IT WAS 20,000 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chapter Thirty Six

After tying up the Diablon and making sure he had a firm gag in his mouth, they moved on. Bill kept busy trying to quietly reassure Lila as they moved down a corridor in search of other Diablon or humans. They found a storage room that was being used as a prison cell. Opening it, they found two men, three women and a five year old child. They revealed themselves and explained that they were being rescued. The Doctor looked at the captives and looked at Lila and shook his head.

"This isn't gonna work. We can't keep massing humans. I don't have enough perception filters for everyone. Someone's gonna have to take them back up to the ship and we'll have to make runs back and forth for all the humans we find."

"I can do it," Paul said.

The Doctor nodded.

"You better take someone else with you though, just in case there's trouble."

"I'll go," John said.

"Okay," the Doctor said softly after telling the humans and Lila to go with them. "Be careful; try to avoid any trouble if you can. Hopefully, you can make it back and forth without anyone seeing you."

"Don't worry, we've both been in our share of punch-ups before," John said. "We know how to fight."

"Let me go with them, just in case," Rose said.

"Why? You don't think we rock stars know how to handle ourselves?" John said to her.

"No, I just want to make sure you have enough help. Especially since some of those Diablons are huge," Rose said.

"Okay, you three be careful then," the Doctor said.

Rose kissed Jeremy while Paul kissed Jane. Both of their significant others wished them luck and told them to be careful before the two of them joined John. The three of them beckoned to the humans and they went back the way they came while the others went forward.

Paul and Rose flanked the humans, looking behind them periodically while John took the lead. John looked back at Rose with an impish grin.

"Okay, out with it, you came with us because you're Paulie's number one fan," he said to her while Paul sniggered.

"She was just devastated when she realized she'd lose sight of me," Paul said while Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm the sun, moon and stars to her. She may be from London, but she secretly adores us northern men."

"Yes, I'm just falling all over myself to get to you," Rose said dryly.

"Of course you are, Scousers rule and Cockneys drool," Paul replied while John sniggered.

"You know, I can understand why the novelty of having a Beatle along wore off for Amy because it's worn off for me as well," Rose said.

"Piss Off, Pond? She adores me, I'm a god to her," Paul said.

Paul and John giggled while Rose shook her head.

"If you lot are done being witty, I have something to say," the Doctor said in their ears.

"Go ahead," Paul said.

"We just found ten more humans so Amy, Rory, George and Ringo are right behind you. The rest of us are still searching and if we find more, we might send more up but at the moment it's me, Jeremy, Bill, Michelle, Pepa and Jane. Hopefully, you lot will be back by the time we find some more because I don't want to keep splitting up our group until it's just down to me. I would like to have some help if the Diablons…damn, gotta stay silent, I see a few Diablons up ahead. Over and out."

"Righty-ho, Squadron Leader," John replied while Paul and Rose glanced back over their shoulders.

"Are we going to be safe?" Lila asked.

Paul smiled at her.

"Everything'll be alright, love, we're taking you to safety now," he said to her. "No one will get you where we're going."

Rose shushed them and they noticed a Diablon up ahead coming down the stairs that led to the top of the pyramid. He froze when he saw the terrified humans.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Diablon said in a deep voice as he advanced on the petrified group. "How did you get out?"

Rose walked up to the front. She pointed to Paul and John, pointed to the back of her head and mimed punching someone while she mouthed "All together," to them. Both men nodded and they quickly pressed themselves up against the wall with Rose just before the Diablon reached them. When he stopped, they stepped around behind him while the Diablon looked them over and reached down for a communicator he was carrying in a holder on his belt. Rose, John and Paul shared a glance. Rose held up one finger then two and then three and all of them hit the Diablon as hard as they could in the back of the head. The Diablon grunted and staggered forward as Lila and the others backed up. The dazed Diablon turned and looked around but the three fighters had pressed themselves back up against the wall. The Diablon rounded and snarled at the humans.

"Who did that? Is it more of your friends?" he said while Rose, John and Paul got back into position.

Rose once again counted to three with her fingers and they punched him even harder. This time the combined effort knocked the Diablon out and Lila and the others backed up when he fell forward onto his face.

"Okay, now what?" John said. "We can't leave him here for others to find. They'll sound the alarm."

Rose raised her eyebrow when she saw how tall and bulky the Diablon was.

"Um…think we can even pick him up?" she asked them.

John and Paul shared a glance and the humans watched while they tried to lift him without success. Lila looked at her fellow humans.

"Come on, help them," she said.

She and the other humans got around the Diablon, Paul gave a count of three and everyone grunted as they picked the Diablon up and carried him back towards the stairs. There was a space underneath the stairs and everyone tried to put the Diablon underneath it and shoved him back under it as best they could.

"Right, he won't stay like that for long, we need to get moving," Paul said. "Come on, everyone, follow us."

"What's all this then?"

Everyone looked behind them and saw the second group walking up.

"What'd you do?" Amy said as they walked up and stared at the Diablon, "defeat one, did ya?"

