Chuck woke to the sound of screaming.
He was in his uniform, out his door and running towards the sound of gunfire before he woke up enough to realise he should really be running iaway/i from the bullets. By then it was already too late: he'd reached the gate room and a scene straight out of hell.
The gateroom was a shambles. Wires streamed from fire-blasted walls, tangling about each other like overcooked spaghetti. Smoke billowed in through shattered windows, and shards of the heavy ancient glass thickly littered the floor. Fire licked the ceiling.
A bloody and disheveled Sam Carter stood at the top of the steps, demanding the citywide channel. Doctor McKay raced from console to console behind her, shouting into his radio, hair standing straight up and blood wine-red on his collar. Chuck felt himself pale at the frantic pitch of McKay's voice. Even before Colonel Carter's voice boomed through the city, he knew what was going to be said.
"Attention all personnel. This is Colonel Carter speaking."
Chuck sprinted up the stairs and threw himself into the gate tech chair, ignoring the gore splattered across the DHD. He'd spare a thought for the tech from the previous shift later. For now...
"The Wraith are in the city. Repeat, the Wraith are in the city. All personnel fall back to the gate room for immediate evacuation." Colonel Carter's voice didn't even tremble, despite the blood dripping from her temple. Her hair was coming loose.
Chuck lifted his hand over the DHD, waiting.
People started flowing raggedly into the gateroom, shepherded by the Marines.
"Chuck," Colonel Carter turned, flashed a quick smile to see him there. "Please dial Earth. Rodney." She captured Doctor McKay's arm as he went to slide past her. "Set the self-destruct."
Doctor McKay looked as though he wanted to argue. People continued to run into the gateroom, screams rising over the sounds of the fighting coming closer. He glanced over the railing into the increasingly packed gateroom, his mouth compressing with fury, but he nodded and started typing viciously into the nearest working tablet. Chuck pressed the keys, the hum of the gate a reassuring buzz as each co-ordiate was pressed. The eighth chevron locked and the gate flared into life. Chuck sent the Atlantis IDC and started sending people through.
"Oh, no." Doctor McKay's voice reached new levels of freaking out. "The self-destruct is damaged. I can't trigger it."
"Maybe I could..."
"Sam! I'm telling you it's useless." Doctor McKay's face was hard and cold. "I can't." He paused, and Chuck could almost hear the gears grinding to a halt in his head. When he spoke again his voice was flat. "We need to get to the gate."
Colonel Carter closed her eyes in defeat.
Major Lorne spilled into the room, a Wraith riding him down, firing desperately into its chest. The Wraith laughed and slammed its hand into the major's chest. More Wraith flooded into the gateroom after them. Doctor McKay grabbed Colonel Carter's arm and hauled her towards the gate, driven by fear. They were still feet away when the Wraith reached them. Doctor McKay tried to block Colonel Carter with his body, shoving her toward the gate. It was a futile gesture. Chuck shrank back as their screams joined those of the rest of the humans in the room. His back hit something warm and he spun in place, finding Colonel Sheppard standing behind him, a naquadah generator held snugly under his arm. He looked ... exhilarated.
A shout of triumph had Chuck looking back at the gate. The Wraith had gained the gate platform and were beginning to pour through the gate, barely slowed by the final useless resistance of the handful of remaining Marines. He tore his eyes away, sobbing out loud in denial.
"Don't worry, Campbell," Sheppard said, stepping closer and grabbing his hand, placing it on the now frantically beeping generator. "It'll hurt them more than it will hurt you." He paused, madness and joy reflected in his eyes. "Though it will hurt. A lot." HIs fingers tightened on Chuck's, crushing them against the metal skin of the generator whose unleashed power would make a standard warhead look like a cookfire. Sheppard grinned at him maniacally as the last screams faded into gurgles, as Chuck's foot slipped in what was left of the other gate tech. Chuck's heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest.
Sheppard pressed the button.
Chuck woke to the sound of his alarm.