Chapter 3 - Ex

A large group of soldiers, Jack, Rose and the Doctor included left at 9 o'clock that night, marching across the wasteland that used to be the beautiful plains of Owatta.

Nothing in sight was in one piece. There were numerous fires receding into the horizon, dead bodies, wailing sirens and distant bursts of gunfire and lasers. Rose remained close to the Doctor, who kept looking at her as they were marched at quite a pace by Jack across the plains.

Another explosion ripped out, about twenty metres from the group, throwing them off their feet. Rose immediately curled up instinctively, but thankfully soon felt the Doctor's arms around her.

"All right?" he asked quietly in her ear.

She opened her eyes to look up at him. "Yeah," she croaked.

She could see in his eyes that he didn't believe her. Which was fair enough. Because she was lying.

She'd been to so many places. Of course she'd seen death before with the Doctor. She'd been in the middle of wars. In fact, she'd hung in the middle of London during the Blitz in a shirt emblazoned with the Union Jack, but right now she'd never seen so much travesty of life. The soldiers left to die under the rubble. The dead working like a macabre patchwork quilt over the plains, unburied, uncared for. Malformed, bloody bodies. Occasionally her foot would catch on a body and the head would just roll off like a football.

It was disturbing that she was getting used to it. All those soldiers from the wars, shell shock, PTSD - now she got it. She understood it. Maybe, just maybe, she was now part of it.

And that was terrifying.

He knew that. Of course he did. He knew exactly what she was thinking. But he didn't voice it, he just offered an encouraging smile and helped her to her feet.

"Keep moving!" Jack yelled.

They both obeyed, the Doctor keeping his hand firmly in hers as they marched once again. When more bombs went off he gripped her hand even tighter. She was so grateful that he kept it there throughout the rest of the march, never letting go, despite Jack's pointed glances at them. His hand was more reassuring than holding a potion of life.

They finally reached where they were going - a sewer long out of use, yet still smelt awful. She resisted the urge to cover her nose, steeling herself against the smell as Jack halted and turned.

"Right. Blue group, you're the decoys, head left. You know what you gotta do. Red group, you're with me, we're going right. We'll retrieve the General. Move out!"

The Doctor and Rose made to go right, but Jack suddenly stopped them.

"No, Barbie, you're with them," he said, pointing at the decoy group.

Rose shrank back, alarmed.

"No," the Doctor said immediately. "She's with us."

"We need medical with them," Jack replied, slightly irritated.

"She's still in training," the Doctor persisted. His hand was holding hers even tighter now.

"I don't care," Jack spat.

"Jack…"

"Sir!" Jack suddenly yelled, his eyes afire as he gazed at the Doctor, as if daring him to antagonise him.

"Sir," the Doctor amended quickly, bowing his head slightly. "She's not competent enough to be on her-"

"I don't give a shit!" Jack burst out, screaming it in the Doctor's face. "She goes where she's needed, if NeoCorp sent her out to the front-line she's expected to do her duty and if that doesn't fit with you two obviously fucking each other that's not my problem!"

Rose glanced nervously at the Doctor. His hand had abruptly slipped out of hers. He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes briefly before refocusing on the angry Time Agent in front of him.

"Okay," the Doctor said, nodding. "Just let me prep her."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Be quick about it," he spat.

The Doctor took her arm and led her away. When they were a sufficient distance Rose grabbed desperately onto his arm, gazing up at him. She couldn't tell, but she was probably sheet white. "Doctor…"

"I know, I know," the Doctor repeated, looking pained. "But we can't go against his orders. He's our superior. We'd be branded as cowards."

"Coward's better than being dead," she pointed out desperately.

"We'd be tried and put into a penal colony for hard labour," he said. "That's if Jack doesn't shoot us through the head first."

"But I can't do this," Rose whined.

"You can, I promise," he insisted.

"I can't leave you…"

"You'll be okay," he reaffirmed, and pulled off his backpack - the one they had packed earlier with medical equipment they'd managed to scavenge from around the stronghold and the Doctor's pockets. "Take this."

Rose looked at it, wide-eyed. "But… But you need this for the General."

