The Dead Shall Walk Again (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9 (Stop the Cavalry)

Three days had passed. Holly hadn’t seen much of the Doctor and Lilly. She knew they were still hanging around the town, tackling the sporadic appearances by the dead and helping the blackout and vision victims to either return back to consciousness or block out the visions, but it was simply papering over the cracks. The Riders would be here. No matter how unbelievable it all sounded - and she didn’t even want to get into the whole time travel questions - it was going to happen.

Holly had returned to work but she found it difficult to concentrate, but Friday had come around again and instead Holly had decided to meet up with Roxy and Simon at the Old Fat Cat pub in the town centre. None of them really felt like drinking, and Foxy was still as nervous as hell after what had happened to him, but the three of them needed to get out.

Holly had invited Alfie to meet her friends. She had met Alfie whilst working at the library. He had kept his job. He had been sweet enough to offer up his position for her to keep hers, but Holly had flatly refused to let him jeopardise his future. Nobody would thank him for it.

Truth be told Alfie was a bit of a nerd to everyone else around him. Foxy was a bit of a nerd in his younger days, but he’d ironed out the creases and become a sharp-suited business man. Alfie was sometimes still like a college kid, but Holly liked that about him.

They weren’t exactly in a relationship, but they had gone for a few drinks together.

Alfie opened the door of the pub and scanned for Holly.

Holly spotted him and waved him over. He was wearing his favourite blue jumper, chequered shirt underneath and had even gelled his unruly curly hair down.

He waved and smiled as he sat down.

“Alfie, I’d like you to meet Roxanne Fletcher and Simon Fox. Roxy, Foxy - this is Alfie.”

“Nice to meet you,” everyone said, shaking each others hands.

“So…” said Alfie.

“So you’re clued up on everything then Alfie?” asked Roxy.

“Yeah,” nodded Alfie. “I mean, I’m not sure what to think about it really. Holly’s been telling me about all the goings on.”

“Did she tell you about me?” said Foxy. “My mum comes back to life and then I black out. I’m just waiting for the visions now, which apparently I won‘t have cos my counterpart is already dead.”

Alfie laughed, realised Foxy wasn’t laughing and then quickly stopped himself. “Sorry.”

“Ah, not to worry mate,” said Foxy.

“So what do we do?” said Alfie.

“God knows,” said Holly. “Like I said to you, it’s only a few months before they come through.”

“And this Doctor can’t do anything?”

“Nope,” said Holly. “Nothing at all.”




Lilly found the Doctor sat on a park bench eating a bar of chocolate. He turned at the sound of her footsteps and shifted across the bench, patting it for her to sit down.

“What are you doing out here?” she said.

“Thinking,” he said glumly.

“We could always pop forward five months and deal with it, you know?”

“That’s cheating,” said the Doctor. “The TARDIS would never allow it.”

Lilly sighed. “Well we can’t stick around here for five months. We should fly off, have some adventures and then come back five months later.”

“And who deals with the walking dead and the visions between now and then?”

Lilly shrugged. “Not our problem.”

“How can you be so cold, Lilly?”

Lilly smiled knowingly. “Never forget the real me, Doctor,” she said. “No matter how much you try and change me, I’m still the same girl underneath your…teachings.”

The Doctor turned to face her. “I’m not trying to change you, I’m just trying to show you a better way.”

“Have you ever considered that maybe I do things my way because they get results?”

“Are we going backwards, Lilly?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Are we going backwards? It’s a simple enough question.”

Lilly looked to the ground, her brow furrowed. She very much wanted to tell him to get lost, but she couldn’t do that to him. She looked back up and forced herself to say, “No, we’re not going backwards.”

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. “Good.”

The two sat staring at each other for a few seconds, and then…the signal device in Lilly’s pocket started beeping.

“Another one?” sighed the Doctor.

She picked up the device. The readout was showing several dots illuminated on the screen. “More than just one.”

“How many?” said the Doctor, leaning in to look. “Oh, dear…”




Holly and Roxy were walking arm in arm together. They both of them were slightly tipsy. They had left Simon and Alfie back in the pub, but Holly was getting tired and wanted to go home. Roxy cared for her friend though, and, as Holly’s route took her past an old church graveyard, she wanted to make sure she got home safely.

As they turned into the leafy avenue on which Holly’s house was situated, they passed the small church. The walls were high and they couldn’t see into the graveyard, but Holly felt a shiver run up her spine as they passed it.

“You okay?” said Roxy.

“I’m fine,” said Holly. She let out a sigh and stopped. “Actually, no I’m not.”

“What is it?”

“I keep thinking about my granddad. I keep wondering if he’s going to show up.” She had told Roxy a few days ago about her and Agatha’s grief over the loss of him.

Roxy took her hands and smiled sadly at her. “Holly, there’s always a chance that he died in that dead world as well, you know? I don’t think he’ll be coming back to life on our side.”

