Part Two

For a long moment of frozen disbelief, Sheppard didn't move, didn't fire, didn't even breathe. He couldn't be seeing what his eyes were telling him he was seeing. This just wasn't possible.

Alongside the Wraith queen, more ripples in the fog flared up as another head began to slowly surface. And then another, and then another.

Finally, Sheppard was able to gather himself enough to say, 'No way!'

McKay, who still had his back to the bodies, stared at him, wide-eyed. 'What? What is it?'

'Rodney, walk toward us,' Teyla said in her most soothing voice, beckoning him toward them as the Wraith at his rear began to stagger to their feet.

'There's something behind me, isn't there?' he whimpered, beginning to turn his head.

'It's fine, Rodney,' Sheppard assured him, stopping him in the act. 'Just come over here.'

'Don't tell me…those rabbit things Lorne found turn vicious at night…like wererabbits.'

And now Sheppard had Monty Python's Holy Grail rabbit attack scene on a loop in his head. That really wasn't helping. 'Now who's being illogical?' he asked, pinning on a faltering smile. 'I think it's time we head back to the jumper. You ready?'

Rodney gave a feeble nod, but it was as if his feet we cast in cement blocks. He simply couldn't move.

In the meantime, all of the Wraith were now on their feet and turning to face them. Each one of them cracked their face into a sickening grin. Then, as if they were all somehow being controlled by the same puppet master, each of them lifted their right arm and beckoned for them to approach.

'Oh, hell no,' Sheppard whispered, backing up a step.

'Screw this,' Ronon growled, firing a kill blast straight into the queen. She rocked, a glowing sheen surrounding her, which then seemed to be absorbed into her body, strengthening her somehow.

She beckoned once again, as did the others, all still wearing their eerie smiles.

The shock of Ronon's shot seemed to shake Rodney out of his stupor. He spun, spotted what had them all so stunned, then sped past them with all the speed of a startled cat.

That was enough to get them all moving, Sheppard and Teyla spraying the awakened Wraith with P-90 fire as they retreated. Though the bullets sent little chunks of decaying flesh flying in all directions, they did little else. The Wraith barely even flinched.

They bolted for the rear hatch, Sheppard immediately leaping into the pilot seat and trying to shut out the constant 'Oh my God,' chant coming from Rodney, who sat quivering in the seat behind him, so he could concentrate on getting them out of there. He willed the engines into life, an intense sense of relief flooding through him and quelling the adrenaline rush that had been pumping through his veins as they fired into action.

He watched for a moment with morbid fascination as the Wraith took their first proper steps – awkward movements that appeared completely alien to them. They stumbled, fell, even walked into rocks and trees as if they couldn't steer around them. He would have laughed if it wasn't all so terrifying.

'What can be causing this?' Teyla breathed. 'They have clearly been long dead, but now they move again.'

'I don't know, and I don't intend to hang around long enough to find out,' he told her. Setting their craft in motion, they had lifted barely a few feet off the ground when all systems failed and the jumper thudded back down with a bone shaking crunch. 'What the hell?'

'What's wrong?' Ronon asked, leaning forward between the pilot seats.

Sheppard cast his cast across his control panel, jabbing at various controls. 'We just lost power.'

'What could have caused that?' Teyla asked. 'Why would the ship suddenly fail?'

'I don't know.' He turned in his seat. 'Rodney?'

Rodney continued to shake uncontrollably and stare out of the windshield with bulging eyes. 'They're coming.'

Which shouldn't have been a problem now they were safely encapsulated within the jumper, except, Sheppard now noticed to his horror, that the rear hatch was frozen partway open. There was more than enough room for a zombie wraith or five slide their hands in around the sides and give it a good tug.

'Rodney! Can you fix this?' he snapped, causing Rodney to flinch and finally bring his focus onto him.

'I…I don't know. Give me a minute.'

'Not sure we have a minute,' Sheppard replied, pointing past him.

Rodney looked back over his shoulder to the half-open hatch. 'Oh, no!'

He dove forward, yanking Teyla out of her seat and almost throwing her to the floor in his eagerness to access the control panels. He pulled out the crystal panel, lifting one out. It was black and cracked throughout its body.

'The crystals are fried. We're screwed.'

'Can you fix it?' Ronon demanded.

'With what? Magic? Everything is broken. There is no power.' He pulled out his scanner, it sparked and burned his finger as he tried to activate it, causing him to drop it. 'Ow! Great! Now that's fried too!'

'Are the Wraith somehow doing this?' Teyla asked.

'I don't know…I don't think so,' Rodney squeaked. 'We've seen no evidence of this kind of effect around them before.'

'We haven't seen dead Wraith come back to life before, either,' Sheppard pointed out. 'So, if not them, what?'

'The EM levels!' Rodney blurted out, seeming to find some comfort in identifying a science-based reason for at least some of the weirdness. 'They were rising before, I'm guessing they've reached a point that's harmful to our tech.'

'Meaning we're stuck here?' Sheppard clarified.

Rodney nodded. 'Yes…and we are seriously screwed.'

'And we have requested a hazmat team to travel to this plant, while we have no way to communicate that they should not come through,' Teyla reminded them. 'We must try to do something.'

That brought their current situation into sharp focus for Sheppard. Another team from Atlantis was going to walk right into a situation they couldn't possibly anticipate. They had to make a plan.

'Whatever we do, we need to get off the jumper before they trap us in here,' Ronon grunted, leaping up and ramming his shoulder to the rear hatch, shoving for all he was worth.

Realising they were sitting ducks, Sheppard joined him and pushed with all his bodyweight. Teyla joined them too, adding her strength to the battle. It was giving way, inches at a time, but they could all hear the stumping, unsteady steps of the reanimated Wraith getting closer all the time. 'Rodney…get off your ass and help!' Sheppard ordered, knowing they were running out of time.

