Doctor Who_ The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker [8]
He darted forward, dodging out of the way of the squirming monster, and hauled Rose to her feet. He handed her a large spotted 19
handkerchief and she wiped her face gratefully.
‘How many more of these things are there?’
The Doctor nodded over her shoulder, his face grim.
‘Lots, unfortunately.’
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TheDoctorandRoseharedthroughthewood,desperatetoreachthe distant lights. Through the trees behind them came monsters of every description: big ones, small ones, all colours and shapes. Some bounded forward on muscular legs, others skittered from tree to tree. They slithered, they crawled, some even flew, pursuing them through the dark, baying like a pack of hounds. The noise was deafening. Rose’s breath was burning in her chest. She fought the instinct to look back. She felt that any minute now one of the monstrosities behind them would reach out with a feeler or claw and snatch her into the middle of the howling throng. She remembered the blood pools on the beach, dark stains all that was left of a young man, and started to run faster.
The lights ahead of them were tantalisingly close, but Rose just wasn’t sure what happened once they reached them. She glanced at the Doctor, who was racing alongside her. His eyes were fixed on the lights at the edge of the wood, his jaw was set. Suddenly she knew that it would be all right. He was the Doctor. And he had a plan!
At that point something that looked like an oversized mosquito swooped at the Doctor’s head, its wings droning. It stabbed down 21
at him with a wickedly sharp proboscis.
The Doctor batted it away frantically and as it darted off, buzzing angrily, its long legs brushed Rose’s hair. She jerked backwards, stumbling and almost falling. The Doctor caught her and hauled her to her feet. ‘Come on! We’re almost there!’
They burst from the woods on to a tarmacked road, a cul-de-sac, lined with parked cars and small identical houses. Street lamps cast a harsh yellow glow and down the hill Rose could see the lights of the harbour.
She hurled herself into the middle of the road, spinning round to stare back at the wood, oblivious to the rain. The creatures hovered at the tree line, as if wary about stepping out into the light. One of them, a squat lizard with claws that dragged along the floor, edged forward tentatively. Rose glanced nervously over at the Doctor. He was staring around at the houses in disbelief.
‘No, no, no. This is all wrong!’
‘What is it?’ Rose’s heart was in her mouth. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘This estate!’ The Doctor nodded at the houses. ‘It’s all wrong. Not in keeping with the rest of the village at all! Why do they let people build things like this? It’s not on, you know, modern estate like this in a conservation area. I’ve a good mind to write to the council.’
Rose was speechless. The monsters were emerging from the trees now, there was nowhere to hide and the Doctor was wittering on about sympathetic building styles!
‘Still,’ he went on, ‘it’s probably attracting new people to the area and everyone living round here’s obviously doing quite well. Couple of cars in each driveway, quite a few four-by-fours. . . Which is good,
’cause it allows me to do this!’
He raised his sonic screwdriver, winked at Rose and pressed his thumb against the button.
Every car alarm went off simultaneously. Rose clamped her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the cacophony. The noise was horrendous, but she thought she could just make out the howls of the creatures over the din.
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Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
Rose looked up. The Doctor was standing in the middle of the street, grinning happily. He tucked his sonic screwdriver back into his pocket and nodded over at her.
‘That worked, then.’
The monsters were gone. It was as if they had never existed. She and the Doctor were in what looked like an ordinary housing estate. Unremarkable. Boring.
Lights started to come on and curtains were pulled back as people stared out into their driveways. A door opened