Disclaimer: I do not own anything related from Doctor Who; but I do wish maybe I could be one of the script writer in the future.
A/N: Hello! I am back. So, well. I don't know. I have nothing to say really, but there's something I decided to use the Gridlock episode and of course the consequences of the ending will be decided later. Maybe the changes won't be like by a lot of people, but then again I don't want to stick on the canon much and want to do my own thing. Of course there's nothing wrong on sticking to the canon.
That's all I guess.
0o0
Sam stared out the car window as Milo drove the car down, continuing to drop them through the rows of cars, heading steadily lower. He looked in awe at the sheer number of cars that filled the entire tube-shaped motorway, wondering how many cars out there and where the lane actually ends. Or how the people actually drive in all the gas.
"How many cars out there?" Sam asked in wonder.
"I don't think anyone knows," Cheen replied. She was rummaging around the car.
"Well then, how can you see where you're driving with that out there?"
"You're a curious one, are you?" Cheen smiled at him. She proceeds to explained. "Well, this display here shows all the cars in proximity." She pointed at the control panel as she looked back at Sam with surprise. "Haven't you ever been in a hover car before?"
Sam shook his head.
"Well, first time for everything I guess," Cheen replied to him. She offered up what looked like a pack of flat, round biscuits. "Here we go. Hungry?"
"Thank you." Sam said gratefully, taking one. He looked at in curiously. "How far down is it to this fast lane?"
"Oh, it's right at the bottom," Milo explained. "Underneath the traffic jam. But not many people can afford three passengers, so it's empty down there. Rumour has it you can reach up to thirty miles per hour."
Sam raised both eyebrows. "Great?"
"So, what are you doing out with that friend of yours then?" Cheen asked curiously. "What was it name, Doctor?"
Sam shrugged. "I met him at Christmas, he saved a thousand other people's and then I want to travel with him. He's brilliant and he travels through the universe saving lives. Although he got a bit of a gob sometimes. I just travel with him, well I guess I also wanted to help a bit."
"That sounds wonderful," Cheen commented wistfully. "Travelling like that, in your age, seeing the universe. I'd love to get out to see places like that."
Sam nodded, thinking the last adventure he had. "Yeah, it's great."
"Oh, another gap." Milo said happily. "This is brilliant!" He began to lower them, and a computerized voice called.
'Car sign in'
Sam peered at the monitor to see they were going down from level 38, heading towards level 42. Milo speaks to his walkie-talkie. "Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent to the fast lane, thank you very much."
'Please drive safely.'
Milo and Cheen grinned excitedly, while Sam wondered where on the earth the Doctor was, and if he would ever be able to find him in all these cars. Milo and Cheen has been a delight but he needs to get out of here, and that would be much harder, especially considering how low they were going down; he didn't trust whatever down there, as if there was this dreadful feeling that they shouldn't even gone down there.
0o0
Panic started to rise from him, the Doctor was pointing his sonic screwdriver at the monitor while searching at the back of the car, trying to hack into the Police Department of New, New York. Hoping the old thing would have turned on as quickly as possible, desperately trying to make the process faster and careful not to broke it. When he thought he had it, he spoke directly into the walkie-talkie.
"I need to talk to the police."
'Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold.'
"But you're the police," the Doctor tried to reason.
'Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold,' was the computerized response.
Letting out a growl of frustration, the Doctor gave up with the transmitter and any hopes of getting the police down here, and walked back to the front car. "Is there anyone else? I once met the Ambassador of Boston, is there any way of getting through to him?"
Brannigan raised his brows. "Oh, now ain't you lordly?"
"I've got to find my friend!" the Doctor early shouted in desperation. He sighed a ran a hand through his hair. "I need to get him back, now is there anyone else we can call?"
"I'm sorry, but you can't make outside calls," Valerie told him sympathetically. "The motorway's completely enclosed."
"What about the other cars?" the Doctor suggested.
"We've got contact with them yeah," Brannigan said, seemingly more willing to help the Doctor. "Well, some of them anyway. They've to be on your 'friend' list." He explained as he turned to his monitor, peering at the car numbers. "Now, let see. Who's nearby?" He stopped at a car number and exclaimed, "Ah! The Cassini sisters!" Pushing it, an image of two elderly women popped up, then he spoke into a transmitter, "Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here."
'Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace.' one of the sisters responded.
"Oh come on, now sisters. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"
'You know full well we're not sisters. We're married.'
"Oh, stop that modern talk," Brannigan said with a chuckle. "I'm an old fashioned cat. Now, I've got a hitchhiker here, calls himself the Doctor."
Brannigan handed the transmitter off to the Doctor, who grabbed it and brought it to his mouth hurriedly. "Hello. Sorry. I'm looking for someone called Sam Piper. He's been carjacked. He's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."
'Wait a minute,' said one of the woman. 'Could I ask; what entrance did they use?'
The Doctor looked to Brannigan. "Where were we?"
"Pharmacy Town," he informed.
"Pharmacy Town, about twenty minutes ago," the Doctor told them through the walkie-talkie.
'Let's have a look,' the voice said.
'Just my luck, to marry a car spotter,' the first woman muttered.
The car-spotter piped up. 'In the last half hour, fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction.'
"Anything more specific?"
'All in good time,' she replied, frustrating him further. 'Was he carjacked by two people?'
"Yes! Yes, he was, yeah," the Doctor said, a little chirp in his voice. Now they were getting somewhere metaphorically speaking.
'There we are,' she said triumphantly. 'Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they had three on board, and car number is four six five diamond six.'
"That's it!" the Doctor said, hope rising in him. "So how do we find them?"
'Ah. Now there I'm afraid I can't help.'
The Doctor quickly turned to Brannigan, urging, "Call them on this thing. We've got their number. Diamond six."
"But not if they're designated fast lane. It's a different class," Brannigan explained, and the Doctor's face become dark while one of the Cassini's called, 'You could try the police.'
"They put me on hold," the Doctor replied flatly.
'You'll have to keep trying. There's no one else.'
The Doctor almost cracked but he kept his calm, answering as sincerely as he could. "Thank you."
He sighed in defeat, then handed the transmitter back to Brannigan. The couple looked at him briefly in pity while the Doctor stared unseeing out into the sea of cars as he fell into thought. No way of communicating, no way of getting to them, no police, stuck in a traffic jam that had been going on at least twelve years. He glanced out the window again, a hard expression on his face.
0o0
An hour or so had passed; Sam was always having a bit of trouble telling on time. That was also one of the reason why he would always get into trouble with the teachers at school. He and Cheen were playing a board game with a holographic style of a Monopoly game; it was brilliant and fun too, especially where they all the pawn moved by themselves. Milo had recently announced that they had ten levels to go until they reached the fast lane-not too long now.
Chen and Milo nodded and proceed to play on their game, it was to keep the boy busy for a while and not bored inside the car. It was of course working like a charm, Sam might not like reading a lot, but he loves board game, he was great at it that people always called on him for cheating. But with Cheen was different, she was kept on playing with him and gave him a witty remark and question on how he was good at this. No screaming and scolding of him being a cheater, and no bad remarks towards him. In the end, he was having fun.
Suddenly, they all heard a distant growling sound that made them all paused in terror. Sam looked at Cheen and Milo who was frozen for a moment and kept on moving.
"What was that?" Sam asked them.
Neither of the other two adults answered, but there was another grown and a hiss.
Cheen drew in a sharp breath. "It's that noise, doesn't it? It's like Kate said." She looked almost excited. "The stories, they're true."
"Stories?"
Before Cheen could reply, Milo cut in. "It's the sound of the air vents. That's all. The exhaust fumes travel down, so at the base of the tunnel, they've got air vents."
"No, but the stories are much better," Cheen said with relish. She turned to Sam with a mischievous grin as her voice took on story-telling tone. "They say people go missing on the motorway. Some cars just vanish, never to be seen again, because there's something living down there in the smoke. Something huge, and hungry. And if you get lost on the road, it's waiting for you."
Another deep growl sounded made they jumped, startled from their sit. Milo looked shaken for a moment, but when the sound faded, he shook his head firmly. "But like I said. Air vents." Without waiting for a response, he turned back to the controls. "Going down to the next layer," he informed them.
