Doctor Who_ The Green Death - Malcolm Hulke [22]
His memory became increasingly muddled. After what seemed a long time he heard distant voices calling to him, and thought they might be his Uncle Dafydd and his father, both long dead. Then the voices grew stronger, closer.
‘Bert, what happened?’
It was the familiar voice of his old friend Dave Griffiths. Bert tried to look up but could not move his head. ‘The young woman,’ he mumbled. ‘The young woman.’
The Doctor knelt close to Bert. ‘Where is she?’
‘Gone on,’ Bert said, as audibly as he could manage. ‘Looking for escape.’
The Doctor stood up. ‘Get him back to the surface if you possibly can,’ he told Dave. ‘Ask Professor Jones to have a look at him. There may still be hope.’
‘Right,’ said Dave. ‘What about you?’
‘I’m going to look for Miss Grant. Tell the Brigadier that when I find her I’ll bring her to the surface. But no one is to come looking for us. It’s too dangerous.’
The Doctor hurried off down the mine.
Jo turned a corner of the mine, stopped and stared in horror. Before her lay a deep pool of the glowing green slime, and it was teeming with giant maggots, some two feet long, writhing and twisting across the surface.
Nauseated by the sight and terrified, she let out a scream. She was quivering with fear and revulsion.
‘Jo? Jo? Are you there?’ It was the Doctor’s voice, coming closer.
Jo turned round. Coming towards her was a helmet torch bobbing up and down as the wearer ran along the tunnel.
‘Doctor?’ she called. The oncoming light blinded her and she could not see who was approaching.
‘It’s me, Jo,’ the Doctor called.
He came up beside her, and she fell into his arms. ‘Those things,’ she sobbed. ‘Maggots! They look awful!’
‘Good grief!’ the Doctor exclaimed. ‘We must get out of here.’
‘We can never get to the old shaft,’ said Jo, ‘not through that pool of filth.’
‘We’re not going to try,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think I can remember how I got here. We must go back.’
The Doctor swung Jo round to re-trace their route. As they turned to leave, rocks in the wall of the tunnel ahead started to dislodge. Instinctively they both stood still. Now a large piece of rock fell from the wall, pushed from behind by a thick river of the green slimy liquid. In a moment the liquid had spilt across the floor of the mine, cutting off their escape route. Then, from the gap left by the dislodged rock, three maggots oozed out and fell squirming on the floor. Jo recoiled from the sight of the creatures.
‘What is it about those things?’ she screamed. ‘I can’t even stand looking at them!’
‘Try to keep calm, Jo,’ said the Doctor. ‘A maggot is a perfectly ordinary creature, even if these are two feet long. They revolt you because they make you think of things that are rotten and decaying.’
‘Do you think we could discuss my psychological reactions some other time?’ she begged. ‘Let’s start talking about getting out of here.’ Her knees were still trembling with fear.
‘Well,’ said the Doctor, ‘there’s that thing over there.’ The Doctor pointed towards an upturned coal tub, its wheels pointing towards the mine roof. ‘If we can get it back on to its rails, we might stand a chance.’
The Doctor crossed to the coal tub, looked about and saw a wooden stave lying on the floor. ‘Now give me a hand,’ he called to Jo. ‘This is going to take a lot of effort.’
Using the stave as a lever, they pushed together to turn the coal tub back on to its wheels. The Doctor got his hands under one end of the coal tub and heaved, moving that end of the tub a few inches nearer to the track.
‘Doctor,’ said Jo, who had just looked over her shoulder, ‘that stuff’s coming closer.’
It was true. Where they saw the rock dislodged the green slime was now pouring in. As Jo looked, two more maggots oozed out of the hole in the mine wall and fell squirming and writhing on the floor.
‘Try to think about something pleasant,’ said the Doctor as he went to the other end of the heavy coal tub. ‘It’ll take your mind off things.’ He got his hands under the end of the tub, heaved, and