XIX
Five days ago

The Island
5 days earlier

April wakes up with a start. She finds herself lying flat on her stomach in something that feels like damp grass. Then the smell of mud fills her nostrils and she knows that she is definitely lying on grass. The blades tickle her skin but she remains lying there, trying to figure out what has just happened.

Her memory is a little fuzzy, so it takes all of her might to remember how she got here.

Her brother, the Doctor, Rose and Terry suddenly turned against her. Well that is what it felt like at the time. But why? Terry drugged her with something but now she finds herself here.

April manages to turn over and lie on her back, but she feels exhausted from this one simple movement. She looks up at the dark, starry sky above her and all of a sudden, her headache returns: the same one she had when she first came to this Island. April rubs her eyes, trying to remember if anything was said to her before Max suddenly pulled her back.

You can stop this from happening. That was what Max said. It is the last thing she can remember before everything completely blacked out. But what did Max mean by that? She can stop what from happening exactly how? Once again April is left with some job to complete with very little information about what it is. Is there even anything that needs to be completed?

What the fuck is going on? April silently screams as angry tears sting her eyes. What do they want her to do? Okay so everything on the Island is falling apart due to the arrivals of the aliens. Chaos has erupted everywhere, but why is she here? What was that bright green liquid Terry injected into her veins?

April clamps her hands over her eyes, stopping the angry, hot tears from pouring out. She remains there for a long time before she starts to hear something in the near distance. The sound of shouts and people fighting.

Removing her hands from her eyes, April lets out an audible groan and props herself up on her elbows. All she can see in the darkness is a stretch of grass all around her. The stars hang in the sky, yet there is no moon to light the ground below. Eventually her eyes adjust to the darkness and she can see outline shapes of pine trees somewhere in the distance. Pine trees that look just like the ones that make up the woods on this Island.

Suddenly, a cold hand grips onto April's arm and hauls her up on to her feet. April panics, but before she has the chance to scream, or save herself, the panic vanishes instantly, for it is only Jason there with her. He is trying to shush her, but April's emotions go from relief to panic exceedingly quickly. What happens if he is going to gag her and inject her again? Is she being deluded?

Jason does his best to shush April, as she panics. He eventually holds her in his arms. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just listen to me," he then holds her at arm length. "We need to find cover." He warns. His voice is not as light and cheerful as it always is, but low and stern.

April scowls harshly. "What is going on?"

Jason sighs. "I'll explain once we get cover. Just believe me when I say that we cannot be seen under any circumstances," he glances over April's shoulder and his eyes suddenly widen in horror. "Duck!"

Jason and April immediately fall down to the grass just as a bright green bullet flies over their heads and destroys a tree somewhere in the distance. That is when April can hear voices she recognises. Orders shouted by Aaron Brimikawood as he leads his team away from the Sontarans advancing on them.

April looks back and sees the shadows of Aaron, Martha, Alic, Rex, Sarah-Jane, Ireen and her father, Declan Hollerford. April looks at her parallel father in the distance shooting at the Sontarans, horror struck. She barely registers that Will is not there with them.

"April, we need to move!" Jason hisses.

April nods and scrambles to her feet. She follows Jason as they run further away from the fight behind them. They find a small area in the field around them that is filled with trees and bushes. It is a separate section away from the main woods. They weave in and out of the trees and Jason ducks behind a hedge. April does the same and for a few moments they crouch there breathing heavily, watching the fight through the hedge.

April remembers Aaron briefly mentioning a fight when they first arrived to the Island. But that happened days ago. Her mind suddenly clouds over with confusion, not wanting to admit the truth she already knows.

They both suddenly hold onto their breaths as two Sontarans step very close to the hedge they are hiding behind. It is lucky that they are completely shadowed in darkness from the trees, but April is seriously regretting the choice of wearing her bright red t-shirt. Not only is it the same top she wore in her nightmare, but it is also not the best form of camouflage. Jason gets away with it as UNIT's battle uniform is specifically tailored to be camouflaged with anything.

"There is no sign of the Time Lord," one of the Sontarans says to the other. "I cannot smell him. It is believed that if the Doctor is not here then the twins will not be here either."