'But they'll get in!'

'They are going to get in anyway!' Teyla yelled. 'This will greatly increase our chance of escape.'

Reluctantly, he joined them, pushing with his entire bulk. The hatch creaked a groan of complaint against their onslaught, giving a few more inches. Through the growing gap round the sides of the hatch, Sheppard now saw the first shadow of the approaching Wraith. It was too late, they were going to have to fight their way out of there.

'They're here,' he told the others. Rodney immediately turned several shades paler than he already was. He looked like he was about to pass out.

'Ronon, you get McKay out of here. Teyla, you stick with me. We need to get back to the Hive ship and see if we can use the systems there to get a message through to Atlantis.'

'Yes, the Wraith are known to be able to hold a gate open with their Hive ships to prevent escape during cullings,' Teyla agreed. 'If I can communicate with the controls I might be able to open the space gate so you can send a message through.'

'If the Wraith ship isn't fried, too,' Rodney squeaked. 'If the EM levels are increasing planet-wide, those systems with be burned out by now.'

'Let's assume that hasn't happened, Rodney,' Sheppard asserted firmly. 'Getting back to the Hive is our plan. Let's focus on that.'

Pressing his lips into a grim line Sheppard suspected was a way to stop himself complaining again, Rodney nodded. McKay wasn't a brave man…he'd never claimed to be…but he'd grown to trust them over their years as a team, and seemed to understand if Sheppard was ordering him to do something, it was for the greater good.

His stoic silence didn't last long, however, as a bony hand rounded the edge of the hatch and grasped his sleeve. He screamed, and Ronon pulled him free of the long fingers, blasting the hand with his gun. As before, the residual glow of energy lingered on the limb a while, and then was simply absorbed. Instead of the hand drawing back, it grabbed onto the hatch and began to pull, the strength of the undead being attached to it apparently far greater than the four of them combined, because the hatch gave way at least eight inches.

Sheppard gave the hold signal; a little wider and they could actually squeeze out. He watched the hand, along with several more, grasp the hatch, signalled a count down from three, then gave the order to move.

They launched as one, Ronon dragging Rodney through one side of the hatch as it gave under the strain, and Sheppard and Teyla leaping out through the other. Again, they sprayed their adversaries with bullets, but other than making holes in their rotten flesh they had little to no effect. The Wraith simply groaned out their complaints, flailing their ragged arms in their direction.

As Sheppard pushed his way through them, one hand grasped his arm tightly, so tightly in fact he thought his bones might snap. He let go of his gun and swung a right hook before even focussing on who it was that held him. His fist connected with the Wraith queen's jaw with a gut churning crack. It fell slack, and out of her gaping maw spilled hundreds of insect larvae, some landing on him and falling inside his clothing. He gave an involuntary yell of disgust, trying again to tear his arm free. But the Wraith queen, untroubled by his blows, refused to relinquish her hold on him. And now the others started reaching for him, too.

That was the point at which Teyla cracked the queen around the head with one of the two branches she was now brandishing. The female groaned out, her decayed vocal chords make the sound reedy and pathetic compared to the usual spine-chilling dual toned threats that would spew forth from them. Her attention thus broken, Sheppard felt the slightest of slackening in the queen's hold on him, and immediately took advantage of it, pulling free and ducking to allow Teyla another clear swipe. She knocked the queen sideways and then spun to smack down one of the commanders. With a small gap created in the wall of Wraith surrounding them, Sheppard snatched hold of Teyla's sleeve and tugged her through it, the two of them now sprinting for freedom, all thoughts of headaches and fatigue now long forgotten.

Up ahead, Sheppard could just make out Ronon dragging McKay along with him, winding his way through the trees in the growing gloom, making his way back to the Wraith ship. Ronon's sense of direction was second to none, so Sheppard put on a spirt, ordering Teyla to keep up so that they could catch up at least enough to tell him to wait without screaming and giving their position away. A quick glance over his shoulder told him the Wraith weren't going to be winning any Olympic medals for sprinting, so once they were out of earshot, he knew they could regroup.

Eventually, he managed to call Ronon back to them, and they took the briefest of breaks to catch their breath.

'What the hell was that?' Ronon asked, straight to the point.

'I don't know,' Sheppard was forced to admit. 'They sure as hell looked dead before the sun went down, but now…'

'They appear to be quite alive.'

And shudder shook right through Sheppard as he recalled the queen's unhinged jaw and the alien maggots wriggling out of it. He checked his clothing, finding one or two of them trapped in the folds of his rolled-up sleeve. He flicked them out. 'Yeah…well, kind of...'

'Zombies!' Rodney whimpered.

And even though that was exactly what Sheppard had been thinking, he found himself denying it. 'Zombies aren't real, McKay. There has to be another explanation.'

'Zombies…what is that?' Teyla asked, her brow puckered with worry as she bent forward, hands braced on her thighs, while she attempted to slow her breathing.

'The undead,' Rodney explained, voice quaking as he spoke. 'They die, but then something reanimates them…only they're not the same.'

'In what way?'

'They try feed on people.'

Teyla exchanged glances with Ronon and John. 'How is that different than normal for the Wraith?' she asked.

'They try to eat your brains.'

Her jaw dropped and her eyebrows inches up at that. 'Oh…That is most disturbing. And you have these 'zombies back on Earth?'

'No!' Sheppard snapped, glaring at McKay. 'They're just in the movies. Weren't you the one giving us a lecture earlier about science?'

'Yes, but as a scientist I have to draw whatever conclusion the evidence leads me to. And I just saw five zombies with my own eyes! They'll come after me, for sure. My brain is superior to yours and they can probably sense these things.'

