Chapter Text
Gwen was relieved to have the others back, if for no other reason than the blasting argument with Rhys that would arise from camping with Jack. He was already suspicious because she couldn’t tell him what she was doing at work but that would tip him over the edge into being sure she was cheating on him. She lent on the back of the SUV as Ianto was grabbing one of the bagged tents.
“What do you think those two are up to?” She asked, a mischievous smile on her face.
He raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? Who?”
“Owen and Tosh. They have to be sleeping together.”
“You think so?”
“Oh come on, look at them. They have to be.”
“Tosh is a romantic. Owen’s a twat. I don’t see how that could work.”
“I think she looks happy. Should I ask her? No… Maybe… Should I?”
He chuckled softly. “Go on then.” He’d spoken to Gwen a lot over his suspension. It had started with a depressed, drunken, call that she’d answered thinking it might be about work. She’d managed to convince him to go home instead of downing any more alcohol. He’d been wildly apologetic the next morning, but she’d just told him he could call her whenever he needed to talk things over. He’d taken her up on the offer a couple of times when he was having trouble coping, which was a little uncomfortable when her boyfriend had answered one night. He hoped she'd managed to explain.
She edged over to Tosh who was taking readings for any kind of rift activity.
“Anything happen while you were away?” She asked quietly.
“Hmm? Anything?”
“I don’t know… Maybe a new boyfriend?”
Tosh blushed brightly. “It’s nothing official. We’re just seeing how things go.”
“I knew it.” She beamed with a girlish excitement that was quite infectious. “When did this happen?”
“The first Friday we were off.”
“It’s nice to see you so happy. Plus if he breaks your heart I’ll punch him for you.”
She giggled. “Thanks. I think we’ll be ok, but I’ll keep it in mind.” She looked over to see Owen closing the SUV. “Oh, remember to lock up properly.”
He stretched. “Why? We’re in the middle of nowhere. Who’s going to nick it?”
“That’s not the point. Anyway, we’re here because people have been going missing. Everything we need to find them is in there.”
He rolled his eyes but grabbed the keys and locked up anyway.
“So we show up and this little old lady was fending off a weevil alone.” Gwen said as she recapped the weeks the others were away. “I swear she was four foot eight max and the frailest thing I’ve ever seen but she was wielding a broom like a champ.”
Jack laughed warmly. “Seriously. We didn’t know who we were saving, the woman or the poor weevil. It was a full grown male and it was cowering from this lady and her broom.”
“She was lovely after we dragged it away. I thought she was going to try and adopt Jack.”
“I only just escaped.”
The relaxed atmosphere was nice after how tense things had been. Owen was still being a bit grumpy but what was new. He looked out over the darkening horizon.
“Think there’s a pub around here somewhere?” He asked.
Gwen sighed. “Oh come on, being outside won’t kill you.”
“It’s cold and if I’m going to be cold I like to be drinking and cold.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Actually,” Ianto said plainly, “There’s a village not far from here.”
She sighed. “Don’t encourage him.”
Everyone jumped as the SUVs alarm blared. Jack was up and ready to fire upon whatever had set it off before anyone else had even turned. He scanned the area in the dim light, the wind hiding any movement in the grass or surrounding hedgerow. Whatever had set off the alarm was gone. Owen switched off the alarm, leaving them all in relative silence. Jack placed his pistol away.
“Looks like I’ll be keeping lookout tonight.”
Long after sunset everyone but Jack had settled to sleep. He was trying to make sure they weren't crept up on when, in the distance, he heard a scream. He stood and pointed his torch towards the direction of the sound. He was considering the possibility that he had fallen asleep for a moment and dreamed it when another scream drifted over on the wind. Movement from the tents said he wasn’t the only one.
“I’m going to go and check this out.”
Owen rolled his stiff shoulders. “Not on your own your not.”
Gwen watched them run off and sighed. “We’ll just wait here then will we?”
“Apparently.” Ianto mumbled, still half asleep.
Tosh yawned, trying to follow the lights that were heading into the distance.
“Watch this be a fox.”
“I’ve never heard a fox that sounds like that before.”
“You never know. It could b-” He froze as he felt a knife was pressed against his throat. The women turned and raised their weapons to the figure.
It pressed the blade against Iantos skin. “Drop them or he dies.”
“Ok, ok.” Gwen said, slowly dropping her gun to the grass. Tosh doing the same. “Take whatever you want, just let him go.”
“Here’s the thing, what we want is you.” He gestured to others that had been hiding in the shadows of the SUV who walked out and calmly bound the womens arms behind their backs. “Make a noise and he dies. You be good girls and start walking.”
