My Mad Doctor

Chapter 27

I didn’t speak much to The Doctor after that. We were nearing the palace, so we needed to be quiet anyways. Cyber men had extraordinary hearing, so any sound, especially in the deathly quiet of these streets, could warn them of an attack.

The fear lingering inside my chest grew with every step towards our destination. Despite my brave face, I was truly scared. No, terrified. I didn’t want to face them again, not so soon after Demeter. Still, I couldn’t choose the battle. All I could do was accept my fate and face them.

Once we arrived, our little force hid in an alley across the street to observe the building. I’d seen the palace before, obviously, but it seemed much more menacing now. I knew what evil it held, and that made me hate it. Somehow I knew that if, when all of this is over, I survived, I would never be able to look upon this place again without the feeling of despair and fear that I felt now.

“Remember the plan.” Callum said to the rest of the group. “And good luck.” I hoped to whatever forsaken deity existed that this luck would help. It wouldn’t, but the thought was slightly comforting.

As we were approaching one of the side doors, I felt a hand wind its way through mine. Looking up, I was met with The Doctor’s comforting smile. Despite everything, I smiled back. Even with everything we’ve been through, it was reassuring to know that nothing has changed. Who am I kidding? Everything has changed.

I didn’t let go of his hand until we entered the palace, and only out of convenience. I needed to be able to hold my gun.       

The palace was far grander than I ever could have believed, but I didn’t notice its majesty then, only its cold.  It was so cold I felt my blood freezing in my veins. The air emphasized each breath with a puff of white, only adding to the terror of the mission.

We saw the first cyber man after only minutes. I froze, trying desperately to shove down the screams building my throat. No matter what the danger, no matter how terrifying anything else in my life may seem, nothing will ever compare to the spine-stiffening horror that overtook my body every time I heard their mechanical footsteps or looked into those hollowed out eyes.

By sheer luck, the creature moved past us without noticing. So, shaken but still breathing, we kept creeping our way down the corridor to find any survivors.

 “There.” Callum whispered as he pointed to a door that seemed melded with the wall. Jeremy tried the handle and found it unlocked.

I felt my heart leap in my chest when the door opened. Inside the large room were about 50 or so people, blinking up at us in surprise. Their faces beaten down and hollowed out faces lit up in hope when they saw us in the doorway. Immediately, my eyes scanned the rom for Sierra. I had begun to give up hope when a little blonde head popped up amongst the crowd.

The world seemed to narrow down in that moment. The only thing that mattered to me in the entirety of existence was seeing her alive.

I dropped all my reservations or concerns about appearing strong to the others and tore across the room. She saw me coming, a look of shock etched on her face that soon turned to one of joy. I threw myself into her arms and held her close, my body shaking in sobs. Despite everything, she was my past and I loved her. She was the one consistent factor in my life, my best friend. Sierra knew me long before The Doctor did, long before even I knew myself.

“Vi, oh God, you’re okay. I thought you were dead! You disappeared for months, then all this hell happened and I didn’t-,”

“Sh, it’s okay. I’m here, alright? I’m not leaving again. This will all be over soon. The Doctor is going to help us get you out of here and we’ll go somewhere safe, I promise.” She sniffled, not crying as hard as me, but still emotional.

“The Doctor? You mean…” She left the question unsaid, staring at me with disbelieving eyes. I motioned back to the ridiculous man in his ridiculous bow tie making a fool of himself behind me, trying to explain what a sonic was to Jeremy who obviously didn’t care.

“But he… but you… He was a story! He’s just a story!” She nearly shouted, shock and disbelief slowly changing to acceptance in the face of the truth. How could she deny it, though, with everything that had happened?

“I never said I made the story up.” I replied, a knowing smirk on my face. Slowly, almost unwillingly, she grinned back.

“I hate to ruin your little heart-to-heart, love, but we need to get going. You know, end of the world and all.” Callum chimed from behind me. I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm but elected to ignore it.

He helped Sierra up and together we rounded up the rest of the survivors. The Doctor hadn’t been just been idly fooling around as I’d originally thought. Instead, he had been interviewing the people to see what exactly had happened.

His eyes were dark when he repeated the information to me. “They came for them the same way Callum and Jeremy explained. Sudden. Out of nowhere. These people were herded to this building like sheep. Every day, the cyber men would come and take another person. These people were not seen again, God knows what they did to them.”

“I assume we’re going to find out.” I added with a twinkle in my eyes. The Doctor didn’t seem to understand for a moment, then his face split into a huge grin.

“Come on,” I said with a laugh. “Did you really think I’d let you pass up an opportunity like this one for my sake? Cyber men taking over the whole of London and you’re just going to leave? Really, Doctor, I know you better than that.”

His grateful smile was more than worth the fear churning inside me that came with the thought of investigating further. It was the last thing I wished to do, but I couldn’t let The Doctor leave without letting him do whatever it took to save as many people as possible.

To be honest, we should have known better. We broke the first of two rules that were needed on this mission. Speed. We spent too long in the room, reuniting with friends. So, I really shouldn’t have been so surprised when the cyber men marched up to the door, noticing us with the prisoners. I should have done something other than freeze, but it was all I could do in the pure, raw shock and heartbreak that crushed me in those few seconds.

Time slowed. Distant shouts and screams and gunshots echoed in my ears, faded like an old television turned low. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I watched a cyber man grab Jeremy, ripping him rom Callum’s arms. Another took Callum the same way, his gun falling the floor with a thunderous bang.

I snapped back into reality as I heard The Doctor scream my name before the metal hands clamped down on my mouth.

A/N I'M SO SORRY IT'S LATE! I feel so bad, but I've been busy beyond belief with schoolwork, so I haven't had any time for writing. So sorry again.