Chapter 10 – A Good Word.
John immediately scanned the tent for movement of any kind, and then looked over the equipment in the tent, the eerie light of the device bathing them in a blue glow. He raised his weapon as Chase and Rodney followed him in. 'What are you guys doing?'
'Well, what are you doing?' Rodney asked defensively.
John lowered his weapon. 'Get to the Gate.'
'While you what…go down with the ship, so to speak?' Rodney snapped, moving to the device's interface. Chase picked up an Ancient pad, clicked the screen and handed it to him. Rodney pressed a few buttons on the interface and the device stopped glowing. 'It's off, but it can't be moved, the radiation is far too dangerous.' He paused. 'I don't suppose there's any chance they'll leave the camp alone?' He asked hopefully.
'No.' Chase answered. 'Our scent is all over the camp, they'll tear it apart.'
Rodney whimpered. 'Great. If the device is tampered with, it could cause an overload.'
'How bad?' John asked.
'The neighbouring planets.' Rodney informed him. 'Incinerated.'
'If we're lucky.' Chase added. Rodney nodded.
Suddenly a low growl made them turn to the entrance of the tent. Chase felt her stomach fall through the floor at the familiar sound. The large creature slinked inside; it was indeed massive, covered in fur with a tiny tufted tail. John eyed it with a small smile. Must be the punch line to every joke, poor fella. Its small black eyes pinned them with hunger. Rodney's face fell.
'Good doggy, nice doggy…now, sit!' The creature snarled.
'Yeah, okay, now let's call it Fido and give it a flea bath.' John scolded. Wierdo.
'Well, at least I tried.' Rodney squeaked as it slinked further into the tent.
Sheppard raised his weapon quickly; he had the animal in his sights. They slowly crept back, Chase staying close to John.
'Ugh, déjà vu.' She muttered. Man I hate these things, where's dog control when you need them? She could see the concentration on John's face, and then she saw the creatures shoulders wriggle, ready for the pounce. 'John.' She said nervously.
He fired, bullets punching into the beast. Fur and blood flew as it fell to the ground still snarling at them. John approached with his weapon still raised, and put a few more bullets in it for good measure.
'You got it!' Rodney yelled. 'It's dead!' He paused looking down at it. 'It is dead, yes?'
'Rodney, I can see the floor through its abdomen – it's dead.' Chase told him, her nose scrunched at the gruesome sight.
'Wonderful. Do we have a plan?' Rodney asked hopefully. 'Because a plan would be useful, we could co ordinate our thoughts and follow a focused and well thought through guide-'
'The plan is to not die.' John stated.
'Excellent plan, very good – but I was looking for details as to how we would go about doing that.' Rodney prodded. 'I mean, are we just gonna leave the device here?'
'We don't really have a choice.' Chase stated. 'But then those things will undoubtedly break in here and destroy – everything! We leave, and this device will definitely explode.'
'Okay, so we don't leave.' Sheppard suggested.
'Uh, no, bad plan, not leaving involves fighting off those creatures, and we don't have P90's. Not to mention the fact that you must be almost out of bullets.' Rodney reminded him. John nodded reluctantly.
'Well, let's think about it this way. We leave, we live, the device is destroyed and we move on. Or we stay and we die and the device is destroyed anyway when we're overpowered.' Chase said quickly. 'Pick one.'
'The first one, most definitely the first.' Rodney nodded emphatically.
'Yeah, that sounds like a plan.' John agreed. 'Ready to do some major running?'
Chase appeared more than ready to leave, but McKay looked fearful. 'Running? I don't think I can…I've been running all night and I think I've done well considering-'
'Well, how about you stay here to protect the device?' John suggested firmly. Rodney paused.
'So, running?' He said with a renewed fervour.
Chase raised an eyebrow and they followed the Colonel out of the tent. Rodney slammed into the back of John when he halted suddenly.
'Ow.' He said angrily and then a wave of sheer terror swept through him, his eyes wide.
The camp was swarmed with the beasts, sniffing and scratching at the ground, wrestling with each other. Their number was so great it seemed that the ground moved. The odour was a mixture of perfume and rotten flesh, and the sound was a loud buzzing of snarls and howls. Several of them had noticed the three meals on legs standing in front of them and were beginning to creep toward them with a purpose.
'How much ammo do you have?' John asked, passing Rodney his berretta. Chase looked at the one in her hand and felt her heart beat impossibly fast.
'Only one extra clip. You?'
'Three.' He replied, eyes never leaving the mass of carnivores.
'Okay, so new plan, yes?' Rodney said, a distinctive shake to his voice.
'No, I think the plan is pretty much the same.' John whispered.
'Running?' Chase asked.
'Running.' John confirmed, and then they sped off in the direction of the Gate, the animals flocking after them, tearing each other to shreds just to reach their prey.
'How in the hell did reconnaissance miss an army of…bearwolves!' Rodney shrieked.
'No clue, but I think I'll be having a word with them to explain exactly what reconnaissance entails.' John shouted.
John turned and stood momentarily, releasing bullets into the swarm chasing them in a huge arc. The sound more than the fallen dead stalled them and John ran with the others, unclipping his radio and bringing it to his mouth.
'Major Lorne! Get our people through the Gate, do not wait for us, I repeat, get through and do not wait!' He yelled, not waiting for a response.
