Chapter Text
The wet ground beneath Amy’s feet squished against the soles of her shoes, and mud flung itself upward to cling to the exposed parts of her white socks. Her jacket snagged on a tree branch, and her fingers grasped at something dirty and then fell through her hair, but she didn’t stop. She didn’t care. Rory kept a close distance behind her, not close enough to hold her hand, for running made that difficult. But enough to reach out and touch her and to remind her that he was there. “Hurry Rory!” Amy called to him. The two of them flew over the sticks and rocks and never dared pause to look back at their pursuers. For they had seen their faces all too clearly before. The grotesque wrinkled faces of human beings who no longer had their human senses, but had instead been transformed into monsters. Only resembling the people they once were.
Rory’s breath came heavy as he was getting more and more winded from running. He wanted to stop, but they couldn’t. Not out here. Not until they found some place they would be safe. Rory prayed that the TARDIS would appear in front of them right at this very moment, but it didn’t. It had been two days now since a time rift had shaken the TARDIS off its path and planted them here, separating them from the Doctor. He just hoped they could survive long enough for him to find them.
“Bloody zombies!” Rory yelled, dodging a fallen log.
Amy sprinted ahead of him, stopping at the trunk of a large tree whose branches hung low enough for the leaves to tickle her face. She tried to catch her breath, fanning herself as sweat formed on her brow.
Catching up to her, Rory gave a quick look behind them, “Come on, let’s go. They could be right behind us.”
“I…I can’t…I need…to rest.” Amy panted.
The sound of a branch breaking under a footfall made them both stop.
“Go. Go! Go, go, go, go, go!” Rory shoved Amy forward, urging her on. They couldn’t risk thinking they were safe now, something was still nearby and coming for them.
As they ran, Amy could feel her legs starting to feel like heavy weights on her. Each step became a slow effort just to pick up her foot and set it down again. She was exhausted. “Rory, I can’t.” She could hear someone else in the woods coming toward them. If they stopped now, she didn’t know if she would have enough energy to fight off whatever these things were. Where was the Doctor in all this? Shouldn’t he be swooping in with his brilliant plans and his sonic screwdriver to save the day sometime around now? In her mind she was screaming for him, but nobody came.
Amy stopped, dropping to her knees.
“Amy, don’t stop!”
Amy felt Rory’s hand pulling at her shirt, and then a shot rang out.
They both screamed, Rory stumbling to the ground beside her, thinking they were the ones being shot at.
Another shot came.
“You two!” They looked up, meeting eyes with a shaggy haired man in an army jacket holding a rifle, “Get down!” They obeyed without a word, and the man fired off another round of shots, though they couldn’t see exactly what he was shooting at. “Let’s go! This way!” Amy and Rory quickly got to their feet and followed after him. The path took a sharp turn and before too long they could see a clearing with cabins in the distance.
Amy was perplexed at the thought that people were living out here, but she had no time to ponder the reasons why now. Rory grabbed her hand, and they hurried to keep up with the man holding the rifle.
***
He had instructed them to follow him inside one of the cabins, and they listened, pushing past a beaded curtain that hung in his doorway. The inside was larger than the outside suggested. There were numerous pillows strewn around the floor, a table and two chairs, a chest, and a good-sized bed with the blankets tossed every which way. On the table were several alcohol bottles, pill bottles, and a rolled joint. The man set the rifle on the floor beside the chest, and headed for the table, grabbing one of the tall bottles of some type of liquor. He took a big swig, and then offered them a drink.
“No thanks.” Rory said, throwing a confused glance to Amy.
“You two are lucky I happened to be out today. There were only a few of them after you.”
“Only a few?” Amy asked. “I’d rather none of them had been after us, thank you very much. What the hell are they?”
The man stared blankly at them, “What are they?! Where have you been?!”
“We uh…” Amy fidgeted, “We just got into town.”
