Yeah! I got this chapter out within a week! I feel so acomplished.

And yup! DeeDee69 got the prize. It's a crossover with Alien/Aliens and those other shows that has those nasty little critters in it. So yeah. I am having so much fun with this. ;)

To DeeDee69 : Thanks for the review! You rock!

So without further ado, I give you the next installment. It's not all that scary, at least I don't think. The next chapter will pick it up a lot. So just bear with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Stargate Atlantis or Aliens, but the plot is mine so don't steal!

Enjoy!

Chapter Two

4 Hours Earlier

Dark purple leaves crunched beneath Johns' feet, its' brittle shape breaking off into various smaller pieces. The ground beneath was a dark brown with almost a red-ish hue to it, making the leaves stand out even more. Trees stood proudly all around the campsite, surrounding it within its' thick embrace swaying rhythmically to the soft wind.

The campsite was deserted.

They had landed the Puddle Jumper in the center of the camp in a large clearing. There were boxes all around the area that had been filled with the latest supply shipments from Atlantis. The boxes were ripped to shreds however, their contents littering the ground all around the area, the items torn and discarded and unused.

Splitting up had seemed like a good idea at the time: John had taken the far left of the camp, Ronon the far right, and Rodney and Teyla took the mid section. However, the more he walked along the barren buildings in the deafening silence, the more he regretted his decision. The place gave him the creeps. Everything about it screamed of foul play

He stopped at the his third building and the largest on this side of the camp. The buildings had been specially made and built for the expedition. Apparently the situation was just too good to pass up: the natives were extremely friendly, the planets was what the scientists had wet dreams about, and the ancient race that had once lived upon the planet was fairly advanced. The buildings solidified the idea that they were here to stay for a while, but it appeared a while wasn't all that long.

Slowly opening the door, he held his gun at the ready for anything and anyone to jump out at him. Something serious was going on and it wouldn't do if he wasn't ready for anything. He stepped inside the darkened building and promptly tripped. He managed to get his footing and whirled around in time to see the door swing back and stop just shy of closing.

He turned on his flashlight and shined it down upon the ground. The wooden leg of a chair stuck out stopping the door from closing all the way. Panning his flashlight he noticed a variety of chairs and tables surrounding the door, appearing as though they had been moved in haste to clear an opening for the door. The tables and chairs were indented and distorted as if they had been broken by some force pushing them together. One chair was tied to the door stuck underneath the handle, giving John a clear picture of what they had been used for.

A barricade.

He felt a slight shiver go down his spine before he turned back to the rest of the building. He quickly surmised that it had been the mess hall as there were still two tables with several chairs in the room and there was what looked like a kitchen in the far back. The first table, the only one that was still upright, had a plate of moldy, half eaten bread on it as well as a glass of what looked like sour milk that had fallen, the contents splayed across the tabletop.

He scrunched his nose up with disgust.

"Sheppard!"

John froze at the shout that came from the radio. "Rodney?" Silence meet his inquiry. "Rodney answer!"

Silence.

He cursed and ran out the building running towards the general area he knew Rodney was in. His friend had taken the middle area closer to his side and he had to imagine that Rodney was a little bit slower than him in checking buildings so he would perhaps be a building behind. He ran into the first building he saw in Rodneys' area but didn't find him. The second building was no luck either.

The third building was fairly large, almost as large as the mess hall and when he opened it he was greeted to the sight of Rodney's P-90 laying on one of the counters. He hissed and brought his gun up, walking the rest of the way in wearily. The building appeared in pristine condition, the various equipment and tools frozen perfectly in time. A centrifuge sat proudly in the next room as well as several microscopes. It was the science building.

He walked over to the the equipment and frowned when he saw blood still on a glass strip in one of the microscopes.

Suddenly there was pressure on his shoulder and he whirled around, gun ready and came face to face with -

"Rodney!" John gasped, putting his gun down immediately. "What the hell? Why weren't you answering?"

