Title: In the Dead of Night Author: Zoe Hands Email: zoehands@hotmail.com Status: incomplete Category: Action/adventure, suspense, mystery. Spoilers: None Season/Sequel info: set in the present Rating: PG-13 Content Warnings: Hurt, occassional swearing, angst
Archive: N/A Summary: SG-1 become the hunted.
Author's notes: My spelling and punctuation can sometimes suck, although I think this one's clear.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and I received no monetary reward. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sam found herself unexplainably alone. It was dusk and the dying remains of the sun's light gingerly radiated their way through the twisted undergrowth that shrouded her. She looked up to the trees, their branches ominous in their clawed suspension, casting omnipresent shadows over the dank earth. She continued to cast her sight over the foreboding environment that surrounded her, looking for life; looking for Jack. Sam heard a distinct noise coming from beyond a clearing, it sounded like footsteps.
"Jack...is that you?". The footsteps stopped dead. An unnatural silence befell the woods. From the onset it seemed hateful, but she gazed at the clearing quite some moments before the feeling of anxiety rushed upon her; and then it did come, strong and intense - a horror lest something might emerge from the clearing. Sam's eyes burned with the conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of which she would never escape. She didn't have a chance to wonder more about what could emanate such malevolence before the footsteps started again, this time heading towards her. Heavy and deliberate in it's purpose, the body of movement made its way through the brush. Sam didn't move herself for fear that further noise would allow the presence to pin-point her position exactly. The footsteps grew closer, more distinct. There was a strange property to the steps, a dragging rasp that sent shivers through her spine. Sam pinned her hopes of remaining hidden on her camouflage pants and Jacket. She waited. The footsteps grew louder but less confident. Again they stopped and Sam could see a blackened figure moving side to side as if to be searching and then Sam caught sight of it's eyes. They glowed a deep blood red, like torches in the night, the eyes burned their way through the darkness. The scarlet slits stayed looking in Sam's direction. From a stationary stare the red blood spots in the night took on a vertical movement, it was throwing it's head violently up and down trying to gauge what lay before it. Sam was terrorised by the thoughts and feelings the figure envoked in her. The red circles grew thin to an intentional slit. It was squinting. It had found her. It knew she was there. Sam had no time to contemplate her next move before the creature rushed upon her. She closed her eyes and threw her arms up to her face in anticipation of the creature's blow.
Nothing.
Sam opened her eyes hesitantly and saw just nothingness. The now black of night masked the trees, she swivelled trying to see where the creature had gone but nothing penetrated the darkness.
Sam quickly threw her head to the side as the sound of a twig snapping alerted her to the creatures presence once more. Her bottom lip trembled with fear. Another snap off to her left made her jump. There were two. Thrashing her head from side to side, she tried to watch for both creatures. The sound of braking twigs had stopped and once more she was plunged into silence. A sudden rush of blood to her head made Sam's throat close off as Jack's voice pierced the silence on the radio...
"Carter answer!"
"Colonel?! where are you, God I need your help"
"Carter listen to me, I don't know what happened but we all got split up some how, I'm in
some woods, where are you at?"
"I'm in some woods too and Sir, and I'm not alone"
"Carter?" said Jack hoping for some clarity
"Sir there are two creatures of some sort by me, they're praying on me, I don't know why but I think they're hostile, Colonel I'm scared" she said, the quiver in her voice echoed over the radio
"Sam fire your weapon in the air and I'll see if I can hear the shot and then I can make my way to you okay?"
"Okay here goes". Sam let off a round into the night sky. The shot from the weapon left the barrel in a burst of light, that for a split second lit her surroundings, she could see the thick scrub covering the floor and wide tree trunks with a dense overhanging canopy that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see, and for that split second she saw one of the creatures, at first she had thought it's black silhouette was just ode to the darkness but now with the light she could see the creature itself was black, either that or translucent, except for it's eyes that burned as brightly in the light as they did in the dark. The creature was huge, it stood hunched around a tree trunk, with heavy dropped shoulders and long thick arms, that ended in a clawed point.