“Yeah well you picked a hell of time for a holiday sweetheart. I suggest you two climb back into whatever plane, train, or horse n’ buggy brought you here, and get the hell out of dodge.”
“Love too.” Rory said, “But..that’s not exactly an option. It’s um…it’s complicated Mr. uh…”
“Cas. People call me Cas.” Cas held up the bottle and nodded at them as something of a greeting gesture.
“I’m Amy, that’s Rory, my husband.”
“Oh you’re married? Well, kudos to you. Here.” He thrust the bottle into Amy’s hands, “Consider it a wedding present.” Neither Amy nor Rory were sure of what to make of this man. He seemed a bit off his rocker. But then, he had come to their rescue, so they could at least be polite. “Now uh…what were you saying?” Before they could respond, a short woman with dark hair and dressed in a similar military style marched into the room, her hands firmly on her hips as she scowled at him. “Hello Risa.”
The woman, Risa, did not take her eyes off of Cas for a moment, “I’m so sick of your bullshit Cas! Dean is on my ass because you told me you would take care of the night watch duties, and now the south fence is broken because you weren’t out there. We’re lucky none of them got in! You better go and tell Dean it was your fault, because I’m not going to be your scapegoat.”
Risa stomped over to where Cas stood and even though she was smaller than him, she stared him down with an angry scowl. Amy didn’t know who this woman was, but she made a mental note to never get her angry.
“Ok, how about you take two steps back and put away your crazy?” Cas remarked snarkily. “I fell asleep in my cabin, I’m sorry.”
“You were getting stoned in your cabin you mean!” She yelled.
“It won’t happen again.”
“Save it, Cas. We’ve all heard your bullshit before.”
“But lucky for these two I was still here, or else I wouldn’t have heard them screaming in the forest.”
Risa frowned, as if her face could scrunch up any more, “Who are they? You know Dean doesn’t like strangers in here Cas. What if they’re infected?”
“They’re not! They’re fine, trust me.”
“Yeah, we’re fine.” Rory piped up. “I’m uh…” He stuck out his hand to her and started to introduce himself, but Risa turned into his hand with a flourish of her hair and marched back out the door.
“I’m not here to make friends Ginger. I don’t care who you are, just stay out of my way.”
An awkward pause hung in the air.
“Well she’s peachy.” Amy commented. Cas had the bottle to his lips again and took a big gulp. Just watching him drink made Amy’s throat burn, and she cringed. “Look, we don’t mean to be a bother. If you can just tell us where we can go to avoid those…things, we’ll be on our way.”
“The only place you can go is right where you’re standing.” Cas slumped down onto one of the pillows, “This is the only safe zone for miles. We’ve got food, we’ve got supplies, and we’ve got people who know what the hell they’re doing. Believe me, you don’t want to be out there letting some amateur fire a shot off your back. You’ll both be killed.”
“Hey, I’ve shot a gun before!” Amy defended.
“You hit what you were aiming for?” Cas asked.
“Almost.” Amy replied quietly, shirking back towards Rory.
“Look, this isn’t an ideal situation for anyone around here, and I would suggest we keep you two on the down-low, but I think our fearless leader will notice a couple of redheads talking the Queen’s English around here and suspicions might arise. So I’ll figure out a way to tell him without you both getting shot.”
“Whoa, you guys aren’t like…political anarchists or anything, are you?” Rory asked.
Cas smirked, “Kid, we’re the heroes.”
***
Cas had told them to make themselves comfortable, while he went to break the news of their arrival to the man in charge, who was called Dean. Amy sat at the table, while Rory paced the cabin with a walkie in his hand, tapping at it, hoping to get some sort of signal from the Doctor.
“Rory really, look at this place. You aren’t going to get any sort of signal out here.”
“Well we can’t really loop the Doctor’s technology in with regular stuff, can we?”