"I'll manage, now listen," he said, dropping to his knees and beckoning her down with him. He pulled out a packet of long green tubes. "This is painkiller. The end snaps off, like this." He demonstrated in a mime. "Stab it anywhere near the injury, it's effective almost immediately. Any blood, put pressure on it and wrap it up firmly. Any impalement, don't take it out, just bandage it up and bring the person back to me. Any broken limbs just split them by tying the limb to a board. Gunshot wounds, if you can see the bullet try and extract it with tweezers, if you can't, just apply pressure and use a blood bag if you have to. These bags," - he held up one - "are for any blood type. And most importantly, don't forget this, if you're in danger, you run. Just get out of there. Stay alive. I'll find you."

"God, this is really happenin'," Rose whined, head in her hands.

"You'll be okay," the Doctor said again firmly, zipping up the backpack. "I believe in you."

"It's not me," Rose said, so low she was almost whispering. "What if… What if you don't come back?"

"I will."

"But what if you don't?"

"I promise I'll come back. Just like you I'll be skedaddling like Road Runner at the first sign of trouble."

She couldn't help but smile at that. "Okay," she finally breathed.

He hugged her. "It'll be over soon."

"Be careful," she whispered over his shoulder.

He drew back, gazing at her for another moment. "You too."

She took the backpack he proffered and hauled it onto her shoulders, tightening the straps. He gave her one final squeeze on the arm, and they went back to Jack, who was waiting with a raised eyebrows.

"When you're quite done," he said, deadpan.

"Sorry, sir," the Doctor said, following the group to the right as Rose joined the left.

The last she saw of him was him giving her a wink before he and Jack disappeared from view.

They had been walking for what felt like hours before Jack dropped back to walk alongside the Doctor, holding out a pistol.

"Yours," he said.

The Doctor looked at it, and then looked away again. "No thanks."

"You don't have a piece," Jack insisted, almost shoving it into his side. "Take it."

"I don't need it," the Doctor replied shortly.

"What're you planning to hit them with? Your hair gel?" Jack said pointedly, looking at his hair.

"I don't shoot guns."

"A First Lieutenant who ain't taken a shot? I find that hard to believe."

The Doctor stopped. Jack stopped with him.

"I'm a doctor," the Doctor stated, staring hard into Jack's eyes. "I don't inflict wounds," he grated.

Jack didn't seem to notice his tone. "Take the damn pistol," he stated. "I won't have soldiers who can't defend themselves. Can't spend all my time worrying about you."

The Doctor sighed, taking the pistol. Jack nodded approving, just before the Doctor flicked off the safety, pointed his gun back the way they'd came and fired, and kept firing, until all the power was drained.

He then handed the weapon back to Jack. "I'm out of rounds," he stated, then started walking again.

Jack caught up with him again. "You're unbelievable."

"Been told that before," the Doctor assured him.

"What if your girlfriend was being shot at? Would you take it then?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"No, of course not," Jack said sarcastically. "Now, I don't care about soldiers fraternising but when they do it to the point of refusing their duties that's when I start getting a little pissed. What then, is she just a casual fuck?"

The Doctor fumed, but he kept it under wraps. "We're colleagues, I'm training her, she's my responsibility," he said, and sped up.

"I mean," Jack continued, catching up again. "I wouldn't blame ya. She's hot. I'd do her myself if she didn't stop looking at you."

The Doctor didn't reply.

"I've never seen a girl so in love. Literally, she just won't stop staring at you. I can't even get a look in."

The Doctor suddenly rounded on him, angry. "Leave her alone," he spat.

"Whoa, Ken," Jack said, laughing humourlessly and holding up his hands in defence. "No need to get touchy."

The Doctor spun on his heel again and kept on walking.

"Whoa, walking away from your commanding officer?" Jack taunted. "I could shoot you for insubordination!"

The Doctor stopped for a third time and threw his arms up into the air. "Go on, then!" he invited.

Jack paused, staring at him with a fierce look. This time he was the one to march off, leaving the Doctor behind.

For a moment the Doctor just stared after him. Keeping a low profile didn't seem to be working. Sometimes his mouth had a mind of its own. But at least the time lines hadn't collapsed yet. That was surely only a good sign.

"I believe in you."

The Doctor's words were circling in her head, and Rose was trying desperately to keep them there, repeating over and over again as she followed the blue group further down the sewers. She was clutching the strap of the backpack the Doctor had given her so hard that her knuckles were completely white. But she wasn't about to let go.

"I believe in you."