"I hear it, okay you're about a click east of me, stay there I'll head towards you, keep in radio contact until I get there okay." The Colonel immediately began to run towards Sam, not stopping for rock, nor branch, he rushed through the trees as branches mercilessly whipped his face. He had never heard Sam speak with such trepidation in her voice and nothing was going to stop him from reaching his 2IC.
Daniel and Teal'c were also separated from the group. Daniel cast his view around the surrounding trees, still in disbelief that his team had just disappeared before his eyes when he heard the shot Sam had let off, he knew it was some distance away and he reached for his radio, "Jack, Sam, Teal'c you guys receiving this?"
"Daniel yeah, listen we got separated somehow, I'm making my way to Carter's position now, she's in trouble, she says there are some creatures out here, so watch your six"
"Jack, I heard gun fire" said Daniel concerned
"Yeah Sam let off a round so I could locate her, if you heard it make your way towards it, we'll meet up there, over"
"Okay Jack, I'll meet you there and try and find Teal'c," just as Daniel finished his sentence he was startled by a figure behind him
"There is no need to find me Daniel Jackson, I am right here" said Teal'c clearly not disturbed but the events transpiring around them
"Jesus Teal'c you scared me!" said Daniel taking a deep breath; he reached for his radio again, "Jack, listen, Teal'c's here with me, were coming now, over"
"Okay Daniel" said Jack "Hurry!." He was clearly breathless but not dismayed from his objective, get to Carter. "Carter, I wanna hear your voice over this radio, tell me what's goin on, over." Jack heard nothing back but the crisp crackle of radio interference. "Shit!" he muttered to himself and continued unrelented through the woods.
"Colonel?! Colonel come in over" said Sam across the radio, but she heard nothing back but radio interference, she screwed her face up in a kind of hopeless desperation . The crimson slits hadn't moved in the last 3 minutes and neither had she. As she slowly began to regain her composure from her initial fear, she thought to herself, *Why am I so frightened? This is stupid, they've done nothing to me, yet I'm stood her like a scared child. God, it could be nothing more than an overgrown cat, or it could be the devil incarnate.* Sam closed her eyes as if getting ready to face up to whatever it was that was out there, she inhaled deeply and reached down to bring her weapon up from hanging at her side, she had been too scared until now to reach for it, she hadn't wanted to move an inch for fear she would provoke an attack. She slowly lifted the weapon to her front, then a deep, almost demonic growl emanated from behind the trunk, against which she leaned. *Shit! there's 3*. As the growl grew to a gargled close, Sam, as slowly as possible, reached towards the safety catch, she released it with a click that was deafening in the silence that shrouded her. She swallowed deeply, then much to her horror she heard a heavy rustle of another creature in the trees immediately above her, she shot her head up but could see nothing but the black night that had become her prison. This one was so close she could hear it breathing. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as a sense of impending death ravaged her mind. The creatures breathing grew shorter in duration, but deeper - it was getting ready to strike. Sam pushed her teeth together and leaped forward and yelled "Aaaaaargh" as she began firing up into the trees and at either side of the trunk she had been leaning against, then she threw herself to her left and began firing. For as loud as the weapon's fire was, nothing was as sonorous as the click that was the tell-tail sound of the end of a magazine. She bent over and fumbled for another clip, but before she even laid a single finger on one she was knocked to the ground with the force of a truck. She was momentarily dazed, when she glanced up she saw the two distinct demon eyes of the creature shining through the night like headlights. It was poised over her, she felt the immense heat radiating from it, but she could hardly make out its form as the creature's dense frame blended in with the dead of night. The creature opened it's mouth and the two crimson eyes were joined by a massive gorge of blood red that hope itself seemed to be sucked into. Sam felt wet drips of saliva fall onto her face, closely followed by a claw that the creature ran down her cheek, she felt a warm release of blood fall down the side of her face, but she felt no pain, she was too busy losing herself in the void that was this creature's eyes and mouth. She was swiftly brought back to the reality that was when she felt a distinct pressure on her stomach, the pressure grew into deep pushing sensation. The creature was impaling her with his arm. This time she felt pain; intense, poignant pain in its most pure form, and she opened her mouth to cry out in pain but for all the effort she put into her yell, she made not a sound, she continued her attempt to scream and felt her energy dwindling away in her silent plea. The dark of night began to close in on her and she felt her body and her conscious sinking into the flood of black. Sam closed her eyes, giving in to the drowning unconscious seas that swept over her thoughts of desperation.
