[japan] In which Martha needs to get out of Japan.
Japan was burning.
It was going up in smoke right before her eyes. She could hear the screams of the people as their bodies twisted and writhed in the heat of the flames. She was frozen, stuck in one place as she didn’t know what to do, where to go-God, all these people-
She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, pushing her, and a harsh Japanese voice in her ear telling her to run, but where did she have to go? She was on an island, after all, and everyone around her was burning to death. Logic told her that this was where Martha Jones would fall and the Master would win. There was no way she was making it out of Japan alive. No way at all.
However, fear and adrenaline were never ones to listen to logic, and she was doing as she was told. She was running, running for the sand of the shoreline, for the water, for the one place where the fire wouldn’t burn. She wanted to stay alive, her instincts taking over and her body running despite the aching fatigue that was setting into her limbs after have been running for so long. She knew she couldn’t keep doing this much longer, but she had to. It was the only way to save the world, save her family, Jack, the Doctor-everyone she cared about was imprisoned aboard the Valiant and this was the only way to get them back.
Legs hit sand and with the terrain change her legs cried out even more for relief, but she couldn’t stop. The water was right there, right in front of her, and she wasn’t going to stop now. She needed to get to safety before the beach became the next to burn, and that was when she heard it, the whirling sound of the round little orbs that signaled the Toclafane’s presence above her. The fear pounding away inside her doubled in intensity, and she froze right where she was, dropping against a outcropping of rock, and praying that the perception filter the Doctor had given her was keeping her hidden from view. She closed her eyes and didn’t dare move, barely even dared to breathe, and silently prayed that she was anywhere other than where she was.
There was a boat sitting on the horizon, carrying the people that were meant to take her to safety, but she didn’t even know if she’d make it there. The Toclafane were everywhere, swarming the sky through the dark smoke, making them impossible to see and twice as dangerous. She knew that the people on the boat were looking for her and couldn’t see her, thanks to her perception filter that was still intact, but that meant the Toclafane couldn’t see her either, and that was enough to help her feel safe for now. She crouched on her rock on the beach and she waited-waited for the smoke to clear and the people to stop screaming before slowly making her way down the beach to the water.
So many people had died. So many people had suffered for the Master’s impossible dream of rebuilding Gallifrey. Entire races were gone, burned and cauterized off the face of the Earth as though they had never existed, and that broke her heart more than words could possibly say. But it would be fixed soon. It would all be over soon. She waded into the water until it reached about waist deep, before diving under and starting to swim for the boat. This would be over.
All she had to do was just keep swimming.
608 words
It was going up in smoke right before her eyes. She could hear the screams of the people as their bodies twisted and writhed in the heat of the flames. She was frozen, stuck in one place as she didn’t know what to do, where to go-God, all these people-
She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, pushing her, and a harsh Japanese voice in her ear telling her to run, but where did she have to go? She was on an island, after all, and everyone around her was burning to death. Logic told her that this was where Martha Jones would fall and the Master would win. There was no way she was making it out of Japan alive. No way at all.
However, fear and adrenaline were never ones to listen to logic, and she was doing as she was told. She was running, running for the sand of the shoreline, for the water, for the one place where the fire wouldn’t burn. She wanted to stay alive, her instincts taking over and her body running despite the aching fatigue that was setting into her limbs after have been running for so long. She knew she couldn’t keep doing this much longer, but she had to. It was the only way to save the world, save her family, Jack, the Doctor-everyone she cared about was imprisoned aboard the Valiant and this was the only way to get them back.
Legs hit sand and with the terrain change her legs cried out even more for relief, but she couldn’t stop. The water was right there, right in front of her, and she wasn’t going to stop now. She needed to get to safety before the beach became the next to burn, and that was when she heard it, the whirling sound of the round little orbs that signaled the Toclafane’s presence above her. The fear pounding away inside her doubled in intensity, and she froze right where she was, dropping against a outcropping of rock, and praying that the perception filter the Doctor had given her was keeping her hidden from view. She closed her eyes and didn’t dare move, barely even dared to breathe, and silently prayed that she was anywhere other than where she was.
There was a boat sitting on the horizon, carrying the people that were meant to take her to safety, but she didn’t even know if she’d make it there. The Toclafane were everywhere, swarming the sky through the dark smoke, making them impossible to see and twice as dangerous. She knew that the people on the boat were looking for her and couldn’t see her, thanks to her perception filter that was still intact, but that meant the Toclafane couldn’t see her either, and that was enough to help her feel safe for now. She crouched on her rock on the beach and she waited-waited for the smoke to clear and the people to stop screaming before slowly making her way down the beach to the water.
So many people had died. So many people had suffered for the Master’s impossible dream of rebuilding Gallifrey. Entire races were gone, burned and cauterized off the face of the Earth as though they had never existed, and that broke her heart more than words could possibly say. But it would be fixed soon. It would all be over soon. She waded into the water until it reached about waist deep, before diving under and starting to swim for the boat. This would be over.
All she had to do was just keep swimming.
608 words