7
Ianto woke to warmth, wonderful warmth as the dog and cat cuddled into the quilt he had pulled up in the night.
He yawned as he stretched and then sighed, his bladder asking to come out and play so he wriggled out like a worm from a dirt mound, the giggling starting as the dog and cat played dead, unable to give him even a little help.
He padded out to the bathroom and sighed as he let his bladder empty itself, his morning woody a surprise as well.
Not dead then.
He stretched and then headed down to poke the fire in the old wood stove, glad to find some embers in the fire box and he soon had a warm kitchen.
"Porridge next I guess."
He made some and the thumping behind him was clearly a tail. He placed the bowl down and watched the dog rush to happily tuck in, then he headed out to check the stock that were free ranging happily. Happily, like the world was not ending. Well. Maybe not for them anyway.
He pulled some carrots from the garden, then walked across to the herbs and plucked some thyme. Chicken for tea?
He walked back towards the back door and heard something in the breeze that made him hesitate and look back out across the waving grass.
Was that a gunshot?
.
.
.
.
Ianto moved quickly in the direction of the one he had seen, felling it as it came at him and he swallowed as he found it had been the little boy, the other boom of a shotgun had him running as he swore wishing he had put both kids down. Not fair the old man had to…. Fuck.
The little girl wasn't dead, choking and dying in the light of the front door, lying on the porch in her grandmother's arms as the poor woman screamed with grief.
"Fuck" Ianto spat.
"Did you…"
"Yes" Ianto nodded sadly, "Done."
"Fuck. Like her?"
"Changed. Not… Look, I think we should look at this like… these are not them. These are copies or… once were. Wearing them like skins maybe?" Ianto tried to reason it out, "No recognition, no control. Nothing human except the skin so… a virus that controls them or an alien intervention that take over their brains maybe."
"Aliens?"
"I work for Torchwood, we deal with alien invasions and such and believe me, they are here" he sighed, "Lisa and I are in the upper levels of Torchwood. We have spoken with them, worked with them, killed them. These were not your family, just something that copied them. I have to say, hopefully they died quickly at the moment of being taken."
Ianto didn't know if it were true or not, he was just saying it for comfort and the old man knew even as he nodded his agreement for his poor wife who stroked the hair off her grandchild' face.
"Bloody Torchwood. You think?"
"Yes. The real problem is the fact that if these are here, how many more are there?" Ianto asked as he suddenly remembered Lisa.
He tuned to look back towards his house when he heard a question he didn't like.
"Has anyone seen the Baban?"
.
.
.
.
Ianto ran for the back door where he removed the shotgun he had left against the wall and he walked out to stand, watching the plume of dirt showing a vehicle coming fast towards him.
No.
Next door's dying smoke had been seen as he had feared it might be. Ianto sighed as he saw it though the binoculars, recognising it as it's black paintwork flashed through the trees lignin the road and bounced past not even knowing he was there.
Torchwood Three, Cardiff.
He lowered the binoculars as another thought occurred, what were they shooting at?
He went in and locked the door, then headed up to check all the doors and windows.
Finally he sat on the porch to wait for what he knew would come like it or not.
They would see the track between the houses in no time.
Time to meet the neighbours.
,
,
,
,
So ends the first instalment … the next one will obviously bring Jack to the game. And I know you all want to 'see' Lisa's death.