“That’s not it though,” she said. “I want him to come back. So I can see him one more time.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. One set heavier than the others. The Doctor and Lilly raced around the corner, Lilly holding the tracking device as it beeped multiple sounds over and over again.

“What’s going on?” said Holly.

“We have a little bit of a situation,” said the Doctor, brushing his sweat covered hair off of his forehead.

“The device?”

“It’s reading multiple signals.”

“By multiple, you mean that more than one body is coming back to life?”

“Yes. And when we say multiple, we mean,” continued Lilly, with genuine worry on her face, “gangs. Huge gangs of corpses rising from the dead.”

“Like some kind of zombie apocalypse?” suggested Roxy, looking a little more excited than Holly thought she should be.

“For the last time, they’re not zombies,” sighed the Doctor.

“We were headed for the big cemetery,” said Lilly. “That’s where the signal is strongest.”

“I don’t understand,” said Holly. “They’ve got another five months before they come through. Why is it intensifying now?”

“I think it’s got something to do with me being here,” said the Doctor, looking away from them all and shifting around on the spot. “The walls between our reality and theirs have been….thinned.”

“Then you’ve got to leave,” said Roxy. “You’ve got to get out of the town.”

“Easier said than done,” said Lilly. “Even if we did leave now, it may already be too late.”

Holly closed her eyes. “So what do we do?”

The four of them jumped when they had an almighty crash against the gates to the small graveyard. Standing there, pushing up against the gates was a man in his 30’s dressed in a grey suit. He was covered in dirt and had face had only just started regenerating back.

“Jesus bloody Christ,” said Roxy.

The Doctor ran over and run his sonic screwdriver over the man. The man lashed out with his hand, but the Doctor stepped back. He was trapped behind the large iron gate for now.

“Why is he so feral?” said Holly. “The others weren’t like this.”

“It might have something to do with so many coming through at once,” said the Doctor. “The force that’s pushing them through is not as focused. Remember, we still don’t know exactly how the Kro’Tenk come through.”

“So they are just like zombies,” said Roxy. “Walking, mindless zombies.”

“Oh do be quiet,” said Lilly.

“I haven’t forgotten what you did to me, blondie,” said Roxy, rounding on the Scottish girl.

Lilly turned to Roxy. “Maybe you should go home. Let the professionals deal with this.”

“Not a chance,” said Roxy. “I’m not letting Holly out of my sight.”

Holly smiled. Roxy was as scared as hell, she could tell, but she was also one of the bravest people she knew.

“The signal is strongest at the cemetery,” said the Doctor, snatching the device off Lilly and making his way down the street.

“What about this one?” said Holly, pointing back to the man who was still snarling.

“What about all of the graveyards in the town. In the world!” said Lilly. “We can’t fight them all.”

The Doctor stopped himself and then turned on the spot, his eyes darted from left to right. He was considering his options. “We need to leave.”

“I already said that,” said Roxy.

“You said that if you left it would do no good.”

“I might be able to send out a blocking signal,” said the Doctor.

Lilly frowned. “How?”

Holly, who kept glancing back to the dead man at the gates, found herself becoming lost again.

Lilly stepped up to the Doctor and grabbed his arm. “Why wait five months? We can stop them now.”

“Because if they came through now it could be disastrous. No, they need to come through on schedule in five months. It’s the only way.” The Doctor tapped his head. “Think. Think.” His head looked up, his eyes bright. “A blocking signal will nullify whatever is sending them through. We’ll still have to leave, and it won’t stop them coming through full-force in five months time, but it will stop the effects until we come back.”

“Okay,” said Holly, skipping up to the Doctor. “But how do we set up a blocking signal?”

“Wait a minute…” The Doctor’s brain ticked over and over. “Not a blocking signal, but a focus signal!”

“A what?” said Holly, finding it difficult to keep up with the Doctor.

“A focus signal. Something to direct and focus the energies on.”

“And how are we going to do that?” said Lilly.

The Doctor grinned. “Richard Hicks.”




Richard’s head had still been hurting, but it was easing off now. He couldn’t remember anything from the last 24 hours, and Cheryl had not said much, but he felt his world was about to come crashing down in front of him again when a man calling himself the Doctor burst into his house.

“You can’t just push yourself in!” said Cheryl.

“Mrs Hicks, this entire planets future rests of your husbands help.”

“I thought this was over,” said Cheryl, trying not to burst into hysterics.

“So did I, but I was wrong.”

The Doctor ran through what had happened to Richard again and then sat back.

“So what exactly do you want me to do?” he said, as Cheryl sat beside him, rubbing his arm.

“You won’t like it.”

“I haven’t liked any of this.”

The Doctor leaned back in the armchair and steepled his fingers together. “I’m going to take the block off your mind. Your other self will push himself through, hopefully, at which point I try and push you over to their world. Effectively you’ll been occupying each others bodies.”

“I don’t like this,” said Cheryl.

