The Orchard - Chapter 3
Title: The Orchard
Summary: A bad day, a bad meal, something is rotten down there... set during the 4th season.
Word Count: 2640
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, nor SGA. Just writing for fun.
Chapter 3
As they ran toward the edge of the swamp, Sheppard cast a look above his shoulder and felt a surge of fear tightening his gut. The outpost was no longer visible, concealed by the downpour while the lake, agitated as if a hurricane had just hit, gave the disturbing impression that it boiled.
"Move!" he cried, just as a violent gust of wind lifted up a wall of sand on the beach.
His heart beating wildly, Sheppard joined the others in the swamp, hoping that the high weeds there would offer some protection against the tremendous forces that had suddenly struck the moon.
They kept on running, as fast as they could, ignoring the stinging pain of the weeds lashing their faces and arms. Each time one of them sank into a mud hole and lost his balance, the follower extracted him from his predicament and with a tap on the shoulder, ordered him to go on without looking back.
Suddenly, a roar reverberated just above them. Sheppard cast a look above his head. Thank God! he sighed at the sight of the smooth underside of a jumper less than two meters above him. But his relief was short lived. Without warning, the Jumper suddenly gained altitude. The blast from the thrusters threw them all to the ground.
"Lorne!" Sheppard yelled, raising his head in time to see the Jumper taking a sharp turn on the left and flying away at full speed.
"We're... here... dammit!" McKay cried out, out of breath. His wide eyes expressed a mix of indignation and fear.
John was helping Teyla to her feet when a lightning bolt struck not far away. They all turned their heads toward the site of impact, expecting to see a column of smoke rising into the air. But what they saw chilled their blood. An opalescent curtain of rain was heading toward them, fast. And a few seconds later, it fell down on them with the strength of the blade of an executioner, transforming the swamp into a dangerous pool of mud.
Sheppard grabbed McKay by the collar and pushed him forward. "Keep running McKay!" he told him, opening their way to lead them in as much a straight line toward the forest.
Without stopping or turning to look back, they ran for ten long minutes. But their progress became increasingly difficult as the dirty waters rose above their ankles, and soon, above their knees. Their path, more and more treacherous as the visibility shortened to nil, was stubbornly dark despite the use of their P90s' flashlights.
After twenty long minutes, Sheppard was feeling on the edge of a complete freak-out when suddenly, the rain and the water on the ground vanished. Caught by his effort to move on difficult ground, he almost fell down but managed to keep his balance - until something heavy bumped into his back and sent him flying head first.
"What the hell are you doing? Could you give a warning for God's sake!" McKay barked as Sheppard made him roll away from his back. McKay's P90 flashlight beam cut a semi-circle above his head and revealed an entanglement of branches and creepers. Lying on the ground, Sheppard's light chased the darkness that concealed an irregular underbrush invaded by ferns and other shrubs, roots and rocks formations.
Standing on his knees in the middle of a puddle created by his soaked clothes, John rubbed his face with the back of his hands and spit out the dirt that had found its way in his mouth. "Is everybody okay?" he asked, when Teyla and Ronon appeared.
"Ouch! I'm sure I have a cracked rib, I can't-"
"McKay! I cushioned your fall," he said, straightening his back and right shoulder, before directing the beam of his flashlight all around him. It was completely dark now. The air was colder, drier too and that felt good.
"I think we're safe here. At least, for now," Sheppard added.
"Thank God..." McKay muttered, removing his backpack before rolling on his back.
"Now you'll run with us at least one morning a week. That's a definite order Rodney."
This latter lifted his head from the moss covered ground in panic.
"What? You wanna kill me or what? How am I supposed to-"
"Relax," Sheppard cut. "And notice that you still have enough oxygen in your lungs to talk. So it's just a psychological gap to jump. You'll survive."
"Uh?" McKay moaned, biting his lips so as not to utter another word. It would only compromise him further.
"At least, we've reached the forest this time," Teyla said with relief.
McKay lifted his head again and stared around him with excitement. "The forest?" he repeated, before standing up and taking the LSD out from his tactical vest pocket. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon touching the silver liquid with the tips of his fingers. "I've never seen rain behaving like that before," the Satedan said, frowning.
"Neither have I," Teyla added.
Sheppard lifted his eyes toward them and winced.
"It looks like the event horizon of the Gate but... in grey."
"Yeah, I admit it's strange but it doesn't emit any kind of energy whatsoever while I have a perfectly good reading in this direction," McKay said, his finger pointing slightly on their right, his gaze still focused on the screen.
