The first part of their escape was relatively easy. Their spirits lifted as the trappings of a normal building began to appear around them, and the level of illumination increased. In the brighter light, Victoria realised that Samantha and Zoe must have had an eventful afternoon; their clothes were wet, ragged and filthy. Though, of course, her hideous rugby shirt made her own sartorial position rather less than impregnable. In a large, bare corridor where the emergency lights still seemed to be working, the Doctor called a halt. "I think we'd better get those handcuffs off you, Jamie," he said. "Do we have to?" Samantha asked. "He looks so sweet like that. Sort of vulnerable." "Samantha!" Zoe looked shocked for a moment, then giggled. "You're right. He does. What do you think, Victoria?" Before Victoria could answer, the sonic screwdriver whirred, and Jamie's hands were free. "That's better," he said. "Maybe not," Victoria heard herself saying, and blushed. Jamie grinned at her confusion, then turned back to Zoe and Samantha. "And just what have you two crazy lassies been up to, to end up in that state?" he asked. "Someone said: 'Let's blow up the restaurant,'" Samantha began. "You know all these places have a restaurant on the top floor? Well, we didn't have any explosives, but Miss Armageddon here decided that didn't matter, she could improvise them with what was in the kitchen. She said it was all just exotic reactions, or something." "Exothermic reactions," Zoe said. "Anyway, I did help the Doctor to make those phial bombs on Dulkis. It's not as if I claimed I was as experienced as Ace." "Yeah. And we all know how unreliable Ace is, don't we?" "You mean it didn't work?" Victoria asked. "Of course it worked." Zoe sounded offended. "The explosion was just slightly bigger than we'd anticipated." "I'm amazed we've still got eyebrows," Samantha said. "Anyway, there wasn't much restaurant left when she'd finished. We only just got out in time." "And that's when Sam insisted on taking the lift." "I suppose you'd have preferred trying to make it to the stairs, then? With all the sprinklers going off and the floor about to collapse." "Yes, I know, but you know those safety notices that say not to use the lift if there's a fire? It turns out they're there for a reason." "Hence your reference to lifts, I presume," the Doctor said. "What about escalators?" "Let's just say that's why Zoe's not got her boots any more," Samantha said darkly. "I see. Well, you can tell us the full story later." Behind them, something collapsed, and a gust of warm, damp air blew over them. "For now," the Doctor added, "We need to get out of here." The boost to their spirits from reaching the more conventional parts of the store began to fade as soon as they resumed their flight. The structure of the building seemed to be melting; metal and concrete were peeling away, revealing the biological underpinnings. Now and again, the floor would lurch under their feet, and didn't always end up level afterwards. Tentacles thrashed impotently from where electrical fittings had been. "This is the emergency staircase you were on before, isn't it?" the Doctor asked. "I reckon it's got to be," Samantha said. "But it wasn't this wonky last time." Victoria felt inclined to agree. The whole stairwell appeared to have heeled over, the concrete floor had become greenish and slippery, and the outer edges of the steps were drooping like wilting leaves. "Everyone hold hands," the Doctor said. "Backs to the wall, and let's take this very carefully." With the Doctor at the head of the procession and Jamie at the tail, they made it down the first flight reasonably well, since the tilt of the stairwell was in their favour. But as the staircase turned to go back on itself, they were now fighting against gravity as well as the treacherous footing. In theory, if they'd slipped, the railings would have broken their fall, but these now looked withered, sere, and unable to withstand so much as a gust of wind. A few steps down, Samantha, who was ahead of Victoria, stumbled, slid forward, and apparently sank into the floor. "My foot's gone right through!" she said, sounding terrified. "Hang on to me. Whatever you do, don't let go!" Victoria hung on. But that was about all she could do. Whether it was a question of strength, or whether Samantha was caught on something, she wasn't sure, but she didn't seem able to pull Samantha back up. Zoe, on the downstairs side of Samantha, was having no more luck. "Keep hold of her," Jamie said. "I'll lend a hand." He let go of Victoria's other hand, dropped to all fours, and crawled in front of her until he was in reach of Samantha. Wrapping his arms round her waist, he began to lift her out. The whole staircase shuddered. "Zoe!" the Doctor said, from the head of the chain. "Keep an eye on Jamie. If he slips, you'll have to catch him." "I'll not slip." Jamie redoubled his efforts. With a tearing noise, the stairtread in which Samantha was trapped disintegrated, leaving a gaping hole. The Doctor and Zoe took a few steps further down, and Samantha gratefully climbed to her feet and took Zoe's hand once more. She held out her hand to Victoria. "You should be all right," she said. "You don't have to jump or anything. Just take a big step." Victoria took Samantha's hand, plucked up her courage, and stepped over the hole. For a moment she was looking down at the stairs one floor below and her head spun; then she was leaning against the wall further down. A moment later Jamie was beside her, and once more holding her hand. "Are we all across?" the Doctor asked. "We need to keep going." The rest of the staircase was merely nervewracking until the last flight, by which time the steps weren't merely slippery, but disintegrating into mush under their feet. No sooner had Victoria set foot on the stairs than she'd skidded helplessly, cannoned into Samantha, and nearly