TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN

Chapter Thirteen

After about an hour, the car finally stopped.

"Well, we're here, I s'pose," Paul said to Amy.

"Great, now the torture can begin," Amy muttered.

"Over my dead body," Paul retorted. "They so much as breathe on you wrong..."

He shut up when he heard someone inserting a key in the trunk's lock. Both of them closed their eyes just before the lid opened and light flooded inside. Paul groaned when Mister Brown gathered him up and lifted him out. Then Mister Jones turned Amy on her back and lifted her out. They noticed they were inside a dirty, dusty garage. There was a wooden door on the right side of the concrete room and the two men headed for that, carrying their captives in their arms. Mister Jones stood Amy on her feet and kept her steady while he reached inside his trouser pocket. He took out a small knife and cut the ropes around her ankles.

"I think you're able to walk on your own, unlike him," Jones said, gesturing to Paul. "So I'll let you walk but don't even think of running off or we snap his neck, got it?"

"Got it," Amy said.

Jones opened the garage door and ushered them inside. They walked through what looked like an abandoned warehouse to another door near the back of the structure. They opened it and walked down a corridor of what looked like an office. The building they were in looked more modern and cleaner than the warehouse but as they walked along, Amy noticed that all visible windows had been bricked up, boarded up or painted black so they couldn't see outside. Jones led them to a room and when they went inside they saw hospital equipment. In the corner at a wooden desk sat a woman that was in her early thirties. She was petite with light blonde hair that was tied up in a tight bun. She had a heart shaped face, sky blue eyes and a scar running down the right side of her face. She was dressed in a nurse's uniform and when they entered, she looked at all of them. Her eyes fell on Paul who was lying in Brown's arms, his face contorted in silent agony.

"Who are they?" she asked, getting up from the desk.

"Guests. They were injured in a car crash. This one here is worse off than the girl. Think he might have broken ribs."

"Put him on the examination table," the woman said, pointing to a metal table on the other side of the room. "I'll take x-rays to be certain. And this one?"

"Slight injuries but we want you to keep an eye on her. Don't let either of them get away or else..." Jones growled menacingly.

"I know the penalty for helping captives escape, thank you very much," the woman said. "I've been here long enough to know how everything's done here."

"Good. Keep that in mind while you're doin' your job," Jones said. "We just got done beheading an associate and burning his body, shame if we had to do the same thing to you."

"Just put him on the table," the woman said.

Brown glared at her while he walked over and put Paul on the examination table.

"Cut him free. I can't take a proper x-ray with his hands and feet bound together," the woman said.

"Don't even think of escaping," Brown said to Paul in a low voice as he withdrew a knife from his pocket.

He sawed through the ropes with it and Paul let out a sigh of relief when he was able to lie completely on his back. Jones freed Amy's hands and she walked over to Paul's side while the men turned and walked out the door. She took Paul's hand and he squeezed it while they both watched the woman gather some things together on a metal trolley.

"You don't have to worry about me," she said over her shoulder. "I'm not like those two. I'm a prisoner, same as you. They just allow me to continue being a nurse because they have need of my services. My name is Angela."

"I'm Amy."

"And I'm Paul."

"Amy and Paul, nice to meet you," Angela said. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I want to mend you both."

"Why? So we can be slaves?" Paul said.

"I don't know about that, I do know that you're injured and you both need medical attention. If I were you, I'd trust me because in here you're gonna need all the friends you can get. Now just relax and try not to move."

"Believe me, moving is the last thing I wanna do," Paul said.

Angela walked over to the corner and rolled over a portable x-ray machine. Amy watched as she adjusted it so the scanner was directly over Paul. She pushed a red button on the side and a square of light with a cross in the middle of it shone down on Paul's chest. Angela walked over and turned off the light before coming back to the table.

"You think you broke some ribs?" Angela asked Paul.

"Yeah, cracked or broke them," Paul said.

"Which side?"

"Left, I think," Paul replied.

"Love, help me turn him on his right side so I can get an x-ray," Angela said to Amy.

Amy squeezed Paul's hand. Paul gritted his teeth and winced when Angela and Amy helped him roll onto his right side. Once they were done, Angela made Amy step back and she positioned the square of light over Paul's ribs. She widened the square until it covered his entire rib cage and then she pressed a few more buttons. Amy frowned when they didn't move away from the machine.

"Shouldn't we get behind a shield of some sort?" Amy asked.

"No need to with this machine. It's perfectly safe. Apparently it's more advanced than regular x-ray scanners."

Amy raised her eyebrow at that but said nothing. They both stepped back and there was a whirring sound for a few seconds.

"All done, love," Angela said to Paul. "Just lie still and I'll check the results."

Amy came back to his side and laid her hand on his arm.

"Better than some x-rays I've had," Paul said, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Yeah, I'm wondering how advanced this scanner is," Amy replied while Angela grabbed a sheet of cellophane that came out the end of the scanner.

She watched while she walked over to a light board, put the cellophane on it and turned on the light. Amy studied the x-ray of Paul's ribs while Paul raised his head and stared at it.

"You're right, love," Angela said, looking back at him. "You injured your ribs but they're only cracked, not broken."

"Thank God for that," Paul said, lowering his head. "I s'pose you're gonna bind up my side so the ribs can heal?"

"No need. I have something that will heal them immediately," Angela said, walking to a cabinet.

"You...do?" Paul said as Amy raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. The people who are holding us prisoner have very advanced methods of healing people," Angela said, pulling out a small white plastic jar.

"How advanced?" Amy said.

