The jumper shuddered as it pummeled through a wave of fire. Flames rippled angrily, completely engulfing the jumper and forest around them. John guided the jumper up and above the blaze. The thick smog of smoke was an impenetrable veil, hiding away the moon and stars. Below the jumper, the planet was patchwork of black haze over shimmering crimson flares.
"How's our time?" John glanced over.
Carson flinched as a flame rippled high and lapped against the windshield.
"Doc."
Carson's eyes darted to the watch he held in one hand. He tightly gripped the life signs detector with the other.
"Five minutes in. McKay said we only had ten before the shield drained the power supply. Five minutes…" Carson hesitated. "Kincaid said-"
"I know. We're within the dead man zone." John's lips pressed tightly together.
The dead man zone referred to any area expected to be consumed by the fire within five minutes. Based on what they'd seen, the scope could have only increased since their departure. Kincaid was a marine whose family was part of a long lineage of West Coast firefighters. He'd been a great resource when they'd still been strategizing to control the wildfire.
The drought plagued forest was being decimated at greater speeds than anticipated, so they'd turned their focus solely to evacuation. Most Athosians had gathered at the designated pickup location, but they'd had to search for several who'd been away from the village. They'd been lucky. So far, there had been no casualties and only two remained unaccounted for.
The minutes were ticking by faster than he'd like. "Any sign of them yet?"
"Still nothing." Carson's brows furrowed.
They were in the modified jumper, using the cloak as a shield, and it was sucking their power supply to the bone. John drew a deep breath and directed the jumper back into the heart of the fire.
His jaw clenched as an alarm shrilled through the cabin. He quickly silenced it. They weren't going to get that full ten minutes McKay had promised. The scalding heat from the wildfire was taxing the shield and he wasn't sure how much longer it would hold.
Carson pressed back against his seat as if trying to put more space between his body and the fire lashing the windshield. "Those boys certainly have a knack for finding trouble."
That was something John could too easily identify with, maybe that was why Jinto and Wex had grown on him.
Carson breathed a sigh of relief and held up the life signs detector. "There they are. Just to the east. The signal's faint, could they be underground?"
"It's possible. There are caves in that area." John shifted in his chair. Even with the shielding, the air inside the jumper had grown uncomfortably warm and he could feel the trickle of sweat slipping down his back.
A blood-curdling, metallic scraping filled the air. He pulled up the HUD. The shield was already losing integrity and the jumper shook violently. The jumper wrenched to the side and ricocheted out the flames. The exterior lighting illuminated the night sky and granted intermittent glimpses of the mainland through the thick smoke.
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard. Do you read?" They hadn't been able to make contact since they'd reached the mainland, but he had to try if there was even an off chance they could hear him. "We've found the boys, but you'll need to get another jumper out here. This is turning into a one way trip. Come in high and use the heat sensors. We'll be in the only area on the mainland under 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. You can drop down and avoid the flames."
He'd no idea if Atlantis had copied that, but if Elizabeth had gotten word of what he was doing, there was a pretty good chance backup was already on the way.
"You mean we didn't have to fly through the fire?" Carson turned in his seat, looking dumbfounded when he faced John. "Why didn't we do that?"
"We did do that. There was zero visibility due to smoke and we didn't pick them up on the scan, remember?" John rubbed the sweat away from his eyes. "The heat is probably affecting the life signs detector, compressing the range it can successfully scan in. There were a couple of unaffected pockets within the active fire, the boys were probably moving around the whole time we've been searching."
John would never have flown the jumper directly through waves of fire without good reason. Well, maybe one wave of fire just to test the shields response, but he never would have pushed it this hard. Carson mumbled something unintelligible before glancing back to the life signs detector.
"Colonel, the boys are to the east." He reiterated.
It was taking all John's concentration to keep them heading north. His neck and shoulders were throbbing with tension. "I heard you the first time, but it would kind of defeat the purpose if we land on them when we crash."
"When we…what?" Carson's eyes stretched wide. "Wait, did you say a one way trip?"
