Rory Flanagan whirled around in the dark sewer as the sound of shuffling feet reached his ears.
He aimed the gun into the darkness, waiting for the dark figure to come into view and fired.
It fell with a thump and splash into the dirty water of the sewer. The sound of more padding feet reached his ears and Rory spun again, a horde of the creatures moving swiftly towards him.
He fired off a couple of rounds as he backed up to the ladder of the sewer and hurried up, his sweaty hands slipping on the metal. He dropped his gun and it went clattering away into the dark.
Suddenly a strong hand was grabbing him around the wrist and Rory looked up in surprise as his brother Seamus dragged him through the hole and back into the open air, slamming the heavy iron cover back over the manhole before the creatures could scramble up after them.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“Here we are then,” said the Doctor, “Ireland! Northern Ireland to be exact so it’s still technically part of the U.K., but the point it is it’s the modern Ireland as you both requested. Not past Ireland or future Ireland and nothing there to attack us but lost tourists.”
“Yeah, I don’t think a lot of tourists attack people,” commented Kurt.
“How do you know? You’re not from Ireland.”
“Neither are you,” Blaine pointed out, but the Doctor seemed to be ignoring him as
he flung open the doors of the TARDIS and stepped outside.
“Great,” said Kurt, coming out behind him, “we’re in a graveyard.”
“Yes, but town is that way. I think. Come on, let’s go.”
“You don’t think anybody’s going to notice a big, blue box sitting in a cemetery?” inquired Blaine as they headed down the cement path leading for the gate.
“I’m sure people will just assume it’s a really neat headstone,” said the Doctor. He gave a short laugh, clapping both boys on a shoulder, “Ah, you humans have such funny ideas sometimes.”
As they headed out of the gates of the graveyard and rounded the bend that took them into town, they instantly knew something was wrong.
Uniformed soldiers marched through the otherwise deserted streets, some escorting people out of town while others kept their guns raised and ready to shoot at a moment’s notice.
The trio cautiously approached one of the soldiers waving cars packed with families and boxes out of town.
“Excuse me?” said the Doctor.
The soldier turned to look at them with a suspicious look in his eyes.
“What?”
“We’ve…been away for awhile. Would you mind filling us in on what’s going on?”
“You should have stayed away,” the soldier told them.
“Okay, but why?”
“We’ve recently come under attack from…something.”
“Something?” repeated the Doctor.
“We’re not sure what they are.”
“They’re zombies,” came a thick-accented voice from behind them.
Blaine, Kurt and the Doctor turned to see a young man standing there who couldn’t be any older then Kurt and Blaine.
“Rory,” snapped the soldier, “stop with all that nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense. They’ve been hiding in the sewers and taking people at night and then their bodies end up back in the streets in the morning—
“We think it’s a bunch of mad people hiding out somewhere and—as Rory said—eating people.”
“’Cept the people getting eaten aren’t staying dead—
“That’s enough, boy!” snapped the soldier, “I’m only letting those of you who lost people to these psychos stay here so you can see justice done with your own eyes. And see that the things threatening this town are nothing more then sick people. Now get back to the safe house.”
Rory clenched his jaw and turned away in a huff, stalking back off the way he came from.
The Doctor only waited a few seconds before rushing off after him with Kurt and Blaine hot on his heels.
“Wait,” said the Doctor.
Rory stopped and turned back to face them.
“Do you mind if we come with you?”
Rory looked them up and down before nodding, “I don’t care.”
They fell into step on either side of him.
“So…zombies, hu?”
“If you’re going to make fun of me then I’d prefer you not to come.”
“Oh, no I’m not making fun of you. I’ve seen a lot stranger things then zombies and I can tell when people are lying and you weren’t.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Really,” confirmed the Doctor.
Rory looked around at the three, “Like what?”
“Electrical ghosts,” said Kurt.
“A dragon,” supplied Blaine.
“Aliens, werewolves, fish-vampires, living fat and I could go on but we would be here forever,” said the Doctor.
Rory stared at them for a few seconds before deciding he could trust these strange people.
“Let’s get into the safe house so I can introduce you to my brother. He can tell you a lot more then me.”
Rory brought them to a largish house near the middle of town with several soldiers walking its perimeters behind a fence that (if the low hum was anything to go by) was electrified.
The soldiers nodded to them as they were led inside and Rory brought them inside the house.
Groups of people were gathered around the kitchen that they walked through and into the living room where dry erase board had been set up in the middle of the room with plans of defense scribbled on it along with a sketch of the whole town.
A man who looked like a stronger version of Rory stood in front of it biting his lip and twirling a dry erase marker between his fingers.
The man looked up at their approach, giving the trio a once over before turning to Rory in confusion.
“This is my brother Seamus Flanagan.”
“Hello, Seamus, I’m the Doctor and this is Kurt and Blaine.”
Seamus shook each of their hands in turn, still looking confused.
“They want to know more about the zombies,” explained Rory.
Seamus’ eyes widened, “Oh.”
