XXI
Harry and April
Parallel England
London
Summerland household
February 25th
Lying on top of the bed in the Summerland's spare bedroom, April stares up at the ceiling, examining the markings carved into the white paint. She has only recently come back from a walk to the Tardis. Seeing that Harry was quiet this morning and seemed as if he wanted to spend time to himself, April decided to check on the Tardis, just to make sure that it is okay while the Doctor is away in Russia. While she was there, she listened to the hum of the console and read through her Time Book on her own. She also called Rose and Terry to check up on how they were getting on. Although they were at the UNIT base, they seemed to be as bored as she was.
When April came back to the house, she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Harry is obviously missing Ireen a lot and she is missing Will. What daunts April and Harry the most is that they have no idea how long UNIT will be away for.
April often finds herself looking at the globe model sitting in the spare bedroom and calculating the distance between her and Will. Then an idea suddenly comes to her mind that she knows how to fly the Tardis and could possibly fly over to help them in Russia. However she knows that she will have to take Harry with her. April also knows that she probably will be sent back instantly.
Ireen's and Harry's lounge is filled with books they have collected over the years and photos of friends and family are hung up on the walls and are placed in photo frames that sit on surfaces all over the room.
April walks around the living room as she looks at all the photos. Many of the faces she does not recognise and can only assume they are family members from both sides of the Summerland family. Others are photos of their friends from UNIT. The group photo that was taken during Martha's birthday party shortly before Christmas is amongst the ones sitting on the side coffee table. Everyone smiles at the camera and the photo was taken just as the laughter started to pass through the group, starting at Jason.
That period when everyone was on holiday is a fond memory of April's. She knows that it is the time when she felt truly happy and content. She spent nearly all day and every day with Will Sullivan, learning more and more about him, and she had enough time to be with her friends from UNIT without any trouble.
The happiness radiates off the photo and April wishes to return to that very moment again.
She moves on to one of the bookcases and the first photo that catches her eye is the black and white headshot of Ireen. Ireen stands at a slight diagonal angle but her eyesight is directed straight at the camera. She stands there proudly in the photo wearing her UNIT uniform with the Captain badge pinned to her shoulders. April notices how beautiful Ireen looks in the photo.
April's attention is then drawn to the large photo hanging on the wall above the bookcase. It is a group photo of the whole UNIT Company. It is a black and white photo and all UNIT soldiers are clustered together in one large group with the UNIT flag waving on a pole that spurts out from the middle of the cluster. Around the pole are all the officers and many of the faces April cannot recognise, apart from Aaron's and Ireen's. They all look blankly at the camera. She then suddenly notices Major Rodger Barratt standing behind Aaron's left shoulder and notices a smirk on his face, a happy smirk rather than the cunning one she knows and detests. His memory still gives her shivers and she still clearly remembers being told that the real Rodger Barratt would still hate her. All the officers standing in the middle of the cluster in the photo and the other soldiers from the company crowd around the officers. Some sit crossed legged on the ground in front and most of them are smiling.
To the top left corner of the cluster, April suddenly notices a younger looking Will, possibly around seventeen or eighteen years old, standing next to a younger Alic to his right, who isn't even looking at the camera. Alic looks at Will, his body leaning forward in laughter as he has his hand covering the face of another soldier whom April can only imagine is Monroe. Sarah-Jane is stood not too far behind them and looks down at Alic disapprovingly. April also notices a younger looking Jason sitting cross legged in the front line, third from the right. He has a beaming yet almost plotting wide grin on his face.
The photo amazes April as she looks at all the different faces of UNIT; many she knew before the last battle but there are a few unfamiliar faces. However the photos only brings back memories of those who have been killed in action in the last year. Looking at the date marked at the bottom, April knows that Will was only nineteen years old and had only served in UNIT for three years, at the time the photo was taken.
"That was taken the day after they completed a training period."
April jumps at the sound of Harry's voice and nearly drops the frame. She turns to see Harry leaning against the door frame leading into the kitchen, with a bottle of larger in his hand.
"It's one of my favourites," he says as he walks over to join her. "Especially the snapshot of the boys." He points to the area in the photo where Will, Alic and Monroe are.
April holds onto the frame tighter, dearly missing her friends too. Harry looks over her shoulder feeling a horrible feeling in his stomach as he misses his wife and friends. He then points to another framed photo of the Myriad Circle.
