The Beginning of the End (Doctor Who)

Chap. 39

The two of them are hammering in the poles, joined together by a rope across a very small stream. It moves quite quickly, though.

"Three, two, one." Manish proudly says.

"These are for the celebrations?" Yaz asks.

"Big celebrations." He nods, "Welcome to the border..."

"Exciting." You nod, kicking a bit of water.

"Manish?" Prem runs over.

"Where India ends, and our future begins." He finishes.

"Manish, what're you doing?" Prem asks.

"Yaz! Y/n!" The Doctor runs over, Graham and Ryan a bit behind her. "Hi. Quick side bar, August 1947. Partition." Your eyes widen. "The borders have just been announced."

"It's going to get bad, hm?" You curl your lips. This will be an interesting trip.

"India." Manish gestures to the side with the orange flag. "Pakistan." He holds an arm out to the side with a green flag.

"Yes." The Doctor confirms, lowering her voice. "It's not just the land that gets divided. Rioting in the cities, tens of millions of people about to be displaced, more than a million about to die."

"Doc, meanwhile, her nan's about to get married, but not to her grandad." Graham reminds her.

"You sure you got the Universe right?" You lightly ask.

"Yes!"

"I'm thinking that hour's well up now." Ryan notes.

"This is blondie. We clearly aren't leaving, she'll want to try and save all million people." You tell him.

"Fixed point, can't be altered." She points out.

Manish and Prem look beyond lost.

"You can't know the borders. It's only just been announced." Umbreen's mum comes over.

"The maps were leaked weeks ago. I got one from my sources." He darkly says.

"Your sources must be wrong, because you've just put my house in Pakistan." She points out.

"With the other Muslims. What?" He shrugs, "You get a fresh start."

"Manish, you need to slow down." Prem places a hand on his arm, which Manish shakes off.

"Pakistan is somewhere for Muslims, if  they want togo." Umbreen calmly says.

"I'm not saying you have to go, but Pakistan is being created for Muslims. Hindus have India. We both feel safe." Manish sums up.

"Don't reduce it to that, brother. It's not that simple." Prem sadly shakes his head.

"But I get you have a hard decision, if you're married." He coldly says.

"The land belongs to everyone. Has done for centuries. One day does it change that." 

"I love you, brother, but you're wrong." Manish firmly says.

"Siblings." You sigh, getting a sudden intrusion of black and white creatures, dressed in black, spiky robes.

"Look, demons!" The older woman shouts. You immediately run towards the two figures at the edge of the forest. The Doctor holds you back by an arm, scanning them. "I told you this would happen. I told you these days were cursed." She exclaims.

"They're gone." Umbreen gasps as the figures simply vanish. They resemble the images quite well.

"Not far. We'll deal with this. Come on!" The Doctor runs to the trees.