"I don't like this. We have no idea of how bad it is in the swamp now, even less if the Gate is accessible," Sheppard said.
Exchanging a tense gaze with Ronon and Teyla, he took out his radio.
"Lorne? This is Sheppard, come in."
But only static answered him.
"Useless! Too much radiation in the atmosphere," Rodney said, careful not to say it with a condescending tone.
Despite the statement, Sheppard changed the frequency and tried again. Without success. After several more attempts, he let out an angry growl and put back his radio in his pocket.
"Look, the source of energy is just four kilometers away. It's a one hour walk distance at most, no big deal," McKay said a bit harshly, hopping up and down with impatience.
Sheppard raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"No big deal, uh?" he repeated, hiding a smirk.
"Oh! Did I say that out loud?"
"No big deal, Rodney, just lead the way," he replied, patting his friend on the shoulder.
oOo
Two and a half hours later, Rodney stuck his fist up into the air for the fourth time in less than fifteen minutes.
"Now what?" Sheppard asked, tired.
"The energy source is on our left? Two kilometers away..." Rodney exclaimed.
Sheppard sighed. "I have had enough of this," he growled before sitting down on the ground between the moss covered roots of a tree as large as a sequoia. "Let's take a break," he added as he leant the back of his head against the trunk.
Not waiting to be told twice, Rodney sat on a rock next to him and quickly retrieved a food ration in his backpack.
"Are you feeling okay John?" Teyla asked, worried to see him pinching the bridge of his nose and wince in pain.
Sheppard was about to reply when something fell down on his right shoulder. Flinching, he automatically waved whatever had fallen with a quick move of his hand. "I'm fine," he sighed, noticing with relief that it was only a few leaves. However, feeling a bit nervous, he directed the beam of his P90 flashlight toward the canopy. Following his gaze, Teyla imitated his move.
A branch was moving about four meters above them.
"As there is no wind, I guess we have some company here," Sheppard said, slowly standing up and removing the security on his weapon.
"What? What's going on?" Rodney cried out when he heard Ronon's weapon loading itself, a ration of Salisbury beef already opened on his knees.
"Quiet," Sheppard whispered, clenching his hand into a fist.
More leaves fell toward the ground. Suddenly, the branch moved with force as if something had jumped on it, or from it. Ronon fired.
As a whirlwind of twigs and shredded leaves fell down, the sound of something scrapping fast along the trunk sounded. Ronon aimed the base of the tree and was about to fire again when two small yellow dots appeared.
"Wait!" Rodney cried, his eyes wide opened, he stared at the fury little head with pointed ears that had just appeared. "It's a cat!" he said, excited. "Just a bit bigger than its Earthling cousins!"
The beast emitted a faint growl and rubbed its side against the rough bark. Although it seemed more curious than about to throw itself at their throats, Ronon did not lower his weapon.
Rodney approached slowly toward it with a piece of powerbar in his palm.
"McKay! Don't do that!" Sheppard cried out, looking at the cat-like beast opening its mouth, revealing four very sharp canine teeth.
"C'mon, Sheppard, it's just a hungry little stomach here," Rodney replied in rolling his eyes.
"The question is: is it looking at your meal or considering you as a meal?"
"It's a cat, Sheppard. Meow. A cat!" Rodney said before stepping closer, half bent. "Hey little one, come and show uncle John that you're not a critter!"
Teyla and Ronon exchanged a confused look.
"What exactly is a critter?" Teyla asked.
John shook his head and sighed. "You don't wanna know, believe me."
"It's still not a good idea to nourish it," Ronon muttered, drawing back his weapon.
Rodney turned his eyes toward him. "Why? Is it past midnight already?" he exclaimed with a panicked voice, checking nervously his watch.
Sheppard chuckled.
"If it transforms into a nasty monster, I'll shoot you myself McKay," he said, sitting down again. Completely drained, he closed his eyes to take a little rest. Just a little, he thought. But he barely heard McKay replying:
"As if it were something you hadn't done already."
Shrugging his shoulders, Rodney took the animal on his knees and stroked its head, just between its tiny pointed ears. The cat immediately cuddled up against him.
Still uncertain how to interpret their dialogue, Ronon and Teyla looked at each other when they heard a slight snore escaping from Sheppard's half opened lips. Guessing that this was again a movie reference, they finally relaxed and sat down next to their team mates.
oOo
A roar echoed, loud and sinister in the darkness.
