(AN) Wow, over 100 followers! That is seriously cool! Thanks to anyone who's reading this, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
As it turned out, the Doctor actually did have a concept of what they had to do, to some extent. He had immediately sought out leadership in the group of refugees, Rose hesitantly following after him. She felt lost and uncomfortable in the midst of these people. She wanted, desperately, to help. But there were so many sick, terrified faces staring up at her as she walked through the camp. So many malnourished, hunched people, piled into tents like cattle. And the looks on their eyes. Some appeared vacant, like they had no hope or sanity left in them. But some people were staring at Rose like she was the most deplorable, disgusting creature in this universe. They reminded her of the old man who had attacked her, and as much as she wanted to help, Rose found herself fearing for her safety.
The Doctor was appearing to be somewhat unaffected though. Rose had seen a fear, a weakness in the depths of his eyes earlier, but now he marched on, keeping a blank mask in his face, keeping his speech clipped and concise. She had seen the Doctor like this before only a few times before in this regeneration, and whenever she had, something had been wrong, horribly wrong.
The Doctor had ducked into the tent that he had just exited, only to be shooed out. The woman who had brought them to the camp in the first place now glared at him furiously, her eyes holding hatred similar to that of the others. Rose still hadn't known what this anger was about, but things weren't looking good if now everyone was turning on them.
However, much to her relief, a teenaged boy had tugged on her sleeve. Upon turning around to face him, Rose had learned that he was the pregnant woman's other son, whose name was Mathew. Mathew, being the only person in the vicinity who didn't look like he wanted to violently murder the Doctor and Rose, offered to take them to leadership in the camp. The Doctor, upon hearing this, had swiftly followed after the boy.
Now, the three of them were nearing a tent that was larger than the other ones, and didn't have any smaller tents flanking it. They had walked through a good majority of the camp to get there, which was about a kilometer long. The Doctor and Rose had spent the majority of the journey in silence, with him only speaking to ask the boy about the population of the camp, which turned out to be about a few thousand people. Rose didn't know what to say to him. On the inside, she was itching to get to her parents, and Mickey. Her primary desire was to find out what had happened to them. But on the other hand, it would be nothing but cruel to just leave these people, leaving them immersed in this illness.
Rose wished that the Doctor would say something, anything. The silence between them was unbearable, and unfamiliar. In the parallel universe, she had rarely had a moment of silence with either of the regenerations. The silence had a palpable presence between them, and Rose felt that the longer they stayed silent, the larger that presence would grow.
The arrived at the tent, and Rose and the Doctor ducked into the flaps, following after Mathew. However, upon arrival, they didn't see what they expected.
A line. There was a line of people, at least thirty, all clumped together in the tent, waiting to speak to presumably the leader. Many were sick, coughing and hacking, but a good majority of them stood without any of these difficulties. People who had not yet succumbed to the plague, here to represent those who had.
A sudden outburst of movement and sound came from the front of the line, resulting in those in front of the Doctor and Rose shuffling backwards away from the frenzy.
"There has to be medicine! Vaccinations! You can't just let her die, they told me to come here, they said-" The sound of a man yelling was immediately muffled, and out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw him being dragged away by two others clad in clothes that weren't quite as worn down as the other citizens.
"Wait, there's no medicine left?!" a woman exclaimed, and at her shout, other's joined in the clamor, converging in on the man and the presumed guards, yelling and screaming in protest. A fist came dangerously near Rose's head, and she ducked, jerking away from the crowd. She spun frantically on the spot, searching for the Doctor, but he was nowhere to be seem. Mathew still stood somewhat near the flap, and he grabbed her arm, dragging her away from the others.
"Have you seen him?" Rose asked, panicked. "The Doctor, he went off somewhere-"
Mathew shook his head. "We really should get out of here, I need to get to my mother-"
"SILENCE!" a voice roared. Rose turned to the sound, relief flooding through her being. The Doctor perched on top of a disused crate on the opposite end of the room, staring down the people of the room menacingly. At this sight, everyone in the room immediately fell silent, hesitantly turning to witness this new face.
"I can help," the Doctor said, more calmly than before. "I am the Doctor, and I have medicine on my ship."
The room remained silent for a moment, until someone yelled. "Why should we trust a bloody Centite!?" The room was abruptly in an uproar again, and now they were approaching the Doctor, who appeared rather confused at this insult.
Rose remembered that term had been thrown at her as well, by the old man outside. She didn't quite understand what it meant though. Then, she recalled what the pregnant woman had said about a ship, a spaceship. The Centrun36, which had departed, taking her husband away. There had to be some correlation between the names.