"That was us at the pub we went to every Friday night." Harry says. He then clears his throat. "I could get that one copied for you if you like," he offers, nodding to the group photo of the whole of UNIT April is still holding onto. "You can have your own copy to keep."
"Thank you." April manages to say but it is barely audible.
There are many other photos of UNIT soldiers taken from inside the base and outside of work time. There is one of Harry and Alic cuddling each other during what looks like a summer break in the countryside. Alic looks rather drunk as he wraps his arm around Harry's waist and Harry seems to be caressing Alic's face, looking past the camera with dazed, drunk eyes. There are a couple of photos of Jason, one of him in deep concentration at work and another of him having a cigarette and laughing – probably at his own joke.
April enjoys looking at the photos of UNIT and it only reminds her of how much of a family they are together, inside and outside the company. She knows that nothing would break them apart, not even the British army.
However April's heart skips a beat when she sees a photo at the back of the array of photos. It is a brightly coloured photo of Harry with his arm around her parallel father's shoulders. They both smile brightly at the camera and hold onto their golf clubs. April stares at her father's face for a long time and knows that although he is her parallel father, he still looks like her real father.
Since the last battle, April has tried to move on from meeting her parallel father; hearing of the death of her parallel self and watching her parallel mother die in front of her during combat. Her parallel mother who knew that she is her parallel daughter. But after looking at the photo of Harry and Declan, April so dearly wants her parents back.
Later that evening, April sits at one end of one of the patchwork sofas in Ireen's and Harry's living room. A fire roars in the fireplace and April brings the knitted blanket over her knees as she listens to Harry potter around in the kitchen, brewing up a beef stew for dinner. The food smells divine and April feels her stomach rumble. She loves staying at the Summerland's house for dinner and feels entirely at home. But April cannot help but remind herself that she must to go back to Hotel Soelife and pick up the last of her belongings she left there.
For the past few nights, April sleeps in the spare bedroom in Ireen's and Harry's home, bored out of her wits but spends most of the time making sure that she has sussed out the nursery rhyme correctly. In the meantime, she exchanges phone calls with Terry who constantly updates her on what everyone is doing in Russia. The last thing she hears is that they have managed to capture three prisoners poisoned from the drug on a night patrol in Russia. The others they captured disintegrated into dust particles. April is also delivered the news that one of the Nobody's weakness is fire and being shot in its hood. However their use of weapon is a strong electrical volt, so it is going to be tested against water.
April has not heard from Terry for the past twenty-four hours and she only assumes that there is nothing important to know about. That nothing has changed and the army hasn't moved on. But the silence makes both April and Harry worry.
Harry walks into the sitting room, carrying two bowls of beef stew.
"Here we go," He says as he passes one of the bowls to April. "Sorry it's not like Ireen's but it'll have to do." Harry then sits himself down on the sofa beside April as she places the warm bowl carefully onto her lap. Then picking up the remote, Harry switches on the television and changes it to the news channel.
The two happily eat their dinner in silence as the newsreader speaks out to them, but neither is exactly paying attention to what the newsreader has to say. April knows that she wants to get Harry to speak more like he usually does but she can't think of a conversation to bring up. Being so used to seeing Harry being his usual happy and strange self, she hates to see him brood over his separation with Ireen. She then quickly realises that it is probably evident to Harry that she is brooding over her separation with Will.
"Have you heard from Terry recently?" Harry asks after a while.
"No," April replies as she stirs her fork in the stew source. "Not today anyway. Have you?"
"A few emails from Alic but that's about it. I think they're coming back in a few days. It sounds like they've got what they wanted now they've got some prisoners."
April says nothing else, only hoping that Harry is right in saying that everyone will be home soon. She takes a glance around the room, staring at the dark shadows in the corners before turning back to her food.
Harry finishes his meal before April and stands up to take his dirty bowl back into the sink in the kitchen. April listens to the clatter of the cutlery being dropped into the sink, followed by Harry's footsteps to walk over to the fridge. He opens it and brings out another bottle of larger.
