A/N: My first SG-1 FanFic. Please be kind and constructive if you chose to comment :)
She was on fire. The blast from the attacking fighters had set the archaic village a blaze with wooden buildings crumpling and smouldering under the burning thatch. Carter saw the sleeve of her fatigues catch light as her fingers groped through the rubble for the local woman, Shana, with whom she had been speaking when the blast hit.
It was a moonless night with low clouds filling the air with a fine mist. Against the dark sky the fires stood out like beacons, their orange glow signalling the precise location of the small community to the 4 death gliders that swooped hungrily overhead. The mist and lack of air movement allowed the smoke to hang in the atmosphere in apparent suspended animation. Ash, burning embers and noxious fumes were adding to the panic of the villagers and hampering SG1's attempts to evacuate the colony.
Feeling fabric with her fingertips, and ignoring the heat that was spreading rapidly up her arm, Carter threw her body to the floor and thrust her other hand into the burning woodpile. Gripping the other woman's clothes and hauling with every muscle in her body she felt Shana's slight form move minutely under the weight of the fallen timber.
Flames singed her hair, curling the edges of her blonde locks. The smell was acrid, dangerous, and instantly lost in the billowing clouds of smoke emanating from a stricken death glider as it fell out of the sky. The vibrations of its collision with the ground shook the remaining buildings sending more burning embers into the air and timbers to the floor. Carter knew she had lost her eyebrows already and that it was a matter of seconds before she would have to save or sacrifice either herself or the woman buried in the burning ruins of her former home.
"Colonel!"
Smoke choked her lungs and the shout became little more than a cough. She cursed, mentally, her inability to summon aid and struggled to draw in another breath as spasms in her chest brought forth a fit of choking.
Somewhere above another death glider sent a cascade of blasts through the village. People screamed, Teal'c's staff weapon discharged a handful of times. Another building collapsed in slow motion, first the roof tumbled in burning segments, then the door frame and walls.
"Daniel, dial her up!" O'Neill's voiced bellowed in the distance, "Teal'c, get everyone the hell out of here!"
Carter tucked her chin down to her chest and sucked in as much smoke free air as she could. The door frame above her cracked loudly under the strain and inch long splinters launched themselves into her shoulders and the soft skin at the back of her neck. Carter felt blood begin to trickle across her collar bone.
This was her last chance.
Tightening her grip on the woman's clothes Carter dragged herself to her knees. The major heaved Shana's limp body clear of the well ignited wood pile expelling the long held breath with the exertion.
The event horizon the stargate fired brilliant blue light across the smoke filled darkness. Groups of villagers stumbled, terrified, towards the great circle of light through which they had been instructed to pass. Mothers carried children, young men steadied grandparents and the wounded were dragged by any able bodied person up the steps and through the stargate to safety.
Carter's vision blurred with the heat of the fire. Her lungs fought for air, and, almost as an observer of her own body, she realised her uniform was now burning with vicious sincerity. Now kneeling on the floor the lack of oxygen in her body prevented her from making any useful movements. Dragging in a breath only filled her lungs with more smoke and wheezing and choking she fought desperately for air.
O'Neill stood at the steps of the stargate, his gun pointing at the sky hoping for a lucky shot at the oncoming gliders. He was yelling above the sound of the approaching fighters, instructing Teal'c to guard the gate. He was one team member down and he couldn't see her in the chaos.
"Daniel," he shouted in Jackson's ear as he grabbed the other man by the shoulder, "Where's Carter?"
Jackson shook his head, "I haven't seen her since the attack started. She was with Shana on the street behind the market."
"Get everyone through the gate, "O'Neill instructed, "I am going to find Carter."
Teal'c jogged over to their position, his eyes on the sky, "We will be unable to protect the stargate for much longer O'Neill. We must leave imminently."
O'Neill nodded his understanding, "Get the last of these villagers through and leave. Do not wait for me and Carter. We will dial back in when it is safe to do so. I don't want death glider zap rays tearing up the gate room. Am I clear?"
Jackson looked ready to argue but saw the reasoning was sound. Teal'c simply nodded his acknowledgement.
"Good luck, O'Neill," the jaffa said as his colonel began a steady jog towards what remained of the village.
The village was now burning in almost every quarter, the houses falling in domino fashion lighting their neighbours until most of the village was either ash or in flame. O'Neill had seen this before and it chilled him to the bone. He found himself grateful that the Goa'uld had not seen the need to invent napalm.
Overhead the death glider flights had become less frequent, their energies now focused on the gate and the escaping villagers. O'Neill heard the blast of a staff weapon and felt the thud of another glider hitting the ground. That was two for Teal'c. Pretty good going under the circumstances. He heard the sound of the stargate close and suddenly the dark was more intense, only the orange fires illuminated the night sky.