This was definitely starting to sound like something the Doctor would investigate. Sam peered dubiously out the front window. "Um, Milo? I'm not sure the air vents are working. There's way too much fog out there."
Milo and Cheen shared a worried glance, but after a few moments he shook his head again. "Nah, kid stuff." He picked up the radio transmitter, connected to the display and spoke into it. "Car four six five diamond six, on descent."
The computer spoke back in a pleasant, female tone. 'Fast lane access. Please drive safely.'
As Milo drove the car down, he shared a triumphant grin with Cheen. "We made it," he said with wonder. "The fast lane."
Sam watched anxiously as the car descended, wondering what else might be waiting for them down there; and for whatever reasons, he knows it won't be so friendly.
0o0
"We've got to go to the fast lane." the Doctor told Brannigan. "Take me down."
Brannigan scoffed. "Not a million years."
The Doctor spread his arms as he indicated in exasperation. "You've got four passengers."
"I'm still not going." Brannigan said firmly. He was unmoved.
"He's a child!" the Doctor snarled, feeling desperate. "He's only ten, he's alone and I know he'll be scared." He sighed and run a hand through his hair. "He doesn't belong on this planet; he should've be at home where he's safe! Now I'm asking you, Brannigan- Take me down."
"No! And that's final," Valerie told him firmly. She glanced at the Doctor who stared at her anxiously. "I'm not risking the children down there."
"Why not? What's the risk?" the Doctor asked in a low voice. He began to panic. "What happens down there?"
"We're not discussing it. The conversation is closed." Valerie snapped.
"So we keep on driving." the Doctor stated.
"Yes, we do."
The Doctor face become dark as he snapped. "For how long?!"
"Till the journey's end."
Not satisfied with the answer, the Doctor let out a low growl as he reached over and grabbed the transmitter. "Mrs. Cassini, this is the Doctor. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the motorway?"
'Oh, we were amongst the first. It's been twenty-three years now.'
"And in all that time, have you ever seen a police car?" he continued. At that Brannigan and Valerie looked up at him in trepidation. There was fear and unease inn their eyes, on the end of the line, both sisters fell quite.
'I-I'm not sure,' the car-spotter finally said.
"Look at your notes. Any police?" the Doctor ordered lightly, grimly enjoying the looks of fear Brannigan and Valerie shared.
'Not at such,' she said sounding slightly upset.
"Or an ambulance? Rescue service? Anything official? Ever?"
'I can't keep a note of everything,' the old woman retorted at him.
"What if there's no out there?" the Doctor asked darkly, staring at Brannigan who snatched the radio from him angrily.
"Stop it." Brannigan grabbed the com out of the Doctor's hand. "The Cassini's were doing you a favour."
The Doctor leaned closer to the cat man. "Someone's got to ask, because you might not talk about it but it's there in your eyes. What if the traffic jam never stops?"
"There's a whole city above us. They mighty city state of New, New York. They wouldn't just leave us," he tried to make reasons.
"In that case, where are they, hmm? What if there's no help coming, not ever? What if there's nothing?" the Doctor voice turned grim. "Just the motorway, with the cars going around and around and around and around, never stopping. Forever."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Valerie snapped at him.
Suddenly the monitor turned on to reveal another static filled image of the same woman they had seen earlier. 'This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation.'
"You think you know us so well, Doctor," Brannigan told him softly. "But we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other." He smiled at his wife.
'This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive save.'
A song began to play loudly spreading throughout the motorway. The soft melody combined with the many voices reciting every lyric blended together so beautifully, it sounded so full of hope. A hymn sung by a church choir bringing everyone together in unfiled harmony. Brannigan and Valerie softly joined the singing and if the Doctor listened carefully, he could make out the sounds of other voices singing from the cars surrounding them. The Doctor stepped back, watching them. He wondered if Sam was down there, somewhere, singing along; giving him some added hope that he was alright, wherever he was.
0o0
You are at the end of the story.
Man! Why do I always write that? It's made me sound like I'm a robot or something.
Anyway! Thank you to those all new readers here, those who favorite, follow, and go on a full effort on reviewing this story.
I need those review to be better in the future, so please gives away! Even if it's something silly or short. It meant a lot.
Thank you!