"Might want to buckle up." Nothing was responding. The jumper had deflected all remaining power to the shield, which was losing strength each minute. With any luck, what shielding was left would buffer the impact.
"But there aren't any seat belts…" Carson's hands gripped the chair. "Remind me why I volunteered for this?"
It had been all hands on deck. His team had spit up among the other jumpers overseeing the evacuation of the mainland. During the course of the evacuation, conditions had become so extreme, Elizabeth had been reluctant to send the last wave of jumpers. They ultimately didn't have a choice, there had still been Athosians on the mainland. John's jumper had been the last to return to Atlantis, only to find out the boys had been missing during the final head count. He'd departed immediately and before anyone had a chance to deter him.
"You didn't so much as volunteer as stow away. You jumped on while I was closing the door, I nearly crushed you."
"Actually, you did, my medical kit at any rate."
John glanced back. The medical kit was still stuck in the door. Looking into the rear compartment gave him an idea. "Get in the back. You can anchor yourself to the netting."
Carson moved quickly, though he was unsteady on his feet as the jumper continued to rock. He clung to the wall as he moved into the rear compartment.
The jumper jerked hard. John heard two resonating thuds followed by a groan.
"Doc, you all right?"
"Bloody life signs detector. I lost my grip, it caught me in the eye."
John glanced back. The doctor's eye was already red and swelling. Carson pulled himself up from the floor, favoring his right ankle.
"Colonel…" Carson pointed out the windshield. His mouth remained open, but he didn't manage another word.
Even with the smoke, it was kind of hard to miss the thicket of trees they were barreling into. At least the trees would slow their descent.
"I see it." Adrenaline surged through John's veins, effectively numbing any traces of panic.
The lights flickered in the cabin, the power level was precariously low. The alarm blared again and, this time, John couldn't shut it down
"If you've seen it, why haven't you pulled up already?" Carson's voice pealed an octave higher than normal.
Like he hadn't tried. John gritted his teeth. The smoke cleared for a moment and he could see the forest floor. Shit. They were hurdling towards it. It was a shame the Daedalus was in the Milky Way, it would have saved them a lot of heartache and pain. He had a feeling the emphasis was about to be on the latter.
He braced himself. "Hold on, Carson. Impact in three, two…"
John's eyes flashed open. Pain radiated through his body. There was a deafening ringing within his ears and lights flickered inside the jumper. He blinked slowly and the world turned from black and white back to color, though the color was mottled with a smoky haze. What had happened and, better yet, why the hell did it hurt to breathe? He didn't have time to figure that out.
Something, someone, was tugging on his tactical vest, pulling him off the control console. John came up pointing his sidearm. Carson's hands flew up in a don't shoot kind of way and his eye was red and puffy. It jarred his memory. Wildfire. The crash. He tucked the gun back in the holster and reached up to rub his head, it was splitting like a mother-
"Colonel!"
John's hand came back sticky with blood and he unceremoniously wiped it against his pants. Carson looked like he was yelling, but his voice seemed muffled. He didn't look much better because of his eye, but he didn't appear to have any new injuries. John's eyes flicked back to the front of the jumper, which was several feet higher than the rear compartment.
The jumper had come to rest at an odd angle. God only knew what was beneath them, John just hoped it was stable. The windshield was still intact, the jumper's shield must have held through the crash, though soot covered the window and blocked his view beyond.
Slowly, the ringing subsided in his ears. He coughed and immediately groaned, suddenly recognizing the jabbing sensation in his side. The last time he'd felt this way he'd had two broken ribs.
"I can't get the rear hatch open to free my medical kit." Carson tugged at John's elbow. "I need you to go back there so I can take a look at your head with my supplies in reach."
His head was the least of their worries if they couldn't open the door. There must have been a breach in the hull somewhere, smoke was slowly filtering its way into the cabin along with an acrid, charring smell. The HUD was sketchy, but he tried hard to concentrate as it flashed in and out. The southern edge of the fire had crept closer behind them.
"Where are the boys?" His head throbbed and even the sound of his own voice was enough to make him wince.
Carson reached for the life sign detector. "They must have seen the crash, it looks like they are heading this way."