“Suppose not.” Amy reached for one of the open bottled on the table and sniffed at it, recoiling her face in disgust. “Rory, what are we going to do? We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here. And those things…”
“We’ll be fine. Like Cas said, the people here know what they’re up against and they’re prepared. We’ve traveled to the ends of the universe and faced creatures they probably couldn’t even think of. Between the both of us, I wouldn’t worry.”
But Amy was worried. She was worried about the Doctor, about how the jolt from that storm had shaken the TARDIS and landed them here. Where had he ended up? How would he know to find them? The walkie he had Rory carry for emergencies didn’t seem to be working, and they couldn’t exactly tell their new friends they needed to make a long distance call to a Time Lord. They heard the sound of footsteps approaching outside, and Rory quickly hid the walkie inside his jacket.
The beaded curtain of Cas’ doorway curled around his fingertips as he stepped inside and glanced at his guests. Right behind him, another man walked in. Slightly taller, more fair-haired, gruffer looking, wearing a military jacket and a thigh holster strapped to his leg. This had to be Dean. He looked very capable of being their leader. He appeared stern and frightening enough. “Here you go.” Cas said to him, gesturing to Amy and Rory. Dean said nothing as he gave a nod to Cas, and then walked toward them. Amy felt like sinking down into her seat, like grabbing Rory’s hand and hiding behind him. Cas had said Dean was a good guy, but this man was dark and intense. He was a clearly a fighter who had seen more than his fair share of battles. Amy wasn’t about to ask what those battles involved.
“Either of you know how to shoot a gun?” Dean all but grunted in their direction. His voice was like rough water over stones.
Amy slowly raised her hand, “I do. Sort of.”
Dean reached into his coat pocket and tossed a .45 magnum to her. She caught it with some anticipation, holding it gently and looking confusedly back at him. “Come with me.”
***
Amy wasn’t too keen on following after this Dean person. He didn’t say another word to her after his instructions, just turned around and walked out the entryway, clear that he simply expected her to follow him. He did have a rather commanding presence. She had seen the Doctor get like that before when things got really serious, like during the Pandorica incident. She wasn’t sure what Dean had faced in his life, but she could guess it was more bad than good. She looked behind her and saw Rory and Cas lingering on the cabin steps, Cas puffing on another rolled joint.
“Doesn’t that stuff burn your lungs or something?” Rory asked.
“Sometimes…” Cas paused to take a long drag and then blow the smoke out, “Pain is all you have left.”
“Keep up! We don’t cater to stragglers!” Dean barked.
Amy quickened her pace. Dean walked steadily because he knew the grounds and knew exactly where he was going. Amy found herself having to hop over various items strewn in her path. Planks of wood, sheet metal, broken guns, and gas canisters. This place could use some up keep she thought, nearly tripping over a log. “You said you’ve shot a gun before?”
“Yeah.” Amy said, stopping behind him.
“Ok then. Shoot that.”
Amy looks, and about 30 feet in front of her is a wooden figure painted to look like some grotesque thing. Like the things that had chased them.
“That, is a Croat.” Dean began, “That’s what we call someone infected with the Croatoan virus. A virus that makes you go crazy. And there is no cure. Blood to blood contact, a bite, a scratch, and you’re finished. You’ve got about 20 minutes before you start showing signs, and then, it’s one blast straight to the head. No questions. Now.” He continued to pace around Amy, his hands folded behind him like an army general. “This is about as close as you really want to to let a Croat get. Any closer, you’re playing a dangerous game babe.”
“Amy.” She corrected him.
“Right.” Dean cocked an eyebrow at her, her own expression serious and furrowed as she stared back at him. “Also keep in mind these things will be running at you, so you have to be quick. If you stumble, you fall. Like I said, we don’t cater to stragglers.”
***
Back at the cabin, Rory could make out Amy’s red hair, which was like a shock of color in this drab earth-toned world. “What are they doing?”
“He said you both could stay if you were useful. He’s testing her out.” Cas replied.
“But…I’m no good with guns. So, what’s he going to have me do?”
“I don’t know, do I look like I can read his mind kid?” Cas wasn’t about to remark on the irony of that statement, keeping things on a need to know basis.