Sheppard rubbed firm circles on his temples and closed his eyes. 'Zombies aren't real, Rodney. Dead Wraith don't just get up and start walking around in real life, and they sure as hell don't smile like that. There has to be some other explanation.' A thought suddenly struck him. 'What about the high EM field? Is it possible it's making us see and hear things?'

Rodney's huge, frightened eyes stared at him a moment as if he wanted to believe that, but he soon answered in the negative. 'I would have said that was possible until they started tugging that rear hatch open.'

'Maybe we hallucinated that,' Sheppard suggested. 'Like a mass hallucination?'

'All of us?' Ronon questioned. He looked like he seriously doubted that.

'There's no such thing as a mass hallucination,' Rodney countered. 'The actual term is mass hysteria and that doesn't include this kind of thing. There's no way all four of us would see the exact same thing if it isn't there.'

'Besides, those creatures seemed very real when they took hold of you,' Teyla pointed out.

McKay's entire expression registered his shock. 'They grabbed you? Did they bite you?' he demanded.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. 'I'm not going to turn into a zombie!'

'That didn't answer my question,' McKay squeaked, shuffling a little further away from him.

'No one bit me,' Sheppard growled.

McKay's whole body seemed to sag with relief.

Sheppard caught Teyla and Ronon's quizzical expressions. 'If they bite you, you turn into a zombie too,' he explained.

'In the movies?' Teyla clarified.

'Exactly.'

In the dim distance, they heard a faint groan. Their pursuers weren't fast, but they were determined, and they were heading their way.

'We should get moving,' Sheppard announced, painfully aware that he hadn't fully regained his breath yet. 'The one thing we have on our side is time. We need to get back to that Hive.'

They set off once more, Teyla taking point, Ronon keeping a firm grip on Rodney, and Sheppard covering their six. A thought occurred to Sheppard as they ran. What if the other Wraith had risen up, too? What if, right now, there were thirty-nine brittle Wraith husks staggering their way around that Hive ship crying out for brains? He mentally chastised himself for allowing such ridiculous doubts to cloud his judgement, but all the same, as the ship neared and his worries increased, he stopped them all short of running straight into the Hive ship and ordered Teyla to wait outside with Rodney until they could give them the all clear.

The dank, musky smell of decay hung heavy in the air. They'd grown used to it previously but having been out into the fresh air it now hit them like a truck. Sheppard signalled for Ronon to go to the upper level and begin his sweep there. They needed to be quick or they would lose the whole of their time advantage.

Sheppard ran from room to room at the lowest level, finding it easier to navigate his way around now that the lights were on. To his immense relief he found body after body just where he'd left them originally. Finding his way up to the next level, he and Ronon almost collided as they bolted from one chamber to another. 'No zombies, just bodies,' Ronon panted, heaving in strained breaths.

Sheppard wasted no time in radioing the others. 'Safe to come aboard.'

He and Ronon jogged back to the control room, where Rodney had already begun working on bringing up the systems they needed. The screen flickered in and out of view, glitching as he tried to identify the correct relays. 'We have control of dailling commands, but power levels are fluctuating. I'm guessing it's either because the power cell wasn't designed to power so many systems, or the EM levels are interfering with proper functioning.'

'Can we make it work?' Sheppard asked, swiping sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

'I might be able to re-route power from something else to give it a boost. Just give me a few minutes.'

McKay seemed to have calmed now that he had a job to focus on. Ronon was out in the passageway; there was a crack big enough for a man to squeeze through in the hull out there and he was squatted down beside it, keeping watch.

Teyla held her gun at the ready, waiting for the time her DNA would be required to operate the ship, tense and vigilant. 'The Hive is sick,' she said softly. 'The power you have given it has nourished it a little, but I fear it may simply not be enough for it to maintain a wormhole and transmit a message. I feel its pain.'

'We have to try,' Sheppard insisted, seeing Rodney falter. 'We owe it to the hazmat team who are about to fly into a zombie apocalypse.'

'I thought you said they weren't zombies,' Rodney snapped.

'They're not…but in the absence of a better name we'll stick with it for –'

Suddenly, all the follicles along his arms bristled, his hairs standing to attention. 'They're coming.'

'What? How do you know?' Rodney gasped, halting his efforts.

'The static. Can't you feel it?'

Rodney concentrated, and the realisation dawned as a look of sheer horror. 'If they come too close they'll fry everything I just got working.'

They couldn't allow that to happen. This ship was their only chance to communicate with Atlantis. 'Ronon and I will distract them,' Sheppard told him. 'If we lead them away from here that'll buy you some more time to re-route the power.'

'I will come with you,' Teyla stated, grasping her P-90 and striding behind him for the door.

He turned and clapped a hand on her shoulder. 'No, Teyla. You need to be here to help send the signal.'

He could see in her eyes that she was afraid for them, that she wanted to be out there with them, fighting to hold the enemy back. But they couldn't risk losing either one of them. Rodney and Teyla were equally vital to the success of their plan.

'Very well,' she said, with a respectful dip of her head. 'Please be careful out there.'

'We'll do our best to come back in one piece,' he promised, giving her a crooked smile. 'Ronon, you're with me.'

The big man didn't question the order, always ready for a fight.

Outside, the sky visible through the trees was now a rich shade of indigo, dotted with perfect, pin-prick stars. They crept forward in the direction they had arrived in, certain the Wraith zombies would be tracing their path. They could hear them in the distance, their heavy footfalls snapping fallen twigs and scuffing up leaves and dirt as they went. They weren't fast, but they were headed in the right direction.

'Don't use your gun on them,' Sheppard hissed over to his friend, as they squatted down behind a couple of broad tree boles. 'Seems to give then a boost.'