John descended through the sloping jumper to take a closer look at the door. He'd watched McKay work on these things often enough, surely he'd picked up enough to remember how to hot-wire the damn door.
Carson limped after him. John paused and nodded towards his foot in silent question.
"Just my ankle, it'll be fine. I was luckier than you." Carson moved beside John and held up a finger in front of his eyes. "It's your head I'm worried about."
"I get that a lot."
Carson almost smiled at that and pulled out a flash light. The jumper's interior lights were still flickering erratically. "Just stand still a moment, would you? Follow my finger."
It would take less time to comply than argue, so he dutifully tracked Carson's fingers with his eyes.
"I think you have a concussion, we need to-"
"We need a lot of things. Most importantly to open the door, get the boys and try to sit tight until someone shows up to give us a lift." John felt the trickle of blood oozing down his forehead. He reached up and swiped his jacket sleeve across it.
"At least let me bandage it, you're not going to be able to see if-"
A thundering crack splintered the air and John froze. They'd pummeled some pretty large trees when they'd landed. Even without a shield, the jumper should be able handle the impact of falling trees, but they did have a glaring weak spot. There was a deafening boom and the jumper quaked. John grabbed Carson's arm and turned them towards the back of the jumper. Fragments of the windshield hailed through the jumper, pelting the sides of their faces as they turned.
There was a metallic groan as the jumper settled into a steeper angle under the weight of the tree. John held Carson's arm tight to steady him as the floor shifted beneath them. If the rear hatch hadn't been jammed before, it was now. The door had taken on a whole new shape under the weight of the tree. Trees in all likelihood, judging by the force of the impact. The area of the forest where they'd crashed was dense with massive trees that rivaled the California redwoods in size.
John released Carson and gingerly reached up to the side of his face, pulling out a fragment of the windshield. He could feel a half dozen more imbedded in his face and Carson looked just as bad. They'd been wearing their jackets, so their arms had been protected, they were just lucky none had caught their eyes. He threaded his fingers through his hair, dislodging a few fragments from the strands.
"Don't rub your face, doc."
He left Carson, who was still frozen in place, and went to inspect the windshield. Leaves and branches littered the floor of the jumper. He toed debris out of the way as he hiked the grade towards the control console. Smoke was steadily seeping into the cabin now and the air quality was rapidly deteriorating. John coughed and his ribs immediately protested.
"Damn it." His head throbbed again just from the sound of his own voice.
An enormous section of tree almost completely covered the opening where the windshield had been. It didn't budge when John pushed against it. He stepped down into the rear compartment and opened a storage hatch. He prowled around, looking for gloves or anything that would protect his hands, finally coming up with a blanket. Behind the blanket was the small medical kit they kept stored on the jumper and John handed it to Carson. They'd need one to take with them in case the boys were hurt.
Carson snapped out of his shock and immediately opened the kit. "Hold still. Thirty seconds is all I ask." He swiped an antiseptic wipe across John's forehead and plastered a large ready stick bandage on it.
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard. Do you read?" He wasn't surprised to be answered with silence. John made his way back to the front of the jumper and used the blanket to sweep away debris from the console and his seat. "Carson, where are the boys?"
There was a pause. "They're not moving anymore."
John's gut coiled. Hopefully they'd heard the crash and had decided to stay put. "How far away?"
"Half a square kilometer."
John cursed softly. They were closer than he'd like for what he had in mind. "What direction?"
Carson consulted the screen again. "Still to our east."
That was something. "I've got an idea, but you're not going to like it."
"What's to like about any of this, it can hardly get worse, can it?"
John had learned it was best never to answer that question.
The impact from the trees seemed to have stabilized some of the systems. It reminded John of a TV he'd had in his youth, he'd had to smack the side to get the picture to clear. That was days before it had crapped out altogether, which probably didn't bode well for the integrity of the jumper's systems, but he'd take what he could get right now. The lights weren't flashing and the HUD was staying on now when he called it up.