“Your brother here says you’re the expert,” the Doctor smiled.
“Well as much as anyone can be on the subject.”
Seamus sat down and the others did the same, the Doctor, Kurt and Blaine sitting forward in their seats a bit to make sure they caught every word.
Seamus ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed deeply before beginning.
“It all started a few weeks ago. At first it tasted like someone had dumped a bucketful of chlorine into the water supply of the town and people started to get sick real fast. Some people like me and my brother got over it but those who didn’t ended up dying or at least that’s what everyone thought.
“After a few days of being buried, there were graves being robbed of their corpses but no one could figure out what they were doing with them and who had been taking them. Then, one night, the hospital was attacked from the inside and the people who had died in from the sickness got out of their freezers.
“Of course everyone had thought whatever sickos who had robbed the graves had
targeted the hospitals—except the workers had been attacked and…chewed up. The only thing they could get from the people who hadn’t bled to death kept saying that it was the dead.
“The authorities figured they were in shock or had gone mad from the experience and while the police continued to investigate, more people kept dying and more dead bodies continued to disappear.
“Eventually a few of my mates and I decided to investigate what was happening by going to the graveyard at night and waiting for the grave robbers. We thought that if we managed to catch them we could at least solve one case. What we found instead nearly scared us into insanity.
“The dead bodies of those people who had died from drinking the contaminated water crawled out of their graves and stumbled out of the cemetery. The police won’t believe us of course but once the water supply had been completely cleaned and filtered and a lot of us switched to bottled water, the deaths stopped but the attacks on the town started.
“Soldiers were eventually called in to defend the town but they still haven’t caught the things and that’s why they’ve began evacuating the town. Their captain felt sorry for those of us who had lost family members and let us stay here if we wanted to as long as we stay in the house. That’s what Rory and I are doing here; our parents were eaten by those things.”
The travelers winced in sympathy, offering their condolences.
“We tried telling the soldiers about the zombies,” said Rory, “but none of them will believe us.”
“Well of course they won’t. They work for the government, don’t they?” the Doctor said.
“That’s why we’ve been trying to catch one,” Rory continued, “we thought if they saw one for themselves they’d have to believe us. It would be hard to deny a rotting body if it was standing in front of you, right?”
“I should think so.”
“Will you help us, Doctor?” asked Rory.
Kurt and Blaine’s heads swiveled to fix warning looks on the Time Lord. He looked between them with a mixture of sheepishness and pleading. He gave the Flanagans an apologetic grin, clapping a hand on either of his companions’ shoulders.
“I would love to, fellows,” he said, “but I’m not sure if my associates are up to it and I don’t go anywhere without them.”
Rory and Seamus turned their eyes to the Ohio natives beseechingly.
“Kurt, Blaine,” said Seamus, “it would be the world to us if you helped us stop all of this from happening. Think of all the lives you’ll help save by doing this, children and adults alike. We would be forever grateful and in your debts.”
Blaine leaned forwards, managing to catch Kurt’s eyes with his. Kurt tried to look away from the puppy-dog look that was being directed at him but it was impossible.
Kurt sighed, “Okay, how are we going to do this?”

“There was obviously something put into the water supply,” Seamus said as they were led down into the basement of the safe house. “We have a sample of the water but have been unable to identify what the product is that was introduced to it.”
He flicked on the light and to show that they stood in a makeshift laboratory, the smell of chemicals filling the air and microscopes set up on a table in the middle of the place.
The Doctor sat down in front of one of the microscopes and peered at the water droplet resting on the slide. After a few minutes he sat back, scrubbing a face across his eyes.
“Do you know what it is?” asked Blaine.
“I haven’t seen this thing in so long. I wonder who developed and why.”
“What is it?”
“It’s called the Serotonin Suppression Virus. It stops the brain from creating serotonin and turning people into raving lunatics.”
“Then those people are still alive?” asked Rory.
The Doctor nodded, “Technically yes.”
“Then we’ve been shooting innocent people,” whispered the Irishman, horrified.
“How could they possibly be alive?” argued Seamus, “They’re pronounced dead and buried before crawling out of their graves again.”
“Their pulses and breathes are reduced to almost nothing which causes the illusion of death. But no, they’re alive as you and I.”
“Oh, God,” gasped Rory, covering his mouth in shock.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” said Blaine, rubbing his arm, “you didn’t know.”
“He’s right, Rory,” agreed the Doctor.
“Is there a cure?” demanded Seamus after a few seconds.
“Actually yes, and I think I could easily whip some up. Then the only problem will
be distributing it to everyone affected by the virus.”
“They’ve taken refuge in the sewers,” said Seamus. “Could we channel it through there?”
“The virus causes them to become very thirsty which is why they’ve probably decided the sewers were a good place to hide.”
Kurt wrinkled his nose, “You mean they’ve been drinking sewer water?”
The Doctor nodded, “We just have to feed the antidote in through the system. Should be easy enough.”
