Until We Burn | Dr Who

Chapter Ninety-Four: Stolen Earth

The door slams shut behind us. We aren't met with the destruction we expect. All we see is a quiet neighbourhood, brick houses lined in neat and undamaged rows.

"It's fine," the Doctor says, looking around in search of any sign of trouble. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong. All fine." His gaze lands on a milk delivery van that has stopped on the other side of the road. Raising his voice, he calls for the driver's attention, "'Scuse me! What day is it?"

"Saturday," the man replies, shaking his head and muttering under his breath as he returns to his job.

"Saturday. Good. Good, I like Saturdays."

I rub my arms and suppress a shiver, shifting from foot to foot in my heels. I am still wearing the dress from the wedding, its thin black material, knee-length skirt and absence of sleeves doing nothing to fend off the chill morning breeze. "Are you sure we're meant to be here? Maybe we should check tomorrow."

"No, it's definitely today. The date-ometer was certain about that."

The world is still quiet around us, only the clinking of milk bottles disturbing the peace. Donna emerges from her state of shock enough to say, "So, I just met Rose Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"But she's locked away in a parallel world."

He nods grimly. "Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, that means the walls of the universe are breaking down. Which puts everything in danger. Everything. But how?"

We have no answers. He runs back into the Tardis and we can do nothing but follow. Barely sparing me a glance in his single-minded focus, he tosses his trench coat to me. I smile and put it on, heading around to peer at the screen over his shoulder. Whatever it says has him worried.

"Thing is," Donna anxiously begins. "No matter what's happening — and I'm sure it's bad, I get that — but... Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?"

Our eyes meet. The Doctor breaks into a reluctant but overwhelming smile. "Yeah."

The ship jolts. I lose my balance, letting out a yelp of surprise as I grab for something to stop my fall. "What the hell was that?" Donna squeaks.

"It came from outside."

Without hesitation, I lead the chase back outside. The doors open. Before I can even react, the Doctor catches me and pulls me back. The street is gone. Nothing but darkness and space debris remains. The only thing stopping me from falling into the abyss below is the arm he keeps around my middle. "Di Immortales!"

"But we're in space," Donna gasps. "How did that happen? What did you do?"

He doesn't need to let go of me, as we both sprint back to the console. The screen remains unchanged. "We haven't moved, we're fixed."

I frown and peer closer. "That makes no sense. That would mean..."

He looks to me in alarm. "It can't have."

"What else can explain that?"

"No!" Back to the doors we run. He leans right out of the doors and I find myself repaying the favour, clutching tightly onto his arm in case he loses his balance. "The Tardis is still in the same place, but the Earth has gone. The entire planet... it's gone."

She stares at us, dumbstruck for a moment. "But if the Earth's been moved, they've lost the sun! What about my mum? And Grandad? They're dead, aren't they?" Neither of us has the answers she's looking for. Wincing, I wrap an arm around her shoulders. Her voice trembles. "Are they dead?"