Ronon holstered his weapon. 'What should we do?'

'I'm thinking we get their attention and just keep moving. Hopefully they'll follow us, and we can lead them away from the Hive ship.'

'How do you kill them…you know…in the movies?' Ronon asked.

Sheppard looked Ronon's way, realising he was genuine in his question. 'Uh, crush their brains…or take their heads off.'

Slowly, to cause as little noise as possible, Ronon reached back over his shoulder and unsheathed his sword. 'Shouldn't be a problem.'

Sheppard marvelled at the huge blade, reflecting on how cool it was to be friends with someone like Ronon. He was definitely the kind of guy you wanted on your side in a battle with zombies. Or a battle with anyone, for that matter.

A twig split somewhere only a few yards ahead of him. He pulled his Beretta; bullets might not do much good, but just holding it made him feel a whole lot more powerful. He figured any psychological advantage when going up against an unstoppable foe had to be a good thing. He squinted into the darkness, trying to make out movement. He knew they were out there, but it was so dark here under the canopy of the trees that it was almost impossible to discern anything that was more than a few feet away from him.

At last, he got his first glimpse of them, the merest hint of starlight reflecting from their trailing white locks. It was a commander and it was heading straight toward him.

Then another crack to his right startled him, and he realised a little belatedly that the Wraith had split up and were approaching them from multiple angles. He signalled the two directions to Ronon, who gave a sharp nod, fixing his focus on the point ahead while Sheppard began to creep backwards, hoping to circle around a nearby cluster of trees and lead them away from the Hive.

The arms that encircled him from behind, trapping his arms by his sides, took him completely by surprise. He strained against them, but they held fast.

'Ronon!'

Ronon reacted as quickly as could be expected, roaring his anger as he brandished his sword, ready to swing. Of course, with the zombie Wraith tucked in tight behind him, there was nothing Ronon could swing at without hurting Sheppard, too.

'Let him go,' he growled, inching closer.

Sheppard wriggled, butted and stamped for all he was worth as the rest of the Wraith now came into view, some of them behind Ronon.

'Watch your six, buddy,' he warned.

He watched Ronon's lip twitch into a sneer. The Satedan was at his most lethal when trapped. Somebody was going to pay big time.

Ronon tried to get himself between Sheppard and the rest of the Wraith, but they seemed focussed on separating the two of them.

Then they spoke. 'Come,' The one holding him said first.

'With,' another commander croaked.

'Us,' the queen slurred, her useless jaw making speech that bit harder.

The weirdness of them sharing out a sentence, at first stopped them both in their tracks. Finally, Sheppard snapped out of his shock. 'We're not going anywhere with you.'

'Not,' his captor began.

'Him,' anther commander said.

'You,' the queen grunted, then the corners of her mouth turned up again in a hideous, slack jawed grin, a weird facsimile of friendliness that turned his stomach.

'Let him go,' Ronon hissed again.

A Wraith commander got between him and Sheppard, holding out his hands to stop him. 'Stay.'

'Back,' the Wraith holding Sheppard finished.

Apparently, Ronon had had enough of their freaky sentence-splitting speech. With a fierce yell he swung his sword, swiping it across at the Wraith's shoulder level. Sheppard felt a rush of air cross his face and saw a flash of metal only inches from the end of his nose. There was a second or two of delay, and then the head of the Wraith standing before him toppled to the left and thumped to the ground.

Sheppard waited for the body to follow suit and collapse into the dirt. But it didn't. Instead, it turned and reached out to grab at Sheppard, too.

That was incentive enough to drive Sheppard's adrenalin to the level he needed to free himself. He ripped himself free of their clawing hands and began to run, Ronon right there with him.

'It didn't work,' Ronon called over to him. 'Taking the head off.'

'I noticed!'

'So…not zombies?'

'No…definitely not zombies.'

They couldn't be. There was evidence of planning in the way they had encircled them. And then there was that weird speech pattern. Zombie's couldn't plan…and they certainly couldn't speak. At least not in the movies. So, what the hell were they dealing with? It was Wraith bodies, but they weren't functioning like Wraith. The headless one had known exactly where he was even without being able to see him. It made no sense, and out here with five Wraith bodies trailing after them, he couldn't take the time to get his thoughts straight that he needed to figure it out.

Once they'd put some distance between themselves and the Wraith he radioed through the Rodney. 'How's it coming, McKay?'

'I've done…at I ca…but we can't…t a clear signa…to the Starga…'

He took a second or too to figure out the answer. 'Keep trying. We'll keep the Wraith away from you.'

'You need to get…em furth…away becau….eres…ill too much…atic.'

Sheppard stumbled to a stop. 'What?'

'You…eed to…et further away.'

Ronon stopped too. 'We're nowhere near them.'

Sheppard's heart missed a beat. What if all the Wraith hadn't followed them? What if some of them had headed for the ship?

'They could be going back to the Hive. It's something familiar to them. That's what I'd do,' Ronon, said, echoing his own fears.

'Rodney, you need to lock down all access points to the bridge,' he told McKay.

'Tha…on't keep out…e static.'

'It's not static I'm worried about. Lock it down. We're on our way back.'

'Oh…y God. You…ink they're her…'

'Lockin…it dow…now, John. Ta…care.'

Teyla's voice, soothing though broken by static, reassured Sheppard that Rodney would act on his order. She had a way of bringing out the best in people at the worst of times. She would help Rodney function through his panic. Now they just had to get back to the ship and deal with the incursion.

They crashed their way back through the underbrush, branches tearing at clothes and skin, giving no thought to their physical discomfort. Their only thought was getting back to the ship and dealing with whichever of the Wraith was now heading for McKay and Teyla's way. They had to keep them safe.

