Doctor Who_ Deep Blue - Mark Morris [88]
Then the Brigadier said, ‘All right, young man, be it on your own head.’
There was a loud bang, and before Turlough realised what was happening a chunk of wall exploded, not two feet from his left ear. He stared at it for a moment, dumbfounded, then glanced back through the barricade of furniture piled atop his bed and spotted a ragged hole in the door, beside the lock.
They were shooting their way in - and they weren’t too worried who was on the other side. Discarding the coat hanger, Turlough scrambled to his feet and ran to the window. He looked out and to his horror saw two fully-grown Xaranti patrolling the streets below.
He ducked instinctively as a second shot blasted through the door and reduced part of the barricade to flying matchwood. Frantically he loosened the catch on the window, flung it open and stuck his head out. There was no way down, but if he could climb up on to the roof he might be able to make his way across it to the building next door.
As a third gun-blast turned more of his barricade to splinters, Turlough grasped the sides of the window frame and stepped up on to the sill.
* * *
Walking through the vault-like doors, Mike and Tegan found themselves in a small vestibule furnished with a semi-circular desk like the one in Reception. On brackets on either side of the doors were a pair of small black-and-white TV
screens depicting the now-empty corridor outside.
Waiting for them just inside was a large black man dressed in the blue-grey uniform of a hospital orderly. His face was shiny with sweat and his eyes were wide and wary. As soon as they were inside, he heaved the doors shut again and locked them with bolts and a metal locking-bar as thick as a man’s wrist.
‘Thanks for this,’ Mike said, holstering his gun. ‘It’s pretty hairy out there.’
‘Don’t I know it?’ said the man and squinted at them suspiciously. ‘How did you manage to get through all them...
all them things?’
‘There are none out there now,’ said Mike. ‘I think they must have all headed down to the sea. We’ve got a truck, and I’ve got a gun. We had a few bad moments, but we managed to make it through OK.’
‘What’s wrong with your friend?’ the black man asked, looking at the Doctor slumped in the wheelchair.
‘That was one of our bad moments,’ said Mike. ‘We were attacked. He was wounded. I’m Mike Yates by the way, this is Tegan Jovanka, and the chap having a snooze there is the Doctor.’
He thrust out a hand, which the man cautiously shook.
‘Doctors are something we’re not short of here,’ the man said. ‘I’m Max Butler.’
‘So what happened here, Max?’ asked Mike. ‘You were attacked, I take it?’
‘From all sides. I’ve never seen anything like it. Those freaks had taken out two floors before we even knew what was happening. A bunch of us managed to round up the patients from the fourth floor and bring them here.’ He shook his head, sending droplets of sweat flying in all directions.
‘We’re safe enough. Not even a tank could get through those doors. But it’s a bad situation. A lot of the patients need special care - medication and stuff. We’ve got mothers with new-born babies here. The babies that were in the incubation unit we had to leave. One of the nurses stayed with ‘em. The doors there aren’t as strong as they are here, but at least they can be locked. I just hope to God those freaks didn’t break in there and find ‘em all.’
‘We saw no evidence of it,’ said Mike. ‘And as I said, it’s quiet out there now. You’d be safe going down to check on things and to get what you need. I’ll go with you if you like.’
Max nodded. ‘Thanks. But let’s sort your friend out first.’
He flipped a thumb at the doors. ‘Any idea where those things out there came from?’
Mike glanced meaningfully at Tegan, hoping she would still have enough of her wits about her to realise that they would have to be careful what they said here. ‘They’re just people,’
he said casually. ‘They’re carrying an infection which alters them physically