〖 DALEKS OF MANHATTAN 〗
"WHERE ARE WE NOW?" Valarie questioned as she walked towards the doors; Martha and the Doctor both close behind. She stared back at him until Martha was pressing against her back. She opened the doors and stepped out.
"Ah! Feel that Atlantic breeze, nice and cold!" The Doctor excitedly shouted as he walked around the girls. He walked behind them and looked upwards, urging the two to follow.
"Martha, Val, you've meet my friend." He stated, prompting the two to turn and gawk as they stood at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
"Oh my god! The Statue of Liberty!"
"Gateway of the new world. Give me your tired, your poor, masses yearning to breath free." He recited as they stared up at the brilliant statue. Valarie had seen it many times before in books and movies, but for now it was seemingly even more breathtaking then what she could remember.
"It's brilliant. I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean, the first. Not the New, New, New, New, New, York." She stated, remarking back to their last trip that went somewhat wrong. But those people were free and happy now.
"Well, there's a genuine article. So good they named it twice." He said, turning away and walking towards the edge of the island were the city line of New York was. It was significantly shorter then what either girl had seen, indicating it must not be present day or future.
"Now what year is it? Can't be future or present. Look, Empire State is still being built." Valarie pointed. Martha turned towards a bench were a newspaper laid.
"Still got a couple of floors in progress but the main part is done. Which means the date must be-"
"November First, 1930." Martha interrupted, holding the newspaper in hand. The Doctor turned, not noticing she has the paper. "You did good." He took the paper from her hands.
"Used to seeing all of this in those black and white news reels. It's so beautiful. It almost never seemed real. Kind of like Disney World." Valarie snorted, taking in the scene of New York City. She bit her lip and turned to the Doctor. "C'mon, where to first?" She asked him with pleading eyes. He seemed too wrapped up in the newspaper in hand.
"I think our detour just got longer." He mumbled, flashing a headline at the two.
"HOOVERVILLE MYSTERY DEEPENS."
———————
"Herbert Hoover, thirty-first president of the United States. Came to power a year ago. Up till then New York was a boom town, roaring twenties and then..."
"Wall Street crash, when was that? Nineteen-twenty-nine?" Martha asked. The Wall Street crash was something both women knew, having learned about it in school. "Yup." The Doctor replied.
"Economy gone in the blink of an eye. Thousands unemployed and the masses suddenly have no where to go. So, they end up in Central Park."
"What, people actually lived here? Middle of the park?" Valarie asked. The Doctor's eyebrows peaked as a man rode by the three on a bicycle.Martha held her arms, as it was fall and the wind was becoming quite chilly. Leaves crunches under the feet on the path way within Central Park.
They came up on a mass of makeshift building. Mostly tents that resembled small houses. People coughed and hacked, obviously sick and not able to afford treatment. They three made efforts to stay close, as it was quite cramped in the camp. Valarie made the quick assumption this was Hooverville.
"Ordinary people. Lost their jobs." The Doctor sighed, voice full of pity as they passed people. "Couldn't pay the rent and lost everything." People watched the strangers walking through. Many people who're several layers of clothes and looked unkept. They passed a gentle man getting his hair trimmed by a woman, however.
"Places like this were everywhere. No one could help them."
"Hooverville is the last resort." He informed them, looking at them as they continued down the busy streets. They came upon a circle of people, where from within Valarie heard 'Thieving lowlife!' Was shouted. Upon closer inspection, she found two men fighting. A third, older man intervened, pulling the two apart shouting "cut it out!'.
"He stole my bread!" One man announced, gazing at the other with pure hatred in his eyes. "Did you take it?" The third asked the other man.
"I don't know what happened, he just went crazy!" He shouted. This promoted the other man to rush him suddenly; but he was caught by the third before he could. "That's enough!" He shouted at them.
"Now think real long before you lie to me." He drawled. The accused sighed. "I'm starving, Solum." He pulled his coat open slowly, and drew a long loaf of bread out. The crowd sighed.
Solum took the bread, and split it in half. "We are all starving. We all got families." He announced, handing each one a half. "No fighting, no stealing. Those are the rules. Thirteen years ago, I fought in the Great-War. The only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad it gets, we still act like human beings. It's all we got." Solum finished his speech; one of the men storming away, obviously unhappy with only half his bread. The other sulked away, more happy he had any food at all.
"C'mon." The Doctor murmured to the women; obviously wanting to get a word with Solum now.
"I suppose that makes you the boss around here." The Doctor commenter to Solum.
"I suppose." Solum replied, and turned to the Doctor. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Martha, this is Valarie, and that's the Doctor." Martha introduced for them. Solum's interest peaked. "A Doctor? Huh." He halfway laughed, as the Doctor nodded along.