plunged over the edge. She grabbed at the railing, which did indeed crumble in her hands, and felt herself dragged back by everyone else at once. "Please don't do that again," Zoe said, reeling her in. "I'm sorry," Victoria began. "But there was nothing--" "Save that for later," Samantha said. "I don't think this staircase is gonna hang around for us while we chat." Indeed, chunks of debris, which looked suspiciously like stair treads, were beginning to fall past them, and the building lurched again. "Oh, my word!" The Doctor glanced around. "We'll have to chance it. Do you see that door down there? Run for it, now!" He suited his actions to his words, leaping and skidding down the disintegrating structure, and flailing wildly as he caught hold of the doorframe and brought himself to a halt. Zoe and Samantha careered down after him, one at a time; he caught each one in his arms and thrust them through the doorway. "Now you, Victoria," he called up. "Hurry!" Victoria tried to balance the demands of speed and safety, and ended up hurtling down, waving her arms to try and keep her balance, and screaming at the top of her voice. The Doctor caught hold of her, and a moment later Jamie collided with both of them. "Sorry," he said. "I didnae think it was such a good idea to wait." "No, you're quite right, Jamie. Quickly, through here." He shepherded the two of them through the doorway. They emerged once more in the sports department. The ceiling was definitely lower and more irregular than Victoria remembered, and it seemed that another one of Zoe's firebombs had recently gone off; their main source of illumination was the display stand Victoria had hidden under, which was now merrily ablaze. "Now we get out," the Doctor said. "As fast as we can." Jamie looked down. "There's glass and metal on the floor here," he said. "Zoe's got no shoes." Before Zoe could protest, he slung her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and set off at the best speed he could manage. "Now there's a knight in shining armour," Samantha said. She picked up another cricket bat from a nearby display. "Come on, let's make sure he's got a clear path." In comparison to the stairs, it was easy. All they had to do was try not to trip over things on the floor, not to go under any bits of ceiling that were about to collapse, and not to get caught by the fire. Here and there the remains of store employees were scattered about, in pools of purple liquid. Samantha reached the main door first. The alarm loops probably weren't working by now, but she smashed them with her bat just to make sure. Then she and Victoria held the doors open for Jamie. The Doctor followed almost immediately. "You can put me down now," Zoe said, as soon as they were all outside. "Aye, I'll be happy to." Jamie set her down on the pavement. "For such a wee thing, you eat quite a bit, don't you?" "Really, Jamie! Sometimes you can be--" She broke off at his broad grin. "Oh, no. You were winding me up, and I fell for it again!" Liz hurried up. "Isobel and Gia recovered consciousness about half an hour ago," she said. "They seem fine, but I'll recommend they be kept in overnight, just in case." "Can we see them?" Victoria asked. "I'd advise against it for now. If you wait I'll see how they are a bit later." The Doctor took a look over his shoulder. "I suggest that while we're waiting, we shouldn't stay too close to the shop. Just in case." Liz opened the barrier, and the party filed out, turned, and looked back at the department store for the first time. Its brickwork was now a dark reddish-brown, and the whole thing was no more than two-thirds its original height. As they watched it sank further in on itself, apparently solid brick and stone running like candlewax. "Was there anyone else in there?" Jamie asked. "Real people, I mean." "We think not," Liz said. "But that doesn't make sense," Zoe said. "It was a massive shop. Why would we be the only ones in it?" "With those posters they had up?" Samantha said. "No-one in their right mind would want to buy stuff in there." She looked at the front of the shop and realised something. "Hang on, they were much worse than that this morning." "Yes, they were changing all day," Liz said. "Trying to find something that would lure people in. I think, if you'd left it undisturbed, it would have managed it by now." "So you mean when we went in the whole shop wasn't quite ripe?" Jamie asked. "I suppose you could put it that way." "That'd explain a lot," Samantha said. "The food tasting funny, the clothes not looking right..." "Or fitting properly," Jamie said, glancing at Victoria. "Anyway, we don't have to worry about it now." She stuck out her tongue at the collapsing shop. "Done and dusted." "Is she right, Doctor?" Victoria asked. "Have we destroyed it?" "Oh, yes, I think so." The Doctor smiled beatifically. "Another success for the Society. I'll keep an eye on it for a bit, just in case, but I don't think there's anything else to do. If you want to go and take a rest, you can." His companions nodded, and ambled in the direction of a nearby bench. "How much do you remember, Jamie?" Victoria asked. "That lass kissed me," Jamie said. "Then I fell asleep. Next thing I knew, I was in yon passage and you lot had tied me up." He looked down at the tattered uniform he was still wearing. "Hey, and what happened to my kilt?" Zoe looked back at the ruined store. "I think you'll have to write it off as a loss. We can't go back for it." "I'm not sure I ever want to go into a shop again," Victoria said. "Really? I think we all need to visit a good clothing shop as soon as we can." She gestured at their torn and scorched garments. "In fact, that's my second highest priority right now." "I suppose highest is a bath," Samantha said. "It is for me, anyway." Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 8
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