McKay had once mentioned it took less power to fire a drone than it did to do just about anything else in the jumper. That had stuck with him. The velocity from a drone emerging from a still vehicle had to produce some kind of jolt, either to the tree or the jumper or both. Hopefully, it would be enough to get some space between the jumper and tree so they could climb out.
John glanced back at Carson. "Time to grab hold of that net again."
"Again? What are you doing?" Carson eyed him warily, but stepped back and reached for the net.
"Firing in-"
"Firing drones? You have a concussion, I don't think that is a good idea. You might hit the boys-"
"I'm not aiming for them." John continued. "Firing in three, two-"
The jumper jerked and John threw his arms in front of his face, shielding his eyes as fragments of wood flooded the cabin. The incline of the jumper leveled out a bit, though it was still higher in the front.
"Why do you bother to count down? You never actually finish."
John almost laughed. The lyrical wail was a hundred percent Carson, he must be fine. It wasn't a habit of his to count down to anything, but Carson was on edge enough as it was. He'd thought it might help him know when things were coming.
He gingerly lowered his arms. Luckily, he hadn't incurred any new nicks on his face from flying debris. He leaned closer to the windshield and felt a surge of relief when he spotted the opening on the passenger side. He pushed out of his chair and pulled out his knife, carving four long strips of material from the blanket. The remainder of blanket went over the console to protect them from loose shards of glass.
He coughed again and winced as his ribs protested. Smoke had thickened the air in the cabin and John knew it couldn't be much better outside. A hike was the last thing Carson needed right now, but with the fire creeping closer, John could hardly leave him behind.
John nodded towards the window. "Think you can manage to crawl out?"
"I'd walk through the bloody fire now if it'd get me out of this thing." Carson was smiling in spite of his words. His eyes darted to the life signs detector. "They're moving again, heading straight towards us."
"All right, let's go round up those boys."
He tied the makeshift bandana around his head, covering his nose and mouth. He tossed another strip of fabric to Carson and tucked the other two in a pocket to save for the boys.
John tried to ignore the pain in his ribs as clambered over the console. Outside, chunks of trees still obstructed most of the front of the jumper. Soot and ash rained down, leaving a thick coating everywhere. The section of tree John stepped into immediately gave way and he slid towards the forest floor. He landed on his feet with thud. The force jarred his battered body, sending a fresh wave of pain coursing through his limbs.
"Could you hold it steady for me?" Carson called. He'd had an excellent view of John's clumsy journey to the forest floor.
"Got it." John moved to brace the chunk of tree he'd just slid down on.
Carson tied on his own makeshift bandanna. He stowed the life sign detector and medical kit inside his jacket and crawled out the opening in the windshield. He moved with an abundance of caution, still favoring his injured ankle. He reached the ground without incident and pulled out the life signs detector.
John pulled out his flashlight. "Which way?"
"They're almost here." Carson adjusted his bandanna. "Northeast, less than fifty yards."
They were close. It was about time something was in their favor. Carson leaned heavily on John's good side and they picked their way over the rest of the shattered trees. They plodded up a small hill that crested into a small clearing. The smoke wasn't as thick up here and he had better visibility than he'd expected when he directed the flashlight across the small plateau. The boys popped out of the tree line on the opposite side and rushed towards them.
"It's Colonel Sheppard." Wex's voice carried across the clearing and the boys ran towards them.
John tugged down his bandanna. What they hell where they carrying? He aimed the flashlight right at it. It looked like they had some kind of animal in a burlap bag, all he could see was the creature's eyes glowering back in the night.
"Colonel Sheppard!" Jinto waved. "We were coming to rescue you."
John cast his eyes to Carson. Jinto's endearing proclamation almost made up for the wrecked state of his body. Almost. They certainly didn't seem to be traumatized from being alone in the midst of a wildfire, oddly enough, they seemed to be having fun. They must have somehow skirted the worst of the flames to be so lighthearted. The boys were breathless when they skidded to a stop before them.
"What do you have here, son?" Carson reached out and the animal sniffed curiously at his hand.