Jack was so close to Sam when she had began the frenzied firing that he saw the light emitted from her P5 through the trees, he was there within seconds of the shootings end, "Sam?!" he began to call as he swivelled in the empty shell casings that littered the ground where Sam had been, but the only noise he heard in return were the tapping of the shell casings as they rubbed against his boots and each other. "Sam!? if you hear me just make a noise, I'll come to you." Again nothing. Jack once more reached for his radio, with diminishing resolve but increased focus, "Carter, come in over," expecting interference back as before Jack was shocked when a resounding cry came back in place of the anticipated crackle. Daniel and Teal'c stopped dead in their tracks as they heard what sounded like a Banshee wail echo through the trees; Teal'c's jaw dropped at the scream, and he felt his heart turn cold as even he became witness to the terror of the moment. Jack removed his finger from the radio in an attempt to stop the blood curdling wail, and as he did, the wail could be heard still, not from the radio but in the distance, it was the cry of one of the creatures.
"Jack?!" shouted Daniel
"Yeah Daniel I'm over to your right, follow the sound of my voice."
Daniel and Teal'c finally rejoined Jack; all were visibly relieved, but not to each other, they couldn't make out each other's faces in the darkness, "Is it me or does this complete darkness keep getting even darker, if that's possible?" said Jack
"It's always darkest before it goes pitch black" answered Daniel, unbeknown to Daniel, Jack turned to him and gave him one of his *whatever Daniel* glances.
"We have little hope of finding Major Carter without the aid of light O' Neill" interceded Teal'c
"Well Teal'c normally I'd agree with you, but that cry came from somewhere, we find what made that noise, we find Carter" reasoned Jack, "Well come on" he said, heading in the direction of the wail that had thundered it's way through the air only moments before. Daniel, in an attempt not to lose Jack in the night, placed one hand on his shoulder and suggested Teal'c do the same but Teal'c loosely followed up the rear instead. The three made their way through the scrub when common sense and any sense of self preservation they had indicated they should be heading the other way; back to the gate; back home; away from the depraved waves of evil that resonated their way through the dark.
As the 3 remaining members of SG-1 rummaged their way through the thicket, a sense of despondency began to fester in their gut. "Well this is getting us nowhere!" exclaimed Jack in frustration, "Teal'c, I want you to head back to the gate and fill General Hammond in on whats happened and tell him I want: search parties, UAV's, flood lights, the works, okay?"
"As you wish O'Neill, I will return shortly" responded Teal'c
"Oh and Teal'c" said Jack, Teal'c turned to face O'Neill for no other reason that it was a natural response, Teal'c could not see O'Neill's face but he waited for him to finish his sentence, "Be careful."
Jack and Daniel continued their inane search through the night, fumbling round in darkness and falling over fallen branches. Jack on the off chance reached for his radio to see once more if he could raise Carter, "Major Carter! Sam! this is Colonel O' Neill, if you're receiving any of this respond, over," the familiar sound of interference vibrated it's sound waves through the radio and into Jack's hand, he tried again "Sam, if you can't speak just give me two clicks of the unit, over."
"Listen, Jack, maybe we should wait until morning to carry on, we could be missing something in the night, for all we know, we've spent the last four hours going round in circles" said Daniel
"Erm, okay, we'll bed down here for a coupla hours until day break." Jack placed his hand on the ground to support him as he sat down, he felt the ground oddly wet, so he brought his hand to within a few centimetres of his face, but still he couldn't see what was on his hand, so he brought it up to his nose, where he immediately recognised the smell of blood. "Daniel, get up"
"Er. Why?"