“One thing that wouldn’t be easy,” said Rory, “is convincing the soldiers and everyone in town that we won’t have to worry about them once we’ve got the cure in the zombies’ water supply.”
“People will sometimes trust things if they see with their own eyes. Do you think you could catch one so we can demonstrate?”
“That’s easier said then done, but we’ll try if it’s the only way.”
“It is.”

“So,” said the Doctor as they headed back upstairs, “I’ll go and get the cure ready while you four go and catch yourselves a zombie.”
“No problem, I took a zombie survival course in school,” said Blaine.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help making the cure?” asked Kurt for about the forth time after the plan was proposed.
“I’m sure. It’s pretty simple to make. I should have it done in about fifteen minutes.”
“Great.”
They headed out of the safe house, crouching down in the bushes as soldiers marched along the streets in front of the safe house.
“I’m going to make a break for the TARDIS,” said the Doctor as a break came in the marching.
He eased out from behind the bushes and slipped away into the settling dusk.
“Come on,” said Seamus, “this is the best way to get into the sewers without being spotted.”
Rory, Blaine and Kurt followed him into a back alley and into a deserted street. He and Rory removed the manhole cover and began to descend into the darkness, a flashlight beam their only illumination.
Blaine swung his legs over the side with Kurt following close behind.
Kurt grimaced as he stepped down into a puddle of dirty water and followed the others along the tunnel.
It was not long before they heard the sound of pattering feet and Seamus directed the flashlight beam in the direction of the sound.
A ragged boy who could not have been more then ten flinched away from the light. He growled at them before charging forwards, jaws open wide like a wild animal after its prey.
The group whirled out of the way and Seamus quickly brought the butt of his gun down on the boy’s head. His eyes rolled back in his head and he nearly hit the ground before Blaine caught him by the shoulders.
“That was easy,” commented Rory.
Blaine hefted the boy into his arms, cradling him almost gently against his chest.
As the group turned to head back the way they had come they heard the splash of water in the distance and then the sound of hurried footsteps.
The flashlight beam fell across the faces of maddened figures staggering their way towards the group, snarls filling the tunnel as they advanced.
Kurt, Blaine, Rory and Seamus sprinted back the way they had come and were soon at the ladder again.
Blaine and Kurt went first while Rory and Seamus stood at the bottom to stop the zombies from pursuing them. The sounds of gunfire filled the tunnel as the brothers shot above the heads of the creatures, giving them pause.
“Would you two hurry up?” Kurt shouted over the noise.
Rory and Seamus seized the opportunity to escape and were soon above ground again with Kurt and Blaine and the child.
“Did you get one then?”
They turned to see the Doctor holding a beaker of some weird acid green liquid.
“Yeah, now let’s gather everyone together to see this miracle drug of yours,” said Seamus.
“It’s not a miracle drug,” he corrected, “only medicine.”
“What the hell were you lot thinking?” demanded the captain after he heard what happened.
“Just trust us, captain,” pleaded Seamus, “this man knows what he’s talking about.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“I’ve seen this before, captain,” said the Doctor. “But if this doesn’t work then you
can shoot me, okay?”
The captain didn’t respond, only waved the Doctor permission to try the antidote.
The boy had been tied to a chair after he began to stir in Blaine’s arms and he was now watching them with murder in his eyes and a growl in his throat.
The Doctor approached him, taking care to avoid the snapping teeth.
After a brief struggle, he secured the boy’s head and forced open his jaws, pouring the liquid down his throat. He let go and scurried back as the boy twisted and withered in his bonds. He slumped in the chair for a moment before lifting his head and blinking at them all tiredly.
“W-where am I? Who are you people?”
“I’m the Doctor and this is Kurt, Blaine, Seamus, Rory and Captain Rekard. Do you know where you are?”
The boy told them and then in a small voice asked where his parents were.
“What’s your name?”
“Richard Walsh. Can you untie me please?”

Richard’s parents (who had left town) were contacted within the hour and said they would be coming home as soon as they could.
“We can’t think you three enough,” said Rory, “you were a godsend.”
Seamus shook each of their hands, “Is there anything we could do for you?”
“No, this is the kind of stuff we do.”
“And your sure this stuff is permanent?” asked the captain, examining the two buckets filled with the acid green liquid.
“Yup, just pour all that in the sewers and your own water supply and you shouldn’t have a problem. But just in case you do,” the Doctor took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the captain, “just follow these instructions and make some more.”
“I guess the town’s got some death records to correct.”
“Good luck with that one.” He turned to Kurt and Blaine, “Come on you two, let’s go take that tour of Ireland I promised you.”
“It’s about time,” muttered Kurt.
The three of them turned to go and were stopped by Seamus and Rory.
“Wait, would you like us to show around?” asked Seamus.
“It’s the least we can do for you,” said Rory.
“That’d be great,” said Blaine.
“Let’s go,” agreed Kurt.
“Lead the way,” replied the Doctor.
With that, the group headed out of town and down a street which would bring them to the sight of tourism.