Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [68]
The creature’s lumpen face, as ill-defined as a piece of wet clay, shivered and altered as though it had detected something.
Among the mass of wet flesh, some kind of sensory organ appeared to be developing before their eyes. It resolved into three black holes, like haphazard shots from a gun, arranged in a rough triangle above the creature’s mouth.
The black holes distended disgustingly, membranous flesh visible through them.
‘It’s got our scent,’ hissed Noah, pulling Jo back.
Jo felt her stomach turn as the creature moved forward, its massive body undulating through the marshland, scale by scale. A flash of something in its impenetrable black eyes made her go cold all over. With a screeching roar, it careered towards them.
Noah was about to cry out when a strange, comforting sound cut across the monster’s cry. It was the blaring of a car horn.
Jo turned. Visible through the dark, its headlights shining like the beacons of twin lighthouses, Bessie was tearing across the treacherous ground towards them.
The Doctor was at the wheel, his face set in a frown of concentration as he manoeuvred the little car at a frantic rate over a section of firm ground. The Brigadier sat beside him and, as they approached the worm, he rose to his feet, steadied himself against the windscreen and aimed his service pistol.
A volley of shots rang out, striking the creature in its carapaced tail. The bullets sang off, ricocheting into the wetland. The Brigadier threw a grim look at the Doctor who chose that moment to spin the wheel, almost sending him flying.
The Doctor lifted himself up in the driving seat as Bessie raced on.
‘Jo! Get down!’ he called.
The creature was on the move again, enraged at the Brigadier’s attack, shuffling through the boggy ground with surprising speed.
Lethbridge-Stewart aimed again, peering through the darkness and trying to hit the creature in the eyes. As before, the bullets had no effect.
‘Be careful, man!’ rasped the Doctor. ‘You’ll hit Jo and Noah.
He powered Bessie forward, screeching to a halt just yards from the couple. Plumes of soil were thrown up in the little car’s wake.
‘Come on! Get in!’ ordered the Doctor.
Jo and Noah scrabbled to their feet. The Brigadier grabbed Noah by the scruff of the neck and pulled him over the side of the car and into the back seat.
As Jo took the Doctor’s proffered hand the creature bore down on her, screeching in fury.
She let out a piercing scream. The Doctor shifted forward, his elbow accidentally brushing the headlight control.
Instantly, the two lamps on the front of Bessie’s mud-splattered yellow engine powered up several notches, blazing through the night and fixing the worm in their sights.
The creature screeched and fell back.
The Doctor hauled Jo into the back seat and shot a quick look at the hideous thing before him.
‘Light,’ he muttered. ‘Of course! They’re the same!’
‘What?’ bellowed the Brigadier.
‘They’re the same creatures,’ replied the Doctor with a grin.
He reached down and flicked another two switches on the dashboard. Immediately, Bessie’s fog lamps and indicators clicked on, and the little car blazed like a beacon.
The creature bellowed and retreated, its black eyes swivelling on their stalks and sinking back into the wet flesh of its formless face.
The Doctor nodded to himself.
‘Thank... thank you, Doctor,’ gasped Jo.
The Doctor looked into the back seat, frowning concernedly. ‘Are you all right?’ Noah nodded.
‘All right,’ said the Doctor, throwing Bessie into reverse.
‘Let’s get out of here.’ The car shot backwards.
At once, the back wheels sank into the marsh.
An awful silence fell, broken only by Bessie’s engine ticking over. The funnels of light from the front headlights burrowed through the hazy night, pointing away from the monster and towards the aerodrome.
Behind them, Jo heard an ominous wet sound as the creature began to stir.
The Brigadier clambered up on his seat again, rapidly reloading his pistol. ‘Come on, Doctor!,’ he whispered hoarsely.
The Doctor changed gear and Bessie stuttered. Still