Anythingdrabble Challenge 110 - A big problem

[m_findlow]

Title: A big problem
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Owen, Jack, Gwen, Ianto
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 110 - Acid at anythingdrabble
Summary: Torchwood has a big problem to deal with.

Owen let out a groan as the SUV pulled up at the location advised by Tosh. He could already seen the problem - no need to wonder what had sent their alarms blaring. It was some kind of giant slug, as wide as a small car and about twenty feet long, slowing dragging itself along the road.

'Why do we always get the shit aliens?' Owen complained. He checked the safety on his gun before wondering if there was any point. What use was a bullet going to do to stop a thing that big? Even the massive gun they kept stored in the boot would probably only knick the creature, bounce off it altogether, or maybe just get sucked into its giant body without so much as noticing. Feeling under prepared, whilst not being a new experience, seemed like an understatement today.

Jack gripped the steering wheel and turned to face the rest of them in the car. 'I can't be one hundred percent certain, but if it's the species I think it is, you need to be extra careful. Its body secretes a kind of mucus that helps it move, but that stuff is the equivalent of hydrochloric acid. It's going to eat through the road and anything else it touches. It'll melt the skin right off your bones and then keep going, so whatever you do, do not touch it or anything it leaves in its wake.'

He pressed his earpiece, opening up the channel with Tosh and Ianto back at the hub. 'Ianto! Need you to do a bulk order of antacid tablets.'

'Bad case of reflux?' Ianto quipped.

'Three cubic tonnes ought to do it,' he replied, ignoring the joke. 'Preferably still in powder form before they press it. And some backup,' Jack added. It sounded like a ridiculous request and something not easy to fulfill, Owen thought, but if anyone could pull a rabbit out of his arse, it was Ianto.

'Ah, I see what you mean,' Ianto replied, having inspected the situation using local CCTV. 'The drone should be there in ten.'

'So, what do we do in the meantime?' Gwen asked, looking apprehensively out through the windscreen. 'How do we stop it from moving?'

'Short answer,' Jack said, 'we don't. Our job is to keep people from getting near it until reinforcements get here.'

'Reinforcements?' Owen queried. 'And what did Teaboy mean by drone?'

Jack grinned, pulling a couple of gas masks out of the centre storage compartment. 'Experimental new way of dispersing airborne retcon over a large area. Now feels like a good time to test it out. Unless you want to go door to door for the whole suburb trying to convince people that they're just imagining a giant alien slug and that a cup of tea will make it go away.'

It sounded hair-brained, but Owen didn't argue. It would be hard enough just to cover up the giant hole in the road the slug was leaving in its wake.

Comments

[bk_forever]

I'm sure Ianto can provide what's needed. Hope the antacid will get rid of the slug!