"Doctor!" She shouted. But he couldn't hear her amongst the throng. The Doctor stepped back on the crate, away from the shouting people, and then Rose understood. She cut through the crowd, running up to the crate. She somehow managed to reach the Doctor, and when she did, a light came across his troubled face. He grabbed her hand, hoisting her out of the thrashing crowd, and pulling her onto the crate by his side.
"We're not what you think we are!" Rose immediately shouted. "We aren't Centites!"
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked urgently, releasing her hand.
"There was a spaceship, Doctor," Rosw said, turning to him. "The Centrun36. I dunno what it is, but a bunch of people left on it, and some people were forced to leave. They think we are people who left on the ship, who deserted them here!"
The Doctor's eyes widened, but before he could speak, another voice interrupted.
"How are you not Centites? They're the only ones who could've possibly teleported here!"
"I have a ship!" The Doctor yelled. "It's outside this camp, and I can assure you, it's not a Centite teleportation system!"
The people quieted some at this, and another voice spoke.
"I wish to speak to this 'Doctor'," a woman called. Immediately, the crowd jumbled about at this voice, parting for this newcomer. When Rose saw who stood there, her mouth dropped open with shock.
"Harriet Jones?!" The woman was almost unrecognizable, dressed in a faded pair of jeans and a torn shirt with dirt on her face and tangled hair. However, she was cleaner than the others, and not quite as thin.
Harriet turned to her, eyes attentive. "You know of me?"
And then Rose remembered, in this universe, Harriet Jones wouldn't know anybody by the name of Rose Tyler.
"Someone mentioned your name," Rose lied. She glanced up at the Doctor, and could see from the way that he was looking at Harriet Jones that he didn't recognize her.
"Ah, I see," Harriet replied curtly, standing up straighter. Even in the state that she was in, she still managed to have a regal appearance.
"Then, I assume," Harriet said. "That you have come to speak to me, seeing as I am leader of this camp." If it was even possible, she straightened even further, and stated, "Harriet Jones, leader of all facilities concerning camp 24B."
The Doctor leapt down from where he stood on the crate. "Yes, I am here to speak to you, Ms. Jones. I am the Doctor." Upon reaching her, he extended a hand for her to shake. However, she didn't lift up her own hand in response.
"Doctor, as leader of this group, I am obligated to negotiate and associate with those who are and/or are affiliated with Centites. However, I am uncomfortable with this, seeing as what they did to us. Can you confirm that you don't belong to this category?" She asked.
The Doctor nodded. "As I said earlier, my ship is right on the edge of your camp. It's blue, shaped like a box, and not 'Centite' technology."
"And your companion?"
"You could say that she's my plus one," the Doctor said, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. Rose felt a warmth spread through her at the reminder of the travels that she'd had with the other Doctor. However, Harriet didn't seem as amused.
"Search for the ship," she ordered to the presumed guards behind her. The two of them nodded, and released the man they held between them. He staggered away towards the tent flap, and many others followed after him. Soon, the whole tent was empty except for the Doctor, Rose, and Harriet Jones.
Harriet stepped away from them and moved towards an old, rickety wood chair that Rose hadn't noticed sitting there at first. She sat down in it, and the Doctor and Rose remained standing, facing her.
"Where do you come from, Doctor, and why do you come here?"
"I come from very far away," the Doctor said, a vacant look in his eyes. "But as for why I'm here, I don't know. We were aiming for somewhere else, and then I ended up here." He gave Harriet Jones a pointed look. "It's most likely that I got a distress signal."
Harriet shook her head, disgust clearly showing on her features. "We don't send distress signals. We are trying our best to become independent of all, including the Centites."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I don' mean to pop your bubble, but you're doin' a kinda lousy job of that."
Harriet's nostrils flared. "Doctor, I'll have you know that-"
"I don' need to know anything. I look outside, and I see sick people, and dying people. I see people starving. No matter what you say, there is no way you can convince me that you are making progress here!" the Doctor said severely. Rose glanced at him, fingers twisting in her shirt. The oncoming storm had arrived.
Upon seeing the furious look in Harriet's eyes, his voice softened. "I can help, Harriet Jones. If you let me, I can figure put what's wrong with these people, and provide them with medicine. But you have to cooperate."
Harriet Jones crossed her arms, contemplating. After a moment, she looked him in the eyes.
"I will cooperate with you, Doctor," Harriet said sternly. "But I already know what is wrong with these people."
"What is it?" The Doctor responded, hands clasped behind his back.