"Well, we got stockbrokers." He nodded to a man, swaddled in clothing in a poorly made wooden chair. "We got lawyers. But your the first Doctor." Solum joked, before kneeling by a fire which a black pot hung over.
"Neighborhood gets classier by the day." He stick his hands out towards the fire; the fingers in his glove seemingly having been torn off.
"How many people live here?" Martha asked. Solum shrugged. "At one time, hundreds. Impossible to tell. No one can go anywhere else." Solum turned from the fire, to face the three strangers head-on.
"Can say this about Hooverville. It's a truly equal place. Black, white, all the same. All starving. So you're all welcome here." Solum smiled. Valarie raised her eyebrows, having realized he assumed they were living here now too. Solum turned and pointed in another direction.
"But, you're a learner." He began, speaking to the Doctor. "So explain this." He walked away, motioning for them to follow. He pointed at the not yet finished Empire State Building.
"See that? It's gonna be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, but we have starving people in the heart of Manhattan?" Valarie took his comment bitterly, as it suddenly didn't make sense. How were they building it, and not helping the dirty and starving people Valarie was surrounded by?
The Doctor's eyes watched Solum as he walked away, now somewhat worked up when he spoke about the building.
He allowed Solum some time to cool off, effort approaching him again. Solum was slinging something that resembled stale coffee onto the ground when the trio approached.
"So," the Doctor reached into his coat, and retrieved the newspaper they had got earlier this morning. "Men are going missing. This true?" He asked, holding the newspaper up. Solum grabbed the paper, taking barely a second to read it before going to retreat back into a tent.
"It's true alright." The Doctor followed. "What does missing mean?" He asked him. "People come and go all the time. No one is keeping register." The Doctor pondered. He was trying to figure out what exactly was going on, and if it deserved his attention.
"This is different." Solum took his hat off. "How so?" Valarie questioned.
"Something takes them. Middle of the night someone calls out for help. By the time we can reach them, they're gone. Like they vanished into thin air." Solum gravely revealed. The Doctor has leaned forward onto his hand, where his chin rested. "And you're sure someone's taking them?" He asked.
"Doctor, when you got nothing you hold onto everything. Blanket, knife, everything. You don't leave bread uneaten, and a fire still burning."
"Have you went to the police?" Solum snorted at Martha's comment.
"Yeah. But a deadbeat goes missing? Big deal." He revealed that the police were absolutely no help. "Question is, whose taking them. What for." The Doctor more asking himself that, rubbing the side of his face. Suddenly, a young boy, maybe seventeen, busted into the tent.
"Solum! Solum, Mr.Diagros is here." Solum's face fell as he grabbed his hat and sprung up and out of the tent. Valarie looked at the Doctor, as she fell towards the tents exit.
"The plot thickens." She mumbled with a coy smile. She waltzed out of the tent, the Doctor close behind her back and Martha close behind his. They found three men in the middle, talking to everyone. They all wore sharp black suits, and reminded Valarie of mobsters she would watch old movies about with her brother.
"We need men! Volunteers. Got a little work for you." The centered one announced; he had a almost comical Brooklyn accent. "And you sure look like you could use the money!" He cried to them.
"Yeah, what is the money?" The boy who informed them of Solum asked. "A dollar a day!" He announces. The crowd began to almost laugh. "And I thought minimum wage was bad." Valarie mumbled to Martha.
"And what's the work?" Solum asked. "A little trip down the sewers." The crowd interest seemed to start dwindling at the reference. "A tunnel collapsed. Needs fixing and clearing. Any takers?" He asked them. No one answered.
"A dollar a day? Slave wage." Solum told him. Valarie would side with Solum; a dollar a day would barely get you anywhere. "And the men don't always come back up."
"Accidents happen!" Mr.Diagros argues. "What sorta accidents?" The Doctor called out. "You don't need the work, done!" Mr.Diagros avoided the question. When the Doctor raised his hand, he snapped at him. "Enough, questions!"
"Oh, no, no, no. I'm volunteering!" The Doctor revealed. Slowly, Valarie added her hand to his. "If some sewer alien attacks me, I'll kill you for this." She told him. He only laughed and smiled at her, knowing she didn't mean it. Martha raised her hand begrudgingly also. "Anybody else?" He called out. The boy and Solum slowly added their hands as the crowd dispersed.
"Alright! If you guys follow me, you can get started on your first at your new job."
Hello! Just wanted to leave a quick note and say I have a new story. I recently spoke about a story called Redamancy but I took it down as reworked it. It is called Heir, and is up now. :) thank you!