“I know,” said the Doctor, “but it won’t be a permanent thing.” He looked back to Richard. “Once your other self is back here, I hook you up to my…device. That will send a signal between this body and the other, creating a sort of mind tunnel between this world and there’s. This will enable me to amplify whatever power is pushing through to this world and focus it on you.

“Will it last long?”

“I’m afraid you’ll need to be put into a coma for five months.”

“No!” said Cheryl, getting to her feet. “No, I absolutely refuse. You can’t do this Richard.”

“Mrs Hicks, I think it’s up to your husband at the end of the day. I can’t make you choose to do this, Richard, I can only ask.”

Richard sighed. “I won’t experience anything?”

“Both of your bodies will be unconscious. The only worry is that when you collapse and fall into a coma on the other side, the people there might not know what to do with you. You could die.”

“Richard, no,” said Cheryl.

“If I don’t do it, what will happen?”

“Over the next few days, the dead will continue to rise, becoming aggressive, more people will black out and others will have their alternate selves dragged into their bodies. After about two weeks this world will shatter and the Kro’Tenk will come through and destroy this world as they have done all the others.”

“There’s no choice, sweetheart,” he said, turning to his wife.

“But why you?” she cried.

The Doctor shook his head. “You are the only one who has had such strong side effects. The other you has crossed over. In effect you will be like a tunnel with both ends blocked, stemming the power pushing the rest through.”

Richard looked down at his coffee cup and closed his eyes. “Then I have no choice.”

“Richard….” said Cheryl.

“Can I speak with my wife alone?” said Richard.

“Absolutely,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet. “But don’t be too long. My friends may be in very grave danger.”




At the cemetery Holly, Lilly and Roxy approached the main gates. The Doctor had protested, but Lilly had made it quite clear that they had to get to the gates to make sure that they were locked. There was no telling what any of the corpses would do should they escape.

To their horror, as they walked up the road past the crematorium, they noticed that the gates were unlocked and wide open.

“Oh, balls!” said Lilly, as she quickened her pace. “Who the hell left them open?”

“Look,” said Roxy, as a man stumbled out of the cemetery between the gates. It was the same man they had seen earlier leaving the crematorium.

“What are you doing?” said Lilly, marching up to him,

The man looked startled and confused and then swallowed. “I was working late. I heard a noise on the other side and thought it might be someone breaking in.”

“Let me guess, you ffound someone trying to break out?”

“Yes,” said the man. He almost looked pleased with Lilly, and then he looked worried again. “There are people digging themselves out of graves!”

“We need to shut the gates,” said Holly, grabbing one of the gates and pushing it shut, the old iron grating against the floor.

Roxy ran to the other one and began pushing just as an arm reached out and grabbed her curly brown hair. She yelled and stepped back, her glasses falling from her face. She tripped and fell backwards as the corpse - a young woman with dirt-stained blonde hair - slowly staggered forward before landing on top of Roxy.

“Roxy!” yelled Holly, leaving the gate and running to her friends side as the corpse slowly dragged itself over her.

Lilly joined her and both woman tried to pull the corpse off her.

“Help us!” yelled Lilly to the man, but he was already halfway down the road, running for his life.

“Coward!” yelled Holly after him.

By now another corpse had begun to wander through the gates. Unlike the previous corpses that had risen, these ones seemed to be uncoordinated and stumbling, much like the zombies Holly and Roxy had seen on TV over the years.

Eventually the two girls managed to haul the blonde corpse off Roxy and help her to her feet.

“You okay?” said Holly.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” panted Roxy.

They looked up. More corpses were coming through, lumbering bodies in the middle of regenerating and re-growing back to full form. And then they heard a scraping sound from a small area to the right. The three woman crossed over to an area that houses urns of ashes behind memorial plaques. One or two of the plaques had fallen away and swirling ash remains were rising up out of their urns and coalescing in the area, twisting and forming into fully formed bodies.

“This is getting out of hand,” said Lilly.

“We need to run,” said Roxy. “We can’t fight off all of these.”

Roxy and Lilly startedfor the road, but then turned back. Holly was frozen in place, her arms outstretched beside her, her body trembling before one of the ash figures.

“Come on, Hols,” said Roxy.

“I have to see,” said Holly, her voice almost a whisper.

“What? Have to see what?” said Lilly.

Holly looked at her friend and the blonde girl. “I have to see my granddad.” And with that she darted, pushing past the almost-formed ash and running into the darkened graveyard.

“Humans!” growled Lilly as her and Roxy pushed past the lumbering corpses and headed in Holly’s direction. If the Doctor was going to do anything he was going to have to do it quickly.

To be concluded...

The Dead Shall Walk Again (Chapter 8)

Tobias Corrinas sat back in his old, wooden chair overlooking the castle grounds and smiled contently. It had been a long, but very rewarding day, but he was pleased with his work. The King was pleased with his work. He was one of the only people who could read and write in the Kingdom, and it meant that his life was always important. He would never be not important because of this. He spent his days reading letters to the King, signing documents on behalf of the King and writing rules and orders and drawing up plans for the King.

