down. Right below her was the Doctor, examining other things. "Umm…" she said. He looked up and noticed what the problem seemed to be.

"Oh dear" he muttered

"What?" Samuel asked. The Doctor merely pointed up at the issue, and Samuel looked too.

"That can't be good"

"Upstairs is terrible" Alice reported, jumping the last three steps "you've got broken windows and doors, dents in walls, not to mention the ceilings falling in. Also, it seems that some of the banister is missing."

"It looks as if there was a fight…" the Doctor muttered, more of to himself than to anyone. He started looking at other things. Then, on a hunch, he turned around one of the chairs, to reveal a timer, counting down.

"Oh no" he whispered, then shouted loudly: "SAMUEL! We need to get everyone out. Now."

"What for?" Samuel asked suspiciously, and then he noticed the bomb that the Doctor had uncovered. "EVERYONE! OUT! NOW!" he shouted, and in response everyone started out the doors and windows.

The Doctor was one of the last few out, and he was running out at top speed. He couldn't have gotten much farther than a few yards when…

BOOM!

The building exploded.