The soldiers were chatting amongst themselves, talking about things Rose couldn't make sense of. TV programmes she'd never seen, planets she'd never heard of and politicians she'd never listened to. They were all alien names and concepts; so far removed from her reality that she couldn't even begin to process them.

"I believe in you."

Before she had come here she would've embraced their conversation. Tried to be a part of it. But the ever-present sense of foreboding that they were all about to get blown to smithereens deterred any prerogative she had for small talk. How could they walk through enemy sewers about to enter into what could probably be the last thing they ever did, talking about some show called 'Androids'?

"I believe in you."

This wasn't fun. This wasn't swashbuckling space travel with the Doctor. This was awful. This was worse than every documentary she'd seen on World War 1 and 2 put together. During her GCSEs she'd studied the rise of Hitler and they'd watched a documentary on the Holocaust at the end of term, which showed the pictures of the bodies stacked up on top of another - from the elderly to babies - robbed of life through murder.

But they'd been in pictures. Part of history. It felt like history too - something in the far distant past. She hadn't known those poor people. It was just a collage of photographs.

Not like this.

Now the bodies were in front of her.

"I believe in you."

"Right boys and girls, chances are this'll be a right clusterfuck so it's every man and woman for themselves," one of the men said as they reached the sewer exit. "Just run, burst fire, run, burst fire and get to the other side. Ma'am?"

Rose jumped, realising he was addressing her. "...Y-yeah?" she stammered out.

"On your command," he said.

"Me?" Rose asked, but then quickly realised as the Doctor had told her to assume the position of a First Class Private, that actually made her highest ranked soldier here. "Oh. Um. Now, I guess," she stammered, and as they gazed at her with raised eyebrows she quickly cleared her throat and tried again. "Move out!"

The soldiers charged.

The bursts of gunfire and abrupt increase in explosions overhead meant the blue group had started their decoy operation. The Doctor ran a hand down his face. Rose was up there. She'd be okay, wouldn't she?

"We're here," Jack said, and started running. The Doctor purposely kept a few paces behind the group, anticipating for the walls to come down at any moments.

The Exes guarding the door to the cells immediately ran off at the sound of the fighting outside, leaving the entrance clear. The red group piled inside and kept running.

Rose ran quite literally for her life. She had a gun but she wasn't about to fire it, so was just holding it for protection as she charged as fast as she could across the open field thinking about nothing but getting to the other side.

Somehow, she got there.

She dived behind concrete for protection, gasping for air. She hadn't breathed during her run and was feeling quite, quite faint. So she took a few moments to just breathe, before there was a sudden movement from next to her.

She sprang back in fright before her eyes focused and she saw that it was small girl, probably no older than five or six.

"Help," the little girl whined.

Rose dived forward to gather her in a hug. "Don't worry, it's okay. We're safe here."

The little girl sobbed in reply, shaking in Rose's arms.

"What's your name?" Rose asked gently.

"Elizabeth."

"That's a beautiful name," Rose said. "I'm Rose. How did you get here?"

"Mummy and Daddy are Exes," the girl sobbed.

Rose held her even tighter. "It's okay, I'll look after you. You're safe with me, yeah?"

The girl nodded and clung onto her desperately just as some of the soldiers piled in. They caught sight of the girl, and immediately raised their weapons.

"Let go of her, ma'am!" a soldier yelled.

Rose suddenly felt angry at the soldier's callousness. "Drop your guns!"

"She might be dangerous!"

"She's just a girl, how the hell is she dangerous!?"

"She might be an Ex!" the soldier yelled. "Move away!"

"She's not, just look at her!" Rose snapped, getting to her feet to confront him. "Leave her alone!"

The soldier backed off. She was his superior. He had to obey.

Another soldier suddenly came in, clutching at his side. "Ma'am," he gasped, before dropping to the floor with blood seeping between his fingers. Rose rushed forward immediately, a new kind of bravery instilling itself within her. She pulled off her backpack and unfastened his armour from the side straps, quickly checking the wound whilst wiping at the blood with a rag.

"Okay, stay still," she said, pulling out one of the painkillers. Just as the Doctor has described she snapped off the top and stabbed it into his belly. Then she pulled out the tweezer-like instrument and pulled back his skin. "I need some light!"