He was happy.

That particular evening was a warm and sunny one. He watched the sunset over the treetops in the distance and almost dozed off, when suddenly the sky was illuminated in a brilliant, white light. Corrinas got to his feet and stared out through the window as something appeared to fall from a gap in the clouds and land behind the line of trees in the distance.

He made his way out of his chamber and down into the courtyard where already news of the falling object had spread to the King. His majesty was already astride his horse, flanked by ten of his best soldiers.

“Your Majesty,” said Corrinas.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, old man?” said the King, his men laughing along with him.

“I saw the object fall from the sky,” said Corrinas.

“We are headed that way now,” said the King. “Care to join us?”

“Indeed I would, your Majesty.”

The King smirked. Corrinas was an inquisitive type, but the King was kind. “Find yourself a horse and catch us up.”

Thirty minutes later the twelve horses and their riders were in a forest clearing. In the centre of the clearing was a smoking pit with bits of metal strewn around, still glowing red-hot.

The King, followed by Corrinas, walked up to the edge of the crater.

“I can’t see anything,” he said. “The smoke’s too thick.”

“Look,” said Corrinas, pointing as the smoke cleared.

Lying there - dead - in the middle of the crater, was the twisted and broken form of a man. Except this wasn’t any normal man. This was a man covered in the scales of a lizard and wearing a suit of armour.

Corrinas’s eyes narrowed as the King and his men clambered into the pit. Corrinas felt his heart beting faster and faster. He would write about this and tell the world of the lizard man. He would be famous. He would be rich.




“So, what’s this book called?” said Holly, as her, the Doctor and Lilly entered the central library. Roxy had opted to return to the hospital where Simon Fox had been transferred to following his blackout. Holly felt sure there was still a connection between them.

“It’s not a very well known book. In fact it was a very obscure book. The man who wrote it - Tobias Corrinas - never made anything from it. The poor man ended up committing suicide,” said the Doctor.

“Nice,” said Holly sarcastically. “And to answer my first question: what’s it called?”

“The Book of Darkness,” said the Doctor.

“It’ll be in the reference section,” said Lilly.

Holly guided the two of them up the stairs onto the 1st floor where she herself used to work. She smiled at her ex co-workers. She missed them all, but she felt a twinge of jealously at the fact that they had kept their jobs and she had lost hers.

Eventually, on an old dusty shelf right at the back of the room, they found the book. It was a reproduction of the original, of course - the original had been lost many, many years ago - but it still had all the same information in it.




The Book of Darkness

By Tobias Corrinas




The Doctor clutched the book in his hand and sat down on one of the library chairs. The two women joined him sitting opposite.

He smiled. “Now, there’s no point in reading the whole thing, because I’ve done that before, and to be honest the majority of it is full of superstitious claptrap that makes no sense.”

“Are you sure it makes no sense?” said Holly.

“Pretty sure,” said the Doctor. “The point is that Mr Corrinas happened to find one of these lizard men. It was during the time of King James I. In 1573 Corrinas writes that he and the King found one in a crater.”

“The Riders?” said Holly.

“Yep,” he opened the book. “It doesn’t really explain what they are, but he does go into some detail over what they found.”




We stepped into the smoking hole and stood before the Devil himself, dressed head to foot in warriors armour, battered and damaged by his fall. Where had he fallen from? Surely not Hell, unless Hell was placed beside Heaven up above. There was no life coming from the creature, but when I reached out and touched his skin, I felt a whole gamut of emotions run through me. It was as if the creatures life - past, present and his own people’s future - was poured into my own head. It seems that his people were psychic.

They had come so very far. Travelling from one version of our world to the other, destroying each of them in turn before moving on to the next. This one, his name being Visquis, had gotten lost from the rest of the pack and had strayed from the path, falling through into our world on his flying machine that lay broken and battered all around the clearing.

We tried to extract the corpse, but it soon dissolved into nothing. Melted away leaving a repulsive smell. The King and his men and I decided that it was best we never spoke of it, but I felt that the world needed to know of the Kro’Tenk and the coming darkness.




“The King found out about the book and had in burned and Corrinas later committed suicide, but Corrinas had made two copies and centuries later it was released to the wider public. The theories about the lizard men were ridiculed and the book fell into obscurity. But never-the-less, here it is.”

Holly leaned back in her very comfortable library chair and frowned. “Even so, how do we know this Corrinas guy is talking about the same creatures?”

“Because,” said the Doctor, “in the book he mentions that their names are the Kro’Tenk, which is an ancient language from the time of the dinosaurs.”

“The dinosaurs didn’t have a language,” laughed Lilly.

“Oh, my dear Lilly, you may have learnt a lot, but you still have a lot more to learn. The Kro’Tenk roughly translates as the Sky Travellers or the Riders.”

“I see,” said Holly. “So these things are aliens?”