The other Sontaran grumbles something incoherent as he removes his helmet, revealing his brown, egg-shaped head. "Then we are going to have to keep hidden until he comes. These peasants on this Island will only cause havoc. They are stupid and will probably cause a war if we show our faces. We'll just have to keep a low profile before the fight for the Cytracik starts."

"How long have we got till we can get it?"

The second Sontaran hesitates. "A little over a week. I think. Maybe two weeks. I'm not sure. But what does it matter? I will get my hands on that Cytracik before this battle is over!"

Feeling the pins and needles in her feet, April shuffles slightly only to coincidentally to step on a twig, making it snap beneath her.

"Shh!" The second Sontaran hisses and the two aliens stand there in silence, looking around their surroundings suspiciously. "Did you hear that?"

"I certainly heard something." The first Sontaran replies in a whisper.

"I bet it's one of those UNIT soldiers hiding from us," the Sontaran turns and suddenly yells. "Come on you lot! Show yourselves!"

Picking up the nearest stone he can find, Jason holds it firmly in his hand before throwing it to the Sontarans, hitting the first one on the back of its head.

"What was that?!" The Sontaran shouts, holding his gun at aim.

Picking up another stone, Jason throws it away from them, hearing the loud crack as it smacks against a tree trunk in the distance.

"After them!" The second Sontaran yells and the two aliens rush away, trying to follow the sound of the stone.

Jason and April remain crouching behind the bush, watching the two Sontarans running away through the trees in the darkness. They wait until the alien voices are far into the distance before they start moving away. They silently and swiftly make their way through the trees, getting further and further away from the aliens. When they are at a safe distance away from the Sontarans and the fight, Jason holds onto April's shoulders tightly and pushes her firmly against a tree trunk.

"What was the last thing that was said to you before you woke up here?" Jason snaps.

Completely taken back by Jason's sudden anger – something she has never seen in him before – April stumbles over her words in a panic. "I don't remember! We were trying to blend in the crowd before they turned against me!"

"They?"

"My brother..." April's voice quivers.

"What did they say, April?" Jason urges, squeezing her shoulders tighter.

"Jason, you're hurting me!"

"April, we have just over five days to sort this shit out, so stop being scared! I'm sorry I have to be blunt but with the amount of things you have been trusted to do again we have very little time."

April's scowl becomes harsher. "They said that they trust me to do this."

"Anything else?" Jason asks, raising his eyebrows.

"No." April replies curtly.

For a long moment Jason looks at April before his face softens. The anger that was in him seconds ago is now being released. Taking in a deep breath, Jason lets go of April and runs both his hands through his black, bouncy hair.

"The thing is," Jason says, sounding like he is out of breath. "We have been taken back in time five days."

April's scowl deepens.

"You only arrived here two days ago and we were already at this Island a week before you came," Jason breathes out heavily. "We have five days to calm everything down."

"Calm everything down to what?" April snaps.

"We are to make the citizens of this Island believe that the Day of Destruction is running perfectly as normal. We are to erase all fear of the aliens arriving. We have to keep things low. We have to keep the Battle of the Cytracik within that woods."

April stares at Jason. "So you and I have been taken back in time to try and keep the arrival of the aliens quiet from the citizens here and try to push everything to the woods?"

Jason looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "More or less."

April folds her arms and studies Jason for a little while longer. "They don't ask for much, do they?"

Jason laughs. "I volunteered to go back in time with you. Jack Gruntler advised that you have to be the one to stop this. The rest are still in the present moment doing their best, but it is down to us. To you, I guess. It is your nightmare."

"How about we volunteer for the Day of Destruction?" April suggests. "Rodger Barratt's party is yet to happen. We must have time to perhaps jump in on the band wagon. I could take Morgarn's place and you could take..." April pauses as she suddenly remembers the young man who died on the table in the barn.

Joshua is alive again. And they have the chance to save his life.

April looks down to the ground and nods her head in acceptance. The Doctor and the others are in the present moment trying to deal with the chaos on the Island. But it is up to them to stop that chaos from happening. And they only have five days to do it.

"Are you okay?" Jason asks softly, trying to look April in the eye but she keeps her focus down.

"I'm fine." April replies as she nods her head. However Jason knows that she does not mean it.

Sighing, Jason pulls April into an embrace. They stand there in the shadows of the trees, holding onto each other tightly. The leaves of the trees and the bushes rustle in the wind and the sound of the fight between UNIT and the Sontarans can be heard somewhere in the distance. Jason rocks her gently from side to side.