"We rescued Kitty, he was scared of the smoke. He ran away from my sister." Wex pulled the bag away and held up the creature. It seemed to be a cross between a raccoon and a house cat. "He led us far away from the settlement, we had to chase him into the caves. We'd just caught him and returned outside when we saw the jumper crash, so we came to rescue you as well."
"Kitty?" Carson asked.
John frowned. Someone from Atlantis had to have suggested that one.
"Yes, Dr. McKay saw us playing with him one day. It reminded him of his pet from your home world." Jinto said. "He suggested we call it Kitty."
A few months back, McKay mentioned the kids had rescued an abandoned baby animal. It had struck him as odd at the time, not just because the Athosians were not known for keeping pets, but also because McKay tended to shy away from contact with children whenever he could.
"We liked it." Wex tugged the bag back around the animal, leaving only its head hanging out. "It was a name unheard of among our people."
It wasn't unusual for animals to sense fires before people did. While chasing the animal had taken them out of the evacuation zone, at least it had helped the boys to continue to elude the fire.
John turned sideways to Carson. "How many times have I told McKay never to name anything?"
Carson pulled down his bandanna. "Not often enough, apparently. Though, he has perfected the art of selective hearing."
John felt a rush of air and spotted a jumper cutting through the smoke. It landed just beside them and the rear hatch opened almost immediately.
"Someone call for a taxi?" Lorne was the first one out.
Smith and Richards, the two marines accompanying Lorne, followed him out.
"Funny." John nodded towards Carson. "Give him a hand, will you?"
"Got him." Richard's went to Carson's side.
Lorne grimaced when he took a closer look at John. "You look like hell."
John didn't care if he looked like hell, he just wished he didn't feel like hell. He waved off Smith's offer of assistance. There wasn't anything wrong with his feet, or legs for that matter.
Lorne greeted Jinto and Wex. "Good to see you boys, you gave us quite a scare."
"We were rescuing Colonel Sheppard." Jinto's chest puffed.
"Really?" Lorne's smile stretched wide. "Wait. Is that a cat?"
"This is Kitty." Wex proudly held up the animal.
Lorne's eyes flashed back to John. "Have you cleared that with Dr. Weir?"
John's hand scrubbed down the back of his neck. He'd left Atlantis without clearance, flown into the heart of a wildfire, and crashed the only jumper they had with a shield. He probably had a difficult conversation coming with Elizabeth whether they brought back an animal or not.
"I've learned it's better to ask forgiveness after the fact than ignore a direct order." John pointed towards Wex. "Besides, it's his little sister's. I'd rather tell Elizabeth I brought back… whatever that is, instead of telling a little girl I left her pet in the middle of a wildfire."
Lorne blanched and nodded in agreement. Flecks of fire started raining along with the ash. The fire had grown closer.
Lorne's eyes panned around. "Dead man zone." He advised.
John glared at him, but the boys didn't appear to have heard his careless words.
"In the jumper, everyone." John wiped away a spark from his jacket.
Jinto and Wex scampered inside. John and Lorne followed with Smith right behind them. The boy's faces and clothing were covered with soot and John knew he couldn't look any better. Carson had taken a seat in the back and was already tightly grasping the netting.
John patted his shoulder as he walked by. "Thanks for coming along, Carson. You did great."
He'd thought Carson a bit timid when they'd first met, but he'd proved to have the heart of a lion when he thought someone was in need of medical assistance. Running onto a jumper headed straight into a wildfire had taken no small amount of courage for the man.
"I didn't do anything except get myself hurt and slow you down." Carson sounded remorseful.
John paused and looked back. "I don't know if you noticed, but the jumper was a bit of a handful in those conditions. I would have probably crashed sooner if I'd had to track the boys by myself. Plus, I might still be passed out on the console if you hadn't been around."
Carson grudgingly smiled. John nodded and moved on. Lorne was right on his heels as he stepped into the cockpit.
"You sure you want to fly?" Lorne smirked. "I've seen your work."
John ignored him and settled into the pilot's seat. He swiped a hand across his forehead, it came up bloody again. The bandage wasn't holding and that meant only one thing. Stitches. Fiery sparks pelted the windshield, it was past time they got out of dodge. He glanced back to make sure everyone was clear and he shut the rear hatch. The boys crowded into the cockpit, wanting a bird's eye view.