"I don't have anything in the way of dessert. Sorry." Harry calls, his voice a little muffled as he leans into the fridge to have a rummage around the cluttered shelves. Every time Ireen goes away with her job, Harry knows that the fridge will become cluttered with alcohol, takeaways and leftovers from meals he made the night before. He never understands how the fridge comes to be like this every time, but he always finds a way to clear it out before Ireen returns home.
April feels herself struggling to finish her meal, not having an appetite which she never had. Yet she feels rude to not eat Harry's cooking, so she continues to eat on, hoping that she won't be sick later.
April warily glances over in Harry's direction when he starts coughing a real harsh throat cough. He is fine a moment later.
With the time April has spent with Harry the past few days, she has noticed that there's a slight difference in Harry when Ireen isn't there with him. There is the cheerful and slightly naughty Harry everyone knows and likes when he is helping UNIT in the base, with Ireen and with Will and Alic. And when she first met him with Declan a year ago, she met him as lively and fun. However she sees more of a vulnerable side to Harry when he is alone. He looks like a lost sheep who doesn't know what to do. He is quieter and less humorous than usual.
But his cough doesn't sound healthy and April starts to panic that he is slowly becoming ill from this continual decrease in temperature.
April's attention turns to the television when the newsreader switches to the next storyline. Just as she starts listening to the talk about recent finance problems in the country, the phone starts to ring.
"Could you get that for me?" Harry calls from the kitchen in a rather scratchy voice before he starts to cough harshly again.
April leans over the arm of the sofa and reaches for the telephone over on the small table.
"Hello?" She says down the phone.
"April? I'm calling from Russia. Can you hear me?"
April sighs, as a small smile breaks out on her face. "Nice to hear from you too, Doctor."
"Can you hear me?" The Doctor calls rather loudly.
"Yeah, loud and clear!" April holds the phone a little away from her ear. "Almost deafening."
There are a lot of crackling sounds, almost as if the Doctor is running with the phone in a bag. But his voice comes back but a little quieter and his cheerful tone returns. "How are you, April?"
April hesitates as she looks down at the half eaten stew she places on the sofa beside her. "Yeah I'm alright."
"I'm not convinced."
"Well you should be." April bites her lip and she is sure she can hear the Doctor smiling from the other end of the line.
"So what have you been up to then? And how's London?" The Doctor asks.
"London is still getting colder by the minute. More people are being hospitalised for hypothermia and bad cases of pneumonia. And I haven't done a lot if I'm honest. I guess Harry and I have been looking after each other these past few days. He's been cooking me dinner but it seems as if he's coming down with a cold." April looks over to Harry nervously who is still coughing.
"Okay well just make sure that he stays warm. And how about you cook him dinner next time round? Or is he too scared you'll burn his house down?" The Doctor laughs at his own joke.
"Are you saying I can't cook?"
"I never said you can."
April rolls her eyes. "Well thank you for the moral support, Doctor. How's it going over in Russia?"
The Doctor doesn't reply.
"Doctor?"
"Well I did phone you to tell you the news."
Pause. April starts to feel sick.
"Go on." Her voice wavers.
The Doctor lets out a heavy breath as if he had been holding on to it for a while. "The night patrol was half successful and half unsuccessful." He says slowly.
"How do you mean?"
"We've captured a few workers from the warehouse that were affected by the drug. But we weren't expected to be ambushed by the Nobody's. The General has fears that they may have started to keep track on where the army is moving to."
April glances down at the rug on the floor in front of her. "Have you found a way to destroy or even stop the Nobody's?"
"We've discovered that their weakness is fire. We're testing water too."
April nods but then her attention is turned back to the television when footages from their chat show interview is being broadcast. The Doctor's voice speaks away in her ear but she is listening more to the newsreaders on the television rather than the Doctor.
"Harry," April calls which instantly quietens the Doctor. "I really think you should listen to this!"
Harry makes his way into the room, clearing his throat from his nasty cough earlier. He wipes his hands dry with a tea towel as he looks at April with a confused expression, before looking over at the television.
A voice over on the television explains about what UNIT do as a company while footages of them fighting during the last battle are shown. Harry glares down at the television as the voice over talks about their past meetings with other extraterrestrial life forms. They talk about their investigations about the universe which no astronomer has ever discovered, and how they have learned new ways of fighting in combat due to Declan Hollerford.
