Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [99]
Steven nodded, remembering again the photographs that had cost Baber his life.
„Even with our torches those scarecrows are too close together,‟ said Denman.
„Then we‟d better shift them,‟ said Steven. „A diversion.
Who‟s with me?‟
„Listen, lad,‟ said Denman. „This isn‟t the time to impress anyone with pretend –‟
„You chicken, then?‟
Ace opened her mouth to interrupt the argument, but Steven was already gone, bounding over the blackened earth between them and the edge of the creature. Denman swore, and set off after him.
„Men,‟ said Ace bitterly.
„Yeah,‟ said Joanna. Her eyes widened in concern as Steven and Denman approached the line of scarecrows, shouting and waving their sputtering torches. Immediately the scarecrows deviated from their slow advance in front of the alien mass, and moved as one towards the humans.
Denman and Steven ran off, a small group of stickmen following. A gap was left in the cordon, the other scarecrows resuming their diligent march.
„Now‟s our chance,‟ said Ace.
The mirror parted like water as Hatch emerged into the tunnel.
He turned and used the rippling reflection for its proper purpose, straightening his tie and his hair. He walked back up the tunnel towards the Green Man‟s cellar, whistling tunelessly. He strode out of the pub and spent a moment looking at the village green, now quiet and still. A smile played at the corner of his mouth.
„Did I miss all the fun?‟ he asked.
If there was a reply, there was no one else around to hear it.
He crossed the green, his feet seeming to sink into the ground with each step, then springing upward, escaping the power of the earth that threatened to drag him down again.
At the far side, Hatch paused and looked around, trying to remember where he had left his car. Arriving in the village seemed like a lifetime ago.
He began to walk towards the eastern boundary, and passed the Chinese restaurant. Something made him stop. A voice in his mind seemed to say There is life here. Seek it out.
The front door of A Taste of the Orient was cracked but locked shut. The conservatory at the back was ruined. The pungent smell of fire still hung in the air.
Fire. His mind filled with images of burning flesh.
He approached the kitchen, smelling out life as keenly as a bloodhound. The lights had been switched off and the shutters drawn. In the corner of the room two thin flames flickered in the darkness.
„We were beginning to think that no one was left alive,‟ said a female voice.
Hatch took a step closer and saw the Chens squatting down, their torches held out defiantly in front of them.
„It‟s Mr Hatch,‟ said Chen, standing and lowering his torch.
„Don‟t be afraid,‟ he told his wife, and encouraged her to do the same. „Sir, there are evil creatures everywhere,‟ he continued in a terrified whisper.
„We do not know what they want with us,‟ said his wife. „We mean no one any harm.‟
„I know,‟ said Hatch with apparent concern. „These are bad times for the little people.‟ He moved forward, and grasped both of them by the arms. „But do not be afraid. Your deliverance is at hand.‟
Hatch turned and left.
Later, when he passed the area in his car, the Chens were on the road in front of the restaurant, attacking each other with knives.
Trevor and Rebecca crept closer to the green, keeping in the shade of the overhanging trees that edged the lane. The surrounding area was deserted and quiet except for the occasional shudder of the earth itself. Something lived, breathed and grew beneath their feet.
Something trying to rouse itself from centuries-old slumber.
At the edge of the green, Trevor tested the ground with his foot. He almost sank in to his knees. „It‟s alive,‟ he shouted, scrambling backward towards Rebecca. His hand grabbed hers just as the ground beneath them ripped apart, a huge organic fracture like an underwater creature opening its mouth to draw in plankton.
They tumbled blindly into the darkness of the earth, screaming as they fell, their fingers clasping