The jumper ascended through the rain of embers and clouds of smoke. As they gained altitude, they spotted glimpses of the charred forest below. It was a sobering scene. The boys sucked in their breath and John could tell from their sudden pallor and wide eyes that he'd been right. They hadn't realized how dangerous the wildfire had become. Through the smoke, they could see the wall of fire angrily consuming acres of dense forest. The glowering spikes of crimson flames were a brilliant contrast against the black smoke and the dark of night.
"Grab a seat, boys. We'll have you back to your families in a few minutes." John watched as they retreated to sit alongside Carson.
"Colonel, look." Carson leaned forward, staring intently out the windshield. "To the east."
The fire had engulfed the area the boys had been in when they'd first detected them. John felt a flood of relief he'd listened to his instincts. He wished their retrieval would have played out differently, but if the boys hadn't heard the crash and came to investigate, they could still have been in the area when the fire closed in.
"It's supposed to rain tonight." Lorne said quietly.
"Tomorrow's going to be a busy day." John was already imagining the work that would have to be done to clear the land if the fires were even out by that point. Odds were, it would take days for them to be completely extinguished. Weeks, if the rain didn't materialize.
"Tomorrow?" Lorne glanced over at John, his eyes were incredulous. "We're not finished with tonight yet. We still have to get everyone settled in."
"About that..." John would rather deal with refugee logistics instead of getting stuck in the infirmary for the night, but-
"I know, I know. You're overdue for an appointment at the infirmary. Story of my life."
John coughed and his hand went to his ribs. His head was splitting and parts of his body he didn't know he had were starting to ache. Story of his life.
Lorne had winced watching him cough. "It's okay, I got it. Your team is already back there working on it. Knowing Teyla, everyone will probably be squared away by the time we get back."
"Jumper two, this is Atlantis. Do you read?" Elizabeth's voice crackled over the radio.
"Is it just me or does she sound upset?" John rubbed his chin and cursed softly. His jacket had caught a shard of glass that was still lodged the side of his face.
"We've had some interference with the radios. McKay explained why, but I didn't really listen. They've probably been trying us for minutes."
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard." He really needed to find some Tylenol. The sound of his own voice shouldn't be so painful.
"It's good to hear your voice." Elizabeth's voice was laced with relief. "Everyone accounted for?"
He glanced back. Smith and Richards were seated behind him and Lorne. Wex and Jinto had joined Carson in the rear compartment. John eyed the creature that accompanied them.
"Plus one." He answered.
"What was that, John?"
"Everyone." John revised.
Lorne laughed softly. John turned to throw him a scathing glare and, from the corner of his eye, he spotted Carson rubbing his ankle.
"No major injuries, but we need a medical team on standby." John rubbed his temple. He should have amended that to a medical team and potent painkiller on standby.
"That's a given when we send someone after you." Her voice was obscured with static and he wasn't sure his hearing was at hundred percent. He could completely imagine her thinking the words, but she hadn't really just said that aloud, had she?
"I didn't quite copy that." John threw another look of warning at Lorne, who was laughing harder now.
"They are already standing by." Elizabeth's voice was coming in more clearly now. "You about ready to come home yet?"
John laughed at that. He hadn't exactly been out for a joyride.
"Heading that way now." His hand went back to his protesting ribs. He held it there this time, not that it was actually helping anything, but maybe the pressure would remind him not to laugh again.
The lights of Atlantis broke through the haze of the smoke and John's shoulders finally relaxed. Though anything would be preferable to a dead man zone, Elizabeth had pegged it right. Home.
~The End
Disclaimer: I hope I didn't offend anyone with the name or content, fire isn't something I take lightly. Wildfire has had a significant impact on my area recently, so it's been on my mind and was the first thing I thought of when someone requested a whump piece for the Secret Santa on Gateworld. Dead man zone is an official term in wildfire lingo and there were so many wildfire stories on the site, I really struggled for the name.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed, thank you for taking the time to read!