Rodney just rolled his eyes. "Took you long enough to get here."

"If you would have just answered in the first place," John growled, eyes flashing dangerously. "And why is your gun on the counter?" He picked it up and waved it in front of Rodney. "What if something happened?"

"There's no one here," Rodney replied, taking the gun anyway from Johns' outstretched hands. "Trust me."

John sighed. "Why did you call me?"

"You need to see this."

John's interest peaked up as he followed Rodney through the science building. "I found the mess hall. There was some half-eaten food there. It looked as if they just stopped what they were doing."

"Yeah, I know," Rodney replied darkly, stopping at his apparent destination. He turned towards John, eyes narrowed. "All their research is still here. None of the data was taken or downloaded onto any kind of hard drive."

John blinked. "Okay?" From the look he was getting from Rodney he had a feeling he should know what that meant.

"Teyla called in and said that the armory was bare."

"So they took some weapons."

"All."

"And that has something to do with the research still being here?"

Rodney groaned, flinging his arms up much like he did when he was dealing with an incompetent worker. "This was a science expedition. The scientists here are stubborn, especially when it comes to their work because their work is their life. And this planet was like the goldmine for scientists! The stuff they were getting here would revolutionize the science community."

John had a feeling he knew where this was going and he knew he didn't like it.

"The soldiers were outnumbered two to one on this expedition, Sheppard. They would never have left this precious data behind. This data was everything."

The building was suddenly cold. "And the fact that they not only left the data behind but also chose the weapons over it," Rodney shrugged.

"Something really bad must have happened," John finished. He looked back at the untouched data. "I think it's time we gather the rest of the gang and check out the village."

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They had left the jumper where they had parked it opting instead to take the trail through the forest to the village. It was a small trail that had been there when they had first arrived. The villagers had explained that the path had been created long before they had arrived, creating a solid trail from the village to the Stargate. The ground had once had a cement like substance marking the way, but it had cracked and chipped in various places and had since been covered by leaves and plants.

The village was a mammoth and a haunting display of the city that was and the village that is. Sleek black buildings rose up from the ground to sky rise heights, the buildings adorned with beautiful decorations carved as if to display a story. At their peak it would have been an amazing city, but time and ill-use had worn it down and all of the buildings had caved in. Some had tilted sideways, leaning amongst the trees while others had fallen completely horizontally. There were others where half of the building had fallen apart, leaving half still standing. From these ruins, new buildings were created, far less advanced than the buildings they jutted out from them. This was what the villagers considered home.

If they had been expecting anything different they were wrong.

The village was just as abandoned as the camp was. The marketplace was still open, the food moldy and sour, flies buzzing around getting their fill. Blacksmith and sewing equipment were stationary, half way through the jobs that had been placed before them. It was as if the entire village had stopped mid-thought and left.

It was the last building that put John on edge. It appeared as all the others had, abandoned and forgotten, until one took a second look. It appeared as if there had been many people in the small building at the same time. Food was hoarded in the back and all of the makeshift furniture was piled against the doors and windows but it looked as if they had failed. The furniture were busted inwards from its' original position. The oddest part of the scene before them were the small holes that seemed to liter the front of the room where the blockade was. It was almost as if parts of the wall and ground had melted down to the core.

"The mess hall was just like this," John stated, frowning at the room. "Minus the holes of course. But the tables and chairs were against the doors like a barricade."

"Against what?" Teyla questioned.

"The Wraith?"

"No," Ronon stated. "This wasn't the Wraith. This was something else."

"Something else?"

Ronon shrugged.

"Perhaps we should head back to the camp," Teyla spoke. "Maybe we missed something."

"There wasn't anything there," Rodney said, flinging his hands around. "It's just as abandoned as this place! As the entire planet!"

"You don't know that," John scolded.

"There weren't any birds."

John paused and turned towards Ronon, confused at the sudden turn in coversation. "What?"

