Apocalypse Rising (Book One)

Rose

Bewildered, Rose let the woman drag her through the basement at a fast pace, crashing through doors until they made it to the service lift. The woman shoved Rose into the back and got in herself when the lead mannequin tried to stop the door with its arm. The woman simply propped her foot up on the closing doors, grabbed the arm, and started tugging until the arm came off, and the the doors closed.

Rose stared at her in shock. "You pulled his arm off," she said slowly.

"Yep!" She waved the arm, her voice a thick Israeli accent. "Plastic!" She tossed the arm at her.

Rose caught it quickly. "Very clever," she muttered. "Nice trick! Who were they, then? Students? Is this a student thing or what?"

The woman looked at her. "Why would they be students?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, you said it. Why students?" she pressed.

Rose shrugged. "'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students."

The woman nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense." She smiled at Rose. "Nicely done!"

Rose stared at her. "Thanks."

"They're not students, though." She turned back around. "Sorry."

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police."

The woman turned. "Who's Wilson?"

"Chief electrician."

The woman's face fell. "Wilson's dead."

Rose stared at her as the lift dinged, and they got out. "That's just not funny! That's sick!"

"Yes, it is," the woman agreed, taking something black with a gold tip out of her pocket. "Mind your eyes."

Rose held a hand over her eyes as she used the device to make the lift controls spark. "Who are you, then?" she asked as they kept moving towards the exit. "Who's that lot down there?" The woman ignored her for a little, and Rose repeated, a little angrily, "I said, who are they?"

The woman sighed, then started talking. "They're made of plastic," she began. "Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which normally would be a great big problem, but then I've got this." She drew what looked like a mess of wires from her pocket, and Rose's eyes bugged out. Is that a bomb?! she thought in a panic. "So I'm going to go up there and blow them up. 'Course, I might die in the process, but don't worry about me." She held the door open for Rose. "No, you go on home. Go on!" Rose slowly went out the door. "Go and have your lovely beans on toast. And don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed, and that's something I don't want to happen."

The door closed, and Rose turned to go when the door opened yet again. The woman poked her head out. "I'm the Apocalypse, by the way," she introduced herself. "What's your name?"

"Rose," Rose replied, caught off guard.

"Nice to meet you, Rose," the Apocalypse told her before grinning wildly and waving the bomb. "Run for your life!"

Rose hurried down towards the main road, making sure to avoid any shop windows. In her hurry, she was nearly run over by a black cab. "Sorry!" she apologized before making it to the other side.

There was a large explosion behind her, and she watched as Hendrik's blew up from the top floor. She stared for a second before she continued to run home.

She never noticed the police box tucked in an alleyway, nor did she ever see the Apocalypse look after her for a moment before disappearing inside.