OUR HORRIBLE HOLIDAY IN DESERTED DISNEY WORLD

Chapter Eleven

The Doctor chuckled when the children kept on asking him about the TARDIS.

"It's up above, just outside the entrance to Disneyworld," he said to the children who were following him as if he were the Pied Piper.

"Can we go see it?" one of the girls asked.

"Wait," Travis said to the children when he stopped them all, "we don't know what's up there."

"Yeah, but they came here and nothing happened to them," Samantha said, pointing to the Doctor. "We wanna see the time ship."

"I think I created a monster with my story," Adam said to Alan.

Adam stepped in front of the Doctor and quieted the children.

"We managed to come here unscathed, it's true. However, several of us thought we heard something up above when we were exploring…"

"That's them," Travis said. "The creatures. They left some of them behind."

"But why?" Rain said. "I mean, you said you didn't think they knew about you being down here and if the park is abandoned, why would they be hiding out in the ruined rides?"

"Fair question," the Doctor said. "If they think you're gone and most of the world has been depopulated, why are they still here?"

The adults looked at each other, not sure how to answer that.

"Are you sure it's the alien invaders and not something else?" Duer finally said.

"Doggies?" one of the children said to him.

"Perhaps," Duer said with a fond smile, "perhaps it's wild animals that have taken over the park. Equally dangerous as an alien invader, mind, but still, there are other explanations for whatever's up there."

"I suppose that could be true," Travis said. "We prefer to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Ah, well, there's part of your trouble," the Doctor said. "You should always try to find out what's going on before you start shooting at it, just in case the whatits is on your side. Perhaps these are other humans who don't know about the tunnels so they're left to fend for themselves and make shelter in the rides. If you investigated and found that to be true, then you could have other survivors to assist down here. Perhaps…the aliens are gone and you're down here for no good reason when you should be up populating and rebuilding the Earth."

"But what if you're wrong?" Charlie challenged him.

"But what if I'm right?" the Doctor said, annoyed at the hateful woman. "What if you're staying down here and raising your children in darkness and ignorance instead of letting them flourish in the sun and the fresh air. Wouldn't you like a chance to start over again and reclaim the Earth instead of spending the rest of your lives and the rest of your children's lives hiding in a tunnel under Disneyworld? If you are brave enough to come with us, we can show you our time machine. The TARDIS is the safest place in the universe, very little can penetrate it and that very little has to be something truly amazing. If there are aliens up there, they won't be able to get inside, I give you my word."

The children watched while the adults got in a huddle and talked it over. The Doctor noticed Charlie was still glaring at him, even from the huddle, and he shook his head and looked at Dawg who was quietly staring at him with his head on the Doctor's shoulder. He smiled at the innocent look on his face and he wondered if there was a way to get him to safety somewhere since Charlie seemed determined to keep on abusing him.

When they reached the door by the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Doctor and Alan volunteered to go out first. The Doctor passed Dawg to Adam and looked at his brother before he unlocked the door with his screwdriver. Ignoring the murmurs among the survivor when they wondered what the screwdriver was, he slowly opened the door and stuck his head out. He then went outside and Alan followed him.

"No, children, keep back for now," Rain said to the children when they tried to follow them.

Outside the tunnels, the Doctor and Alan looked around.

"Yo ho ho, the Pirates of the Caribbean has got to go, go, go," Alan said, pointing to the dilapidated building nearby. "Can we go explore Animal Kingdom next, Brother. I want to see how smelly and boney it all is."

"Brother…"

"Yes, oh fearless leader person thing?"

"Dawg, you saw how Charlie behaved in there."

"Yes and I had to restrain myself from slapping her, truth be told. Why? What's swimming around in that noddle of yours."

"I have half a mind to take Dawg back with us to New Gallifrey and get him away from her before she beats him to death. The girl is too young to be a proper mother. She might have done well with a child who wasn't special needs but with the stress of bringing up Dawg plus all this…"

"He's a good kid," Alan said. "You saw him with me and Adam. He's not some wild beast like they're making him out to be. You're right; he deserves a better home far away from that abusive witch and…"

He shut up when the door opened and Rain stuck her head out.

"Just making sure you're all in one piece out here, you haven't said whether or not it's safe," Rain said.

"Come here, Latara, close the door," the Doctor said.

Rain told the others it would be a minute before she came outside and shut the door.

"Yes?" she said.

They told her what they'd been saying about Dawg and Rain shook her head.