When they threw themselves back onto the hive, they didn't find a single zombie Wraith, but the ship was buzzing with static. It seemed to come from every surface, thrumming through the newly revitalised walls and floors. It was immediately painful, making Sheppard's head pound and his skin tingle as if hundreds of pins were pricking at its surface. 'What the hell?'

'It's not coming from the Wraith,' Ronon grunted, blinking a few times and thumping at his temple as if that would help him clear his thinking. 'Must be something McKay did to the ship.'

'I don't think so,' Sheppard said, striking out toward the control room. 'That power cell he fitted wasn't big enough to cause all this.' He reluctantly reached out to touch the wall, having a shock zap through his fingertips the full length of his arm. 'It's drawing power from somewhere. And its building.'

They reached the control room door. It was closed as he'd instructed. 'McKay. Teyla. You okay in there?'

'We are fine,' Teyla instantly responded. 'Did you find the Wraith?'

'No…we can't see them, but the ship is building its own charge. McKay, can you channel that into the systems to send a signal?'

'Building a charge, how is that possible?' McKay yelled back to him.

'My guess is it's somehow drawing it from the atmosphere, but you're the genius,' he replied. 'You can try to figure it out once we're safe.'

'Working on it!'

The charge continued to build. The sensations in his body and brain grew to the point that he felt almost compelled to run from the ship, but there was no point. If the power was building anyway, there was no point in keeping the Wraith away. There was something to be said for safety in numbers.

'This makes no sense,' McKay babbled from the other side of the door. 'These levels of EM radiation should have taken the ship down by now, but instead it's getting stronger. The energy is feeding into the ship. Everything's coming back on-line.'

'Can you get a signal out to the Stargate?' Sheppard asked.

'Not sure. There's still a lot of interference…'

A thump from somewhere down the passageway behind them made them both turn. Ronon raised his sword, and rasped, 'They found us.'

More sounds carried to them, stumping, unevenly measured footsteps, words and groans, disjointed attempts at communication.

'Hunger.'

'Must.'

'Contain.'

'Threat.'

Each word, said in a different voice, sent a shiver of revulsion down the full length of Sheppard's spine. There was just something so surreal about these creatures. Something utterly unnerving.

'Let.'

'Us.'

'Help.'

What? He glanced at Ronon, who was frowning back at him. At least now he knew he'd heard them right. But who did they want to help?

'Sheppard.'

'Must.'

'Come.'

'With.'

'Us.'

'Why'd they want you?' Ronon whispered.

Sheppard shrugged. But then it dawned on him, just now, out in the woods, the creatures had surrounded him. And back on the jumper, he had been the only one they'd made a grab for. They thought he was a threat. He was the one they wanted to contain. He could use that to protect his friends.

'Ronon, you stay here and guard the door. If I'm the one they want, I can distract them and buy Rodney the time he needs to get a message through the Stargate.'

'But how do we stop them?'

'I don't know. For now, I'm just going to keep them away and maybe McKay will figure something out.'

Ronon caught him by the arm. 'No way can you go up against them alone.'

Sheppard gave him a hard look, one that he hoped conveyed his appreciation of his friend's support. 'If I'm the one they want, you don't have to get drawn into this. I need you to make sure McKay and Teyla stay safe. Promise me you'll stay put and watch the door.'

Though it was more than clear that Ronon hated the order, he nodded.

Sheppard clapped him on the shoulder and set off at a jog down the passageway. He really didn't have a plan. He knew he needed to engage the Wraith, so they would be aware of him and follow, but how he planned to do that without getting caught wasn't at all clear. He was literally depending on his ability to make it up as he went along, never a wise strategy, but when dealing with a new kind of enemy, there wasn't exactly a playbook to refer to.

He reached a point where several passageways converged and headed in different directions. He could hear something down in one direction, so stopped and listened. There was at least a couple of sets of footfalls, which meant the others had separated from them. They could be anywhere. He fell back to a position near a transporter, a quick escape route if he needed one.

'Hey,' he called out, heart pounding. 'You want me? I'm right here.'

'You.'

'Have'

'Come,' a chorus echoed back to him.

Static buzzed loud in his head. They were zeroing in on his voice, getting closer. He backed into the transporter and set it moving. When the doors opened, he was on another level. That had gained him some space and time. But what was he going to do? He couldn't keep running indefinitely. His hunger cramps were already nagging deep in his guts, and his body was weakening from a combination of lack of food and the onslaught of the EM levels. Adrenaline would only keep him going for so long. He needed to set a trap, to weaken them and give himself a better chance if they came face to face.

Just then, he had an idea.

Flipping open a pocket on his tac-vest, he slid out the block of C4 and detonator he always packed for every mission. He pressed it to the wall just a few feet along from the transporter, tucked away in a crevasse so it wouldn't be out in clear view once the Wraith followed him. The only thing he needed to do now was let them know where he was.

'If you want to talk, you need to come to me,' he yelled at the top of his voice, hoping it was loud enough for them to hear.

He listened. There was a droning buzz along the whole passageway, and the static crackled enough to cover any distant sounds. He couldn't be sure his voice had carried far enough.

He called out again. 'I'm up here! You coming?'

Hopefully, if they'd heard him, that would take them on an upward path and away from the control room, giving McKay and Teyla space to work.

He ran from the C4 charge along the passageway until he came to a point where more corridors joined it. There, he squatted down around a corner which would defend him from the blast and waited, poking his head out intermittently to watch and listen for any signs of movement. He prepped the detonator, ensuring it was ready to activate the moment his pursuers drew level with the explosives. Then he radioed down to Ronon. 'Ronon. You clear down there?'

'No…ign of…em. You?'

'Think I got them on my tail. I've set a trap so if you hear an explosion don't panic. Maintain radio silence until I contact you. Let the others know.'

