Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 8

"Get up, get up, get up!" The Doctor came running through the crowd, grabbing Marge and my hands. She pulled us from our conversation with two snotty rich girls towards the window.

"Look at this and tell me what you see," she demanded. Instead of looking at the city below, she was studying our faces.

"You're pressuring me Doctor, eyes to yourself," I told her. She rolled her eyes but switched her focus out the window.

I stared at the buildings and all then men working on the scaffolds. I saw tons of movement but I couldn't tell where from. There weren't any people or cars. So what was moving?

"The shadow is bigger than the building," Marge said, echoing my thoughts. I nodded in agreement, noticing how the shadow that our building cast over the city wasn't exactly rectangular, and it wasn't sitting still either. It was shifting and fidgeting just like I tended to do.

"It's not a regular shadow-it's Vashta. And because they are building higher, the shadows cast on the city are bigger. The Vashta Nerada travel mostly through shadows, so they have more surface area to dominate. They keep building up to get away, but they're just giving more ground to the invaders." The Doctor paused to look around at the partiers.

"They can't live like this- they can't hide in their penthouses forever! They'll run out of food and water! They'll all die! New York City will be desolate," she trailed off. I looked down at the streets below. It was beautiful in a way- all those grey shadows moving and swaying, mixed with the pitch black of the alien ones.

"Doctor?" I froze when I saw the shadows begin to move together, almost as a force, towards us. They were surrounding our building.

Her head snapped downward and her jaw dropped.

"What are they doing? My brothers and sisters are down there!" Marjorie began to panic, her breathing heavy.

"They're working together. They're trying to do something, trying to...-" her eyes bulged, and without another word, she turned and bolted from the room. Marjorie and I were close on her heels.

Marge was dragging behind and I grabbed her hand to pull her along. I nearly tugged her down the stairs, but we reached the lobby in what had to be record time.

The Doctor was running so fast that she plowed right into the closed front door.

"Oof-wait!" She shouted, more to herself than to us. She pulled out her sonic and tore the curtain off the window. The shadows were surrounding us, climbing up the door.

The Doctor turned to us and began giving order.

"Marge, pull your dress up and whatever you do, do not let it touch the shadows. We need to move quick, stand in a triangle, and watch each other's backs. When I say go, run for your life," she said, voice like gravel. She pointed her sonic at the ground and began to countdown.

"Three-" she gripped the door handle.

"Two-" she twisted the handle and prepared to run.

"One!" She flung the door open and we bolted.