Chapter Twenty Three:
"What do we do?" Amy said, her voice cracking slightly with panic.
"I don't know," Scarlett replied honestly. The Dream Lord had left them – presumably to go and annoy the boys in their version of reality – not long after he told the Leadworth girls that they could only save one of their friends. Now, Scarlett was sat next to the unconscious Doctor with her arms wrapped around her legs, while her ginger friend copied her actions beside Rory.
"Well, we have to do something before that Dalek repairs itself!"
"Maybe we don't," shrugged Scarlett.
"What?"
"Maybe we don't have to do anything. Maybe we should just let it kill them."
"Have you gone insane?" Amy shrieked; her face full of concern.
"Probably," shrugged the brunette. "But you heard what the Dream Lord said. If we die in the dream, we wake up in reality, right?" The younger girl turned her head to look at Amy with a blank expression. Quite frankly, she refused. She refused to play this game. She refused to 'only save one'.
Amy considered this for a moment but shaking her head slightly. "But what if this isn't the dream?"
"It has to be," Scarlett answered as soon as the last word had left Amy's lips. Amy raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise but said nothing. "I mean, look around. Does any of this seem realistic to you?"
"We travel through time and space with an alien who is hundreds of years older than us, yet looks like a 9 year old. We're not exactly the best people to answer that question." Amy let out a small humourless laugh.
Scarlett sighed, "Point taken."
"We'll get out of this, y'know," Amy said, though she wasn't entirely sure on whether or not she was trying to convince Scarlett or herself. "The Doctor will think of something."
"The Doctor's not here," her friend argued. "He's not here and we can't rely on him right now. We need to get out of this by ourselves."
"What do you suggest?"
Scarlett turned her gaze to the Dalek in the room, which had almost repaired itself completely. It twitched every few seconds and was still croaking out the same word over and over again. "Ext… ter… min… ate." Scarlett's eyebrows rose quickly. Each time the Dalek spoke, its speech got closer and closer together. Soon, it would be poised to kill.
Kill…
"We kill ourselves," the brunette replied simply after a moment or two.
Amy's gaze snapped to Scarlett's. "What?"
"Ext… ter… min… ate."
"We kill ourselves," repeated Scarlett. "We die here; we wake up on the TARDIS."
"Yeah, or in Leadworth. We still don't know which one is real. It could be this!"
"Are you willing to take the risk?"
Amy paused.
Was she willing? Scarlett seemed to be. And she really didn't have much choice in the matter. If Scarlett killed herself here, she would be left alone with only an unconscious Doctor and an equally unconscious Rory to keep her company. She trusted Scarlett.
She was willing.
With a small, almost imperceptible nod of her head Amy stood, holding out her hand for Scarlett to take. Scarlett mimicked her actions and took the hand Amy offered, holding onto it like it was her only lifeline.
"So, what do we do? Just wait until it decides to kill us?" Amy asked in a hushed tone.
"Trust me," Scarlett replied as she kept her eyes locked on the Dalek. "It won't take long."
"Ext… ter… min… ate."
"Just a little bit longer," Scarlett murmured.
"Exter… minate."
"Almost there," she spoke again.
"Exterminate!"
"Bingo."
The grip Amy had on her friends hand tightened to the point where Scarlett was surprised she didn't break a bone. But she didn't let go. Instead, she squeezed back with the same amount of strength as the Dalek in front of them began to slowly – but surely – move forward.
"You are friends of the Doctor," it croaked. "You must be exterminated!"
"Well, get on with it, then!" Scarlett ordered. She wasn't being brave. No, she was terrified. But if she didn't trick herself into thinking she was in control of the situation, she would panic. And then who knows what she might do?
"Exterminate!" the Dalek repeated.
Before either of them could blink, Scarlett had fallen to the floor, dead. Amy – in a panic – glanced down at her friend with wide eyes, before she too, fell down.
When the girls awoke, they found themselves lying on the TARDIS floor wrapped in blankets. They sat up quickly, glancing at each other with wide eyes before Amy let out a squeal and wrapped her arms around Scarlett in a celebratory hug.
"Oh my God, you did it! You little genius!" Amy grinned.
Scarlett let out a small sigh of relief before shaking her head. "Now we just have to decide if this is real or not."
"You're awake!" Rory said as he sat up, instantly noticing that his best friend and fiancé were still alive and well.
"Yes, and it's wonderful, but the four of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," the Doctor said urgently.
"It's this, here!" Rory cried.
"I don't think so," Scarlett interjected.
"He could be right. The science is all wrong here; burning ice?" Amy frowned.
"No, no, no ice can burn, sofas can read, it's a big universe," the Doctor shrugged. "We have to agree which battle to lose. All four of us, now."
"Okay, which world do you think is real?" Amy asked as the Doctor pulled his jacket around himself.
"This one," he replied simply.
"I agree," nodded Scarlett.
"No; the other one!" Rory argued, sending an exasperated look Scarlett's way.
