A/N: woo, sorry this took so long guys. School's starting and things are nutty loopy by me. Well this is one of the more thrilling, anxious chapters, because now the crap is really gonna hit the fan-----but that doesn't mean we can't have a few moments of levity, right? Enjoy! Oh.. and thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews!!! You guys rock!!!
Day One
Chapter Four
The lights had been flickering on and off far more often then John would have liked, and on top of that, only a few moments ago Ford had informed him that the tracker wasn't working any longer. The only thing it showed now were snowy waves and lines. And with the deathly silence up ahead, guns at the ready for anything funny, Sheppard felt like he was playing some surreal game of man-hunt. Save, back in those good old days at his military camp back on earth, they use to use flashlights instead of guns. But even billions of miles away from home, the Major still felt that at any moment he would spot the 'it' person cowering in some dark corner ready to run, and he'd tag them before they had a chance to blink.
Still feeling the inklings of some 80's horror flick, Sheppard got the motivation he needed as they came up to a lone shoe, laying on its side in the middle of the corridor. John walked to it, shoving it lightly with the toe of his boot, gun aimed at it as if the shoe might leap up and attack him. Sighing, he felt something about this scene figured. John muttered to himself as he motioned to the shoe. "I wouldn't be surprised in the least if, that, was McKay's doing. He halted his team, ordering them to spread out in the hall and take point while he tried to put all the pieces together.
"So, the docs left the compartment, and should have headed back out in this direction." Sheppard pointed slightly back behind him. "But, we would of seen them, so…"
Aiden listened contently, quickly figuring where the Major was heading with all of this. "So they went deeper in instead." He then took of his cap, wiping his forehead before shoving the brim into his back pocket so the rest of the hat hung out. "Is it getting hotter as we head north or is just me?"
"Nah I'm getting pretty warm myself. No ventilation in this sector I guess, feels like I'm walking towards a sauna with a snow suit on." John replied grimly standing up as he looked down the corridor beyond, watching the lights shiver on and off. "Tracker is still a no go?"
Ford pulled the tracker from his side, and looked at the screen. He turned slowly from his left to his right, testing to see if perhaps a different direction would catch a signal, but the tracking device was still registering cloudy snow. "Still busted."
"Yeah I figured, couldn't be that lucky." Sheppard wiped a hand over is brow with his sleeve, contemplating whether or not to remove his jacket. This was getting ridiculous. How big was that sector compared to the four of them, without any guidance nor contact with the doctors in the first place, for all John knew they could be anywhere. Well, there was only one thing left to do, and he wasn't ready to turn heal and give up, even if McKay probably did start this mess in the first place, which, knowing the physicist, was a real good possibility.
Freaky alien technology aside, Sheppard was going have to do this the old fashion way. Good old hide and seek. "Actually, it's more like Marco-Polo." This comment warranting a strange look from Ford as if it ask 'what the hell are you talking about?'
Though instead he simply inquired. "Sir?"
"You know, cause we're pretty much blind and all." John replied nonchalantly feeling there was no need for explanation. "Eh, it's nothing Ford."
"Alright gentlemen, our doctors have to be in the sector beyond this corridor, which looks like it splits of in two opposite directions." John began walking, his team quickly falling in behind him, waiting for his next orders. "We'll split up into pairs, find our boys faster that way. Ford, I want you and Bouds to head to the right, while Estin and I will search the left."
He was met with a 'yes sir' from each man as they continued down the hall, leaving the bathroom that Beckett and McKay should have been in. Five yards ahead the main corridor spread out encompassing what looked like an enclosed room running somewhere up into the dark hidden ceiling above. From that open semi circle, there were two branching halls. Sheppard stopped them near the enclosed room as Estin walked up to his side. "We'll meet back here in, oh, say forty-five minutes, keep checking your radio every so often, see if you can't pick up on a signal in this place."
"Ah sir…"Ford spoke up suddenly, though he didn't address John directly, instead Aiden seemed to be speaking to his watch. "My watch is, well it's not showing the time that's for sure." He glanced up to John, arm raised in front of him. Sheppard knitted his brows, confused as he took a glance at his own watch, seeing the tiny digital screen read nothing but dashed lines, blinking on and off. He tapped at the watch with one finger shaking his arm up and down but the lines wouldn't go away. Giving up he took up his gun, thoroughly annoyed at yet another set back. " Great, trackers, radios, and now watches. all we need now is for the guns to stop working."
"Sir!" Called out Bouds suddenly, causing all three men to turn towards him. Bouds was standing near the left most wall of the right corridor, his gun raised, aiming it into the darkness beyond.
"What is it Bouds?"
"Sir, I, I saw something---" The Lieutenant stuttered, looking paler then a sheet of lined paper, he quickly flicked on his light, shining it around the dim hazy hall. "Something?" Sheppard inquired walking up next to him as he followed Bouds's light beam with his eyes, wondering if perhaps all this creepy atmosphere was maybe getting to the poor kid's head.
"Just beyond that corner sir, it was, small, and black." Bouds gulped back his current paranoia and lowered his gun looking to the Major who thankfully gave him an understanding smile, that he believed him, that it was alright. He knew the young Lieutenant before the kid had the title, and he was a excellent soldier, but that was against other men, not aliens. Sheppard for a moment thought maybe Weir had made a mistake taking someone so young with them, Bouds being only 20.
But just as John was about to head back towards Ford and Estin, the lights surged brightly, humming gently before they died out, washing the corridor in blackness. Sheppard ordered for flashlights as each man turned his on, aiming in several directions at once, though the darkness seemed to make the area much larger then it had been before, the black consuming them, the heat growing around them like clasping hands, and in the distance, sounds. Something like chittering, things dashing about somewhere in the shadows.