"Just get up damn it!" repeated Jack, "There's blood here"
"Are you sure, how can you tell?" asked Daniel
"Cause Daniel I can smell it!" responded Jack firmly
"Well, just because, er just because there's blood doesn't mean it's Sam's" stuttered Daniel, clearly unnerved
"I know that Daniel" said Jack, wrinkling his nose as he thought through the possibilities.
The gentle light of dawn danced it's way through the canopy over head and Daniel opened his eyes to see Jack sitting up against a tree, he was still examining the red stain on his hand. Daniel glanced back down to the dank earth and pushed himself all the way up to his feet. "Okay, lets go" said Jack as he passed Daniel his pack.
"I wonder if Teal'c managed to find his way back to the gate alright"
"What? Teal'c, well if anyone could he could, I'm sure he'll be back with SG-6 and the others any time, he'll be able to lead them here and then we can get a proper search goin." Daniel noted Jack's lack of eye contact, Jack's despondency at the situation was more obvious in the day light.
"So which way we heading?" asked Daniel
"This way, follow the blood trail" answered Jack, which drew Daniel's attention to the heavy amounts of blood that covered the forest floor...
"My God!"
"Well he's not gunna help us, so lets move out" said Jack, trying to dismiss Daniel's shock at the volume of blood.
Jack and Daniel tracked the blood to a cavern that receded into a mountain range. The slate grey rock revealed a misshapen coned type entrance, that was filled with more darkness, even in the light of mid-day, the sun could not illuminate the void within. "We're gunna need torches before we go in there, where the hell is Teal'c?" said Jack agitatedly.
Teal'c continued further down the beaten track that he was convinced lead to the Stargate, the track was well walked, however each footprint was from but one person...himself. He had walked down this route many times throughout the night, each time hoping he would finally see the gate which he knew was here. Teal'c's stoicism began to be replaced by an outward frustration *I know it was here, I am being deceived*. "O'Neill," said Teal'c over his radio, but he got no response, as he suspected he was out of range. Knowing something bigger than themselves was going on here, Teal'c began to run back from once he came, to attempt to rejoin O'Neill and Daniel. To warn them, something 'more' than Carter's disappearance was at work on this planet.
...to be continued...
Archive: N/A Summary: SG-1 become the hunted.
Author's notes: My spelling and punctuation can sometimes suck, although I think this one's clear.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and I received no monetary reward. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sam found herself unexplainably alone. It was dusk and the dying remains of the sun's light gingerly radiated their way through the twisted undergrowth that shrouded her. She looked up to the trees, their branches ominous in their clawed suspension, casting omnipresent shadows over the dank earth. She continued to cast her sight over the foreboding environment that surrounded her, looking for life; looking for Jack. Sam heard a distinct noise coming from beyond a clearing, it sounded like footsteps.
"Jack...is that you?". The footsteps stopped dead. An unnatural silence befell the woods. From the onset it seemed hateful, but she gazed at the clearing quite some moments before the feeling of anxiety rushed upon her; and then it did come, strong and intense - a horror lest something might emerge from the clearing. Sam's eyes burned with the conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of which she would never escape. She didn't have a chance to wonder more about what could emanate such malevolence before the footsteps started again, this time heading towards her. Heavy and deliberate in it's purpose, the body of movement made its way through the brush. Sam didn't move herself for fear that further noise would allow the presence to pin-point her position exactly. The footsteps grew closer, more distinct. There was a strange property to the steps, a dragging rasp that sent shivers through her spine. Sam pinned her hopes of remaining hidden on her camouflage pants and Jacket. She waited. The footsteps grew louder but less confident. Again they stopped and Sam could see a blackened figure moving side to side as if to be searching and then Sam caught sight of it's eyes. They glowed a deep blood red, like torches in the night, the eyes burned their way through the darkness. The scarlet slits stayed looking in Sam's direction. From a stationary stare the red blood spots in the night took on a vertical movement, it was throwing it's head violently up and down trying to gauge what lay before it. Sam was terrorised by the thoughts and feelings the figure envoked in her. The red circles grew thin to an intentional slit. It was squinting. It had found her. It knew she was there. Sam had no time to contemplate her next move before the creature rushed upon her. She closed her eyes and threw her arms up to her face in anticipation of the creature's blow.