“No, actually,” said the Doctor, closing the book. “They come from another dimension and have existed since the dawn of time.”

“Always the dawn of time,” said Lilly, rolling her eyes.

“Now, obviously here we’re dealing with alternate dimensions,” said the Doctor. “Do you understand the basics, Holly?”

“Of course. The theory that there are an infinite number of dimensions and that every decision creates a different reality no matter how small.”

“Exactly. Did you read that in a book?”

“I was always a fan of those mirror universe Star Trek episodes.”

“The legend has it that the Kro’Tenk cross from dimension to dimension, conquering worlds and then moving on. But they only exist on Earth. They can’t travel the galaxy. The can only traverse the dimensions. Their origin is a mystery, but they have existed for so long that nobody is ever going to find out where they came from.”

“So what makes the other worlds different from ours?” asked Lilly.

“It could be anything,” said the Doctor. “Maybe someone got out of bed the wrong side one morning, or maybe Mr Rogers had a bath instead of a shower. It doesn’t really matter, all that matters is that it’s the reality next to ours and, if Mr Hick’s timing is to be believed, the dead have already been walking for around a month and in roughly five months time the Kro’Tenk will break through into our dimension.”

“It still doesn’t explain how the lines are blurring with our counterparts,” said Holly.

“Well not exactly, but we can posit that as the time draws closer, the barriers then become more likely to fall and we begin to see what our counterparts see. Well, glimpses at least.”

Holly sighed. “Okay, so how do we stop them?”

“I don’t think we can,” said the Doctor.

“What? You’re joking?” said Holly.

“The problem is they’re not going to arrive for around another five months.”

“Is there no way of stopping them before they get here?” asked Lilly, suddenly finding herself becoming concerned for this planet for the first time in…forever.

“To do that we’d have to fly the TARDIS into the dead world.”

“The what?” said Holly. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but it was quite clear that it was something only they knew about.

“It’s…our device. A way of travelling from one place to another,” said the Doctor, not wanting to get into a massive long explanation.

“Like a car?”

“It’s a bloody time machine,” said Lilly.

“What?!”

“Lilly!” said the Doctor, his hand to his forehead in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

“She’s gonna find out eventually,” said Lilly with a incredulous laugh. “She’s not about to turn around and walk away.”

“No, I’m not,” said Holly.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” said the Doctor. He got up and crossed over to the window and gazed out over the street down below, the people going about their normal business, unable to comprehend what was going to happen in a few months.

Holly went over to join him. “Why can’t you take your machine into the dead world?”

“Because it’ll simply accelerate their crossing. They’ll break through sooner. It’d be like pouring water onto tissue paper. The barriers would just collapse.”

“So there’s nothing we can do? At all?”

The Doctor didn’t look at her. He simply shook his head.

To be continued...

The Dead Shall Walk Again (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7 (Two Sides to Every Coin)

Richard was awake and, after being introduced to Lilly, was sat up in bed. Lilly kept looking back to the curtain because she was fully aware that a nurse might walk in on them at any moment. She needed to be quick and get to the point. She had told Richard that she could help him, but he had to be clear on what he was saying.

“So,” said Lilly, looking down at the confused man, “forget about all you’ve seen today. Forget about the crap with this woman here,” she pointed to Cheryl, “and just tell me what you know.”

“From the beginning?” he said.

“If you can make it quick, yes. You said that this wasn’t your world.”

Richard shook his head. “My world used to look like this,” he smiled. “A long time ago of course.”

“What happened?”

He took a deep breath. “I was about 14. It was a warm summers afternoon. We were eating those big giant cookies you used to get from the shop - me and my mates. We’d bunked off school and were hanging around in the park. Everything seemed right with the world.” He was still smiling, but then his face turned blank. “And then they came.”

“Richard, I don’t like people saying they. What do you mean by they?”

“The Riders. Well, that’s what we named them. By the sounds of it it happened all at once. The sky turned dark and then gaps appeared in the clouds and these….creatures just came swooping in.”

“What did they look like?”

“They were like lizards. Eight-foot lizards. They stood upright and wore leather and armour and carried weapons - guns and daggers and swords. They rode in on flying machine. Like motorbikes without wheels. Like in Star Wars - those speeder-bike things.”

Lilly nodded. She vaguely remembered seeing Star Wars at some point. “Go on.”

“There were hundreds of them all over the world. They just attacked without warning, shooting people, blowing up buildings. The TV and radios all went down so we had no way of knowing what was going on.” He turned to Cheryl. “And that’s when you died. They hit the school. Forty pupils died along with nearly all the teachers.”

Cheryl shook her head, not sure of what to believe.

“We just hid in our homes. Over the years the world just fell apart around us. The Riders took some of us prisoner and made us work and mine for materials in the ground. They built big constructions around all the major cities. There were mass executions to keep people in line. Me and my friends tried to hide out in the countryside to get away, but they burnt all the forests and dug up the land to weed us all out. And that became my life up until last night.”