Sheppard automatically raised his fist and illuminated the bush just in front of him.
"Have you seen something?" McKay suddenly whispered in his ear. As if a mosquito had bitten him, Sheppard waved his friend away.
"Shut up McKay," he growled just as another, ominous roar sounded.
"Oh we're so dead... that's my fault, I shouldn't have-"
"We will be if you don't stop moaning," Sheppard started to say but his voice died in his throat when he felt warm breath on his neck. Something fell down on his shoulder with a splashing sound. He touched it from the end of his fingers and took a closer look at it. It was a thick, whitish sticky substance, looking disturbingly close to slime.
A feral fear immediately crushed his guts and made his heart rate jump. Feeling his knees shaking, he tightened his grasp on his P90 and suddenly threw himself forward into a spiral fall so he would face it and have a chance to fire. Too late! His mind screamed with dread as he saw shining sharp claws digging into the air toward his abdomen.
"WOW! Sheppard you're okay?"
Short breathed, John opened wide eyes.
Next to him, Teyla stirred out of sleep. "What's going on? John?" she asked, perplexed to see John aiming at Ronon, fingers clenched on his P90 trigger.
"Easy my friend, easy," the Satedan said, slowly pushing the P90's barrel toward the ground. "That must have been quite a nightmare. Wanna talk about it?"
Feeling his heart beating wild in his chest, John clenched his jaw at the proposal. "Er... not really," he winced, thinking that if McKay heard that he had almost shot Ronon because he thought he was an alien, he would never hear the end of it.
Still shaking slightly from the vivid nightmare, he leant his head back against the trunk and tried to close his eyes. But it took him quite a bit of effort to keep his eyelids closed.
Damn it! he swore, as he opened them, feeling even more exhausted than before the little nap. He had reached the physiological state were only a sleeping pill would allow him to get the needed rest.
"Where's Rodney?" Teyla asked, worry filtering into her voice.
John turned his head to his left, toward the moss covered rock McKay had been sitting upon and frowned. Rodney's backpack was on the ground, half opened, but his friend was nowhere to be seen.
"He was still there a minute ago," Ronon growled. "In fact, he's the one who told me to wake you up. Your hand was moving a bit too closely to your weapon for his comfort and he was afraid that you would shoot all of us in a delirium-driven exhaustion."
"What? I'd never- " -do that... Sheppard replied before remembering the time when he had shot Rodney under the influence of the Wraith mind control device. "His food supply's still there, he shouldn't be too far away," he added, not knowing exactly if this was a reassuring or a worrying fact.
"Rodney?" Teyla cried, lightening the darkness with her P90 flashlight.
But when her call got no answer, Sheppard turned on his radio.
"McKay, come in?"
But as with Lorne a few hours sooner, only static answered him.
Annoyed, he took his LSD out of his tac vest's left pocket. A single dot appeared, less than two hundred meters on their right, moving away from their little camp.
"Well, that must be him," he muttered, knowing that Rodney could have just discovered something on his LSD and chosen to investigate it. But he also knew that when Rodney had his mind focused on something, he could as well be walking into a time dilation field. At least he had his P90 with him.
"I'd better go fetch him before he loses himself," Sheppard said, standing up. "Stay here in case Lorne's heading toward our position. I won't be long."
Ronon and Teyla nodded gravely, both thinking that it was indeed not the moment to move nor to get separated. What the hell McKay had been thinking?
Sheppard had not covered fifty meters when the tracker flickered on and off several times. Crap, what's going on?, he swore when the screen completely shutdown. Trying not to think too much about his most recent nightmare, he stopped and inspected the surrounding shadows with the beam of his flashlight, checking for yellow eyes glowing in the bushes, claws scrapping more trunks. But it was quiet. Now without having a clear heading, he considered the walk back to their camp with annoyance.
The LSD came back on. Sheppard frowned when he discovered that McKay's signal was just thirty meters in front of him. What could have prompted him to move so fast? he wondered.
"McKay?" he shouted, tightening his grip on his weapon. Cautiously, he stepped forward when several bursts echoed . Behind him. Now on full alert, John removed the safety on his P90 and rushed back toward Ronon and Teyla, ready to engage a potential enemy.
He had almost arrived at his destination when a discharge from Ronon's weapon missed his head by a hair's breadth and forced him to throw himself down to take cover. But he was not quick enough. A second shot took him right into the left shoulder and sent him flying into a bush invaded by prickly creepers.
