Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 3

The Doctor took off running towards the closest apartment, with us close on her heels. She knocked sharply, without stopping, which I would consider harassment if I were still on police duty back home. But I'd let her slide with anything. Everything she did had a purpose, and that purpose was to save lives.

I noticed a curtain ruffle in the corner of my eye and grabbed the Doctor's shoulder. She stopped knocking and followed my gaze to where it rested on a little boy, peering out the window to the right of where we were standing. She gave him a smile and a little wave.

"Can we come in?" Graham practically shouted, big grin on his face. He always had the best intentions. Ryan smacked him in the chest and the Doctor and I both gave him scolding glances as the boy ran from the window.

"You scared him away!" Ryan whispered, as the Doctor pressed her ear to the door. Graham began to explain himself but the sound of the sonic screwdriver cut him off.

"Are you just going to break in?" I asked, concerned that we might further rattle whoever was in the house. The Doctor shrugged.

"I'm trying to, but something is keeping me out... you know what? I bet it's wood!" She exclaimed in frustration. She slipped the sonic back in her coat pocket.

"Hello?" The Doctor waited patiently for a response. She was just about to look for a different way in when the locks on the door began to click. There were one, two, three... six locks. Six. They had to have been pretty scared to need six locks. Especially in the middle of the day.

The door opened, but not even enough to stick a finger through. I saw an eye, big, blue, and round, along with pale but dirty skin. She had to have been young, since when she spoke, her voice sounded like mine did when I was 16.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll get off the streets, but if you know what's best, you'd get off my front porch," the girl warned. The Doctor smiled. She loved a fighter.

"Me and my friends, we're new in town-"

"I'll say," the girl crooned. The Doctor's smile softened as she continued.

"We just have a few questions, like, well for instance...why is no one walkin' around? It's the city, the Big Apple! A metropolis! So why is everyone shut away in their houses?" She asked. The girl's one visible eyebrow lowered.

"You mean you really don't know?" She asked us, skeptically. I crossed my arms and stepped up next to the Doctor. I noticed the girl back away a bit.

"As my friend said, we're new here. Just moved in. And if everyone's this scared, we want to know what's going on. Maybe we could help. We just want to come in and sit down for a bit, and talk. That's it." I tried my best to look confused. I wanted to prove I could do more on these adventures than just help out. I wanted to prove myself.

The girl considered me for a moment.

"And how do I know you're not one of them? You all just show up at my door, knowin' nothin', and I'm expected to let ya in for a cup o' noodle juice?"

I sighed, but Graham took a shot, too.

"I think I scared the boy who lives here by accident, I want to apologize to him and make sure he's okay. He saw us in the window and looked pretty shook up-"

"Willie! You were at the window again? What did I tell you! You could get us all killed!" The girl turned to hiss at the boy, who was presumably hiding behind the girl's skirt.

We all stood in silence while the girl looked us up and down, deciding if we were one of "them" or not. She must've decided we were safe, because she widened the door a bit more and examined the ground around our feet before ushering us in.