"The report on this planet said it was full of birds and wildlife." Ronon peered back out into the forest from their current position in front of the building. "I didn't see or hear anything when we walked through the forest."

"Me either," Teyla replied. "Something is going on here. We should head back to the camp. Perhaps there is something in the data the expedition gathered that might explain what happened."

John nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. You and Rodney can go and look at that data while Ronon and I do another once over just in case we missed something. We'll meet you in the science building."

"Very well," Teyla said. "Be careful."

-------------------------------------------

Teyla stood at the end of the long table, her gun resting upon her shoulder. Off to the side Rodney was on his laptop downloading and sifting through the various data the expedition had collected. Deciding that she would be of no help to Rodney, she stood watch. Ronon was right. Everything was too calm, too quite.

She had seen the aftereffects of many cullings. The abandoned villages where occasionally a dry husk was found amongst the ruins, remains of those who weren't scooped up by the Darts. The feeling of despair and fear permeated throughout those villages, but this was different. This placed had an ominous feel that reached deep into her core. This fear here was different and that was what set her on edge.

She turned back to look at Rodney, who was typing furiously on his tablet. "Have you found anything of interest?"

"No," Rodney replied, not pausing in his work. "I haven't found anything that would explain what happened."

"Did you not say that Dr. Galeia and his team were going to check out the complex they found?" Teyla questioned, walking over to Rodney. "Perhaps there is something in the data about it?"

Rodney was silent for several seconds as he pulled up the report. Squinting, he leaned forward and read it. "They were planning on going deeper in today. It looks like they had already explored the first section of the complex. Dr. Galeia fell in a hole." He snorted in amusement.

"Was he okay?"

"Yes, just a bruised ego." Rodney smirked and brought up another report. "I think I found the report he wrote."

"Teyla, Rodney." John's voice came through the radio. His voice sounded strained and breathy. "Found anything?"

"Not yet," Teyla replied. "How about your end?"

"Yeah, the jackpot. I guess that means I win this round." Rodney sat up straighter, while Teyla frowned.

"What did you find?"

"One of the expedition."

Rodney gasped. "Who is it?"

"We don't know." Before Rodney could reply with a snarky comment, John continued, "She was freaking out so we had to knock her out."

"You finally see one of the expedition members and your first thought is to bash her head in?" Rodney griped.

"We couldn't calm her down." There was a grunt through the radio. "Look, we're almost there. Do you know where the medical building is?"

"Yes."

"We'll meet you there. Sheppard out."

Teyla turned towards Rodney, who's hands were hovering of the keyboard, his eyebrows furrowed. "Are you done?"

"Yes. All the data was uploaded." He unhooked his tablet from the machines and stood up. "Lets go see what Sheppard has brought to show and tell."

John and Ronon had beat them to the medical building and had already set the woman down on one of the gurneys. Rodney had recognized her almost immediately as one of the new scientists. However, she looked as though she had better days. Her brown hair was uneven and frayed and there was a dark substance coating her hair and clothes. Her face was coated with a thin sheet of sweat and something else. Her arms were streaked with dry blood and bare skin could be seen through the various tears and holes in her clothes. Her shoes were out right missing.

"Who is she?" John asked, turning towards Rodney who just shrugged.

"Can't remember her name. I think it has a Linda ring to it or something."

John rolled his eyes.

"Where did you find her," Teyla questioned.

"She found us. We were going back through the trail and she just kinda ran into us. She was hysterical. Yelling about being chased and she tried to attack Ronon, which probably wasn't the smartest idea."

The girl stirred, moaning as she brought her hand up to her head. "Wh-what happened?"

"We were hoping you'd tell us."

The girls' eyes shot open and she bolted up into a sitting position. "Oh my God! We have to go! We have to go now!" She made to leap off the gurney, but Ronons' strong arms stopped her from doing it. "Let me go!" she shrieked.

