Author's Note: Thought I'd have a bit of fun with Wash and Elisabeth, give them an adventure and give poor Jim and Taylor a bit of worry time. Another already-completed, previously published on LiveJournal story. Context of the story is the same as 118 Days Later, A Phoenix By Any Other Name, and Wait, What? Disclaimer wise, I just wrote this because I enjoy writing, no copyright infringement intended, and I certainly do not own Terra Nova.
In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Damn it, Corporal, I said go. That's an order. Get that man back to the colony. They can send another team for us." As Alicia is shouting into her comm, she's firing her sonic weapon at a very pissed off carno.
The beast just destroyed the rover she and Elisabeth were in, and then it chased them through the trees. Luckily, they'd been able to grab weapons and their packs before running. They are now holed up in a cave, the massive thing roaring in frustration at its inability to reach its prey. Elisabeth is behind her, but she isn't cowering. She's crouched down, also firing a sonic weapon at the carno. Despite the situation, Alicia can't help but grin a little. Looks like she's rubbing off on her friend.
"Wash, please. Let us come get you." Mark Reynolds usually isn't one to beg, but he already feels ill at the thought of abandoning the woman he thinks of as an older sister and the woman who is set to become his mother-in-law in just a few short months.
Alicia fires at the carno again. "Mark, go. Don't make me tell you again. We'll be OK, we're in a cave less than a click to the east of our wrecked rover. You have to get Dr. Warner to Terra Nova. According to Dr. Shannon, he's stable now, but that may not hold. Just radio ahead to them and tell them where we are and that we need help. And tell Na-, tell Commander Taylor and Shannon that we're all right."
The injured scientist is why they're out here. Early this morning, they received a distress call from one of the outposts, one about four hours by rover from the colony, Outpost Seven. The outpost was manned by just two scientists, Dr. Warner, a botanist; and Dr. McCall, a biochemist. They'd been at the outpost working on ways to use some of the local flora to replicate some of the medicines they need that can no longer be gotten from the future.
Before dawn, Dr. Warner left the outpost to gather more plant samples. Usually, the area around the outpost in question isn't populated with predators, but apparently, a nyko had shown up. It attacked Dr. Warner. He somehow managed to get away and get into the outpost, barring the door, but his leg was badly injured.
The distress call came in this morning as Alicia and Nathaniel were about to leave on their usual morning perimeter walk. Guz and Mira had just shown up to watch Gracie, Alicia and Nathaniel's two-year-old. Instead of walking the perimeter, she and Nathaniel headed for communications. After getting the sit rep from the scientists, they agreed that Alicia and Reynolds would head out with two rovers. Reilly also came, as did Elisabeth Shannon, due to Dr. Warner's injuries.
They got to the outpost fine, chased off the nyko and, after taking some time to get Dr. Warner stabilized, got the two badly shaken scientists loaded into the rover with Reilly and Reynolds. Alicia and Elisabeth followed in the second rover. Alicia told Reynolds to push it on speed, as they were going to be cutting it close to get back to the colony before sunset.
Less than half an hour into the trip home, the thick trees that cover the terrain back to the outpost slowing them down, a carno, the one that now has them trapped in a cave, came at them when they emerged from the forest. It attacked her rover, so she started to fire at it out the door. That, of course, did nothing for the carno's mood. What it did do was make the damned thing focus only on them, giving Reynolds a chance to get away.
The carno came straight at their rover, and despite all attempts to get out of the way, it managed to hit them and throw the rover a decent distance away, back towards the trees. While the carno came at them, they were able to grab their respective packs and the guns stored in the rover. They made it into the thicker trees before the carno caught them, and after several minutes at a flat out run through the woods, the pounding and crashing they heard telling them that the carno was close behind them, they found the cave.
"OK, Wash, we're going. Reilly's trying to raise the colony right now. But Wash, as late as it is, even if they leave soon, they might not…"
Alicia cuts him off. "I know, Mark. We'll be all right. Now go, and be careful, kid."
"Yes, ma'am. Reynolds out." She can almost hear the salute in his voice.
Suddenly, with the voice in her ear gone, Alicia realizes that it has gotten a lot quieter. "Elisabeth, stay put." She starts easing her way towards the cave's opening, trying to see if the carno is really gone. The things are as dumb as a bag of hammers, so she's pretty sure it is. Unlike the slashers, the carnos just don't seem to have the capacity for strategy.
She peers cautiously around the edge of the cave entrance, and in the distance, she sees the carno stomping away. She lets out a sigh of relief and gives Elisabeth a wave to let her know they're in the clear.
"Alicia!"
Elisabeth's voice sounds alarmed, so Alicia turns to face her. She's coming over with a worried look on her face, already digging in her pack. "Sit down, Alicia, now."
"Elisabeth, what's wrong?"
"Look at your arm!" Elisabeth looks at her like she's insane, pointing at her left arm.
Alicia glances down, and then she blinks and laughs. "Well, shit."
Elisabeth rolls her eyes. "Alicia, I know there was an adrenaline rush, but really, that's a six-inch gash gushing blood down your arm."
Moving a little deeper back in to the cave and sitting down on the ground, Alicia snorts. "More like four, and that's not gushing. I've had blood gushing before. That's dripping."
"Seriously? You're going to argue about the rate of blood flow?" Elisabeth pulls out a suture kit, an incredulous look on her face.
"Stitches?" Alicia shakes her head. "Come on, Elisabeth. It is not deep enough for stitches. I mean, I can barely even feel that there's a cut there."
Elisabeth gives her a look that says, in no uncertain terms, that Alicia is to stop arguing. Alicia sighs, deciding that the battle isn't worth it. As Elisabeth cleans the cut with alcohol, Alicia has to hold back a hiss at the sting, making Elisabeth snicker a little. "Thought you could barely feel a cut there, Lieutenant."