After finding nothing Jack and Owen trudged back to the camp, getting the feeling they’d been lured away but not sure exactly why.
“Well that was a bust.” Owen complained. “And they’ve gone back to sleep.”
Jack chuckled. “You’d do the same.” He knocked on the side of one of the tents. “Ladies?...” There was no movement. No reply.
Owen ducked his head into the other tent. “Oi, tea boy… What the…?”
“What?”
“It’s empty.”
Jack tapped his earpiece. “Anyone there? Camp’s looking a little empty here.” No reply.
Owen crouched as he spotted the guns left half hidden in the grass. “Jack, I don’t think they walked off.”
In the distance they could hear a heavy engine. The captain ran to the SUV.
“We might be able to catch them.”
Owen threw himself into the passenger seat as the SUV tyres spun. No traction. He looked out to see all four completely flat.
“Shit! We’ve been stitched up.”
Jack clambered up onto the roof, watching headlights in the distance, stopping in a cluster of other lights. The village.
Ianto was the last to be pushed down into the old wine cellar before the door was locked. The slight cut on his neck itched and his wrists burned from the rope tied around them.
“Are you ok?” Tosh asked quietly.
“I’ve been better but I’ll survive. What was all that?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t look like they were affected by anything alien.”
Gwen shrugged as she looked around for anything to cut through her bindings. “Maybe they thought we were the ones kidnapping people.”
“Going by that stack of backpacks and old coats I’d say they know exactly who’s doing the kidnappings.” Ianto said, backing away from the stack of discarded belongings.
They all stared at the stack before realising they still needed to escape. Gwen sat on the floor and leaned back, hooking her wrists under her bum so she could slip her legs through and have her hands actually usable. She dug through the bags and found one full of camping gear. At the bottom of the bag was a swiss army knife. She carefully unfolded it and cut the rope away then moved to free her friends.
Tosh rubbed at her wrists. “Maybe there’s a phone or radio in one of those bags that I can contact Jack or Owen with.”
“It’s worth a look. I think whoever they belonged to would forgive us.” Gwen folded the knife and slipped it into her pocket. “What’s that smell?”
Ianto looked around, noting the curtains that separated their side of the cellar from the other. “Maybe through there? It smells like a butchers.” He frowned, the smell turning his stomach.
“This could just be food storage. There might be another way out.”
“Or it’s a body.”
“Not unless it’s on ice. It doesn’t have that sickly edge that decomp does.” She cringed, remembering the times she’d been sent on a wellness check that ended with a call to the coroner. She brushed back one of the plastic curtains, the smell getting much stronger. Ianto followed her through, trying not to breathe through his nose, noticing the wrapped chunks of meat of the table. It looked like pork. There was a box of discarded bones set aside.
“Those bones look… Well they don’t look right.”
“Alien pigs?”
“I hope so.” He walked over to one of the fridges, pulling his sleeve down over his hand before pulling the handle. The door swung open and he nearly passed out at the sight. Limbs. Human limbs sat on the shelves between more wrapped chunks of meat. Gwen had to hold back a scream, grabbing Iantos arm and pulling him back through the curtain. He coughed and tried to settle his stomach, or at least make sure he wasn’t going to see his lunch again.
“That wasn’t… That can’t… Can’t be real.” Gwen spluttered, staring at the curtain.
Tosh stood. “What happened? What’s going on?”
“They aren’t just killing people, they’re eating them!” Ianto coughed, his eyes watering and all colour gone from his face.
“What?!”
“They’re going to try and do that to us, aren’t they?”
“Calm down.”
“Calm down?! They’re bloody cannibals. Aliens eat people in one piece, they don’t butcher them! What are we even doing here?!” He ranted, completely losing his composure.
Toshiko couldn’t let that idea sink in. She couldn’t let herself believe that the smell was made up of peoples blood. She needed to hold herself together. “We had to find out-”
“But why us? Haven’t we done enough? Haven’t we seen enough?!”
“There isn’t anyone else.”
“How much will it take? Until we can’t take anymore. We put ourselves through hell for what?! People like this?! What are we still doing this for?!”
“Because there are good people out there. Innocent people that need to be protected.”
“And what about us, eh? Who protects us?!”
“We protect each other!” Tosh snapped. “We keep each other safe. We don’t just give up when everything is too much, because if we don’t then no one else has to die.”
Gwen looked between them, trying to think of a way of diffusing the situation. The sound of the door unlocking did that for her. They all placed their hands behind their backs so they weren’t killed on sight for trying to escape.