"They have inhaled extra terrestrial dust," Harriet stated. "This planet was struck by an incoming meteorite that struck on the other side of the planet, but caused a massive outpouring of polluting dust everywhere. This substance is building up in people's lungs, and causing them to cough up a black, tar like substance."
"And everyone fled?" Rose asked. Her soft eyes met Harriet's stern ones. "All the people, of this planet, they just fled away on the Centrun36, didn't they?"
"Only those who could afford it," Harriet said, her stiff countenance fading somewhat. "It was fairly cheap to go, but those who were in poverty, those who just couldn't scrape together the money, had to remain behind. Also, some were taken on the ship because of skills that were a necessity for survival. So all of our doctors were taken away."
"You couldn't afford it?" Rose asked.
"No," Harriet Jones said, "I could."
"Then why did you stay?"
The stern look returned to her face. "I was mayor of the town below," she said, gesturing outside. "They tried to make me come on board the ship, but I didn't. I refused to leave my people."
The Doctor smiled proudly at her. "That's simply fantastic, Harriet Jones. But what is even more fantastic is the disease that is plaguing your people!"
Both Rose and Harriet gave him horrified looks.
"I beg your pardon Doctor, but how is that in any way, 'fantastic'?!" Harriet said dangerously.
"Viscitis. A fairly common disease, originating on the planet of Viscosia, which is almost entirely composed of tar. It also has a tendency to eject chunks all over the universe that migrate towards planets. When striking planet surface, like any other meteorite it has a tendency to release dust. When this dust is inhaled, it precipitates into a tar like substance in the lungs. Viscitis hits very quickly, but it's very easy to cure with modern medicine. I can just manipulate the atomic structure of the compounds in the surrounding atmosphere using my-"
"You can help," Harriet interrupted. "That's all that's important." She gestured impatiently towards the door. "Now go! Do what it is that you need to do!"
The Doctor jumped into motion, running to the tent flap. Rose ran after him, sparing Harriet Jones a glance as she left the tent. The woman looked much less tense, almost relieved to some extent.
Upon emerging from the tent, the Doctor grabbed Rose's shoulders, turning her to face him.
"Rose, I am going to perform a blanket treatment on these people, and to do that I'm going to modify the atmosphere. I need you to clear out all of tents. Every man, every woman, very child. There is going to be an air bubble around the camp, and within it, the air is going to be modified in such a way that will allow people to breathe easier," He let go of her shoulders. "And quickly!"
"Alright," Rose replied. But as she did so, she felt an odd jolt of pain in her chest, and she winced, placing a hand there. She looked up, but the Doctor was already off.
Rose proceeded to run around the camp, stopping by almost every tent clump and having everyone clear out. Some people gave her distrustful looks, but all complied when she told them it was under the orders of Harriet Jones, which was technically true. She managed to get most people to spread the message to those they knew, making it so that she didn't have to stop by as many tents.
She eventually reached the edge of the camp, near Clerk's tent. The three family members stood outside, the boys physically supporting their mother, who seemed peaked, but in overall better spirits than before. Rose flashed a smile at them as she jogged by. There were a few tents remaining on the outskirts of the camp, and Rose made sure to stop by them, relaying her information.
Rose ran a little further outside the edge of the camp, just to make sure that there weren't any tents that she had missed. There weren't any, and she turned around to return to wherever the Doctor was. However, just before Rose started running again, the stabbing sensation returned to her chest, and this time if didn't fade away, only expanding along her torso.
Rose cried out, and fell to her knees, clutching at her chest. She suddenly felt very weak and feverish, and the pain tore through her like a thousand knives. She was quite suddenly bent over, coughing and wheezing into her sleeve. When she drew it away, it was coated in a black, tar-like substance. Fear filled her at the sight of this, but she didn't have much time to contemplate, because soon she was bent over once more, gagging as the substance clogged up her throat and mouth.
"Viscitis hits very quickly."
A buzzing sound hit her ears from far above, and Rose feebly turned her head up. A translucent turquoise bubble was descending over the camp at a rapid pace from above. Soon, it encompassed the whole entire ground area. This had to be the atmospheric shield that the Doctor had told her about.
However, Rose was at least twenty feet outside said shield, and she couldn't muster the energy to get to her feet and run to it. She collapsed even further at this thought, and curled up on her side, suffocating on the tar that pushed up through her lungs.
Through her blurry eyes, Rose could see one of the creatures from before, one of the white beings with tentacles floating above her. It approached the bubble that the Doctor had constructed, but when it hit it, the massive creature froze in the sky. Abruptly, it dropped like a dead fly, flopping down to the ground below. This was the last thing that Rose saw before the darkness seeped in from the edges of her vision, and everything went black.