XXXVI
Under the ice
Antarctica
Under the ice
The stillness and the silence of the UNIT base haunts Will as he runs passed the tents, pushing his way into the main tent and through the dark alleyway they had built, leading him under the ice. Bad memories come flooding back to him as he remembers the constant fear they were all living with in the two months they were there. They had very little knowledge about what actually was under the ice and after losing so many UNIT soldiers to the Nobody's, the place now seems haunted.
For the time being, nothing fears Will more than the thought of April's death. He hopes that she has the wits to keep herself alive, and he knows that she is smart enough to stay out of danger. The only problem is that no one knows what is under the ice. They have used the technology that Declan built to create the pathway under the ice, but they left the base before anyone went under.
With his gun held tightly in one hand and a torch in another, Will runs down the dark alleyway, feeling the ground beneath him descend at a slight angle and the air around him becoming colder the further he goes down. However as Will runs, he can't help but wish that he had time to change into his UNIT battle uniform. The shirt and trousers he wore to his court meeting is rather restraining.
The pathway is dark but after a while, his eyes adjust to the dark and he can make out that the surface on which he is walking on and the walls around him is ice. Soon enough the darkness vanishes and Will steps into the light. He can clearly see the ice walls around him. His footsteps leave a dull echoing sound that bounces off the ice and he is well aware of his rapid breathing as the cold air starts to burn his lungs. But Will finds himself running again. Throwing his torch to the side, no longer needing it, he quickens his pace, feeling ever more desperate to find April.
Once he turns the last corner, he stops abruptly at the large wooden double doors. He pauses a moment, examining the doors before his kicks them open after a few tries. Once the doors swing open with a loud bang, Will stumbles into a large white room, blinded by the light. He shields his eyes from the brilliant white light that bounces off the white tiled flooring and the walls around him.
He shakes his head after a moment as he takes in the view of the room he is now in. It is a large hall with brilliant white walls and white tiles, and the blue ice can still be seen above his head. However the hall is filled with hundreds and hundreds of big cuboid shaped black machines. There are rows upon rows of these machines that create a constant low hum that is not as comforting to listen to as the hum in the UNIT base.
With narrowed eyes and his gun held tightly in both his hands, ready to shoot if anything threatening comes at him, Will takes a few cautious steps forward as he studies the humming machines. It is weird to see such a room filled with these rumbling machines and Will is not sure what they are used for and why they are there. However it almost seems comical to see that he is walking through the very chambers of which everyone has feared for the past year.
He is under the ice.
Will looks down each and every aisle between the rows of machines, hoping to at least find something of use, but once he passes about a dozen rows, he finds a body lying in a heap on the white tiles at the end of one of the aisles.
It doesn't take him long to realise who it is.
"April." His whisper is barely audible, feeling the shock rise up inside him at the sight of April crumpled on the floor. Before he knows it, his feet hurriedly carries him over to her, which soon turns into a run. As Will gets closer to her, not caring whether his footsteps echo around the hall, April rolls over on her side and her eyes lock onto his in fear. Her wrists are bound together behind her back with rope and there is a black cloth tied around her pale face, covering her mouth, gagging her. Will drops to his knees by April's side as she squirms on the floor, and he pulls the gag off her face.
"What are you doing here? It's not safe!" April hisses through gritted teeth.
For a split moment, Will is a little taken aback as he isn't expecting April to look so angry to see him, but then he frowns. "Where are they?" He demands. "Who did this to you?"
"Will, please no, get out of here!" April pleads almost hysterically.
"No," Will says firmly but quietly. "We're doing this together. We're all going to finish this once and for all. Just tell me: is Monroe here?"
April hesitates as she looks at Will in the eye before glancing over his shoulder. Will pauses for a moment looking at April before he turns to look over his shoulder. Standing tall and proud behind him is not Monroe, but Peter Bursnell.
"If I had the chance to I would've done this back in court, but I believe that my appearance caused quite a stir up." Peter Bursnell says with a smirk.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Will snaps.
"Oh I am. I even have the scars you gave me to prove it." Peter Bursnell then waves his hand as if he is brushing away a fly.