Summary: A bad day, a bad meal, something is rotten down there... set during the 4th season.
Word Count: 2640
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, nor SGA. Just writing for fun.
Chapter 3
As they ran toward the edge of the swamp, Sheppard cast a look above his shoulder and felt a surge of fear tightening his gut. The outpost was no longer visible, concealed by the downpour while the lake, agitated as if a hurricane had just hit, gave the disturbing impression that it boiled.
"Move!" he cried, just as a violent gust of wind lifted up a wall of sand on the beach.
His heart beating wildly, Sheppard joined the others in the swamp, hoping that the high weeds there would offer some protection against the tremendous forces that had suddenly struck the moon.
They kept on running, as fast as they could, ignoring the stinging pain of the weeds lashing their faces and arms. Each time one of them sank into a mud hole and lost his balance, the follower extracted him from his predicament and with a tap on the shoulder, ordered him to go on without looking back.
Suddenly, a roar reverberated just above them. Sheppard cast a look above his head. Thank God! he sighed at the sight of the smooth underside of a jumper less than two meters above him. But his relief was short lived. Without warning, the Jumper suddenly gained altitude. The blast from the thrusters threw them all to the ground.
"Lorne!" Sheppard yelled, raising his head in time to see the Jumper taking a sharp turn on the left and flying away at full speed.
"We're... here... dammit!" McKay cried out, out of breath. His wide eyes expressed a mix of indignation and fear.
John was helping Teyla to her feet when a lightning bolt struck not far away. They all turned their heads toward the site of impact, expecting to see a column of smoke rising into the air. But what they saw chilled their blood. An opalescent curtain of rain was heading toward them, fast. And a few seconds later, it fell down on them with the strength of the blade of an executioner, transforming the swamp into a dangerous pool of mud.
Sheppard grabbed McKay by the collar and pushed him forward. "Keep running McKay!" he told him, opening their way to lead them in as much a straight line toward the forest.
Without stopping or turning to look back, they ran for ten long minutes. But their progress became increasingly difficult as the dirty waters rose above their ankles, and soon, above their knees. Their path, more and more treacherous as the visibility shortened to nil, was stubbornly dark despite the use of their P90s' flashlights.
After twenty long minutes, Sheppard was feeling on the edge of a complete freak-out when suddenly, the rain and the water on the ground vanished. Caught by his effort to move on difficult ground, he almost fell down but managed to keep his balance - until something heavy bumped into his back and sent him flying head first.
"What the hell are you doing? Could you give a warning for God's sake!" McKay barked as Sheppard made him roll away from his back. McKay's P90 flashlight beam cut a semi-circle above his head and revealed an entanglement of branches and creepers. Lying on the ground, Sheppard's light chased the darkness that concealed an irregular underbrush invaded by ferns and other shrubs, roots and rocks formations.
Standing on his knees in the middle of a puddle created by his soaked clothes, John rubbed his face with the back of his hands and spit out the dirt that had found its way in his mouth. "Is everybody okay?" he asked, when Teyla and Ronon appeared.
"Ouch! I'm sure I have a cracked rib, I can't-"
"McKay! I cushioned your fall," he said, straightening his back and right shoulder, before directing the beam of his flashlight all around him. It was completely dark now. The air was colder, drier too and that felt good.
"I think we're safe here. At least, for now," Sheppard added.
"Thank God..." McKay muttered, removing his backpack before rolling on his back.
"Now you'll run with us at least one morning a week. That's a definite order Rodney."
This latter lifted his head from the moss covered ground in panic.
"What? You wanna kill me or what? How am I supposed to-"
"Relax," Sheppard cut. "And notice that you still have enough oxygen in your lungs to talk. So it's just a psychological gap to jump. You'll survive."
"Uh?" McKay moaned, biting his lips so as not to utter another word. It would only compromise him further.
"At least, we've reached the forest this time," Teyla said with relief.
McKay lifted his head again and stared around him with excitement. "The forest?" he repeated, before standing up and taking the LSD out from his tactical vest pocket. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon touching the silver liquid with the tips of his fingers. "I've never seen rain behaving like that before," the Satedan said, frowning.
"Neither have I," Teyla added.
Sheppard lifted his eyes toward them and winced.
"It looks like the event horizon of the Gate but... in grey."
"Yeah, I admit it's strange but it doesn't emit any kind of energy whatsoever while I have a perfectly good reading in this direction," McKay said, his finger pointing slightly on their right, his gaze still focused on the screen.