“What happened last night?”

“I was in the basement with Ellie, my sister, trying to keep warm when I blacked out and woke up with this woman,” he pointed to Cheryl.

Lilly nodded. “Thank you, Mr Hicks.”

“Just one other thing,” said Richard. “About six months before the Riders came there were some odd things happening around the town.”

“In what way?”

“People were having blackouts. Others were talking gibberish about other worlds, and the dead were coming back to life. I think the government were looking into it, but then the Riders came and nothing more happened.”

Lilly looked at him blankly and closed her eyes. “Very odd.”

“You said you could help him,” said Cheryl.

“I did,” nodded Lilly again. “I’m going to send this man away and bring your husband back.”

“What?” said Richard. “But I am Richard Hicks.”

“Yes,” said Lilly, “but not this world’s Richard Hicks.”

“I don’t want to go back there,” he said, sitting up and trying to get off the bed.

“Richard!” said Cheryl, holding him in place.

Lilly cracked her knuckles and then put her finger to his forehead.

“What are you doing?” he said, fear in his eyes.

“Just a little trick a picked up off my friend.” She looked straight into Richard’s eyes. “I am truly sorry that you have to go back there, but this, as you have already pointed out, is not your world. Mrs Hicks needs reuniting with her husband.” She screwed her eyes up tightly and Richard went rigid. Then, as she moved her finger away, he flopped down onto the bed.

“What have you done to him?” said Cheryl, checking her husband over.

“Do I tell you in layman’s terms?” considered Lilly. “Hmmm. Your husbands mind had been taken over by another version of himself. I’ve simply blocked those memories and thoughts coming through now. Your Richard will wake up in about twenty minutes and will be none the wiser.”

“But-”

“No buts. Don’t speak about this, okay, Mrs Hicks?”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She skipped across the corridor and back into the bay were Roxy was waiting. Her nose had been patched up and she was sat with her legs dangling over the bed.

“Well?” said Roxy, still not happy with the events leading up to this.

“We need to get back to the Doctor. I’ve got some pretty important things that I need to tell him.”




The Doctor had cleared away his equipment and Holly’s senses had returned to some kind of normality. She was sat in the armchair drinking a nice hot cup of hot chocolate when Lilly and Roxy knocked on the front door and entered the room.

“What happened to you?” said Holly, noticing the plaster across Roxy’s nose.

“She did,” said Roxy, nodding towards Lilly.

The Doctor looked appalled. “What in the seven wonders have you been up to, Lilly?” said the Doctor.

“We needed to get into A&E to see Richard Hicks.”

“The source of the signal?” said the Doctor.

“Yep,” said Lilly, flopping herself down on the sofa and putting her feet up on the coffee table. “I’ve blocked the signal now though.”

“And what did you find out?”

“Firstly,” said Lilly, “what did you two find out? I want to see if it matches up with Mr Hicks.”

“Well,” said the Doctor, sitting down on the arm of the chair next to Holly, “I managed to open Holly’s mind and see what Roxy had also seen.”

“The dead world? The carnage?” said Roxy.

“That’s right,” nodded the Doctor.

“Horrible, isn’t it?” said Roxy to Holly.

“Just a bit. But that’s not the whole picture,” said Holly. “I was actually looking through someone else’s eyes. When I looked at a reflection in a shop window, it was my own eyes.”

Lilly nodded. “That about tallies up with what I found out.”

“Which was?” said the Doctor.

“Yeah, tell us, Dr. Galloway,” said Roxy. She had been very quiet on her way back.

“This guy, Richard Hicks, seemed to be temporary possessed by his counter part from this other world. I’ve blocked the signal now and he should be fine, but he basically gave us a recount of what happened. About twenty years ago, in his world, which was more or less identical to this world, the dead started walking, people blacked out and had visions. Six months later the skies opened up and these lizard creatures that they nicknamed the Riders came through.”

The Doctor nodded. “Just as I feared.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Holly, holding her hands up. “This is all getting a little bit beyond me now. Other worlds? Lizard men?”

The Doctor thought for a moment and then disappeared into the hallway. He came back a few minutes later with a big, full length mirror.

“Be careful with that,” said Holly. “If you break it my mum will break you.”

The Doctor smiled. “Holly, stand up please.”

Holly frowned.

“Stand in front of the mirror.”

She did as she was asked. “Now what?”

“What do you see?”

“Me.”

“Exactly. Now, for a moment, imagine that the you are the person - the other you - in that broken world.”

“Okay. I’m with you so far.”

“Move your arms.”

“What?”

“Move your arms. Pull a funny face. Anything.”

Holly laughed and stuck out her tongue.

“What do you see?”

“My reflection.”

“Doing?”

“Doing the same thing.”

“Exactly.” The Doctor put the mirror down. “Now, just imagine that the lines between the dead world and your world were blurred or even meshed together.” He interlocked his fingers. “If your dead world counterpart stuck her tongue out, what would happen?”