"They can heal most things immediately," Angela said, walking over to them. "Can you raise his t-shirt, love?" she said to Amy.

Amy slowly raised Paul's black shirt, exposing his rib cage.

"Who are these people then?" Amy asked while Angela took the lid off the jar. "How do they have medicines that most hospitals don't have?"

"Yeah," Paul said as Angela dipped her fingers in and dipped out some green goo on them before rubbing it on Paul's ribs, "and if they have the technology, why don't they share it with other hospitals?"

Angela snorted.

"These people don't share anything," she said as she rubbed the goo into Paul's skin. "And you'd be wise not to ask too many questions. Besides, I have a feeling you'll both see your masters soon enough. Until then, rest and get your strength back."

Amy gasped when Paul suddenly let a cry of agony.

"Paul! Oh God, what are you doin' to him?" Amy said to Angela as Paul's face contorted in pain.

"That's the medicine; it's fusing his bones back together. I'm sorry, dear, there is a little bit of pain involved."

"A bit?" Amy said while Paul groaned.

But thirty seconds later, his face slackened and he breathed a sigh of relief. Amy flinched when Angela pressed down on his ribcage but Paul showed no signs of pain.

"See, all better," Angela said, putting the lid back on the jar.

Paul and Amy shared a look.

"What is that stuff?" Paul muttered to Amy as Angela walked back to the cabinet. "I've never seen medicine work this fast in me whole life!"

"I don't know but I have a feeling it wasn't made in England or on Earth for that matter," Amy said.

Paul gave her a quizzical look but Amy put her finger to her lips as Angela turned around with another plastic jar in her hand.

"I notice you have a bit of hair loss, love," Angela said to Paul. "I can fix that as well."

Paul's eyes bulged.

"You have something that'll cure baldness?" he said in disbelief.

"Yes. A quick growing hair salve, have that hair growin' again in a day or so," she said, unscrewing the lid.

Paul and Amy shared another look as she reached in with her fingers and got some red salve out. She walked around to the back of Paul's head and Amy stepped aside, watching while she worked the salve into the bald spot. She covered it completely and then put some on some of the thin patches on the back of his head.

"There you are, you should see some difference by the morning," Angela said, walking back towards the trolley.

Amy and Paul looked at each other while Angela picked up the lid and screwed it back on.

"What else does she have in that cupboard? The fountain of youth cream?" Paul muttered to Amy while Angela put the jar back.

She turned around and smiled at them.

"Okay, now that that's sorted, let me check you both and make sure there's nothing else that needs mending," she said, walking back towards them.

The Doctor, Rory, the Beatles and Jane got out of the squad cars and the officers led them to the car. As they neared it, the Doctor sniffed the air.

"Petrol, lots of it," the Doctor said to the others. "The crash didn't cause the fire, someone used an accelerant."

They neared the car and the Doctor smelled burnt flesh along with everyone else. As they walked towards the car, he noticed a large patch of grass that was stained with blood.

"Look," he said to everyone as he pointed it out. "Someone was injured outside the car."

John squeezed Jane's hand when she blanched at that. The officer stepped aside when they reached the open door on the driver's side.

"Was the door open when you found the car?" the Doctor asked the officer.

"Yes, both doors were open," the officer said.

The Doctor knelt down with everyone else. Everyone except him covered the lower half of their faces with their hands. The Doctor used his respiratory bypass system to keep from inhaling the strong odor of burnt flesh and petrol while he examined the charred corpse and head. John knelt down beside him and stared at the body.

"I don't think this is Paul," John said to the Doctor. "Even without the head, he's too tall and his body's too wide."

"Then someone else was killed in his place and I'm willing to bet the actual murder took place over there where the huge blood spot is."

"You mean they severed his head over there?" George said, pointing back to the blood spot.

"That's my guess. Killed him, put him in here and used petrol to make sure the fire burned him beyond recognition."

"Who is he then?" Jane said to him.

"Dunno, but I have a feeling he's connected to Mister Brown and Mister Jones."

"You mean they killed one of their own mates so we'd think it was Paul?" John said.

"Unless you think Paul's capable of cutting someone's head off and burning their body," the Doctor said to him.

"You haven't know Paul for very long but I think you can guess the answer to that one," John said.

"Yes and Amy wouldn't do something like this either. So it was either a Good Samaritan who was a complete homicidal nutter or it was Mister Brown or Jones or someone that was working with them. And if it was someone that was working for them and they were crazy enough to kill this person to make it look like Paul died, we need to find Paul and Amy as fast as we can before they end up beheaded."

They stood up and John looked at the police officer.

"This isn't Paul," he said to the officer.

"Who is it then?" the officer replied.

"I don't know but he's too tall and too bulky to be Paul. Use dental records to identify him or something, but I know for a fact that it's not him."

"And I think you'll find that whoever it was died over there," the Doctor said, pointing to the blood stain. "And they used petrol to make sure the car burnt the body so we couldn't identify it."

"And what about Mister McCartney?" the officer said.

"I don't know but you lot need to start looking," John said. "Him and our friend, Amy Pond. Both of them are missing."

The officer nodded.

"We'll start searching straight away. We'll get some of the officers to take you back in the meantime and we'll ring you if we find out anything else."

"Please find them," Jane said to the officer.

"Don't worry, Miss. We'll do all we can to find them and bring them back safely."

The officer walked over to a few other policemen and told them to take the Doctor and the others back to town.

"What now?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"Now, we go back and wait while we think of a way to find Paul and Amy before it's too late," the Doctor replied.

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