Nothing.
Sam opened her eyes hesitantly and saw just nothingness. The now black of night masked the trees, she swivelled trying to see where the creature had gone but nothing penetrated the darkness.
Sam quickly threw her head to the side as the sound of a twig snapping alerted her to the creatures presence once more. Her bottom lip trembled with fear. Another snap off to her left made her jump. There were two. Thrashing her head from side to side, she tried to watch for both creatures. The sound of braking twigs had stopped and once more she was plunged into silence. A sudden rush of blood to her head made Sam's throat close off as Jack's voice pierced the silence on the radio...
"Carter answer!"
"Colonel?! where are you, God I need your help"
"Carter listen to me, I don't know what happened but we all got split up some how, I'm in
some woods, where are you at?"
"I'm in some woods too and Sir, and I'm not alone"
"Carter?" said Jack hoping for some clarity
"Sir there are two creatures of some sort by me, they're praying on me, I don't know why but I think they're hostile, Colonel I'm scared" she said, the quiver in her voice echoed over the radio
"Sam fire your weapon in the air and I'll see if I can hear the shot and then I can make my way to you okay?"
"Okay here goes". Sam let off a round into the night sky. The shot from the weapon left the barrel in a burst of light, that for a split second lit her surroundings, she could see the thick scrub covering the floor and wide tree trunks with a dense overhanging canopy that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see, and for that split second she saw one of the creatures, at first she had thought it's black silhouette was just ode to the darkness but now with the light she could see the creature itself was black, either that or translucent, except for it's eyes that burned as brightly in the light as they did in the dark. The creature was huge, it stood hunched around a tree trunk, with heavy dropped shoulders and long thick arms, that ended in a clawed point.
"I hear it, okay you're about a click east of me, stay there I'll head towards you, keep in radio contact until I get there okay." The Colonel immediately began to run towards Sam, not stopping for rock, nor branch, he rushed through the trees as branches mercilessly whipped his face. He had never heard Sam speak with such trepidation in her voice and nothing was going to stop him from reaching his 2IC.
Daniel and Teal'c were also separated from the group. Daniel cast his view around the surrounding trees, still in disbelief that his team had just disappeared before his eyes when he heard the shot Sam had let off, he knew it was some distance away and he reached for his radio, "Jack, Sam, Teal'c you guys receiving this?"
"Daniel yeah, listen we got separated somehow, I'm making my way to Carter's position now, she's in trouble, she says there are some creatures out here, so watch your six"
"Jack, I heard gun fire" said Daniel concerned
"Yeah Sam let off a round so I could locate her, if you heard it make your way towards it, we'll meet up there, over"
"Okay Jack, I'll meet you there and try and find Teal'c," just as Daniel finished his sentence he was startled by a figure behind him
"There is no need to find me Daniel Jackson, I am right here" said Teal'c clearly not disturbed but the events transpiring around them
"Jesus Teal'c you scared me!" said Daniel taking a deep breath; he reached for his radio again, "Jack, listen, Teal'c's here with me, were coming now, over"
"Okay Daniel" said Jack "Hurry!." He was clearly breathless but not dismayed from his objective, get to Carter. "Carter, I wanna hear your voice over this radio, tell me what's goin on, over." Jack heard nothing back but the crisp crackle of radio interference. "Shit!" he muttered to himself and continued unrelented through the woods.
