Episode 8: Black and Gold Part 4

Susan patrolled the corridor, perfect in every way. She was so busy walking up and down in a regimented way that she failed to notice Conner and Dorris creep up behind her.

“You will be perfect!” she squealed, as they grabbed her and covered her eyes and mouth.
“And you’ll be a perfect bargaining… Thing,” Conner said.
“Bitch!” Dorris added for good measure.

Triss and Larry sat in the dark, hardly daring to breathe. Had the Kritzanthians seen them? They heard the Kritzanthians stop below the panel, which the Sonic Screwdriver had sealed shut. Triss breathed a sigh of relief as they heard the footsteps of the Kritzanthians walking away.

“Come on!” she said, lighting the way with the Sonic Screwdriver. “This way!”
“Where are we going?” Larry asked as they crawled straight ahead.
“Left,” Triss said, turning left. “We’re going to find the control room. And the communications room. I’ll find the Doctor, and you can immobilise the Kritzanthians.”
“Okay,” Larry said. “How do we know where we’re going?”
“Because I have a map,” Triss said proudly.
“Maybe I’d better read it,” Larry muttered hesitantly. “We don’t want us getting lost…”

The Doctor was shoved into the communications room and the door was locked behind him. He tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. He sighed, turning around to face the woman watching him curiously.

“Doctor,” Naomi said.
“Sorry, what was your name?” the Doctor asked.
“Naomi Green,” Naomi replied. “Don’t you remember, Doctor?”
“I’m afraid not,” the Doctor said. “I haven’t got a clue as to who you are.”

The Shadowy Man led Georgia, Pippa, Becky, Carlisle and Jeremy along the corridor towards the stairs. Becky stopped and grabbed Carlisle’s arm.

“Can you hear that?” she asked, looking up at the ceiling.
“What can you hear?” Carlisle asked, wrapping an arm around Becky.
“A sort of creaking…” Becky muttered.
“Becky, we can’t stop,” Georgia said. “We’ve got to go.”
“I know,” Becky said. “But I can hear something.”
“Sort of creaking?” Pippa asked.
“Yeah,” Becky said, trying to concentrate.
“It sounds like water,” Jeremy added.
“Or some other liquid…” the Shadowy Man realised. “RUN!”

The Shadowy Man turned as a large wave of liquid Gold washed around the corridor, coming towards them. Georgia pushed Jeremy up the stairs, and grabbed Pippa.

“Come on!” she screamed.

Becky and Carlisle ran at the back of the group as they made their way up the stairs. The wave of liquid Gold rushed down the corridors, leaving the walls glittering. Jeremy and the Shadowy Man reached the door at the top of the stairs and they rushed through it, Pippa close behind them. Georgia held the door open as Becky and Carlisle ran through it, and shut it behind her as they ran for the corridor.

“Keep going!” Georgia said as the group ran down the corridor.

At the bottom of the stairs, the liquid Gold sloshed together and moulded into the form of the man again, and walked up the stairs. It broke through the door, and fell apart into liquid.

“It’s coming,” the Shadowy Man warned. “We need to get out of here…”
“Are there any waterproof places around here?” Georgia asked.
“No,” Becky said. “If we can just get out of the hospital, then it shouldn’t be able to follow us…”
“Why not?” Pippa asked. “It’ll just kill anyone it sees.”
“There must be some way of stopping it!” Jeremy cried.
“We’ve got to move,” Georgia said, opening another door. “We can hide somewhere.”
“The morgue!” Pippa said. “Come on!”

Pippa ran down the steps, and Jeremy followed. Georgia ushered the Shadowy Man to follow, and Becky hurried after.

“Carlisle! Run! Oh God, run!” Becky screamed as the Gold stomped closer.

Carlisle and Georgia ran down the steps after Becky, slamming the door behind them.

“Right,” Conner said to Mrs Macready. “Let us go, or Susan will suffer the consequences.”
“Would you hurt Susan?” Mrs Macready asked.
“If we have to,” Dorris lied.

Conner and Dorris were stood in front of Mrs Macready and Wendy French, who held the key to the front door in her hands. She reluctantly threw the key to Conner, who caught it.

“Unlock the front door,” Conner ordered Dorris, backing away from Mrs Macready with Susan.
“Where are we gonna go?” Dorris asked. “There’s nowhere…”
“We’ll manage,” Conner said. “Is it open?”
“Yeah,” Dorris replied.

She opened the front door, and slipped through it. Conner, retaining a firm grip on Susan, kicked the door open, and back outside. Mrs Macready and Wendy followed, and Peter, Edward and Lucy emerged from the back door.

“Right,” Conner whispered to Dorris. “We’ve gotta ditch Susan somewhere. And escape, preferably in that order.”
“Sounds easy,” Dorris replied as they continued to back away. “We’re nearly at the gate. I expect it’s open.”

It was, and, with a little effort, Dorris managed to pull it across enough to allow them to slip through.