Will frowns but before he knows it, he feels a force pushing him up in the air and slam him against one of the machines. Will grumbles in pain as he falls harshly on the cold tiles. April has to hold back a scream as she watches Will's crumbled heap on the floor, desperately wanting to crawl over to him. However fearing Peter Bursnell's brutality, she knows she has to remain where she is on the floor.
Soon enough Will finds himself sitting on the floor next to April with his back up against the machines and his wrists also bound together with rope. He can taste blood in his mouth and his body aches badly. April rolls her head to look at Will's profile before looking up at Peter Bursnell who is looking down at them. He looks amused.
"You know I don't think that I have ever seen anyone as stubborn as the both of you to actually come down under the ice no matter what everyone has said to you. Not even my nursery rhyme would stop you." He snarls.
Will glares up at Peter Bursnell. "So are you going to tell me exactly how you're still here?"
Peter Bursnell half smiles. "You murdered me and allowed my body to drown in the river, however the drug that Monroe put in my mouth turned me into a soulless Nobody," He laughs mockingly. "It was those fencing lookalike shape shifters that allowed me to make an appearance as myself whenever I wanted to be seen. That's the best thing about being dead," He then shrugs. "I guess because of my background with you, they thought that I could be of some use to their master plan of creating an army of soulless creatures."
"So it seems like these shape shifters have a long list of people they want dead." April mumbles to herself.
"And was it the shape shifters that decided to create this everlasting winter to help kill off the human race?"
Then the next voice that is heard to their left sends shivers down April's spine.
"That all came from the prophecy of the Hollerford family." Monroe calls as he steps out from the shadows. He steps carefully down the aisle with two Nobody's following behind. "Your father created the prophecy during the Battle of the Cytracik when he managed to open the Cytracik. But once the shape shifters got hold of it, they thought that in order to get to the Doctor and kill him and to create the ultimate army, was to target something that will weaken the Doctor's mind," He then points to April. "And that was to play with your fear. The Ice Girl," Monroe lets out a loud laugh. "You know I hoped I'd see a sight like this. Two of the most stubborn people I've met. Both cares more about saving others rather than themselves yet would go their own way even if they're told not to." He then shakes hands with Peter Bursnell like friends.
Will turns to look at April. "This isn't Monroe," He whispers to April as Monroe and Peter Bursnell speak to each other. "The shape shifters put something into his brain to order him to spread the drug and turn the workers at Hotel Soelife into the Nobody's. He's acting like that again and I think the device has been put back into his brain."
"People seem to be talking over me which is fascinating and rare, and forbidden." Monroe says aloud in a harsh voice which silences both April and Will. He then takes a step forward and crouches on the floor in front of them. "You see, the thing is with this job is that we're so close to the finish line and I don't know what to do once it's all over. Every single creature that has come across the Doctor wants him dead. The Time Lords have always been a danger to every race in the universe and we just got lucky when the Daleks killed them all in the Time War. But now because the Doctor is still alive it's causing so many problems. Having one last Time Lord is like having a minor virus on your computer that in doubt wipes out the whole system. So the easiest way to get to the Doctor is to target those who are close to him. Using your fear of ice will only weaken your mental state which will then concern the Doctor and make him weak, easy to get to," Monroe shrugs. "Plus the death of Harry Summerland was pure luck. Poor Private Jefferson also couldn't help his fate, or his stupidity."
Will jolts in his position, wishing his wrists were free to hit Monroe, but Monroe only lifts a hand to stop Will.
"Hurting me will do nothing. People are already dying over the world right now. Human beings are utterly useless up against our army."
"What are these machines?" April asks nodding to the black machine opposite her.
"Oh they're what are keeping this army alive. Completely indestructible against any weapon UNIT holds, but they function the electrical power, and the more souls we remove from the humans, the more power these machines generate," He looks at April. "So tell me, what inspired the Ice Girl to join the Doctor on his travels? Why did you allow him to pull you into his lure? And why wouldn't you even tell your boyfriend about the Black Lighthouse? Why do you pull away every time it is mentioned that you have seen the Black Lighthouse five times? It's something you can't ever run form."