The Doctor, April and Harry are all silent. The footage of the last battle is almost terrifying to watch over again, the memory of actually being there is still fresh in their minds. Then images of the Tardis parked in the cul-de-sac start to appear. April's grip on the phone tightens as she sees the images flash across the screen.
"The Doctor, happens to be known as the last surviving Time Lord, has a long history with UNIT, and in recent cases, a certain companion of his may have been a part of the work over the past year." A photo flashes upon the screen. It is an image of the Doctor, Terry and Rose walking on with their backs to the camera, but April, who is walking behind them, has turned around and is looking at something to the left of where the photo was taken. Other photos of April and Harry walking around the city together a couple of days ago are also shown, saying how they link to UNIT. Seeing these photos makes both April and Harry feel incredibly paranoid that they are under scrutiny.
The newsreader continues to talk, saying that because now UNIT are not an enemy, the likes of April, Terry, Rose, Harry and the Doctor have been roaming around the city and the search for them has begun.
The desperate search for UNIT has started. The world has started to call for help.
"What?" Harry mutters as he moves across the living room to sit on the sofa beside April. The newsreader then turns to an MP who sits on the red sofa beside her. She introduces him to the camera and the man nods.
"It makes sense though," He says as the newsreader asks him what his thought upon the matter is. "We know very little about extraterrestrial life outside of our home planet and there has been a never ending question on whether or not such things exist. We've never had the chance to even go out and explore the unknown and find out if there is anything else alive.
"UNIT have always kept their work very secretive. Although we knew that they are a military base exploring the universe and protecting our planet, we never understood everything that was actually happening inside their base. Nor do we know their history. And the moment our country is under threat of aliens, the first thing we do is turn to the company that knows about that subject and instantly blame them. We judged UNIT for something they are entirely innocent of and banished them from their work. They were only trying save us from the battle and they succeeded in that. But we were scared. The human race did not know how to handle the situation and we in the government believed that shutting down the company would save the world from future harm."
"And now you are calling out for help." The newsreader states flatly.
The MP nods. "We were wrong for suspecting such a thing from the company. They were the ones who saved us in the first place and we need their security. I suppose we're the ones who need to earn the trust and the respect from UNIT again."
"There have been rumours of the British army collaborating with the UNIT."
"As far as we know they have and are working together. However no news has been sent to us about anything that they have discovered from recent changes. Especially from the many footages that have been sent to parliament."
"Is there anything to worry about with the sudden appearance of these hooded creatures?"
"These creatures are a threat to the world and all we can do is hope that UNIT and the British army are doing something about this," The MP hesitates. "We fear that the temperature is only going to continue decreasing, but we have no evidence of why. Scientists are blocked away from their technology due to the ice so the armies are completely alone in this. And that is why we plead for UNIT to come back to us and bring peace to Earth. And if we can even get to the Doctor and his companions, we may be able to discover what is going on and if there is anything that can be done."
The conversation then moves on to talk about problems in hospitals and the increase of deaths from the weather.
"April, do me a favour and don't leave the house." The Doctor says sternly.
"The doors more or less have been bolted shut from the ice." April mutters.
"Just stay inside and I'll talk this through with the General," The Doctor sighs when there is no reply from April. "April, are you even listening to me?"
In fact April is staring at the television screen as the picture fuzzes. Harry leans forward but the image isn't exactly clear as it flicks from the news channel to something undistinguishable. Every so often they can hear the voices of the MP and the newsreader mingled with what sounds like a hum; almost like a church hymn hum.
The screen then fades out to an image of three Nobody's facing the camera.
"You're kidding me." April mutters.
Both Harry and April look at the screen, speechless and the Doctor's voice calls out from the phone. The chanting is almost like background music and there is no sign of the news channel.
"We are Nobody," A deep, sinister voice speaks. "And you have eight months left."
The screen goes blank and suddenly the television starts to spark before blowing up, the screen bursting and the set falls onto the floor with a loud bang.
Harry instantly jumps to his feet and marches over to the broken TV set, cursing loudly angrily. April however watches him and thinks about nothing but what the Nobody's said.
They have eight months left and she instantly knows that they are referring to the verse. Twelve months are passing. Eight months sounds like a long time, but with the speed they are going since they first heard the verse, eight months is no time at all.
"I'm saying this again, April. Stay inside." The Doctor warns.