"I agree. That woman is unbalanced. She's in there glaring at all of us and especially Adam. I think she's trying to get Dawg…urgh, I hate that name, he needs another one…anyway, she's trying to get her kid back from Adam but you know how protective he is. And I think it's pissing her off even more that we've taken charge of him."

"The bitch beats him," Alan said. "What's the alternative? Stand around and watch while she gives him more bruises and welts? No thanks. I've been a parent too long and I won't stand there and watch a little deaf boy get abused in front of me. What's that? You're mad because we're keeping your child away from you? Well boo-fuckity-who, lady. Maybe if you didn't beat the child like a rented mule we'd entrust him to you. Cry me a fucking river."

"Wow! And you know it's serious when Alan gets pissed off," Rain said.

"I just don't enjoy watching some innocent child get slapped about by a mother who's out of her depth," Alan said.

"Besides, I have a feeling that with proper guidance and care, our little friend in there might actually flourish and become the bright, intelligent young man he is. Not to mention he probably needs to learn sign language so we can actually talk to him. I doubt anyone had the time or inclination to teach him sign language," the Doctor said angrily.

He was about to say something else when he suddenly heard a sound coming from some nearby shrubs. He held up his hand before they moved as one towards the shrubs. Suddenly, an emaciated dog darted out of the shrubs and ran right into Alan.

"Whoa, boy," Alan said as the dog ran off. "Poor thing, look at him. Probably hasn't been fed for donkey's years."

The dog stopped a few feet from Alan. The dog was dirty with matted hair. His ribs were poking from his skin and he looked ill. Alan slowly came towards him.

"Brother, be careful," the Doctor said.

"Way ahead of ya, old man," Alan said, fiddling in his trouser pocket.

He found a bag of jelly babies in his pocket. He took it out, pulled one out and tossed it to the dog. The dog walked over to it, sniffed it and Alan smiled when he ate it.

"That's right, mate. Bet you haven't eaten in ages, eh?" Alan said, throwing another one towards him.

While he was doing that, Rain told the Doctor she would let the others know it was safe to come out. The Doctor nodded and turned his attention back to Alan who was now holding one jelly baby out to the dog.

"Come on, I won't hurt ya," Alan said softly.

The dog cocked his head while he looked at the jelly baby. It looked up at the Doctor and the Doctor smiled. The dog lowered its head and slowly came towards Alan. Alan gently urged it to come forward and the dog stopped just beyond the reach of his hand while it stared at the sweet. Then the door opened and the dog ran away. Alan cursed as everyone came outside. Alan ignored the children who were now pointing at the dog. The dog was now standing several feet away shivering in fear and Alan decided to try something. He slowly walked towards it, holding the jelly baby out.

"Come on, ignore that lot, just focus on me and this yummy, nummy sweet," he said softly while he held out the jelly baby to the dog.

The dog slowly walked towards Alan. Its eyes glanced up at Alan's eyes before it gingerly took the sweet from his fingertips. It wagged its tail while Alan reached into the bag and got another one. This time he laid it on the ground and managed to pet the dog's back when it ate the jelly baby.

"I think we should take this bloke back to the TARDIS, get it patched up and healthy," Alan said. "As for the rest of you lot, perhaps this is your bogeyman, eh?"

Travis walked over to the Doctor and watched while Alan petted the dog.

"You mean, that dog might have been roaming through the rides?" Travis said.

"Perhaps. He or she's been here awhile though," the Doctor said. "But perhaps with a little food and some love, it'll be a perfect pet for someone."

By now, Alan was able to pet the dog without the dog backing away from him. He got the dog to lie down so he could scratch its belly. While he did, he took a look at the underside.

"It's a girl," Alan said to the others. "Looks like a Labrador too. Pretty coloring," he added as he ran his fingertips through the butterscotch colored fur. "Yup, I think this dog will make a faithful friend for someone."

The children were beginning to inch towards the door including Dawg who was holding onto Adam's hand. The dog, seeing the children, leapt up and Alan stopped them when it nearly bolted away.

"Not so many, I just now got the dog to trust me," he said to the children. "She's scared. She hasn't been around people for awhile, if at all. Give her some time though; she's learning to trust again."

"See if she'll follow us to the TARDIS then," the Doctor said. "If not, we'll come back for her. But everyone, follow us and we'll show you our time ship."

The children cheered. Everyone followed the Doctor as he headed towards the entrance. Alan tried picking up the dog and smiled when she offered no resistance. Figuring the poor thing was too weak to do much fighting, he talked to it in soft tones while he followed everyone else.

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