"Yeah, but are we disagreeing, or competing?" The Doctor asked with a knowing look.
"Competing over what?" Amy asked in a frustrated tone. Now was really not the time to argue.
The Doctor and Rory turned to stare at the redhead without saying a word.
Amy groaned at their childishness before standing up and pulling Scarlett with her. The Doctor and Rory followed suit.
"Nine minutes 'till impact," said the Doctor as he checked his watch.
Scarlett watched, feeling a slight sinking feeling in her stomach and heart. No, it's not true. Is it? The Doctor couldn't be in love with Amy. He just couldn't be. The mere thought of it made Scarlett feel nauseated. She could understand if he was –after all, Amy was beautiful – but that didn't make it hurt any less.
The Doctor, meanwhile, had noticed the look on Scarlett's face and wanted nothing more than to reassure her. But he couldn't – not right now. Truth be told, he wasn't just competing over Amy. He was competing over all of them. All three. He valued their friendship and let's face it, Upper Leadworth was just so incredibly dull. He needed them in his life. He wanted them to stay.
"What temperature is it?" asked Amy.
"Outside?" The Doctor questioned. "Brrrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and... other parts."
Scarlett snorted as Rory said, "I think all my parts are basically fine."
"What did I tell you two about your stupid penis jokes when we were in Venice?" Scarlett said with a raise of her eyebrows.
The boys knew Scarlett's angry face well and – by silent agreement – decided to stay quiet on the matter, much to the brunette's pleasure.
Amy – who had gone to look for more blankets during the squabble – returned with some materials in her hand. She placed something on over her Scarlett's head while the boys argued over the telephone and when the brunette looked down at herself, she realised she was wearing a poncho, somewhat similar to the one Amy was wearing.
"Put these on, both of you." Amy said as she threw a poncho to the Doctor and pulled one over Rory's head, just as she had with Scarlett just a moment before.
"Oh, a poncho. The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen," said Rory with a look of disgust.
"Here we go," Amy said as she moved to stand in between the Doctor and Rory while holding Scarlett's hand. "Oh, our boys… Our poncho boys. If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."
"We're not going to die," Rory tried.
"No, we're not, but our time's running out," the Doctor frowned. "If we fall asleep here, we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world –"
"I'm sorry but the last time we got split up, Scarlett and I had to sacrifice ourselves to a bloody Dalek!" Amy glared.
"A what?" Rory frowned while the Doctor looked at the girls with wide eyes.
"It doesn't matter. It was a dream, and it's over now." Scarlett reasoned.
The Doctor shook his head slightly before going back to his spiel. "But the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why, why, what's the logic?"
"Good idea, veggie," said the Dream Lord who had just appeared in a poncho next to the Doctor. "Let's divide you lot up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companions. Maybe I'll even keep them, and you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."
The birdsong began once more, and the Doctor and Rory began to slump against the TARDIS.
"Can you hear that?" Rory asked.
"What? No." Scarlett said; her panic beginning to rise.
"Girls, don't be scared. We'll be back," the Doctor reasoned before falling asleep on the ground next to Rory.
"Don't leave us!" Amy cried out… but it was too late.
"Oh, ladies," the Dream Lord smiled – though on him, it looked more like a grimace. "We're going to have fun, aren't we?"
The Doctor jumped to his feet and pressed his ear to the freezer door, listening to the sounds of the Eknodine screaming and awaiting his return. While the girls were gone, he and Rory had done their best to protect them and now, there Scarlett lay, on the ground just behind the Doctor's feet.
The Time Lord sighed as he continued to fiddle with his sonic screwdriver. "Okay, where is it?" As soon as he found the right frequency, he bent down to pick up Scarlett – somewhat unceremoniously but she was unconscious so he hoped she didn't feel any pain – and placed her over his shoulder. Once he was satisfied that she wouldn't receive too many bumps or bruises, he opened the door, shot at the lights, and ran while the Eknodine stumbled around in confusion.
As the Doctor ran down the street, a voice cried out, "Oh, help, somebody!"
Turning towards the noise, the Doctor saw one of the pensioners attacking a man in an old camper van. With a sigh, he adjusted Scarlett in his arms and ran towards the man in distress. "Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" Within seconds, he had knocked the pensioner down and slid into the driver's seat with a polite "It's okay, it's only me." – But not before the man had deposited Scarlett's sleeping form carefully in the passenger seat.
The Doctor drove down the street – after saving two other women who clambered into the back of the van to settle next to its previous driver – all while trying to come up with a plan. In all honesty, it wasn't going too well. He truly believed that this reality was the fake one, but Rory was adamant that it was the other. Nevertheless, he knew that they would have to decide. And fast.
A/N: I would just like to apologise for the suckiness that is this chapter, and I'd also like to let you all know that I have not given up on Raggedy. I don't plan on giving up either. I've just been a little busy recently, but rest assured, I will keep updating. Thank you to those of you who have kept reading, despite the fact that the new chapters have been a little all over the place. Stay wonderful. Xx