HELTER SKELTER
Chapter Fifteen Paul grunted as the lorry lurched. A couple hours into their ride, they felt the lorry turn left onto what they guessed was a dirt road. The next twenty minutes were nothing but constant bumps and shaking that made Paul's teeth rattle. "Where the bloody hell are we going?" he yelled over the noise of the engine. "I don't know but I hope we get onto a smooth surface soon before I get a massive headache," William yelled back. Paul gasped when they hit what felt like a pothole and hit it hard. "Are we even on a road?" he yelled. "Feels like we're going through a fucking field or something." "That song you lot sang, bout how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall," William yelled to Paul. "I think we're going over every single one of em now!" "Too right, my teeth really will be coming out of my skull like they supposedly did when my car crashed," Paul yelled back. "And my eyes would follow my teeth if this ruddy cloth wasn't keepin' em in." He gasped when they hit another pothole and he collided with Amy who was sitting beside him. "Sorry," Paul said, glancing her way. "No worries. I'm about to fall into the side of the lorry so I completely understand," she replied. "Makes me wonder where this place is exactly," Rory said as they rocked back and forth. "If it's an island, that means water is surrounding it, yeah?" William yelled. "Depends on how deep it is," the Doctor said. "There are underground rivers and lakes so it's possible there's an island in the middle of one but if you go deeper it may very well be magma." "I hope not," Amy said. "I don't think I could stand the heat." There was another jolt and Paul bumped into Amy again. "Doctor, could you do me a favor?" Paul yelled. "Yes?" the Doctor yelled back. "Could you go into my pockets and take my mobile and IPod and keep them safe so those morons don't steal them from me or destroy them?" "Yes, my IPod too," William said. "I will. Amy, Rory, try to help them to stand so I can reach into their pockets," he yelled. The three of them tried to get up, wobbling around while the lorry continued down the rocky road. They tried to steady themselves while they helped William and Paul to stand. Once they were on their feet, they had them stand against the side of the lorry while the Doctor used his torch to go through their pockets. He put Paul's mobile and IPod in his right trouser pocket and put William's IPod in his left trouser pocket to keep them separate. He sighed angrily when he looked at William's face. The man hadn't bothered to take off William's glasses, just put the cloth and the tape right over them so the Doctor couldn't remove them for safekeeping. Once they were done, they helped Paul and William sit back down and sat down beside them. "Sorry about the glasses, William," the Doctor yelled. "I'd like to take them off but the morons taped them to your face." "I know, it's pressing against my face," William yelled back. "I think I will take you up on that offer for eye surgery. I'm not going through something like this again once we get away." They fell silent when suddenly the lorry got on a smooth surface and they gasped when they suddenly felt it tipping downwards. "We're going down," Amy yelled as they steadied themselves and Paul and William. "Paul, William," the Doctor yelled. "Are those pain patches I gave you working? They should work for about five hours but I have more in my pockets if you need them." "My body feels a bit numb," Paul yelled. "I had morphine once and it feels like that except I'm not groggy." "Same here, I have a numbness to my body as well," William said. "Good. I couldn't dull the pain completely or else it would be the same sensation as having your foot asleep and trying to walk with it but it will dull it enough that you won't be in intense pain if they do something to you," the Doctor said. "What about the others?" Paul said. "That communicator is behind my ear instead of inside, won't they hear the others if they speak to me?" "No, there are two options with that. The first one is you can put it inside the ear canal but I was afraid it might loosen and fall inside your ear if they get rough with you. The other option is to put it behind the ear and activate a mini force field similar to the one I had around you and William when you made the phone call. And like that force field, it's been soundproofed so you can hear everyone but this lot won't be able to hear them. I thought it would be safer to do it that way." Paul nodded. "Jane, can you hear me?" Paul yelled. He listened. He could hear her but she was faint and barely audible over the engine and the vibrating lorry. "Can't hear ya, love. The lorry's makin' noise. You have to speak up." "YES, I CAN HEAR YOU!" The Doctor, Rory and Amy giggled when Paul's head jerked back from the volume of her voice. "You have to be careful with that, the communicator is very sensitive," the Doctor yelled. "You're liable to end up with an earache if she keeps screaming." "ARE YOU OKAY?" Jane bellowed. "Gah!" Paul said, his face contorting in pain, "Jane, I meant speak a bit louder so I can hear you over the engine. You don't have to scream. In fact, don't scream because you're hurting my ear!" "Sorry, love," Jane said with a louder voice than what she started with, "can you hear me now?" "Yeah, thanks, my ear was beginning to hurt." "Are you alright?" Jane asked. "Yeah, apart from having duct tape on my wrists and a duct taped cloth over my eyes, I'm fine. William's fine as far as I know and the other three are here with us and we're going downwards so I assume we're going underground to this island of theirs." "Just come back to me in one piece, okay?" "I plan on it, trust me," he said. Paul perked up when he felt the lorry beginning to slow down. "Um…I think we're coming to a stop, love. I better stop talking to you so they won't open the door and see me in the middle of a conversation. But keep talking to me, the Doctor fixed it so there's a force field thing over my ear so it's soundproof like it was when I made the phone call." "Okay, Oh God, I'm so scared for all of you." Paul smiled at that. He told her he loved her and they said goodbye just as the lorry stopped. Paul felt the hood go back over his head and then heard and sensed Amy, Rory and the Doctor getting up and moving away from them. "This is it, mate," he said to William. "We're in this together." "Together," William said, nodding. They heard the door slide up. "Well, well, they behaved, imagine that," the muscular man said. The lorry rocked slightly as he and the limper climbed up and in. Paul felt them taking him under the arms and helping him to his feet. He stood quietly while he listened to them pulling William up by the arms. "Okay, bring the ramp over!" muscular man said. They heard the sound of something scraping the floor and then one of the men shoved Paul. Paul moved forward and felt a hand on his arm, guiding him. When he got down the ramp, the man stopped him and he stood there while he felt William being led up beside him. He tried to hear the Doctor, Amy and Rory but all he could he hear was the two men sniggering and making jokes at his expense. Paul rolled his eyes when they joked about how he was a Beatle and now he was nothing. Even when I'm nothing I'm worth more than you two gits, he thought to himself as they laughed. Finally, they stopped laughing and Paul felt himself being led again. Then he felt himself being put into a vehicle and he sat down on a hard leather seat. A moment later, William was placed beside him and then he heard the two men get in front. There was a whirring sound and the little vehicle took off. Paul looked around and leaned back slightly, trying to determine if there was a seat behind him or if the Doctor, Amy and Rory had climbed up on the back. But he couldn't feel anything except the wind on his body. Hoping that they had a way to follow them as the vehicle sped up, he sat quietly and mentally prepared himself for what would come next.
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