As he rounded the corner of the market place O'Neill could see two figures outside the remnants of a burning house. One laid prone of the ground the other, Carter, was on her knees, combat fatigues on fire. He increased his pace, running swiftly through the shadows. Tackling Carter to the ground, smothering the flames with his own body in one move he rolled them both into the relative shelter of a lone, unaffected building. Quickly checking the fire was out O'Neill released his Major from his grasp lifting himself clear of her smouldering uniform. Beneath him she heaved in a difficult breath and choked on the exhale.
Helping her to sit up he wrapped an arm around her and held her firmly against him. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused for a long moment as she coughed violently.
"Come on, Carter," O'Neill said reassuringly, "Slow breaths, nice and steady."
She nodded curtly and sucked in another lung of clearer air with another bout of choking to follow it. O'Neill reached for his canteen and pressed it to her lips gently, helping her hold it still enough to drink. The next breath was easier and she found enough voice to speak.
"Shana?"
O'Neill cast a grave eye towards the motionless body of the petite local woman. A pool of dark blood had gather around her head.
"Doesn't look good from here," he said simply.
From across the market place came the sound of jaffa boots stomping uniformly towards their location. Time was not on their side.
"We need to get out of here," O'Neill announced sharply, "Can you stand?"
Unsure of the answer herself Carter nodded uncertainly and was grateful for O'Neill's less than gentle assistance as he lifted her almost completely from the floor into an upright position. Wavering for a moment Carter held on to his arm tightly, suddenly aware of an incredibly uncomfortable tightness in the skin on her hand. There was not, however, time to evaluate the situation. An immediate exit was called for.
Staggering, side by side, passed Shana; O'Neill stooped to check on the local woman. Face down on the ground he could clearly see the back of her skull was crushed, probably from a falling timber. Slipping his fingers onto her neck he felt for a pulse. Mercifully there was none. He gave Carter a short shake of the head and they moved on.
There was little point staying in the village, the remaining building could be searched in a matter of moments, and there was precious little natural coverage nearby, the villagers felling trees to make their homes and cultivate fields. O'Neill recalled a local man telling Daniel of a chamber behind the waterfall which was 2 miles downstream. Hoping the path to it would be negotiable in their current state O'Neill led the way half carrying Carter as she stumbled clumsily over burning debris. With no moon and a favourable wind they would be hidden before dawn and that would have to do for now.
Navigation was one of O'Neill's strengths, but navigating in the pitch black, without a compass or map, and with no knowledge of the landscape or the stars above, was spectacularly difficult. When they had moved far enough from the village to enter complete darkness the pair had stopped for a moment, Carter sinking to her knees and coughing violently, trying to muffle the sound as best she was able. O'Neill crouched down beside her rubbing her back supportively. Checking her belt O'Neill located Carter's own canteens and noted that they were heavy. A good sign. She was not wearing her tactical backpack. His kit bag contained sufficient emergency rations for a couple of days but after that they would have difficulties, but nothing in comparison with being captured by the Goa'uld.
The villager had spoken of 'fertile slopes' leading down to the 'great river of the gods'. Beneath their feet the land we certainly sloping gently downwards and O'Neill thought he could hear the rush of water in the distance. In any case they seemed to be following a path, the ground was reasonably even under foot but if they strayed too far left or right they tripped over furrowed land. O'Neill was keeping his fingers crossed that they weren't leaving a trail behind them. At least he couldn't hear the sound of anyone following them. Another good sign.
Standing he helped Carter back up to her feet and they moved slowly through the darkness, stopping every 100 paces to listen. At 1000 steps they stopped to rest, it was quite clear now that they were not being pursued. Carter's breathing was ragged and O'Neill's shoulder was beginning to ache from keeping the major upright most of the time.
"Where are we headed, sir?" Carter rasped.
"Waterfall, about another mile and a half if we are going in the right direction." He felt her nod. "I figure we have about 6 hours before first light. I want us tucked up and secure before then. We can wait them out. I don't think the Goa'uld know we are still here so they will probably take their creepy snake incubators and vamoose when then realise there's nothing of interest here for them."
They found the river another 1000 steps further on. In the darkness it was impossible to gauge the width or depth but with its roar and the air full of cool spray both imagined a raging watercourse with rapids, rocks, and all sorts of treacherous obstacles.
"Upstream or downstream?" Carter shouted to make herself heard over the din.
"Down," he yelled back, "The path is too slippery, we are going to have to wait for dawn."
"Do you think we can risk a torch?"
O'Neill considered the option. They had been travelling downhill with not apparent followers. If the Goa'uld weren't looking for them a torch at ground level might be okay. Slinging his backpack on the grassy bank he groped in an outer pocket of his bag until he found a small head torch. Doubling the headband and shoving his boot through the ring of elastic he pulled his backpack back on and turned down stream. The small headlamp illuminated the ground like a beacon. O'Neill and Carter held their breaths for a second, anticipating a sudden attack from stealthy jaffa. When no attack came both sighed audibly and O'Neill examined the path before them.
"Okay, Carter, let's give this a try. Stay close on my six. We have rocks and mud ahead of us but I can see the top of the waterfall." O'Neill took a step forward before adding, "Don't fall in."