As We Keep Running

Floor Two

We must have been squished into that tube for one or two hours. We just talked the whole time. I didn't realize how... human a time lord could be. If I hadn't known, I would've thought I was talking to a normal man.

There was a loud ding and the tube opened. All I could see was a long, dark alley before us. A few dim and flickering lights were built into the brick walls on either side. It looked creepy, but not in the familiar the way the last place had been.

Suddenly, a voice echoed around us. It seemed to be coming from the tube. I noticed the erie green mist coming from the floor of the tube. 10... 9... 8... 7...

"Doctor! What's going on?" 6... 5...

"The time limit, that's what." 4... 3...

"What do we do?" 2...

"Stop thinking!" 1...

Just as the green mist filled the tube, the Doctor pulled me out of the tube and into the alley. The tube disappeared into thin air. It was just me, the Doctor, and the alley. And I was scared.

"So... What now?"

He looked at me with an are-you-kidding-me kind of look. "What else is there to do? We walk."

We began walking. The further we got, the more I realized how cold it was out there. It felt like winter- minus the snow and rain. "Doctor..." I said, "This place doesn't feel familiar, like the last one did."

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me. "Really?"

"Well..." We kept walking. "Yeah. If I'd been here before in a dream, like the last floor, I'd feel a little more comfortable, right?"

"Are you implying that you were comfortable back there?" He let out a big breath. "I'd like to see you in an uncomfortable situation."

"No, no, it wasn't that. It was just the familiar feeling, like I'd been there before, so I knew that it would turn out okay."

"Except it almost didn't."

"We would have worked someth-"

I was cut off by a large man who suddenly appeared in front of us, pointing a gun at us. "Drop your weapons! Give me all your money or I'll shoot!"

His voice was deep, loud, and scared me in ways I had no idea I could be scared in. He was huge, and I mean pro-football-player-after-Thanksgiving HUGE.

"Savannah, you heard the man." The Doctor was calm. "Give him your money."

I felt all four of my jeans' pockets. "Doctor," I whispered, leaning in towards him. "I don't have any money on me. I didn't grab any this morning."

His face quickly went from calm to nervous as he looked back at the man. "I'm sorry, sir, we don't seem to have any cash on us."

"Money! Now!"

The Doctor spoke through gritted teeth. "We don't have any."

The man turned his gun towards me, almost as if he'd forgotten I was there. "Then give me her."

Seeing that the gun was no longer pointed at him, the Doctor took the chance to slap the pistol out of the man's hand, knocking it onto the concrete with a thud. The man lunged, but the Doctor was quick as he picked up the gun and pointed it at the villian.

"Now," the Doctor said calmly(of course), "I think it would be best for all of us if you turned that way," he pointed back to where we'd come from, "and we go forward."

With a gun pointed against his head, this stranger didn't seem nearly as frightening as he'd been in the beginning. He nodded in the Doctor's general direction, eyes still glued to the gun, and took a step towards where we'd come from.

Just like that, the man had vanished as quickly as he'd appeared. Before us, a white door materialized. There was only one place to go now. And the countdown was beginning once more.

10... 9...

This time, I didn't hesitate as I pulled open the door and dragged the Doctor inside.