'Oka...'

As the radio went dead Sheppard suddenly felt very alone. He'd isolated himself from the best help he could have in this situation. But it was the only choice he could make. If these Wraith things only wanted him, there was no need for his friends to get hurt.

A few minutes later he got his first clue that they were on their way. Shuffling, stumping steps emerged from the direction of the transporter.

'Here goes nothing,' he whispered to himself, peering around the corner to get a good view of their position. He cursed under his breath when he realised there was only three of them, Headless right there at the front leading the way. Now he wished he'd had the presence of mind to grab extra supplies from the jumper before they'd abandoned it. He could have laid a second charge at a different point to catch the others. Hindsight was a wonderful thing, but it was too late for regrets. Despite not having a full house, Sheppard decided it was still his best hope of gaining an advantage. He watched until they'd drawn level with the C4 and then…

BOOM!

The detonation shook the ship and a blast of heat washed over him even where he sheltered. The static amped up, as if the ship were crying out in pain and seeking help. Once the debris and smoke settle, Sheppard saw to his horror that the three Wraith were still moving although now missing even more skin and even an arm from one of them. Unlike the ship, they apparently felt no pain or distress, and simply began to climb back to their feet, as if stronger for the force of the blast.

'You've got to be kidding me!' he rasped, backing up rapidly.

'You.'

'Must.'

'Come', the two Wraith capable of speech called out to him.

'With.'

'Us.'

Those final two words came from behind, and he spun, firing a bullet directly into the Wraith Queen's forehead. It took out a chunk of the back of her skull and knocked her back a step, but that was all. After that she continued her approach.

Sheppard bolted for the third corridor that connected to that point, the only one clear of zombie Wraith or whatever the hell they were. Around him, the walls sprung into life, growing new tendrils that branched out and slithered toward him as he ran. He forced himself on faster, but not fast enough; one of them wrapped around his ankle and he face-planted. A couple of shots from his gun soon severed the lean growth, though, and then he was back on his feet and hurdling more tendrils seeking to trap him, intermittently ducking as others sprung forth from the ceiling and tried to apprehend him.

Eventually he found a way up to the next level, scrambling up a sinewy ladder he trusted only marginally more than a transporter not to trap him. Even then he had to kick and shoot his way free a couple of times on his ascent. He spilled out onto the next deck, falling to his knees with the force he had to use to push through a new wall that was growing across the exit. He'd forgotten about the flexible nature of Wraith ships. It was obviously reacting to the telepathic commands of the zombies on his tail. He'd overestimated his chances and underestimated them. This was going South fast.

From somewhere beneath him, four Wraith voices drifted up the access tunnel.

'Come.'

'Back.'

'To.'

Us.'

And as if in response to that demand, the floor disintegrated beneath him and he fell, colliding hard with the floor of the deck beneath him. He was pretty sure he heard the kind of cracking noise you really didn't want to hear when coming to an abrupt halt like that, but he'd also smacked his head so hard it was difficult to make out up from down, let alone where noises were coming from.

He figured it out pretty quickly when he was pinned in place by dozens of newly grown shoots and he tried to pull free. Fierce pain erupted in his right forearm as he tugged against them, sending pain shafting through to his fingers and up to his elbow. Oh, that couldn't be good.

Realising he was stuck and with no fight left to give he gave in. Maybe if he couldn't fight his way out, he could talk his way out instead. It had worked before.

Four rotten Wraith faces came into view, two of them more charred than they had been ten minutes ago. 'Uh, hey there. Any chance you could loosen these things off? I'm losing the feeling in my hands and feet.'

'You.'

'Will.'

'Run.'

No…no I won't. I promise.'

'We.'

'Sense.'

'Hunger.'

He realised then that the hunger they kept talking about was his, not theirs. Yes, the Wraith could sense hunger in others, but why did it matter so much to them? Why single him out from the rest of his team?

'We.'

'Will.'

'Help.'

There was that word 'Help' again. The Wraith didn't help humans. Humans were just a food source. 'There's no need…I'm good.'

The Wraith queen stretched out her hand and laid it on his chest. Now it made sense; they thought they could ease his hunger by killing him. Pretty drastic when supplies from the jumper would do the trick.

Yet, instead of feeling the rush of exhilaration as enzyme flooded his system, Sheppard instead felt his whole body begin to thrum with energy, as if the charge that had been building around him had now become part of him. It didn't feel good.

It was painful and disorienting; his surroundings becoming distorted and his senses overloaded. Heat built until he felt like his skin would burst into flames. His body convulsed, and his lungs ached with every breath he tried to draw. He cried out in agony just as blackness thankfully closed in on him…

oooOOOooo

Sheppard woke to the sensation of soft sheets and cool air, mixed in with the gentle beep of a heart monitor keeping a rhythmic beat.

He cracked his eyes a little, taking in the ambient lighting and dusky walls, and feeling the familiar hum of Ancient technology connecting with his mind. Yep, he was on Atlantis and in the infirmary. So…what was the deal? Had that all been a freaky nightmare, because that would certainly explain a lot of things?

'He is waking,' he heard Teyla say, and felt her hand wrap around his. His skin was sore to the touch beneath her warm palm.

'Ouch,' he croaked, causing her to immediately let go.

'I am so sorry, John. I forgot how uncomfortable you would be.'

And now he was fully awake he realised uncomfortable was a massive understatement. His whole body felt raw and his chest ached like someone was sitting on him.

'What happened?' he asked, his memory too woolly to recall the events leading up to him ending up in that bed.

'It's a funny story,' Rodney now piped up, making Sheppard aware now that it wasn't only Teyla keeping him company. 'The zombie Wraith…they weren't actually zombies.'

