Chapter 4

John followed Sarah out of the room, closing the door behind him. People were passing by on the sidewalk, cars were zooming by on the street, and everything was in the general hubbub of London. John grinned and turned to Sarah. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Sarah was staring open-mouthed at something behind them. John turned, and saw immediately what had surprised her.

"A Police box?!" John exclaimed.

"But that room was huge!" Sarah nearly yelled, attracting a couple glances from nearby pedestrians.

"Bigger on the inside than on the outside." John murmured.

Sarah still couldn't make heads or tails of it. "How is that possible?"

John shrugged. "Well, after what we've been through today, I'm hardly surprised."

Sarah shook herself and turned to John. "So we're in London. Now what? We don't have any money, apart from what's in our wallets, and we don't have anywhere to go."

John sighed. "Well, I'm hungry. We need to get something to eat. And if I remember correctly, there's a cheap fast food place around the corner. Come on."

John, of course, did remember correctly, and they sat down to eat.

"So, what do we do?" Sarah asked. "And what about tomorrow? Where are we going to sleep tonight? People are going to start looking for us at home too, and they'll find us here and then we will be in big trouble. I mean, whose going to believe our story?"

John frowned. "I know. I've thought about all that too, and I'm sorry to say, I haven't a clue."

They sat discussing ideas, each seeming less likely than the last. As Sarah opened her mouth to voice another idea, John lifted his hand.

"Shh. Listen."

"Hey, no fair! It's my turn!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Quiet and listen!"

Sarah obeyed, and soon realized what John was hearing. Screams. It sounded like whole crowds of people screaming.

"What's going on?" She asked. "A really good sale?"

John looked at her.

"What? I have some friends that would scream like that if the sale was really good." She defended.

John shook his head. "Come on."

They ran outside and around the corner. There they saw a mob of people running at full speed straight toward them. They looked like they were running for their lives. Before John and Sarah could react, the mob slammed into them. Sarah screamed and fell, tearing her hand out of John's. John just managed to keep his feet, struggling to get out of the crowd.

"Sarah!" he yelled, but his cries were drowned out by the mob's screams.

He continued pushing forward, and suddenly found himself at the back of the crowd. He looked at the street, stunned for a moment. At least 20 people lay, completely still, dead even, all over the street. As soon as he tore his gaze away from them, he realized there were still people moving. But they seemed different, somehow. Then he remembered Sarah. He turned, searching the street behind him frantically. Then he saw her, sitting up against a wall, looking not to badly hurt. Breathing a sigh of relief, he ran over.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he helped her to her feet.

"A little bruised, but I'll live." She said. She looked over his shoulder. "Who are they?"

John turned and saw the figures he had noticed earlier, now on their way toward them. John realized now what was different about them. They were robots, with doll-like faces and mechanical movement. As they formed a circle around John and Sarah, he also realized he knew everything about them.

"Autons." he whispered to Sarah.

"Huh?" she said.

Before John could answer, an Auton stepped out of the line and grabbed their arms. Another Auton reached into a pocket in the clothes he was wearing - they looked like the clothes that went on mannequins, which John realized, was what these things were - and pulled out a small square with a button, sort of like a garage door opener. The one holding John and Sarah nodded to it, and the Auton brought its other hand up to press the button.

Suddenly, the Auton exploded. The Auton holding John and Sarah let go, and turned to fight the people that had appeared at the other end of the street. There were at least 50 of them, far outnumbering the Autons. A helicopter zoomed overhead. As soon as he realized what was going to happen, John grabbed Sarah's arm and pulled her over toward the restaurant they had come from. As he opened the door, he saw everyone had left. They must have seen the crowd and joined them. He scrambled over to a table and pulled Sarah after him as he crawled under the table. Then the bullets started to whiz. Windows broke, chairs cracked, and they couldn't hear anything over the noise. Plugging their ears with their fingers, they huddled under the table, hoping it was far away enough from the battle. For five minutes, five minutes that seemed like hours, they huddled underneath the table. Then, as suddenly as they had begun, the bullets stopped.

John crawled out from under the table. "Wait here." he said. "I'm going to see what happened.

Sarah nodded and John crept toward the window. He saw about ten more bodies on the street, all in the same uniform. There was no sign of the Autons. As he peered around, men and women started to appear from behind cars and buildings, all wearing the same uniform as the bodies. One man appeared and started to give orders. John couldn't quite tell what he was saying, but his gestures told enough. He was telling the team to look in the buildings for survivors. He looked at a woman, and motioned her toward the restaurant. John went back over to the table and crouched down.

"It looks like the Autons are gone. But I don't know who these people are. There's someone coming over here, so let me talk, and as soon as I know what I want to know, I'll either come get you if they're friendly or leave if they're not. Okay?"

Sarah nodded and John left the table. She shivered. What had happened? 24 hours ago she was another normal kid. Sure, she was an orphan but even that had become normal. She had friends, went to school, and now...now aliens seemed to be taking a special interest in her. She shivered again. Why was that?

John returned a minute or two later and called her out. "It's okay. They're friends."

Sarah nodded, not sure why she suddenly had a "no questions asked" trust in her brother. She crawled out from under the table and went to join John with the woman who had come into the restaurant. The woman had dark skin and wore a uniform like the rest of the group. She had a friendly, inviting look in her face. And something else, like she had had some experience that left its mark. Sarah couldn't quite understand it.

"My name is Martha Jones." she said. "I'm with UNIT. We came because of the Autons. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about?

John nodded. "Actually, I think you guys arrived just in time."

Martha smiled. "Good. Now, did you two actually see any of this happen? Before we got here I mean?"

"Yes, quite a lot actually."

Martha nodded. "Then I would appreciate it if you would step out here with me."

She led them out of the restaurant and around the corner to where the man giving orders stood. She motioned toward him. "That's General Tyler Mosley. He's the one in charge of this group."

She approached the general and called out. "Sir!"

He noticed them for the first time. "Yes, Ms. Jones?"

"General, these two may have some information we can use. They saw what happened before we got here."

He nodded and looked toward them. "Well? What happened?"

John was slightly surprised at the difference in his brisk manner after meeting Martha. But he quickly dismissed the feeling and recounted everything they had seen. Including the fact that the Autons had seemed to be ready to take them prisoners.

The general frowned. "I've never known Autons to have any interest in prisoners." he said. "Well, if that's all you can tell us, then you're free to go. Come on Ms. Jones. We need to be returning to base."

The general moved away, calling the group together as he did. Martha began to follow, but John stepped forward an touched her arm. "Wait. Can we come with you? We don't have anywhere else to go, and I think you might be interested in our story. Seeing as you were so interested in the Autons."

Martha looked at him. "Your story? What do you mean?"

John shook his head. "I won't be able to tell it all before you leave. And we need a place to sleep tonight. Like I said, we don't have anywhere else to go."

Martha frowned. "Wait here. I'll go talk to General Mosley."

John nodded and stepped away. He watched as Martha stepped over and spoke to the general. He listened and when she finished, he shrugged his shoulders. Martha looked over at John and Sarah and nodded. She motioned them around the side of a building, where most of the group was disappearing to.

John sighed. "Well, Sarah. It looks like we have a place to stay. Tonight, at least."

Sarah didn't respond. She merely followed as John began to walk toward the building.

They walked around the building to see five vehicles parked in a street. They looked big enough to hold at least ten people each. Martha motioned John and Sarah toward one, and they followed her in.