"Colonel?! Colonel come in over" said Sam across the radio, but she heard nothing back but radio interference, she screwed her face up in a kind of hopeless desperation . The crimson slits hadn't moved in the last 3 minutes and neither had she. As she slowly began to regain her composure from her initial fear, she thought to herself, *Why am I so frightened? This is stupid, they've done nothing to me, yet I'm stood her like a scared child. God, it could be nothing more than an overgrown cat, or it could be the devil incarnate.* Sam closed her eyes as if getting ready to face up to whatever it was that was out there, she inhaled deeply and reached down to bring her weapon up from hanging at her side, she had been too scared until now to reach for it, she hadn't wanted to move an inch for fear she would provoke an attack. She slowly lifted the weapon to her front, then a deep, almost demonic growl emanated from behind the trunk, against which she leaned. *Shit! there's 3*. As the growl grew to a gargled close, Sam, as slowly as possible, reached towards the safety catch, she released it with a click that was deafening in the silence that shrouded her. She swallowed deeply, then much to her horror she heard a heavy rustle of another creature in the trees immediately above her, she shot her head up but could see nothing but the black night that had become her prison. This one was so close she could hear it breathing. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as a sense of impending death ravaged her mind. The creatures breathing grew shorter in duration, but deeper - it was getting ready to strike. Sam pushed her teeth together and leaped forward and yelled "Aaaaaargh" as she began firing up into the trees and at either side of the trunk she had been leaning against, then she threw herself to her left and began firing. For as loud as the weapon's fire was, nothing was as sonorous as the click that was the tell-tail sound of the end of a magazine. She bent over and fumbled for another clip, but before she even laid a single finger on one she was knocked to the ground with the force of a truck. She was momentarily dazed, when she glanced up she saw the two distinct demon eyes of the creature shining through the night like headlights. It was poised over her, she felt the immense heat radiating from it, but she could hardly make out its form as the creature's dense frame blended in with the dead of night. The creature opened it's mouth and the two crimson eyes were joined by a massive gorge of blood red that hope itself seemed to be sucked into. Sam felt wet drips of saliva fall onto her face, closely followed by a claw that the creature ran down her cheek, she felt a warm release of blood fall down the side of her face, but she felt no pain, she was too busy losing herself in the void that was this creature's eyes and mouth. She was swiftly brought back to the reality that was when she felt a distinct pressure on her stomach, the pressure grew into deep pushing sensation. The creature was impaling her with his arm. This time she felt pain; intense, poignant pain in its most pure form, and she opened her mouth to cry out in pain but for all the effort she put into her yell, she made not a sound, she continued her attempt to scream and felt her energy dwindling away in her silent plea. The dark of night began to close in on her and she felt her body and her conscious sinking into the flood of black. Sam closed her eyes, giving in to the drowning unconscious seas that swept over her thoughts of desperation.
Jack was so close to Sam when she had began the frenzied firing that he saw the light emitted from her P5 through the trees, he was there within seconds of the shootings end, "Sam?!" he began to call as he swivelled in the empty shell casings that littered the ground where Sam had been, but the only noise he heard in return were the tapping of the shell casings as they rubbed against his boots and each other. "Sam!? if you hear me just make a noise, I'll come to you." Again nothing. Jack once more reached for his radio, with diminishing resolve but increased focus, "Carter, come in over," expecting interference back as before Jack was shocked when a resounding cry came back in place of the anticipated crackle. Daniel and Teal'c stopped dead in their tracks as they heard what sounded like a Banshee wail echo through the trees; Teal'c's jaw dropped at the scream, and he felt his heart turn cold as even he became witness to the terror of the moment. Jack removed his finger from the radio in an attempt to stop the blood curdling wail, and as he did, the wail could be heard still, not from the radio but in the distance, it was the cry of one of the creatures.
"Jack?!" shouted Daniel
"Yeah Daniel I'm over to your right, follow the sound of my voice."
Daniel and Teal'c finally rejoined Jack; all were visibly relieved, but not to each other, they couldn't make out each other's faces in the darkness, "Is it me or does this complete darkness keep getting even darker, if that's possible?" said Jack
"It's always darkest before it goes pitch black" answered Daniel, unbeknown to Daniel, Jack turned to him and gave him one of his *whatever Daniel* glances.