The three tore down the path, shooting various creatures as they leapt at them from all sides.
'Oh my God!' Rodney screamed, covering his head as one of them lauched at him from the dark.
John was so busy helping him that he did not see the one behind him, slinking stealthily. It leapt onto his back just as he killed the one attacking McKay. Chase shouted his name and then fired what was left in her gun and threw it aside. The beast stumbled off John's back and she snatched his P90 from the ground, filling the beast with bullets.
As soon as it fell, she leant down to help him up. John growled through the pain, his back having been torn to shreds, and allowed Chase to support him for a few steps before he pushed her forward.
McKay shouted, jumping and spinning before retrieving an Ancient Pad from his Pyjama pocket. It made an odd noise and his eyes went wide as he gaped at the screen. 'Oh my god.'
'No, no more oh my gods, Rodney.' John scolded through clenched teeth.
'What is it?' Chase asked worriedly.
'They broke the container.' He croaked.
Chase hung her head. John looked baffled.
'And?' He barked.
'And we are now being exposed to a massive amount of radiation, we have to move.' Chase urged.
They started running again, Rodney puffing hard. 'We have maybe three minutes to get to the Gate before the damage is irreversible.' He yelled.
John felt different he knew that much – hot, as though all the air from the cold night had dissipated. He looked over and saw Chase and Rodney sweating profusely. Not good… 'Three minutes?' He asked incredulously.
'If we're lucky.' Chase replied, and then gasped, coming to an abrupt halt. John and Rodney did the same the moment they saw their path ahead.
Eight of the creatures stood between them, and what was left of the path to the Gate. Rodney shook his head.
'No, no, no, no, no, no, we don't have time for this. The amount of radiation we've already been exposed to is dangerous enough – ' Rodney said worriedly.
'Yes Rodney, we can feel it.' Chase said through clenched teeth, loathing the beasts in front of her. Practically as stubborn as those damn cockroaches in my basement, they just won't go away…
'Well, pretty soon, we'll feel a hell of a lot more including our organs flooding with our own liquids as well as painful lesions…that is, if we survive these gruesome care bears.' Rodney groaned, wiping his forehead, his eyes never leaving the advancing animals.
'Well, at least he's thinking about the future.' Chase said positively, stepping back.
'How about a future minus the getting eaten and the flooded organs?' John suggested, feeling his body shake with the immense heat he felt.
'That's a plan.' Chase stated. 'Dinner is also a plan.'
John smiled, his weapon still raised. 'Dinner is a very good plan.'
'Yes, food in general is good, so can we please leave now.' He said forcefully.
John fired shots and the animals backed up. He hit two of them in the paw and they whimpered, limping further back. Not enough bullets to kill all of them, maybe just enough to scare them…
They started walking, keeping close to John as the beasts made a path for them, watching them and snarling, saliva dripping to the ground.
'At least someone finds you yummy, McKay.' Chase whispered as they crept into the middle with animals on either side, all of them sneaking forward with care.
'Ha, funny, yummy…' McKay gulped, not hearing her words through the blood pounding in his ears. He jumped suddenly and pulled out the Ancient Pad again. The beasts were startled suddenly and seemed to shrink back, but then growled at McKay with more menace. John kept them moving but didn't know what was happening with McKay.
'What?' He whispered.
'What are these idiots doing?' He muttered, looking up angrily. 'The device has just received a massive power surge.'
'They must have knocked it off the pedestal, the wires it was attached to would have sent it a massive jolt as they were separated.' Chase told him.
'Yeah, well, in forty seconds the device will overload with the new and unstable power and destroy this planet, including us.' He snapped, giving the animals a death glare. 'That's why I hate dogs, they mess everything up! And…! They drool!'
'Well, at least we don't have to worry about radiation poisoning.' John smiled thinly, just as they emerged from the other side of the line of creatures.
'We'll never make it to the Gate in forty seconds, not with these things on our tails.' Chase whispered. 'Grenades?'
'Used them all in the forest - there were a lot more than what you can see.' John informed her. He fired three bullets into the ground and the beasts stepped back again.
'I'm out.' He whispered. McKay and Chase stared at him. He kept the weapon raised, hoping it would be enough.
The beasts drew closer. The night was dark and the radiation was hot, stifling them, even though their fear did it well enough for them. Rodney looked up the path and jumped. 'Sheppard!'
John glanced over and saw more emerge out of the forest. There was no way they could escape now. He turned back to the ones in front and saw at least thirty more trotting down the path from the camp, leaping over one and other to reach them.
'I've never been so popular.' Chase croaked. John lowered his weapon and smiled at her.
'I find that hard to believe.' He grinned. She grinned back.
Rodney drew closer to the two, his eyes glued to the Pad. 'Fifteen seconds…oh my god…I don't…I just can't…' He paused and looked up at them. 'It was – interesting.' He said lamely.
John nodded and patted him on the shoulder. 'Yeah, likewise.'
'Interesting would not have been the word I would have used.' Chase said confidently. 'But it's a good one.' She smiled warmly.
The beasts sensed a change and knew their moment had come. They prepared, moving in, their fangs ready to taste them.
McKay tried to smile in return but his face seemed to falter, it faded, and a great flash of light took them.
The last thing Chase thought was that the explosion was painless and quick…