One of the soldiers obliged, pulling out a torch for her. She looked again. She could see the bullet - it wasn't deep. His armour seemed to have lessened the impact, just as armour should.

"Okay, I think I can take it out," she said. "Just stay still."

She didn't notice the girl getting up behind her, gazing at the soldier who was holding the torch. She was far too busy pulling apart the soldier's skin and reaching in with her tweezers. It took precision, but after a moment's struggle she managed to clasp the bullet between the prongs, and pull it out. Fresh blood came with it so she quickly covered the wound, packing it and pressing down.

"I did it," Rose muttered under her breath, wide-eyed. "I did it…"

The soldier holding the torch next to her suddenly screamed. Rose looked up in shock to see the girl had launched herself onto him, her teeth sank into his shoulder and her nails scratching harshly at his chest. He screamed and flailed, desperately trying to get her off but she resolutely remained attached, thick blood coursing down from around her teeth still stuck in his shoulder.

"Get her off!" he howled, suddenly crying profusely. In the commotion one of the other soldiers stepped forward and shot the little girl directly in the back of the head. She hit the floor almost immediately, for a moment twitching and giving out strangled, horrible cries before finally collapsing, dead.

Rose suddenly couldn't breathe. It had happened so quick, and now the attacked soldier was standing there, crying and holding his shoulder.

She was medical. It was up to her. She made to get up but the soldier who had shot the girl stopped her.

"Don't touch him, ma'am," he said lowly.

"Why not?" she asked, confused.

"You've k-killed me!" the soldier rasped, pointing a bloody, accusatory finger at her.

Then she realised. She'd seen enough zombie films to know what would happen next. "Oh god no," she whispered, shaking.

"Sh-shoot me," the soldier gasped, suddenly collapsing to the floor. "Pl-please... k-kill... m-me."

The soldier who had held her back stepped forward, raising his gun.

"Godspeed," he said to the bleeding men.

"DO IT!" the man screamed, his mouth filling with blood as he struggled on the floor…

The soldier next to her took a single shot, right through the middle of his comrade's forehead.

Then it was over.

"... Is the Ex dead?" Rose almost whispered.

"Yes," the soldier replied, and shot her a stinging look. Just like the rest of them, and standing there staring at her with contempt.

It was her fault.

The blue group reached a large cell, in which were crammed tens of humans packed like sardines in variating states of both life and decay. Then there was the General, still in his uniform, although tatty, banging desperately on the bars. He was a little on the large side, the stereotypical General.

"Captain!" he yelled.

Jack blasted at the rudimentary lock to the cell and helped the General out, pointing him towards the Doctor. "He's medical, sir."

"I don't need medical, I'm fine!" the General boomed louder than to blast of a bomb overhead. The ceiling seemed to shift. "Get moving, squadron!"

The blue group turned back and went back the way they'd come. The Doctor didn't move, just staring at the people inside the cell. There were some alive.

"Ken!" Jack's voice yelled from down the corridor. "Get moving!"

The Doctor paused, hesitating. But his decision was already made. He couldn't leave these people. He ran into the cell, freeing some of the men.

"Ken!" Jack's voice yelled again, closer. The Doctor looked up to see him staring into the cell. "Forget them, get moving!"

"But they're still alive!" the Doctor yelled back.

"We can't take them with us, do not defy my orders!"

"I'm sorry!" the Doctor yelled back, helping a man to his feet. "I'll be there in a minute!"

Jack fumed, but despite this, ran in to help evacuate the prisoners that could walk. Within minutes they had them out, but there were still some injured soldiers on the floor, the Doctor moved to help them.

"Leave them, Ken!" Jack yelled, hanging at the door to the cell.

"We can save them!" the Doctor insisted as another blast came from overhead. Only this time the ceiling didn't just shift. The Doctor didn't have time to move - he just stood there, nowhere to go, before the ceiling completely collapsed on top of him.

Jack dived forward immediately. "Lieutenant!" he shouted, pulling at the rubble. "Lieutenant!"

He couldn't find him, seemingly lost under the concrete. Jack could see blood though, making a thin river from out between the rocks.

Jack winced as another bomb came close to them, and the ceiling shifted even more. There was no way anyone could have survived that, and he had to go.

Jack turned and waved to his soldiers. "Move out!"

Then he left, leaving the brown-haired man under the rubble, most likely dead.