Doctor Who_ Winner Takes All - Jacqueline Rayner [22]
‘Yes,’ he said, his jaw set in anger. ‘Here you go, humans, have something for nothing. Oh, wait, actually we want something in return after all. You think you’re getting a holiday, well, let’s make it an action‐packed one. Come to our planet and die for us.’
Rose felt sick. ‘All those people – all those people who’ve won holidays…’ She looked at the screens again. Mrs Hall was staring, her eyes trying to say something to the lad from the pub. The lad from the pub was looking the same, desperate and scared.
Mickey dropped his control pad, his eyes wide with horror. ‘What happens when you lose the game?’ he yelled. ‘What happens? What happens when you see those insects coming towards you and they open their jaws? What happens when it says “game over”?’
Rose turned back to the Doctor, hoping for… She didn’t really know what she was hoping for. For him to put it right, she guessed. To wave a magic wand and make it OK again, or better yet, to make it never have happened at all. ‘Did you know?’ she said, trying not to sound as if she was accusing him. ‘Did you know what was happening?’
He shook his head. ‘I didn’t, no. I just thought there was something going on. Once we knew it was happening for real, I wanted to see what they were using to play the games.’
Mickey suddenly pointed a trembling finger at the screen in front of him. ‘Oh no, oh no, oh no,’ he muttered. As Rose looked, the green forelimb of a Mantodean appeared, waving at the side of the screen.
‘Don’t just sit there!’ shouted the Doctor. ‘Get them out of there!’
Rose pressed a button. On Mickey’s screen, she saw the black T-shirt bloke turn to his right. Her hands were shaking. ‘I can’t do this!’ she said. ‘I can’t control a person like they’re a toy!’
The Doctor grabbed the controller from her. He started manipulating the controls, and in seconds the lad had disappeared from Mickey’s screen, but the Mantodean was still there. Mickey had dived for the controller that he’d dropped on the floor, but he wasn’t quick enough. He began to stab frantically, desperately, at the buttons, trying to move Mrs Hall – to reach for the gun – anything…
The mandibles of the Mantodean filled the screen.
And then there was just the simple phrase: ‘Game over’.
‘Sorry, you’ve not won this time,’ whispered Rose, numbly. ‘Please try again.’
Mickey leaned over the side of his chair and began to heave. Rose put out a hand to touch his arm, to comfort him, but he shrugged it off. ‘I killed her,’ he said. ‘I just killed someone.’
The Doctor was still at the controls, eyes glued to the screen, face tense with concentration. ‘Come on, come on,’ he was murmuring. ‘Not far now, nearly out…’
Rose was still feeling nauseous, but then something happened to make her stomach churn even more. She heard a noise. It sounded as if the trapdoor was being opened. ‘Quick! Quick!’ she yelled, panic hitting her.
‘Nearly out!’ called the Doctor. ‘Here we go… There’s the exit…’
The three of them stared at the Doctor’s screen, adrenalin pumping.
‘You’re gonna make it!’ said Mickey. ‘Come on, come on…’
The exit was getting closer and closer. Rose imagined the lad, sweat running off his forehead, legs pumping as the Doctor propelled him towards freedom. Five more steps… four more steps, three, two…
‘You’re there!’ said Mickey. ‘Come on!’
Sand filled the screen, the landscape outside the pyramid, one more step and he’d be out…
With a press of a button, the Doctor helped the black T-shirted lad, the bloke Mickey had seen down the pub, take the final step to freedom.
And the screen went white, blinding white.
They gazed in disbelief as the light faded and the legend appeared: ‘Game over’.
The Doctor threw the control pad on the floor. ‘No!’ he yelled. ‘No, no, no!’
‘What happened?’ asked Mickey, still looking at the screen.
‘They must’ve booby‐trapped him or something. Something to stop people leaving once they’re in there. Try to