“Well, nothing.”

“No,” said the Doctor. “On a normal, ordinary, ice-cream sundae day, nothing would happen. But if the barriers were breaking down, you might copy your reflection.”

Realisation dawned on Holly. “Oh, I see.”

Lilly got up and crossed over to the Doctor. “When Roxy had those flashes, it was because at that moment in time the lines between this world and the dead world were that thin that Roxy was able to see what her counterparts eyes were seeing.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Roxy, feeling uncomfortable.

“The lines for Richard Hicks were even more blurred. His counterpart managed to make a full-on crossover, until I blocked the signal.”

“Well what about the blackouts?”

“If the counterpart in the dead world was dead, and the lines between both you and your dead counterpart became blurred, you would black out totally. There’d be nothing on the other side to filter through.”

“Shit,” said Roxy.

“Then what about the dead people?” said Holly. “Simon’s mum and the old dude?”

The Doctor sat down. “If the person here was dead, but the counterpart in the other universe wasn’t, then…”

“The dead would come back to life. The dead would walk again.”

“Tops marks to the dangerous one,” said the Doctor grimly. “Which also explains the regeneration of the bodies. It’s not just the mind trying to push through. It’s the entire body.”

“So Simon’s mum…?”

“Would reform and regenerate into a full, living body.”

“Erm, guys,” said Roxy, who had her phone out. “I’ve got a message from one of Foxy’s mates. Turns out he’s been found unconscious at home.”

“It’s getting worse,” said Holly. “We need to do something.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor. “We all need to take a little trip to the library.”

To be continued...

The Dead Shall Walk Again (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6 (Images)

Holly was daydreaming. The difference between a normal daydream and this daydream was that this particular daydream felt very, very real. She was aware that she was sat in her living room, but it was out of focus. There was a warm mist floating around and flashes of blue illuminated the mist. Standing in the corner, near to the TV was the Doctor. He had his hands on his hips, but his face was in shadow. He was studying her.

She turned to her left. Her grandfather was standing next to the door out into the hallway. He was smiling sadly. She knew he wasn’t really there, of course. He was just a figment of her imagination.

He nodded and said “It’s okay,” and then faded away into the blue mist.

Now the Doctor was in front of her, crouched down and looking into her eyes. “How do you feel?” he said, taking her wrist and checking her pulse.

“F-f-fine,” she said, her eyelids heavy.

“I’ve attached the headset to you.”

“Whats the…what’s the mist? The mist…” She felt drunk. She felt like the first time she had had a drink. Roxy had brought two bottles of Hooch to the Den and she’d felt so, so light-headed. She’d almost passed out that night, but had managed to stay awake long enough for Roxy to help her back home and sneak her in without her parents noticing.

“It’s just an incense stick thing,” said the Doctor, showing her a couple of unused sticks. “They help to block out everything around you.”

“Incense? It shouldn’t…make you….feel like….”

“I know,” said the Doctor, “that’s the device. It’s opening your subconscious. Dulling your senses in the hope it’ll let us see what there is to see.”

“Agatha…”

“She’s gone to her friends,” said the Doctor with a smile. “She won’t be bothering us.”

The Doctor patted the TV. Now, just let yourself drift. Whatever comes into your mind will hopefully show up on the TV screen.

Holly wasn’t sure if she wanted this. Her inner most thoughts being broadcast like an episode of Peep Show.

The Doctor could see the look on her face. “Don’t worry, it’ll only show us anything abnormal. Your secrets are safe with you,” he smiled. He moved away from the TV until he was just a shimmering blur amongst the mist. She heard him on the edge of her hearing say, “Now. Relax.”




Roxy and Lilly had arrived at the hospital and Lilly had paced up and down on the spot, mumbling to herself.

“Shall we go in then?” said Roxy, eager beside the doorway. She wanted to meet this Richard Hicks and find out why he had had a seizure like she had. It sounded like his had been even worse.

“We can’t just stroll into A&E,” said Lilly.

“True,” said Roxy, feeling deflated.

“Not unless you have an accident,” said Lilly, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Like what?” said Roxy, readjusting the glasses on her nose.

Lilly’s eyes narrowed, she balled up her fist, pulled back her arm and then trust her fist forward, hitting Roxy square on the nose.

Roxy’s nose exploded in blood and she fell to the ground with a cry.

Lilly looked around. Nobody had seen the blow and she dropped to the ground. “Oh, Roxanne. Roxanne, my darling. Are you okay?” She sounded faker than she intended to.

“You hit me!” said Roxy, clutching her nose. “You psychopath!”

“Let’s get you in to A&E,” said Roxy.

“You’re a nutcase,” said Roxy, as Lilly dragged her to her feet. “An absolute nutcase.”

“You’ll be alright, my darling,” said Lilly, as she helped Roxy through the double doors and towards A&E.

A few minutes later they were in a curtained off bay. Roxy had two cotton buds stuffed up her nose with her head tilted back.