"Yes, our team is quite capable," Paul said. "All of us, this lot helped us move him," he added, pointing to their humans.

They fell silent when they heard sounds of struggle coming from the Doctor's team.

"Damn, sounds like some of these blokes saw through the invisibility act," George said.

"In that case, let's get this lot up to the ship and come back down so we can help," Rose said. "Everyone follow us!"

They hurried up the steps, listening to the sounds of battle in their ears. John's eyes bulged when he heard Michelle let out a bloodcurdling scream followed by the sound of fist on flesh.

"Was that Bill's girlfriend?" Rose said to them.

"I think so," Paul said. "Sounds like those cavemen instincts are kicking in now."

"Bill better watch the way he treats her then," John said. "The moment she gets angry, she might jump on his back and beat him to death."

They reached the top floor and Rose opened the door. They saw a Diablon trying to get into the ship. Before he could react, her and her friends were rushing towards him, yelling at the top of their lungs. To their surprise, the humans joined in and the Diablon was soon overwhelmed by superior numbers. Paul went over to the control panel, opened the door and let the ramp down while everyone else picked up the Diablon. They took him inside while the other four trapped Diablon screamed curses at them. They ignored them while they put the unconscious Diablon on the floor. The moment they did and stepped back a force field formed around him.

"Wow, this ship is getting cluttered," Amy said. "We're gonna have to make room if there's thirty of them."

"Well, with these four and the one downstairs, it's now down to twenty five," Rory replied.

They beckoned for the humans to follow them to the sleeping quarters. While they did that, they suddenly became aware that the fighting had stopped on the other end.

"Doctor, is everything alright?" Rose spoke aloud when they stopped at the hatch and Paul yelled for John Smith to unlock the hatch. "Doctor?"

She gave the others a worried look when he didn't answer.

"Bill? Michelle? Pepa?" she said while John Smith unlocked the hatch and turned the wheel. "Jane…"

She swallowed hard.

"Jeremy?" she said, her heart thumping in her chest.

"Nothing," Paul said, shaking his head while John Smith lifted the hatch door.

He looked at them and looked at the humans.

"Got some company for you and Tia," Paul said to him.

John Smith nodded and climbed down while John instructed the humans to follow him. One by one they followed them down while Rose tried again to call to their friends. None of them answered and Amy put a hand on her shoulder when Rose looked at the others with worry on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll find them."

"What worries me is we found Lila being poisoned. What if they do that to them?" Rose said. "The Doctor might be able to regenerate but the others…"

Amy knew what she was getting at and she squeezed her friend's shoulder.

"We'll get him back, he's not dying," Amy said.

She glanced at Paul. He hadn't said anything but he could see his jaw was tight and he was trying not to show any emotion while he watched the humans climbing down into the sleeping quarters. He managed a grin when he heard his daughter asking who all the people were in an amazed tone of voice. Amy went over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. Paul looked back and feigned disgust.

"Ick," he said while Amy swatted his shoulder.

"She'll be alright," Amy said to him.

Paul nodded.

"Yeah, she's made it this far," he said. "I'm quite proud of her really."

"So am I, I'm glad she decided to come with us," Amy said.

"Yeah, me too," Paul replied. "I just want to get down there and find out what happened and help her if I can. The sooner, the better."

The last of the humans went down into the sleeping quarters and John Smith climbed up the ladder.

"Heard the fight," he said to them. "Hope they're alright."

"They are," Amy said. "I don't think the Diablons will kill them yet. Not without trying to get some information from them. Sorry, it's so crowded down there now."

"Nah, I'd rather have these people here safe and sound. Just hurry up and find the others and if you find more humans, don't hesitate to bring them here when you get the time. I'm sure Tia and I can find ways to entertain them."

"Daddy?" Tia said, coming over to the bottom of the ladder.

Paul leaned over and waved at her. His heart melted when a huge smile broke out over his daughter's face and she started up the ladder towards him. John Smith came up and out of the hatch and Paul stepped in front of the ladder while his daughter scrambled up it and ran to hug him. Paul chuckled, picked her up and twirled her around, giving her cheek a kiss while she giggled.

"Stay, Daddy," Tia said.

Paul hesitated.

"Wanna switch with me for awhile and hold down the fort?" John Smith said.

"Yeah, I better do that. Just in case Jane…well, you know…she needs at least one parent."

"Don't say that, we'll rescue them," Rory said.

"And on that note, we better get going," John Smith said.

"Good luck, I'll be listening and praying for your success."

Amy gave him a quick hug and Paul smiled when he returned it with one arm. When she let go, Rose dashed into his arms and hugged him.

"Oh, Paul, I'm your number one fan!" she said while everyone laughed.

Paul chuckled at that and gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. He and Tia watched while they hurried back towards the hatch before he looked at his daughter.

"Well, love, just you and me and some new friends. Let's go to the storage room though so you can go to the loo and see if there's something to eat, eh?"

He held her close to him, trying not to think about Jane and what might be happening to her while he headed towards the storage compartment.

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