Doctor Who_ Hope - Mark Clapham [6]
He allowed himself a couple of seconds to get his bearings. Ahead in the fog, he could just make out a hunched figure. There were no sounds of screams, or any other human noise. Powlin drew his gun, raising it as he steadily walked forward.
At the sound of his approach the figure stood up, turning towards Powlin. And as the militia officer saw what had previously been obscured, the bloodied figure lying across the pathway, he knew his instincts had been correct.
Stop right there, he shouted, barely having time to take in the blank, black eyes and pallid complexion of the creature in front of him. If he backed away, Powlin would shoot him down, and to the things left was a sheer wall of rusting steel.
Powlin tried to focus on the figure in the gloom. What the hell was it?
And then the creature did something that Powlin hadnt even considered as an option. It jumped over the ledge.
Shocked at this suicidal action, Powlin looked over the railing, expecting the sound of a body hitting the poisonous waters. Powlin had seen people fall in before, and mentally winced as he waited for the screaming to start as skin burned and acid chewed through flesh.
Instead he heard a crack, the sound of one solid mass hitting another.
It was one of the bleakest places Anji had ever seen. The TARDIS stood out as a glowing mass of blue compared to the endless fog stretching out around them. It was nighttime, and their torches cut through the fog to show... ice. Fog and ice, her two least favourite types of weather. Anji wasnt pleased. It was worse than walking to the station on a winter morning, and there wasnt even any hope of a cappuccino at the other end.
Watch your step, said the Doctor redundantly, gingerly pacing around ahead. Anji noticed that he had made sure to protect himself from the elements. Perhaps he was feeling the environment more than he used to, an aftereffect of his recent illness. He seemed somewhat despondent, probably kicking himself for pushing the TARDIS too far. As she watched he unconsciously rubbed his chest with one hand, waving the torch around with the other.
Whoa! said Anji as she slipped on the icy ground. I can see what you mean. This ice is really bad. It was also bitterly cold no wonder there was ice everywhere. Anji pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, shoving her hands deeper into the pockets of her long cashmere coat.
Lets head this way, said the Doctor, pointing at a dark mass looming up out of the fog ahead. It seemed to be a mass of buildings, lights flickering in the darkness. Anji was sure she could detect industrial noises at the edge of her hearing.
Looks interesting, said Anji noncommittally. From this distance it could be a castle or a tower block, a village or a palace. At least the ground might be salted.
Regretfully leaving the warmth and safety of the TARDIS behind, Anji and Fitz gingerly followed the Doctor across the ice.
They had barely walked ten paces when, from somewhere ahead, there came shouts, and the sound of something hitting the ground from a great height.
Powlin fumbled through his pockets, searching for his multivision goggles. He found them in the depths of one of his coats inner pockets, under a mass of paper scraps. These possibly vital reminders of important case information went flying into the night as Powlin desperately pulled out the goggles and strapped them to his head. Gun in one hand, the other hand adjusting the goggles control switches, he leaned over the railings. Thermal scan revealed what had happened; the surface of the sea had frozen over in the extreme cold. It was an