"I don't like this. We have no idea of how bad it is in the swamp now, even less if the Gate is accessible," Sheppard said.
Exchanging a tense gaze with Ronon and Teyla, he took out his radio.
"Lorne? This is Sheppard, come in."
But only static answered him.
"Useless! Too much radiation in the atmosphere," Rodney said, careful not to say it with a condescending tone.
Despite the statement, Sheppard changed the frequency and tried again. Without success. After several more attempts, he let out an angry growl and put back his radio in his pocket.
"Look, the source of energy is just four kilometers away. It's a one hour walk distance at most, no big deal," McKay said a bit harshly, hopping up and down with impatience.
Sheppard raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"No big deal, uh?" he repeated, hiding a smirk.
"Oh! Did I say that out loud?"
"No big deal, Rodney, just lead the way," he replied, patting his friend on the shoulder.
oOo
Two and a half hours later, Rodney stuck his fist up into the air for the fourth time in less than fifteen minutes.
"Now what?" Sheppard asked, tired.
"The energy source is on our left? Two kilometers away..." Rodney exclaimed.
Sheppard sighed. "I have had enough of this," he growled before sitting down on the ground between the moss covered roots of a tree as large as a sequoia. "Let's take a break," he added as he leant the back of his head against the trunk.
Not waiting to be told twice, Rodney sat on a rock next to him and quickly retrieved a food ration in his backpack.
"Are you feeling okay John?" Teyla asked, worried to see him pinching the bridge of his nose and wince in pain.
Sheppard was about to reply when something fell down on his right shoulder. Flinching, he automatically waved whatever had fallen with a quick move of his hand. "I'm fine," he sighed, noticing with relief that it was only a few leaves. However, feeling a bit nervous, he directed the beam of his P90 flashlight toward the canopy. Following his gaze, Teyla imitated his move.
A branch was moving about four meters above them.
"As there is no wind, I guess we have some company here," Sheppard said, slowly standing up and removing the security on his weapon.
"What? What's going on?" Rodney cried out when he heard Ronon's weapon loading itself, a ration of Salisbury beef already opened on his knees.
"Quiet," Sheppard whispered, clenching his hand into a fist.
More leaves fell toward the ground. Suddenly, the branch moved with force as if something had jumped on it, or from it. Ronon fired.
As a whirlwind of twigs and shredded leaves fell down, the sound of something scrapping fast along the trunk sounded. Ronon aimed the base of the tree and was about to fire again when two small yellow dots appeared.
"Wait!" Rodney cried, his eyes wide opened, he stared at the fury little head with pointed ears that had just appeared. "It's a cat!" he said, excited. "Just a bit bigger than its Earthling cousins!"
The beast emitted a faint growl and rubbed its side against the rough bark. Although it seemed more curious than about to throw itself at their throats, Ronon did not lower his weapon.
Rodney approached slowly toward it with a piece of powerbar in his palm.
"McKay! Don't do that!" Sheppard cried out, looking at the cat-like beast opening its mouth, revealing four very sharp canine teeth.
"C'mon, Sheppard, it's just a hungry little stomach here," Rodney replied in rolling his eyes.
"The question is: is it looking at your meal or considering you as a meal?"
"It's a cat, Sheppard. Meow. A cat!" Rodney said before stepping closer, half bent. "Hey little one, come and show uncle John that you're not a critter!"
Teyla and Ronon exchanged a confused look.
"What exactly is a critter?" Teyla asked.
John shook his head and sighed. "You don't wanna know, believe me."
"It's still not a good idea to nourish it," Ronon muttered, drawing back his weapon.
Rodney turned his eyes toward him. "Why? Is it past midnight already?" he exclaimed with a panicked voice, checking nervously his watch.
Sheppard chuckled.
"If it transforms into a nasty monster, I'll shoot you myself McKay," he said, sitting down again. Completely drained, he closed his eyes to take a little rest. Just a little, he thought. But he barely heard McKay replying:
"As if it were something you hadn't done already."
Shrugging his shoulders, Rodney took the animal on his knees and stroked its head, just between its tiny pointed ears. The cat immediately cuddled up against him.
Still uncertain how to interpret their dialogue, Ronon and Teyla looked at each other when they heard a slight snore escaping from Sheppard's half opened lips. Guessing that this was again a movie reference, they finally relaxed and sat down next to their team mates.
oOo
A roar echoed, loud and sinister in the darkness.