Sheppard cautiously turned his head toward him, finding Ronon there, too. His friend gave him a worried half-smile. 'I'll get Keller.'

'Oh, yes…good idea,' Rodney called after him, as if he hadn't even considered that. 'Now, where was I?'

'The Wraith weren't zombies,' Teyla prompted, setting him on track again.

'Yes. Apparently, the planet is inhabited by a non-corporeal race known as the Vitari. They've been there for ever and they nourish everything on that plant…plants, animals, you name it, the Vitari flow through all of it.'

'Like the force?' he asked.

'Er, yes…I suppose…' Rodney agreed, obviously annoyed by the interruption. 'Anyway, the Wraith crashed on that planet millennia ago and the Vitari were kind of intrigued and wanted to help, but realised the Wraith had all they needed to sustain them, so kind of just left them alone, giving them their privacy. Until three months ago, that is, when the ship's systems failed, and the few remaining Wraith were forced to go out to search for power. They saw the queen feed on one of the commanders. I mean, can you imagine what that was like to them? They share their energy with everything. The Wraith are like their antithesis.'

'They were horrified to see a creature steal the energy from another living thing, and so they tried to share their energy with them to satiate their hunger,' Teyla explained, much to Rodney's obvious annoyance.

'I thought I was explaining,' he grouched.

'Of course, Rodney. Please continue,' she insisted, but Sheppard caught the smirk she shared with him. She wasn't sorry at all.

'So, they started sharing their enemy with the Wraith, but as we all know, the Wraith only feel totally satisfied when they feed off humans, so no matter how much energy they gave the Wraith, they just craved more. Now, energy generation for the Vitari comes easy. Sounds like they can almost flip a switch to turn it on or off, up or down. So, when the EM radiation wasn't enough, the dialled it up to ionising radiation, and we all saw the results of that.'

'That was why they were fixated on getting to me,' Sheppard now realised. 'They knew I was hungry.'

'Yes,' Rodney grinned, as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. 'Who would have thought that something so simple and easily remedied for us would seem like such a catastrophic threat to them? They saw our physical similarities to the Wraith, imagined you might do the same to us to satisfy your hunger, and determined to keep you away from us. Which means you lied to me when you gave me your power bar, so thank you for that, by the way.'

'You're welcome,' Sheppard mumbled back, reaching for the glass of water at his bedside. Teyla picked it up for him and eased the straw into his mouth. He drank gratefully, the cold water on his throat quite the welcome shock. 'So, what was with the whole zombie Wraith choice?'

'That was their way to communicate. They can't speak, and so they used the Wraith as a conduit for communication. They needed their vocal chords to make the sounds. Took them a few minutes to pick up our language, which is pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself, but they hadn't figured on quite how hard it is to get everything you need to move functioning all at the same time. They couldn't manage more than a few random words.'

'So, how'd you get the full explanation?'

'That was the Wraith telepathic connection. Once they'd almost killed you trying to feed you, they knew they needed our help to save you. I started getting messages via the screens in the control room. They told us everything. Oh, and they also said they're very sorry about the burns….and the arm.'

He huffed out a laugh. It was hard to be angry at a species who had only been trying to help, but he kind of wished they'd been a little bit less forceful about it. 'Hopefully they won't try this on anyone again.'

'Hopefully not,' Dr Keller agreed as she entered, giving him a broad smile. 'How're you doing, Colonel? You gave us quite the scare there.'

'I gave you a scare,' he quipped, trying to smile, but finding his skin too tight and sore to follow through. 'Try having five Wraith zombies out to get you.'

'I know…I heard,' Must've been terrifying,' she sympathised, checking his heart monitor. 'That's still a little faster than I'd like it to be.'

'I refer to my previous statement,' he joked by way of an explanation.

'Well, I'm glad you're in good spirits, Colonel, but you are going to have to take it easy for quite a while. Your body has been through a very stressful experience.'

'It's just a bit of sunburn, right?' he asked, examining the reddened skin on his exposed forearm. The other was encased in a cast and was starting to throb.

'On the outside, yes,' but the current went through your body too. It could have cooked you. You're lucky the Vitari stopped when they did, and that there was water nearby, so your team could get you cooled down. Not to mention the risk of heart failure and permanent tissue damage if the assault had gone on much longer.'

'Yeah, lucky. That's just how I feel,' he lied.

'Ronon carried you to a nearby lake and we were able to cool you down with the water while Rodney sent a message to Atlantis for a medical team to come through urgently,' Teyla explained, her eyes glistening a little as she spoke. 'We were all quite worried for you.'

'Well, I'm fine, so there's no need to worry now,' he said, with a reassuring smile.

She smiled back and was about to reach for his hand again when she thought better of it and knitted her fingers together instead, as if that would remind her that it was definitely a 'look but don't touch' situation.

'I know you're not going to be happy about this, but I need to keep you in for treatment and observation,' Keller told him, almost flinching as she spoke the words.

He sighed, but right now, the way everything hurt, he knew he wouldn't be going far. 'Okay. I guess that's for the best.'

Encouraged by his acceptance, she added, 'You have first and second degree burns, thankfully mostly first, but they're covering forty percent of your body. I'll need to keep you on IV antibiotics for a few days to prevent infection and we'll also be applying antibiotic ointments to the worst of the blistering and redress them until they're well healed. Most of it is like a severe sunburn, so give it a few days and much of the current soreness you're experiencing should subside. In the meantime. I'll keep you topped up with Tylenol to keep the discomfort at bay.'

'That would be nice,' he said, hoping she would take the hint.

Thankfully she did. 'Oh, right. I'll get you some now.'

As she left, Teyla leaned forward and very gently laid her hand on his shoulder. He could feel the heat of her hand through the scrubs, and he was certain she had to be able to feel the same from him, but he didn't complain. 'Ronon told us what you did, figuring out the Wraith were after you and leading them away from the rest of us. That was very brave.'

