Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [100]
„Oh God oh God oh God,‟ breathed Trevor, trying to shake the terror from his mind. „You OK?‟ he asked moments later into the darkness.
All he could hear in reply was Rebecca crying beside him.
The nails of her hand, broken during the fight with the tiny scarecrow, still dug into his palm.
„Are you hurt?‟
„No,‟ she sobbed. „I‟m frightened.‟
„You and me both,‟ he replied, trying to stand. They were in a hollow cavern beneath the green. Above them, the pale sunlight still poured through the pulsing crack in the ground, illuminating the smooth rock walls around them.
They could feel the floor moving sinuously beneath them.
„What are you two up to?‟
Rebecca and Trevor gave a simultaneous terrified cry and spun around to find themselves facing an ornate mirror.
Within this, in a misty, rippling lack-of-reflection, they saw the Doctor‟s face.
„Where are you?‟ asked Rebecca.
„It‟s a bit difficult to explain,‟ replied the Doctor sadly. „Not in this dimension, in any real sense. Do I take it you found Ace?‟
„She and Denman and a couple of others have gone scarecrow baiting.‟
„Ah, yes, that sounds like her,‟ said the Doctor. „Listen to me, I haven‟t much time. Hatch is the danger. He is a plague carrier. He‟s infected himself with a mutant strain of the Jack gene and a version of the psychic drug released in Liverpool.
You must stop him. But don‟t touch him, or you‟ll become infected yourself. And don‟t let anyone else touch him, either.‟
„Then how do you suggest we stop him?‟ asked Trevor.
Deep in the mirror, two men in peasants‟ garb appeared before the Doctor could reply. They grabbed him, dragging him backward as the mist swallowed them up.
„Balls,‟ said Trevor angrily.
„What do we do now?‟
„Discover a way out of here, I suppose,‟ said Trevor as they turned, to find themselves facing more scarecrows.
Ace and Joanna sprinted towards the tendrils and misshapen limbs that writhed and penetrated the earth at the edge of the stain. They hurled their torches before the scarecrows even realised that they were there.
The flames bit into the alien fronds immediately. The ground beneath them writhed and bucked.
Somewhere, Jack was screaming.
The scarecrows stopped their implacable advance, their arms falling limply at their sides. Trevor and Rebecca exchanged nervous glances as they backed away from the creatures.
„What‟s happened to them?‟ asked Rebecca as they made their way into a tunnel cut into the dark rock of the cavern.
Dunno, but, whatever it is, I don‟t fancy hanging around until it stops happening to them.‟ Trevor turned and broke into a run. „Any idea where this tunnel goes?‟
„No,‟ said Rebecca, racing after him, „but that‟s where I‟m going.‟
Moments later they emerged into the cellar of the Green Man. With scarcely a glance behind them, they scaled the ladder, and ran from the pub.
The village green was heaving like a storm-ravaged sea, dipping and climbing.
Come on, then,‟ said Trevor, running towards Phil Burridge‟s Land Rover, still parked in the undulating car park. We‟ve got to find Hatch.‟
* * *
Ace and Joanna hurled their final torches at the thrashing creature. The scarecrows guarding the edge of the stain were beginning to move in their direction, although their movements were even less co-ordinated than before.
„Let‟s go,‟ said Ace. „We‟ve done as much as we can here.‟
Joanna needed very little encouragement, bolting across the field and away from the shambling stickmen. „What next?‟ she asked between deep breaths as they ran.
„Back to the restaurant,‟ said Ace. „Get some more torches.‟
„And then?‟
„We come back here, and we torch that thing again. And we keep doing it until we get a result!‟
The ground reared up in front of them like a living thing. A smooth-skinned tentacle, as thick as a man‟s body, pushed through the soil. It twitched and flailed blindly.
As it scythed through the air towards them, Ace pushed Joanna away.
The huge grey limb slammed into Ace, throwing her to the ground.
Trevor hot-wired the