"I'm sorry. It's okay to not be okay," he whispers. "We can get through this."

"But where do we start?" April mumbles as she wriggles out of Jason's arms.

For a moment Jason looks thoughtful. "Well there's two options," he says, his voice slowly going back to its usual cheerful tone. "We could follow the guys or we could make our way to the festival."

"What did UNIT do with those aliens?"

"I'm not too sure," Jason says, frowning. "I would already be at the Lighthouse by now..." Jason hesitates for a moment, his frown becoming harsher. April recognises the twinkle in his eyes as he suddenly remembers something. "We'd better try to find the others."

Without another word, April starts to follow Jason as they crouch low to the ground, running through the shadows of the trees and the bushes. They run for a while and once they find themselves at the edge of the line of trees, Jason and April scan the area around them. Their eyes have adjusted quite a bit to the darkness, it is a lit easier for them to see their surroundings.

The coast seems clear.

On Jason's command, they start running silently across the field, following the sound of the fight between the Sontarans and the rest of UNIT.

The icy air around them bite at their cheeks as they run, but neither stop, wanting to get as close to UNIT as they can, but still not being seen.

But that is when they hear it. A loud howl. A howl from some very large dog somewhere in the distance. For a moment, April and Jason halt, standing to attention as they listen to the howling. At first there is one, but soon it is very clear that there is more that one wild animal out on this Island.

"I thought we are just fighting against aliens for the Cytracik." Jason says aloud as they stare ahead into the gloom before them.

"Well I suppose the people here have to source their food from somewhere." April mutters in response.

Suddenly they both jump in fright at the sound of rustling leaves behind them.

Jason takes hold of April's shoulders and starts pulling her away from the rustling leaves. "We'd better find cover. We can't afford to be caught."

With that April and Jason start to run across the field, jumping over a low wooden fence and into the next. The field slopes downwards over a small hill and down below, they can see the rest of UNIT fighting against the Sontarans. And for the first time since she's known them, UNIT looks the weaker side in the fight.

Then April's breath suddenly catches in her throat when she notices a dozen pairs of yellow eyes emerging from the darkness. Soon enough the bodies of large grey and some brown werewolves appear. Thinking more of her friend's safety, April makes a move to run towards them, but Jason grips onto her forearm tightly and pulls her down onto the grass.

"Jason, they're going to be ambushed by a gang of werewolves! You can't expect me to stay here and watch them attack my friends!" April shouts.

"Yes but we mustn't be seen! You've been time travelling with the Doctor. Surely you must know this?" When April does not give him a response other than narrowing her eyes, Jason pulls her along the outskirts of the field, still keeping an eye on the fight with the Sontarans. They hide behind a haystack and wait there for a moment. "April, remember that we have one shot to do this right. Do you remember that Sontaran saying that they know the Doctor and yourself haven't arrived here yet? At this precise moment, Aaron thinks the same thing. My past self is under cover in the Black Lighthouse, I can't just show myself up now. If you suddenly force yourself into that fight now, everyone will think you have lost your mind or something. And then the future will be worse than it already is. You know how serious time travel can be. Besides you know they all come out this this small fight alive. That's not changing unless you jumped in."

"But I don't get exactly what it is we are supposed to be stopping. How do we make the alien's arrival more subtle?" April hisses.

Jason shrugs. "Aaron told me that the attack was a rather vicious one from the werewolves. The littlest changes may help us," Jason glances sideways to April. "And there are other ways to help them other than showing your face."

"Okay, so at this point you are already in the Back Lighthouse while the other's are...?"

"Will is already off with the volunteers and the rest are slowly trying to make their way to Heat Miles. I guess between now and then we have to volunteer for the Day of Destruction and help UNIT as and when we can."

April sighs. "You still want to be part of the Day of Destruction?"

Jason looks to April for a moment. "As long as you are happy to."

April rises up on her knees and peers over the haystack just in time to see Alic being the first to notice the werewolves.

"What in hell's name are those?" One of the Sontarans shouts.

One of the werewolves in the middle of the group throws its head backwards and lets out a loud howl. Then they start charging towards the fight.

"Stop them," April says sternly, panic rising inside her. "Jason, they can't do this."

"What do you expect me to do? I have a gun but that'll just blow our cover."