'And dumb,' Ronon griped. 'You almost got yourself killed.'

'Almost…but not quite,' he half smile, stretching his burned skin as far as he dared.

'Still dumb.' Ronon repeated. Sheppard understood that anger was Ronon's way of showing concern. He'd wanted to help, to fight at his side, and he'd denied him the chance. At some level, he probably felt guilty for not ignoring the order and helping him anyway.

'Thanks for getting me to the water, buddy,' Sheppard added as an olive branch. 'Sounds like you saved my life.'

Ronon's eyes flicked up to meet his briefly, then he just shrugged and looked awkward, his huge shoulders hunched with tension. 'Just did what I was told.'

'Jennifer spoke with me when I dialled in for help. She told us to get you cooled down as quickly as possible,' Rodney explained from his seat at the bedside. 'But it couldn't be cold water. Luckily, the Vitari took care of that and warmed the lake up several degrees so the shock of submerging you wouldn't do more damage. And that's the whole story. Like I said, there's always a scientific explanation for these things.'

The smug smile he wore as he folded his arms triumphantly on that final word was just a little bit more arrogance than Sheppard was willing to let slide, even in his delicate state. 'Really? Only I seem to remember you screaming something about the zombies being draw to your 'superior' brain.'

Ronon snorted at that little reminder, a little of the stiffness leaving his shoulders as he grinned Sheppard's way.'

'Well, obviously I knew they weren't real zombies,' McKay stammered, eyes darting as he executed all kinds of mental gymnastics to think of an excuse. 'I was speaking hypothetically…if they had been actual zombies.'

'Oh, of course,' Sheppard replied, arching an eyebrow as he turned Teyla's way. She grinned but fought it back, not wishing to ignite the situation.

'Well, some of us don't have the luxury of being able to lie around waiting for nurses to spread ointment all over us. Some of us have jobs to do,' McKay announced, rising from his seat and heading for the door before Sheppard could embarrass him any further. But as he reached the doorway he stopped and turned back. 'It was brave what you did back there. Thank you.'

Sheppard knew that had taken a lot for him to say. He wasn't exactly good at handing out praise, and that wasn't a selfish thing, more a self-preservation thing. Emotional interactions were uncomfortable for him. He tried to ease the awkward exchange. 'Couldn't have them eating that 'superior brain' of yours.'

'Hey, I'm not the only one here who likes to sing my own praises, Mr Coulda Been Mensa,' McKay fired back at him.

Ronon turned and gave Sheppard a quizzical look. He'd apparently heard enough geek-talk around Atlantis to know what that meant.

As Rodney shuffled out Teyla leaned in close and said softly, 'I do not think Rodney will ever get over that.'

'Nope,' he concurred, relieved as Keller returned with a tiny pot containing his promised pain meds.

'Okay people, I think it's time you all got some rest,' she ordered, steering them toward the door as Sheppard swallowed his tablets. 'You can come back and visit with Colonel Sheppard in the morning.'

'Good night, Colonel,' Teyla said as she was gently pushed toward the door. Ronon just smiled his way and followed her out.

Keller wandered over to him, checking his IV feed and statistics again. 'You know, you are very lucky to be alive. Don't think you're going to be bouncing up and heading back off-world for a while.'

'Guess you'll have to put up with me moaning for a few days yet then,' he retorted, earning a grin from her.

'I think we'll manage. You may not be the perfect patient but compared to Rodney you're a saint.' She grew more sombre and added, 'Rodney told me about what happened. That was quite the scare you all had. I know you're a big brave soldier and all that, but Rodney isn't so…would you do me a favour and keep an eye on him. I think this is going to take him a while to get past.'

'Yeah zombie attacks tend to have that effect on most people,' he joked, then felt bad because he realised she was very much in earnest.

'It wasn't just that…it was the thought of losing you that terrified him, too. You're the lynchpin that holds your team together, and I know he would rarely ever say it, but your friendship means the world to him.'

A little embarrassed himself now, he just nodded. 'I'll look out for him.'

'Thanks. Oh, and I asked for a change to this week's scheduled movie night. Apparently, it was going to be 'Night of the Living Dead'. Thought it might be a bit too soon.'

He winced at the thought of it. 'Yeah, you're probably right.'

'Okay, well, I'm going to let you rest now, so if you need anything else, like maybe something to help you sleep, just give us a call.'

'Will do.'

He lay back against his pillows and tried to sleep, feeling the sudden and overwhelming urge to laugh at the mere thought of Rodney sitting through a zombie movie night. For a while there he'd honestly doubted that any of them were going to make it off that planet alive. His best-case scenario had been getting out a message to prevent anyone else walking into the nightmare. But they were home and they were safe, and thought he knew Keller was right that McKay was more shaken than he was letting on he'd get him though it, just as soon as every inch of his body stopped hurting so much. Right now, for the next few days at least, he was going to have to be selfish and give himself time to heal. He had survived, they all had, and that was much more than he'd dared to hope for. The pain was a reminder of that so wasn't entirely unwelcome.

It was hard to believe that such a benevolent race could get it so wrong. The Vitari had wanted to help, hadn't understood their own power, that dead corporeals didn't just get up and start strutting around again, or that the Wraith were the last creatures in the universe that would ever help a human. But in their error, they had certainly proved Major Lorne's point.

The only good Wraith really was a dead one.

A/N: So that's the end of my creepy tale. I hope you enjoyed it. Apologies for any errors, but this took longer to finish than I thought and I wanted to get it posted today since I'd promised to complete things by the weekend. Thanks to everyone leaving their comments. They are all very much appreciated and make the hard work worthwhile.