Alicia just glares at Elisabeth, who goes to work putting the stitches in. After working silently for a minute, Elisabeth asks, serious now, "Mark was worried that a rescue team won't get here before nightfall, wasn't he? That's when you said 'I know' and told him to be careful."
Hesitating because she doesn't want to worry Elisabeth, Alicia eventually sighs again and says, "Yeah. I don't see how they can make it. It's going to be dark in a few hours. Even if they're already on their way, they probably can't make it here in time to find us and get us all somewhere safe for the night."
Elisabeth finishes the last stitch and takes a deep breath. "So, we just stay here all night? In this cave?"
Alicia hesitates again, making Elisabeth look even more worried. "What? Alicia, what?"
"I don't think we can stay here."
Elisabeth blinks. "Why not?"
"Because," Alicia walks back towards where they'd positioned themselves to shoot at the carno, pointing at the floor of the cave. "Something was eating in here. Eating something that used to be alive."
Elisabeth looks at what Alicia is pointing towards, and she pales. There is a pile of bones there, picked clean. Clearly, a carnivore of some sort has been spending time in here, probably another nyko, judging by the tracks.
"Between that and the fact that the carno might come back, we have to get out of here." Alicia turns back to Elisabeth and puts her hands on Elisabeth's shoulders. "How fast can you run, Elisabeth, and for how long? I need you to be honest with me."
Obviously still thinking about having to leave their little protected haven, Elisabeth swallows hard. "I run on a treadmill four days a week for forty-five minutes."
"How far do you make it in forty-five minutes?" Elisabeth gulps, and Alicia squeezes her shoulders. "This is important, Elisabeth. How far?"
"Usually around seven miles."
Alicia does the math in her head. "Wow. That's about a six-and-a-half minute mile. That's good, Elisabeth. Do you think you could keep to that pace or something reasonably close to it for ten to twelve miles?"
"What? Why? I don't know, Alicia." Elisabeth is starting to look flustered.
"Because, it's between ten and twelve miles back to the outpost. That's where we need to go. That's where we'll be the safest. But we have to get there. So, I need to know if you can do it, Elisabeth."
She shakes her head. "Alicia, I don't know. Maybe ten. Twelve would be a push at that pace."
Alicia is silent for a moment. Then, she starts to rummage in her bag, finding a large wrap bandage. She holds it out to Elisabeth, who gives her a confused look. "Wrap my arm, Elisabeth. We need to cover the smell of blood as much as we can."
As Elisabeth carefully covers the cut on Alicia's arm, Alicia can feel that her hands are shaking. She lets Elisabeth finish with the bandage, and then Alicia turns to her again. "You can do this, Liz. I can run and shoot at the same time, and all you have to do is stay on my six. I swear. You can do this."
After a beat, she nods. "OK, Alicia. You lead, and I'll keep up."
They both shoulder into their packs, and after Alicia checks that all her weapons are ready to go, she picks up the sonic rifle again. Elisabeth has the smaller sonic gun in a holster on her thigh, and she gives Alicia a game smile. "Ready?" At another nod from Elisabeth, Alicia simply says, "Run," and they take off, heading back towards Outpost Seven as quickly as they can.
As they run, Alicia silently prays that they don't run into any more predators. As she concentrates her energy on keeping moving, Alicia can't help but think about Nathaniel and Gracie. She pictures them in her mind, Nathaniel standing there holding Gracie on his hip and Gracie smiling, her light blue eyes shining and her black hair pulled back in bouncy pigtails. If only to hold her baby girl again and to feel Nathaniel's arms around them both, she'll keep running.
Terra Nova
"Son of a bitch. Get Mira, Shannon, Dunham and Carter here, now!" Nathaniel sends the young soldier manning communications out. "Reynolds, you still there?"
"Yes, sir." Reynolds' voice is clearly upset. "I'm sorry I left them, sir. Wash ordered me to leave them."
Nathaniel rubs his hand across his eyes. "Son, she was right. You just keep heading home. We're going to be heading out to meet you in the next fifteen minutes. We'll cross paths, probably in an hour and a half. When we do, I'm going to have Dunham switch places with you, so you can go back for them with us."
"Yes, sir. And thank you, sir."
"Be careful, Reynolds. See you soon. Terra Nova out." As he ends the connection with Reynolds, Nathaniel looks up to see the people he summoned come into communications. He takes less than a minute to explain the situation, a minute during which all the color drains out of Shannon's face.
"I'm going with you." Jim speaks emphatically.
"No, Shannon, you're not." When Jim starts to argue, Nathaniel holds up his hand. "I need you here for your family, Shannon, and I need you here for mine." He walks over to Jim and takes him aside. "Gracie isn't going to understand this. One of us always stays here; she's never had a night without at least one of us. But I have to go. The best people for OTG problems are me, Carter and Mira. We'll get Reynolds on the way, let Dunham and Reilly bring the scientists back."
"He left them," Jim growls.
"Because Alicia ordered him to, and she was right. She can look after Elisabeth, but that injured man needs to get back here. Don't be hard on the kid, Shannon. He's going to be your son-in-law soon, and he's a good man and a good soldier."
After a moment, Jim nods. "Is Gracie at preschool?"
"She is. Just tell her I went to get her mama, and that we'll both be back soon. And hug her for both of us, Shannon." Nathaniel's whole body is tense just thinking about Gracie being frightened. He shakes his head and steps back from Jim. He looks over at Mira, Carter and Dunham. "Mira, Carter, you OK with coming with us for this?"
They both nod without any hesitation. "Good. Everybody gear up. We leave in ten minutes."