"We have little hope of finding Major Carter without the aid of light O' Neill" interceded Teal'c
"Well Teal'c normally I'd agree with you, but that cry came from somewhere, we find what made that noise, we find Carter" reasoned Jack, "Well come on" he said, heading in the direction of the wail that had thundered it's way through the air only moments before. Daniel, in an attempt not to lose Jack in the night, placed one hand on his shoulder and suggested Teal'c do the same but Teal'c loosely followed up the rear instead. The three made their way through the scrub when common sense and any sense of self preservation they had indicated they should be heading the other way; back to the gate; back home; away from the depraved waves of evil that resonated their way through the dark.
As the 3 remaining members of SG-1 rummaged their way through the thicket, a sense of despondency began to fester in their gut. "Well this is getting us nowhere!" exclaimed Jack in frustration, "Teal'c, I want you to head back to the gate and fill General Hammond in on whats happened and tell him I want: search parties, UAV's, flood lights, the works, okay?"
"As you wish O'Neill, I will return shortly" responded Teal'c
"Oh and Teal'c" said Jack, Teal'c turned to face O'Neill for no other reason that it was a natural response, Teal'c could not see O'Neill's face but he waited for him to finish his sentence, "Be careful."
Jack and Daniel continued their inane search through the night, fumbling round in darkness and falling over fallen branches. Jack on the off chance reached for his radio to see once more if he could raise Carter, "Major Carter! Sam! this is Colonel O' Neill, if you're receiving any of this respond, over," the familiar sound of interference vibrated it's sound waves through the radio and into Jack's hand, he tried again "Sam, if you can't speak just give me two clicks of the unit, over."
"Listen, Jack, maybe we should wait until morning to carry on, we could be missing something in the night, for all we know, we've spent the last four hours going round in circles" said Daniel
"Erm, okay, we'll bed down here for a coupla hours until day break." Jack placed his hand on the ground to support him as he sat down, he felt the ground oddly wet, so he brought his hand to within a few centimetres of his face, but still he couldn't see what was on his hand, so he brought it up to his nose, where he immediately recognised the smell of blood. "Daniel, get up"
"Er. Why?"
"Just get up damn it!" repeated Jack, "There's blood here"
"Are you sure, how can you tell?" asked Daniel
"Cause Daniel I can smell it!" responded Jack firmly
"Well, just because, er just because there's blood doesn't mean it's Sam's" stuttered Daniel, clearly unnerved
"I know that Daniel" said Jack, wrinkling his nose as he thought through the possibilities.
The gentle light of dawn danced it's way through the canopy over head and Daniel opened his eyes to see Jack sitting up against a tree, he was still examining the red stain on his hand. Daniel glanced back down to the dank earth and pushed himself all the way up to his feet. "Okay, lets go" said Jack as he passed Daniel his pack.
"I wonder if Teal'c managed to find his way back to the gate alright"
"What? Teal'c, well if anyone could he could, I'm sure he'll be back with SG-6 and the others any time, he'll be able to lead them here and then we can get a proper search goin." Daniel noted Jack's lack of eye contact, Jack's despondency at the situation was more obvious in the day light.
"So which way we heading?" asked Daniel
"This way, follow the blood trail" answered Jack, which drew Daniel's attention to the heavy amounts of blood that covered the forest floor...
"My God!"
"Well he's not gunna help us, so lets move out" said Jack, trying to dismiss Daniel's shock at the volume of blood.
Jack and Daniel tracked the blood to a cavern that receded into a mountain range. The slate grey rock revealed a misshapen coned type entrance, that was filled with more darkness, even in the light of mid-day, the sun could not illuminate the void within. "We're gunna need torches before we go in there, where the hell is Teal'c?" said Jack agitatedly.
Teal'c continued further down the beaten track that he was convinced lead to the Stargate, the track was well walked, however each footprint was from but one person...himself. He had walked down this route many times throughout the night, each time hoping he would finally see the gate which he knew was here. Teal'c's stoicism began to be replaced by an outward frustration *I know it was here, I am being deceived*. "O'Neill," said Teal'c over his radio, but he got no response, as he suspected he was out of range. Knowing something bigger than themselves was going on here, Teal'c began to run back from once he came, to attempt to rejoin O'Neill and Daniel. To warn them, something 'more' than Carter's disappearance was at work on this planet.
...to be continued...