Who: Rose Tyler and Open Where: One of the storage rooms What: Tracking down the source of the smell. When: Afternoon of the 11th Rating: R for graphic...gross...decomposing bodies. Open: YES Status: In progress
Living on the TARDIS and traveling through time and space, one tends to get pretty tolerant of strange and unpleasant smells. Can't go to alien bazaars with weak stomachs and clothes-pins, after all. She also knows how the Doctors tend to get, and strong smelling experiments with so many around isn't a surprise.
But really, it's getting unbearable. She actually gagged when she caught a whiff of it making lunch. Whatever they're doing, she's either going to put a stop to it or get a bloody lid on it, and she's not waiting to argue with them about it. Probably. If it looks dangerous she might.
It's not actually difficult as this point to track down the smell once she goes deeper into the TARDIS after it. It's practically palpable the further she gets. Like the worst ancient fridge full of rotten food she's ever smelled. It actually takes effort after awhile to keep her stomach from churning. By the time she makes it to a dead end with a door, she has to cover her hand and sleeve, because she can taste it, and that's not helping with the not throwing up all over the TARDIS floors thing.
She stares at the handle a few moments, fighting off a wave of dread and nausea. It's a storehouse of food that's lost power, that's it. Or some disgusting chemicals the Doctor thought no one would notice if he stuck down here. That's all. It's just...rotting food. Open the door, Rose.
She stumbles backward and doubles over as soon as the door opens and the wall of putrid air hits her, but she still manages a glimpse of the room first. Not food. Oh, God. Not food. If she were thinking clearly, she might be proud of keeping down her ill-thought out lunch despite her choking, gagging sob. All that she can really think is this is the TARDIS. This is is the TARDIS, it's supposed to be safe!
Come on, Rose. It's not the first dead bodies she's seen, even...rotting ones. The only difference is it's on the TARDIS and that's terrifying. But there's someone dangerous here, right? These could be old victims. It's her responsibility to figure out who it is and maybe how they were killed before she goes and gets the Doctors. Because she is getting the Doctor.
She claps a hand over her mouth and nose as she makes her way into the room. The stench actually burns at her eyes in the room. It's clearly been days. At least as long as the TARDIS has smelled, maybe even longer. She pick her way carefully to the closest prone figure. Dark hair, broken glasses. She doesn't recognize him, and at a glance she can't tell what might have killed him. Not through the bloating and...o-oh...liquefying-Oh...no, no, be strong, Rose. Besides if she moves him it might prevent the Doctors from finding some sort of evidence.
It's not hard to guess what happened to the other person. Or...okay, it's not hard to guess how they--she?--died. There's blood everywhere. However the man died, she had to have been killed here. Someone who spotted this originally?
She glances over her shoulder reflexively, and shakes her head. Don't be silly, Rose, whoever did this might have been around originally, but they'd be long gone by now. It's only a matter of time before everyone in the TARDIS will be following her own footsteps given the smell. One unlucky straggler is one thing, planning to kill everyone at once like...that? Unlikely.
She bites her cheek and nods, straightening and stepping over the one body to get a better look at the woman. She's so slashed and torn up and...decomposing it's hard for her to make much out. There's locks of blond hair scattered across the room, which...Rose isn't going to lie to herself about, it makes her a bit squeamish. But if she's got a wallet on her, maybe people will know when she vanished and...and something? There's a brutal murderer on the TARDIS, there's got to be something she can do besides just calling the Doctor.
She can't get very close, because there's...blood and chunks of flesh oh-- but she kneels down as close as she can, reaching for the remains of the woman's pocket...and catches a flash of cheap, fake gold through the ruins of the woman's face and hair as she leans forward. She freezes.
...No. It couldn't be. Now she's just being paranoid because it's a blonde woman with earrings and she's quietly in full-panic mode.
Just go for the wallet. You don't know this person, Rose. Ignore it.
Her hand trembles in the air.
Don't look.
Don't do it.
She reaches carefully, still shaking (stopitstopitstopit you're being ridiculous) up to the ruined face and remains of blond hair and...gingerly flicks it away from the...hoop earring. The hoop earring she's wearing. The one she always wears, because they're the only thing her father left behind for her.
At some point she's pretty sure she starts screaming. Someone is and her throat is burning, so she probably does. All she knows for sure is that she's done holding down...anything.