Sheppard automatically raised his fist and illuminated the bush just in front of him.
"Have you seen something?" McKay suddenly whispered in his ear. As if a mosquito had bitten him, Sheppard waved his friend away.
"Shut up McKay," he growled just as another, ominous roar sounded.
"Oh we're so dead... that's my fault, I shouldn't have-"
"We will be if you don't stop moaning," Sheppard started to say but his voice died in his throat when he felt warm breath on his neck. Something fell down on his shoulder with a splashing sound. He touched it from the end of his fingers and took a closer look at it. It was a thick, whitish sticky substance, looking disturbingly close to slime.
A feral fear immediately crushed his guts and made his heart rate jump. Feeling his knees shaking, he tightened his grasp on his P90 and suddenly threw himself forward into a spiral fall so he would face it and have a chance to fire. Too late! His mind screamed with dread as he saw shining sharp claws digging into the air toward his abdomen.
"WOW! Sheppard you're okay?"
Short breathed, John opened wide eyes.
Next to him, Teyla stirred out of sleep. "What's going on? John?" she asked, perplexed to see John aiming at Ronon, fingers clenched on his P90 trigger.
"Easy my friend, easy," the Satedan said, slowly pushing the P90's barrel toward the ground. "That must have been quite a nightmare. Wanna talk about it?"
Feeling his heart beating wild in his chest, John clenched his jaw at the proposal. "Er... not really," he winced, thinking that if McKay heard that he had almost shot Ronon because he thought he was an alien, he would never hear the end of it.
Still shaking slightly from the vivid nightmare, he leant his head back against the trunk and tried to close his eyes. But it took him quite a bit of effort to keep his eyelids closed.
Damn it! he swore, as he opened them, feeling even more exhausted than before the little nap. He had reached the physiological state were only a sleeping pill would allow him to get the needed rest.
"Where's Rodney?" Teyla asked, worry filtering into her voice.
John turned his head to his left, toward the moss covered rock McKay had been sitting upon and frowned. Rodney's backpack was on the ground, half opened, but his friend was nowhere to be seen.
"He was still there a minute ago," Ronon growled. "In fact, he's the one who told me to wake you up. Your hand was moving a bit too closely to your weapon for his comfort and he was afraid that you would shoot all of us in a delirium-driven exhaustion."
"What? I'd never- " -do that... Sheppard replied before remembering the time when he had shot Rodney under the influence of the Wraith mind control device. "His food supply's still there, he shouldn't be too far away," he added, not knowing exactly if this was a reassuring or a worrying fact.
"Rodney?" Teyla cried, lightening the darkness with her P90 flashlight.
But when her call got no answer, Sheppard turned on his radio.
"McKay, come in?"
But as with Lorne a few hours sooner, only static answered him.
Annoyed, he took his LSD out of his tac vest's left pocket. A single dot appeared, less than two hundred meters on their right, moving away from their little camp.
"Well, that must be him," he muttered, knowing that Rodney could have just discovered something on his LSD and chosen to investigate it. But he also knew that when Rodney had his mind focused on something, he could as well be walking into a time dilation field. At least he had his P90 with him.
"I'd better go fetch him before he loses himself," Sheppard said, standing up. "Stay here in case Lorne's heading toward our position. I won't be long."
Ronon and Teyla nodded gravely, both thinking that it was indeed not the moment to move nor to get separated. What the hell McKay had been thinking?
Sheppard had not covered fifty meters when the tracker flickered on and off several times. Crap, what's going on?, he swore when the screen completely shutdown. Trying not to think too much about his most recent nightmare, he stopped and inspected the surrounding shadows with the beam of his flashlight, checking for yellow eyes glowing in the bushes, claws scrapping more trunks. But it was quiet. Now without having a clear heading, he considered the walk back to their camp with annoyance.
The LSD came back on. Sheppard frowned when he discovered that McKay's signal was just thirty meters in front of him. What could have prompted him to move so fast? he wondered.
"McKay?" he shouted, tightening his grip on his weapon. Cautiously, he stepped forward when several bursts echoed . Behind him. Now on full alert, John removed the safety on his P90 and rushed back toward Ronon and Teyla, ready to engage a potential enemy.
He had almost arrived at his destination when a discharge from Ronon's weapon missed his head by a hair's breadth and forced him to throw himself down to take cover. But he was not quick enough. A second shot took him right into the left shoulder and sent him flying into a bush invaded by prickly creepers.