“I truly am sorry,” said Lilly, patting Roxy on the back. “At least it’s not broken.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” said Roxy. “I mean I get you don’t like many people, but there’s no need to assault people.”

“The ends justify the means,” said Lilly, creeping to the curtain and peeking between them. “I’m gonna take a wander and find this Richard Hicks.”

“Yeah, don’t mind me,” said Roxy, laying back on the bed.

Lilly wandered down the corridor until she spotted a white board with RICHARD HICKS written in felt tip pen on it. She peered around the curtain. His wife was sat beside his bed, her hands around his.

Lilly growled to herself and then pulled open the curtains.

“Mrs Hicks?” said Lilly.

“Yes,” said Cheryl, a little confused.

“Doctor Galloway. Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking Cheryl’s hand.

“Oh, right, yes,” said Cheryl. “Can you tell what’s wrong with him?”

“I’m going to need you to leave for a few minutes while I speak to your husband in private.”

Cheryl frowned. “What? Why?”

“I just need him to tell me exactly what happened. Go get yourself a drink or something, eh?”

“Are you a nurse?” said Cheryl, noticing the distinct lack of scrubs.

“I’m a doctor as I said before,” said Lilly. “Doctor Lilly Galloway.”

“A doctor in jeans?” said Cheryl, eyebrows arched.

Lilly wrinkled her nose and smiled. “Just let me speak to your husband, yeah?”

“Who are you really?”

Lilly stepped further into the bay and looked over her shoulder. “Someone who may or may not be able to help.”

Cheryl’s heart jumped a little, but she managed to compose herself. She wasn’t ready to expect a very young woman’s ability to save her husband.

“I don’t know if I can trust you. You just don’t look like a doctor to me.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. She was obviously going to have to take the blunt approach. “Okay, the truth is: I’m not a doctor. Not at all.”

Cheryl opened her mouth to speak.

Lilly held up a finger to stop her. “But I am someone that can help, but I need you to shut up and let me speak to your husband.”

Cheryl frowned.

“Now I’m not a good person, despite what a particular friend of mine might have you believe. I do good things, but I’m not a good person. It’s just not me.” She pulled back the curtains a little bit so Cheryl could see Roxy across the corridor in the opposite bay holding her bloodied nose. Roxy frowned. “See that girl in there - I punched her in her nose so we could get in here to speak to your husband.” Lilly sat down on the other side of the bed next to Richard. “Now, if you don’t let me speak to your husband then I’m afraid I’m going to have to do something very similar to you, except it’ll mean you’re out cold for a few minutes. You can either be conscious for this or unconscious. Your choice.”

Cheryl remained stock still and silent.

“I can help him, Mrs Hicks. I really can. So just keep quiet whilst I ask him a few questions. Do we understand each other?”

Cheryl nodded but didn’t say a word. She was too frightened.

“Thanks,” smiled Lilly, wrinkling her nose at the terrified woman.




Holly felt like she was sat watching a 3D film at the cinema. The whole room had melted away and was consumed by what she was seeing on the TV. What her mind was projecting onto the screen. It looked like an ordinary town on the surface, but all around the buildings were burnt and blackened, smoke plumes rising into the sky. She could feel the taste of the smoke in her mouth, creeping into her lungs and she wanted to cough. She wanted to be sick.

All around were dead bodies. Some were blackened and charred, others were torn to pieces and scattered all about.

The Doctor appeared in her vision, crouched in front of the TV in reality, but in her head he was a part of the scene before her.

“This is odd,” said the Doctor, scratching at the stubble on his chin.

“You’re telling me,” said Holly with a wavering voice. “This is in my head?”

“Merely a projection,” said the Doctor. “Try turning around?”

“I’m sat in a chair,” said Holly. “I’m not really there.”

“No,” said the Doctor, “but you’re mind is tuning in on something there. Try to turn. Imagine turning.”

Holly did as she was asked and sure enough she was able to turn, the landscape before her rotating.

“Wait! There! Stop! Look at that! Doesn’t that look familiar?”

Holly frowned. He was pointing at a large, blackened building. He was right, it was familiar. In fact she had passed that very same building earlier in the week when she had gone shopping. It was the clock tower that was situated in the centre of the town. Her town.

“It’s the your town,” said the Doctor grimly.

He was right. The more she concentrated, the more the familiar, but blackened, landmarks stuck out. The bank building turned to rubble and ruin, the fountain dry and full of dust and body parts. This was her town.

“How is this possible?” she said as she continued to turn.

“I have a few frightening suspicions,” said the Doctor. And then he jumped as Holly turned past a broken shop window. “Wait! Look at the window closer.”

Holly moved towards the window and moved in to see the reflection looking back at her. She gasped. The face that looked back was bruised and cut with a scar running down the left hand side of the face. The hair was short and untidy, but the face was unmistakable.

The face looking back, was Holly’s.

To be continued...