"Hey! Calm down!" John jumped in and helped Ronon secure her to the gurney. "It's okay. We're here to help."

The girl turned her wide eyes to him, her chest heaving. "You can't help me! You can't help yourself!"

Teyla walked over and put her hand on the girls shoulder. "It is alright. You are safe here. We will return you back to Atlantis soon. Just please, we must know what happened."

The girl whimpered, but nodded reluctantly. "What do you want to know?" she asked, her voice tremulous.

"Lets start with your name," Teyla said soothingly.

"My-my name is Ellen."

John raised an eyebrow and leaned towards Rodney. "Linda?"

"Shut up!" was the hissing reply.

"Can you tell us where the others are?"

Ellens' eyes went wide again. "They're-they're. God, I don't know. They're probably still in the complex."

"The complex Dr. Galeia found?"

She nodded her head.

"Where in the complex?"

"I don't know," her eyes started to water. "I got separated and then - God - then." She shuddered, hand pressed tightly against her stomach. "I ran. I didn't try and find them. I need to back to Atlantis. I need to go now!"

"We need to find the others," John started, but Teyla stopped him.

"We should get Ellen back to Atlantis so they can look her over. She does not know where the others are so she wouldn't be of more help. She has told us all she knows."

John paused, bringing his hand up to his chin in a thinking position. "I guess we can do that. We can report on what we found while we're at it."

"We didn't find anything," Rodney grumbled.

"Still, since we're escorting Ellen back to Atlantis, we mine as well give them an update."

"Can you stand?" Teyla asked Ellen.

"Yes." Ellen immediately got to her feet, swaying a little bit as she did so. "We're going now."

"You heard the girl. Come on guys and girl, lets do some escorting."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Smooth one."

John shrugged. "I make it up as I go."

The light was shining brightly down when the got outside the building but none of them paid any attention as Ellen was rapidly deteriorating. Despite her ferociousness at getting off the planet she was losing steam fast. Her balance was off and she kept on bouncing between Ronon and John as she attempted to walk in a straight line. Sweat dripped from her brow from the effort and she was having trouble breathing.

"How far away is the Jumper?" Teyla questioned, worried eyes watching the girl.

"Not too far."

Ellen gasped and suddenly went rigid, her eyes wide and mouth open as if silently screaming.

"Ellen?" Teyla questioned, reaching a hand to the woman's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

At that moment Ellen seized, the force bringing her to her knees.

John managed to catch her before she landed on the hard ground, but it was keeping her down that was the problem. She bucked and kicked and clawed as her body twisted in agony. A scream torn through her lips.

"Kill me! Oh God just kill me!"

"Everything's going to be fine," Teyla said, trying to soothe her.

Her screams reached glass shattering proportions and suddenly her chest lurched upwards. Blood sprayed across their faces and pooled beneath her, but her screaming never stopped.

"Holy Shit!" John froze, dropping his hands from where he had been holding her down. He leaned away in time for her chest to lurch again, more blood splaying around her body, the red droplets looking like a finger painting.

All of them stared in shock as her chest gave a final lurch and a pink creature popped out, it's metalic teeth biting in the air. Ellen had gone silent now, her body twitching in her last throws of death. And the creature just stood there, half in and out of her stomach, sniffing and looking at it's new world.

John just stood there in shock, staring at the monstrosity. Okay, he definitely wasn't ready for this.

The creature made to move, but suddenly exploded, parts of its' body spraying out onto the people nearby.

John looked up numbly to see Ronon with his gun out. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Ronon growled, not moving his gun from where the creature had once been. "But there was no way it was going to live."

The trees shifted.

Teyla stiffened and stood up. "I think we should go now."

John looked up. "The Jumper?"

"Something closer."

"Didn't you say that the mess hall was barricaded at one time?"

"Yes," John raised an eyebrow, noticing how Ronon was now turned towards the forest that had suddenly gotten a lot darker. And were those shadows moving back there?

"I think we should go then. Now."