“Get ready to shut it,” Conner warned. “Now!”

He shoved Susan forward, and dived through the gate, which Dorris pulled shut. She grinned, and took Conner’s hand, and they ran.

“Get them!” Mrs Macready screeched.
“They will be perfect,” Wendy agreed.

Susan prised open the gate, and soon she, Peter, Edward and Lucy were following the two escapees.

Triss and Larry stopped over a hatch, which Triss opened with the Sonic Screwdriver. Larry hugged her, and dropped down into the empty room below.

“That should be the main control room,” Triss called down to him.
“I guess I was wrong about your map reading skills,” Larry called up to her. “It’s empty.”
“Take the Doctor’s thing,” Triss said, dropping the Sonic Screwdriver into his hands. “Go and seal the door.”

Larry disappeared from Triss’ view for a second, before returning. He threw the Sonic Screwdriver up into the air, and she caught it.

“You’ll be alright, won’t you?” Larry asked.
“Sure,” Triss said. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Seal yourself back in,” Larry said. “When you get to the communications room, communicate with me!”
“I will do,” Triss promised. “Goodbye Larry.”

Triss placed the panel back over the air vent, and sealed it. She continued to crawl along, using the map as a guide.

“Pippa!” Georgia sighed. “We can’t pretend to be dead people! It’ll never work!”
“Just try!” Pippa said, opening a freezer door. “That’s it Jeremy, get in there.”

Jeremy slipped into the freezer, and Becky followed. Carlisle smiled at Georgia before following them.

“We can’t fit anymore in there,” Pippa said. “We’d better hurry. What’s your name! Get in the next one!”
“Yes ma’am!” the Shadowy Man saluted, climbing into the next freezer.
“You too Georgia,” Pippa prompted. “The Gold won’t take forever.”

Georgia sighed, and stepped into the freezer. Pippa followed, and closed the door behind her.

“Now what, genius?” Georgia muttered.
“Ssh!” Pippa said. “We wait.”

The Gold man walked into the room, and glanced around. It saw the freezers, but could not see inside it. It smashed another door down and continued through the hospital. The second freezer door opened, and Georgia climbed out.

“It’s gone,” she said.
“See!” Pippa grinned. “I told you so!”
“Yeah, alright,” Georgia sighed as the Shadowy Man stepped out.
“Now what do we do?” Carlisle asked as he, Becky and Jeremy emerged from the first freezer.
“We need to get you out of here,” Georgia said. “Then stop this Gold, and find the Doctor!”

Conner and Dorris reached a train station, and Conner checked the time for the next train. He shook his head at Dorris, and sighed.

“There won’t be a train for two hours,” he said. “And as much as I’d love to wait for one, we don’t have time. Susan and the others will be here soon.”
“Then you know what we have to do,” Dorris said.
“Yes,” Conner said. “Though I don’t feel too comfortable with the thought of you and me running down a train track. But if it means avoiding a battle here…”
“I trust you,” Dorris said quietly, taking Conner’s hand. “You’ll keep us safe.”

She led Conner to the tunnel, and they jumped onto the track. Walking into the darkness of the tunnel, they hoped the train wouldn’t be two hours early.

“They will be perfect,” Susan said as the others reached the station.

She pointed to the tunnel, and the four perfect children began to follow.

“Doctor,” Naomi said. “We had such good times together. I wish you could remember.”
“Well I might,” the Doctor said. “If you actually told me where I know you from.”
“I suppose it has been years,” Naomi replied. “Before the war with the Kritzanthians, you used to pop round and we’d save the world. Then the Kritzanthians came, wanting our planet. Some people supported the thought of sharing our planet, but most wanted to keep Earth to themselves. It ended in war, and everyone who could joined up. I was lucky, and was posted to the Out Region. But others were sent on the front line; battles on the Milky Way Roads. A lot of good people died.”
“And you met me there?” the Doctor asked. “Or before you signed up?”
“I met you before,” Naomi said. “I met Triss and the others at the sign up, and we were all posted on the Out Region together. But I met you, Doctor, when I worked for Torchwood.”

“Run!” Conner cried.
“You will be perfect,” Susan said somewhere behind them.

Dorris began to run over the tracks with Conner. A few feet back, Peter, Susan, Edward and Lucy walked shoulder to shoulder, covering the whole track, in a regimented, perfect way.

“We’ll be fine!” Conner said. “We just need to get out of this tunnel!”
“Can you hear that?” Dorris asked.

The tracks rattled, and Dorris tripped over. Helping her to her feet, Conner heard the rattle too. It was a train.

“It’s coming the other way!” Conner cried. “I forgot to look at the other timetable!”
“Get back!” Dorris screamed.

She pulled Conner flat against the wall as the train whooshed past them. There was a thunderous bang as the train smashed into the four perfect children. The bodies of Peter, Susan, Edward and Lucy were flung aside, and the train piled up and the tunnel collapsed, trapping Conner and Dorris in the dark.

To be continued…