"How many weapons have you got?" April asks.

Jason hesitates. "Another gun for you and a knife each."

"That'll do."

Without further ado, April cups her hands around her mouth and howls loudly. Her voice echoes across the field, silencing everyone.

"April what are you doing?!" Jason hisses as he pulls her down.

"Saving their lives, that's what!" April howls one more time before peering over the top of the haystack. All wolves stand to attention, their ears peer backwards as they look directly in their direction. UNIT and the Sontarans look around their surroundings as if preparing for more werewolves to come their way.

Suddenly the pack leader starts running in April's and Jason's direction and the rest follow, ignoring UNIT completely. Panicking, Jason grabs onto April's shoulder and pulls her backwards.

"Great now we're going to be their dinner." Jason splutters, stumbling over his words.

"Yeah I guess that was the plan. Give me my gun."

Jason does so, pulling out their weapons from his belt and passing April's to her.

"Now run!" April snaps and they both start running just as one of the werewolves jumps over the haystack. April and Jason sprint as fast as they can across the field with the werewolves hot on their heels. It isn't until April knows that they are completely out of eyeshot from UNIT and the Sontarans that she turns and shoots the wolf behind her, seconds before it can snap its jaw around her legs.

The wolf falls backwards as the bullets to the gun hits its shoulder. April pauses for a moment, watching the way the wolf stands there, lowing its head as if bowing. But then April notices the way the wounds on its shoulder suddenly heals. And she quickly realises that these are no ordinary werewolves. These werewolves have been created by Heat Miles.

April stumbles over her feet as she walks backwards, her gun in one hand and the knife in the other. She watches the werewolf fix itself.

The wolf shudders, as if shaking a spider out of its fur, before it's yellow eyes locks onto April's. The wolf snarls before leaping its way straight to April.

April lets out a scream and in a panic, shoots sporadically at the wolf. To her luck, the first bullet strikes the wolf directly in its heart and with a yelp, the wolf falls to the grass and dies within seconds. For a moment the dead body of the wolf remains there but soon enough it starts to disintegrate. It disintegrates just the way planet Zorlorn did when they were first taken to the Dalek spaceship, slowly and then all at once. Soon enough there is no trace of the wolf. No dent in the grass or splatter of blood. It is as if it was never there in the first place.

April looks over to Jason who is fighting off two wolfs. She shoots one, letting it fall back and halt to wait for its wounds to recover.

"Jason they're not real werewolves. They're Heat Miles mutations. We need to keep running!" April shouts.

Jason kicks the other wolf away from him and they start running in no particular direction. But they just run. They run through field after field, clambering over wooden fences that the wolves easily jump over without any hassle.

April's throat burns as the cold enters her body but she pushes on. She is not going to let this mission fail because of some man-made pack of wolves.

Soon in the distance, April can see the appearance of hundreds of pine trees creating a large woods, perhaps a forest. To the right of the woods is a long wooden fence and through the darkness, she can see the shapes of all the stalls from the festival.

They are approaching the out-of-bounds woods.

April picks up her speed and so does Jason, wanting to get closer and closer to the festival.

The shadows of the stalls loom over them like giants, and the silence of this area sends chills down April's spine. But soon her legs can no longer carry her and before she knows it, her knees buckle under her and she falls down to the ground, just before they reach the woods.

"April, come on!" Jason breathes heavily as he helps April back up onto her feet.

But soon their attention is quickly drawn to the wolves who are no longer chasing after them. The wolves whine as they look longingly at the woods behind April and Jason, and they back away. Then the wolf pack leader starts to run back in the direction they have just come from.

For a long moment, Jason and April stare after the wolves in shock. So even the man-made animals here aren't even allowed entrance to the woods.

"I'm guessing that's the out-of-bounds woods behind us then?" Jason asks, still breathing heavily.

April nods in response.

"Think we should check it out." Jason turns away and heads towards the woods.

For a moment, April rests her hands on her knees and she tries to control her breathing. But then that is when she hears it. The buzzing sound of the forcefield around the woods. And Jason is unaware.

"No wait, Jason, don't!" April screams.

There is a sudden electrical charge that runs over the whole dome-shaped forcefield around the woods, just as Jason makes contact.

It is the last thing April remembers before the weight of Jason's body is thrown on top of her.