Silence –by Wagthedog

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I use it all without permission from TPTB.

AN: Rated for some strong imagery here and there.

Thanks to smudgesister for the beta!

Silence...and then suddenly flashes of light burned a stabbing pattern onto his retinas as the dark forest exploded around him. His head swiveled left and right as he tried to make out shadow and form running through the trees between the blasts. P90 fire erupted to his left, and automatically, he picked up his medical backpack and ran toward the sound, knowing he would find injured in need of help.

He blinked furiously, trying to get the image of the first flash to fade from his eyes so he could see in the darkness between the trees, and he stumbled over something, falling to his knees. One of the expedition's botanists lay on his side in the deep undergrowth, backpack torn and instruments strewn all over the ground.

Beckett turned him over, and the body moved stiffly. He pushed the shredded jacket sleeve up at the wrist, and felt the dry stickiness clinging to the cold skin. A shrapnel charge exploded in the distance, reminding him that not everyone on this planet was as impressed with the technological advances they'd offered in exchange for supplies.

Beckett glanced at the young man's face. He'd barely known him; a fairly new replacement just a few months off the Daedalus. The boy's eyes were open, the corneas glazed over and silver. There was no need to check for a pulse. The physician ran a quick hand across his mouth and grabbed his pack again, taking off.

He dodged stumps and decaying logs, following in the footsteps of Atlantis' own soldiers when he could join in the charge back toward the Stargate. Obeying shouted orders to duck behind trees when required.

A far off scream momentarily clouded his sense of self-preservation, and he darted forward, ignoring the low-hanging tree branches as they whipped across his cheeks.

Beckett crouched and rolled into a deep depression, as somewhere up ahead, sparks streaked from the muzzle of an unseen enemy's weapon as it spit projectiles into the starlit clearing he'd just entered. As his flight came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the forest trench, he landed on something and rolled quickly to the side when he heard a sharp cry of pain. John Sheppard was writhing on the ground, half-conscious, wounds searing in renewed protest by the jostling he'd received from Beckett's unintended collision.

The physician immediately dropped his medical pack to the ground and ripped it open, then leaned back in toward Sheppard. The sights and sounds of the attack receded quickly as Beckett's vision and attention narrowed down to encompass only his patient.

Even in his lethargic state, Sheppard was trying to curl on his side. Beckett pushed him down and made quick work of unbuckling his web belt. The wounded man's belly was riddled with bullet holes, his uniform shirt and the waistband of his pants spattered a gaudy black in the low light, the loose leaves underneath him stained and shiny. As Beckett watched, the Colonel tried to fist a hand in his side to quiet the constant gnawing.

There was just too much blood. It was all over the ground. Sheppard gasped through red-tinged lips, then coughed, and Carson felt something wet hit his face and one of his eyes. He tried to blink the distortion away as he tore open the ruined shirt, letting buttons fly, then fumbled to pull a compress out of his bag. He leaned into the wounds trying to stop the bleeding.

Sheppard cried out in pain, but Beckett kept the pressure on. He eyed the bottle of morphine, but knew it was more important to keep the pressure on the wounds. Beckett's mind was reeling. The need to ease pain and save lives was deeply ingrained, but he knew in the back of his mind that he didn't have the necessary supplies to save the man in his care. The Stargate was so far away, help an impossibility. Still, he reached bloodied fingers toward the radio curled at his ear, looking up as a hand gripped his shoulder. Teyla had joined him in the trench. Not a word passed between them. She simply let her hand linger in silent support as one of Atlantis' jumpers bearing a medical team landed nearby.

TBC