April narrows her eyes. "Is this an interrogation?"
Monroe stares at April for a moment as his face falls and his brow furrows. Monroe jumps to his feet and groans aloud in anger. "All winter the Doctor has constantly been interrogating everyone: UNIT, Morgarn, and Jack Gruntler, to get answers. He's been interrogating everyone to know more about the Myriad Circle and the drug. He throws questions at everyone and everything to demand an answer. If he can do that then why can't I?" Monroe shouts, suddenly frantic, and his voice echoes across the room.
Both Will and April are silenced from Monroe's sudden burst of anger, but the silence is quickly followed by a rumble that comes from above the ice. The ice shakes.
Monroe and Peter Bursnell exchange looks and the Nobody's raise their hooded heads upwards.
Will smirks. "I guess they're here."
Monroe glares down at Will and April before turning to Peter Bursnell. Seconds pass and Monroe suddenly disappears as there is an ear deafening roar.
The room around them shakes and the machines come to life as the Nobody's army is summoned for attention. Peter Bursnell takes one last look at April and Will before he pulls his hood to his robe over his head, turning him into nothing before flying away where all the other Nobody's are heading to.
April rolls over to her side and frees her wrists from the rope. She then grabs onto Will's arm and hauls him back onto his feet once he has also freed his wrists.
"Are you okay?" Will asks April, as he checks her wrists and making sure that there isn't any further damage to her skin.
"I'm fine!" April hisses as she pushes him away. She makes a move to start running out to the room. "We need to get a move on, Will. Everyone is already here."
"The Doctor is here too, April." Will says gruffly, feeling hurt and agitated to see that April is less than pleased to see him there with her.
April stops to look at Will, looking very deflated and beaten. She breathes heavily as if she is catching her breath after a long run, and she flings her arms down by her side helplessly. "Well that means I've thrown the dice for the second time. The nursery rhyme has been fulfilled."
"I thank the Doctor because he got me out of court."
April ignores Will's last remark as she takes the black dice out of her skirt pocket and holds it in the palm of her bandaged hand. She looks up at Will with her eyes. "Do you have any idea how to get through this battle?"
Will looks at April for a long moment before replying. "We know their weakness. We know what weapons can weaken them. Both water and fire will, and if we aim for their hoods."
April nods as she slowly rolls the dice over in the palm of her hands. "I can only suspect we kill Monroe at least." With that she throws the dice high over one of the black machines and listens to it clank on the tiled floor somewhere across the room where they can no longer see it.
There is another low rumble from above them and the hall around them shakes, nearly knocking both Will and April off their feet. Will manages to stumble over to April and hold onto her tightly as they hear a crowd roaring up above them. They crouch down onto the floor and look up at the ice above them, knowing that UNIT and the British army have arrived.
April looks down at Will before gently squeezing his hand, suddenly losing all the anger she has towards him.
"Go with them." She whispers.
"What about you?" Will asks, holding onto her tighter.
"Someone has to think about destroying these machines."
Will briefly smiles before pulling her closer to him and kissing her on the lips, trying to ignore April's tense body. Once he pulls away he looks at her one last time, sure that it might be the last time he will get to do that.
"I love you." He says without further hesitation.
April looks back at Will for a long time, surprised at what he has just said. Is this what he's been wanting to tell her for months? However April cannot find the words to reply. She is in too much shock. Instead she just nods before squeezing his arm. She knows it's not the response Will is hoping for but right now she doesn't know if she can say the same back. Not now with the situation they are in.
With that Will stands up and runs out of the room to join the rest of the army. However, before he is out of her sight, April calls after him. Will stops running and turns to look back at her hopefully.
April feels a little lost for words for a brief moment. "Do you have a lighter?" She finally asks.
Will raises an eyebrow but mutters something under his breath along the lines that he's sure he does. He fumbles in his trouser pocket and pulls one out. Without saying another word he throws it at April who catches it with one hand. April mutters her thanks as Will turns to run away.
April, who is kneeling on the tiled flooring, watches him go before looking down at her hands.
For a long moment she listens to the shouts from above and the unpleasant hum of the machines around her and the first thing she can think of is to melt the ice.