“Shoot.” Dean instructed Amy.
With shaky hands and unsteady fingers, Amy slowly raised the gun to eye level, and started to line up her target.
“Too slow!” Dean yelled.
Amy jumped at his voice, turning to scowl at him.
“Try again.”
So she started again, raising the gun faster this time, and trying to get the target in her sights as quick as possible. This time, Dean knocked the gun out of her hand.
“Too slow! What did I say? You don’t have time to think about the little details, you just shoot. Now do it.”
Amy wasn’t so sure if she wanted to stick around if this guy was in charge.
She placed the gun in one hand, raised her arms and pulled the trigger. She saw the top corner of the figure splinter as the bullet struck it, right where a person’s temple would be. Dean nodded. “Ok. You pass.”
***
Risa hurried over to Dean as he and Amy approached Cas’ cabin, her face still twisted into that same scowl she was wearing earlier. “Dean! I need a word with you! Did Cas tell you what he did? Or rather, didn’t do?”
“Yeah, he told me.”
“And?” Risa folded her arms across her chest. She did that a lot, Amy noticed.
“And he said it won’t happen again and I believe him. What do you want me to do Ris? Give him a time-out?”
“If it were anyone else you know you wouldn’t have just let them get away with a warning. And what about these two?” She gestured to Amy and Rory.
“Him I don’t know yet. Amy here is a pretty good shot though, she could be useful. Why don’t you go tell Chuck we’re going to need an extra pair of beds tonight.”
“Dean!”
“Risa! Go!”
“I hope we aren’t being too much trouble for you.” Rory said, draping an arm around Amy’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t be staying too long. We’ve got a friend coming for us.”
“Coming for you? Well they’re going to have a hell of a time getting here unless they’re planning on using a helicopter or something.”
“Yeah.” Amy muttered, “Or something.”
***
“So…” Cas sat down on his bed, Amy and Rory still lingering in his cabin while Chuck got the beds ready for then. “This friend of yours that’s supposed to come get you. How is he going to get here? On that note, where did you two even come from?”
“It’s a complicated story.” Amy started. “Our friend he uh…” She looked to Rory for help, her eyes wide and begging.
“He works for the government.” Rory threw in.
Amy wanted to smack him. She could tell by the look on Cas’ face that he also wasn’t buying that for a minute. She watched as he reached over and lit up another joint, wondering what number that was today. She didn’t know how he could be one of their best if he was stoned off his gourd all the time, as he appeared to be. “Look you don’t have to hide anything here. People here, we’re from all walks of life. Some you wouldn’t even believe. And in my time personally, I’ve experienced things you couldn’t even begin to describe. So you’ve got a pal with some secret weapon that can swoop in and take you away from this? Great. I find it hard to believe, but great.”
Amy was hoping this conversation wouldn’t go any further, and just in time Chuck walked through the doorway, meaning their sleeping arrangements were ready. Rory left without a word, and Amy thanked Cas once more, still silently concerned for him. They both followed Chuck outside and across the grounds.
The spare cabin had started to become a second storage, and on such short notice of their new guests, Chuck did little beyond shoving everything into one corner, throwing down a pair of air mattresses and giving Amy and Rory both a pillow and blanket, the thick woolen kind.
“Sorry this is all we have. I know it’s not very comfortable. There’s actually some extra beds in Cas’ cabin that are probably better but…I don’t think you’d want to hang out in there at night. I’m not sure what goes on. I hear sounds.”
The two were quiet.
“No this is great. This is perfect. Thank you.” Amy said, stepping forward and flopping down onto her air mattress with a hard thud. It nearly sank into the floor. “It’ll be fine, thank you.”
“Ok. Um…we usually try and feed everyone by nine. Not sure how much food we have for tomorrow, so come early if you’re really hungry.” Chuck made another apologetic expression.
“And after that?” Rory asked.
“After that…we keep going.”
***