Before Sheppard had time to comment there was a ruckus coming from his hip, quickly he realized it was the radio. He told Estin and Ford to take point on each hall as he held the walkie-talkie up to his face, listening to what sounded like, someone shouting. Whoever was on the other end was struggling intensely from what John could tell, and then suddenly there was silence.
"Hello? Is someone there? Over." He clicked over the silence, watching the grating on the radio's receiver, waiting for something, anything. He heard then, shuffling, like the connection was being shifted out of something, then came a low, groan, followed by several clicks as someone struggled to get pressure on the transmit button.
"H---hello?" Came a weary and exhausted voice, lathed in a thick Scottish accent. Sheppard let go a breath he had been holding for what seemed forever, thankful to hear the voice of the good doctor.
"Beckett? It's Sheppard, what's your situation, is McKay with you?"
There was what sounded like maybe Carson struggling to move himself. "J—john? John?! Oh thank God! You don't know how happy I am to hear--- your voice, to hear anyone else for that matter!" Beckett moved about a bit more before it sounded as if he settled.
"Same here doc, Where's Rodney, is he with you?" John frowned thoughtfully, wondering just what was going on wherever Beckett was. Maybe Bouds hadn't been seeing things, maybe there was something else with them in this sector.
"McKay? He's, he's with me, at least I still think he is….John you have to be careful, there's something roaming around out here, maybe a few of them. We've been attacked, there's a generator…"
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down buddy, one thing at a time, what do you mean you were attacked? What attacked you?" John caught a worried look given to him by Ford who turned his sights back down the hall after hearing Carson's frantic tone. He shown his light round, finger poised on the trigger.
There was a brief pause in Beckett's response as suddenly from in the background came a disgruntled shout. "Bit me--- in the-- FRIGGEN NECK DAMNIT!" Sheppard had only a moment of uncertainty before he recognized it was McKay squawking in the background, soon after Carson clicked back. "That's what I'm trying to tell you John, there's these things, little black buggers with a set of teeth I can tell you.."
"I can't see a damn thing!" Came Rodney again, sounding as if he was heading closer to wherever Beckett was. "John we found a generator, or at least, some sort of alien processing device somewhere in this sector---" He was suddenly cut off by something, the radio seemed to be moving.
"Major." McKay spat out of breath, sounding as if he and Carson just had a wrestling match.
"McKay?" John winced, wishing the physicist had just left the communication with Beckett instead, now he could look forward to Rodney's longwinded ramblings. "Now, Rodney, Dr. Weir told us not to touch anything we find without proper research. And I hate to say I told you so that you'd do it anyway, well, actually, I'd love to tell you I told you so."
"Shut up a minute, and might I add, so NOT MY FAULT! We've got bigger problems then that. Whatever these things are, they're getting pretty agitated with us here. Especially when the generator is shut down, which it is now. I mean they nearly killed us last time because I was futzing with it. You need to get us out of this sector NOW!"
Just what he needed, crazy, biting, thingies. "This day just keeps getting better and better." Sheppard grumbled heatedly before he clicked back and responded to McKay. "Well, with the trackers on the fritz, it's going to take sometime to find you, unless you have a better idea."
"Eh, in case you didn't hear me the FIRST time, there is something in here with us, and we are going to DIE." McKay blared back, his frustration not helping the situation at all. All John needed was to start some petty stupid argument with Rodney to really make this day complete. Instead, the Major tried reasoning. "Listen. I understand there's something seriously wrong with this section of the city, I would opt we seal it off a pretend it doesn't exist, but YELLING at me is not going to make it better! We are doing the best we can with what we got McKay, even you can understand that concept!"
"Just hurry up. I'm going to turn the generator back on soon, your tracking devices should be working now since it's off."
"Why that's the most helpful thing you've said all day Rodders, thank you." John spat distastefully as he glanced over his shoulder to Ford. Aiden had heard the whole thing and had pulled the tracker from his belt, holding it out in front of him, nodding to the Major that it was working perfectly well like McKay had said.
"I'm getting a signal off this way." Ford crossed passed the enclosed room, small beeps coming from the tracker as he headed to the left most corridor stopping just before the end of Estin's light, looking back to John. "I'll need a couple of feet to get an exact reading, but we're heading in the right direction."
"You got it." Sheppard nodded, raising the walkie-talkie back up to his lips. "Alright McKay, give us a few more minutes with the juice off till we get a pinpoint on your exact location."
"What?" McKay clicked back, John figured that in the meantime he must have been talking with Carson, and hadn't heard his last message. But John soon found out, Rodney indeed had. "A--a few more minutes? No Major, I can't do that. You'll just have to find us another way."
John closed his eyes, the front of his head was beginning to pound and the muggy heat building up in the area wasn't helping either. "McKay. If you want to get out of here, like the rest of us. I need to know where you are, I have a chance of doing that now and I only need a few more minutes. Do--not, turn that generator back on."
"Ah, I don't think you understand exactly what I mean by I CAN'T DO THAT.. But trust me Major, if you were in here, you would tell me to turn it back on too." The radio quickly cut off, leaving John glaring at it as if he would have done to Rodney if the man had been standing in front of him. "McKay, don't turn that generator back on, that's an order!"
"I don't think that applies here Major, not anymore."
"McKay!" Sheppard shouted over the walkie-talkie and after receiving no reply, crossed the dark section and towards the left corridor. "McKay?! That's a direct order damn it! We just need a minute or two, Don't turn it on yet! McKay?-----MCKAY?!" Suddenly there was a pulsing hum, as the scattered lights on the walls sprang to life causing John to drop the radio to his side. He reluctantly clipped it back onto his belt and took up his gun once more, knowing it be useless to try and stop Rodney when it was already too late. Lights meant they were cut off, he was starting to catch on to pattern the day was taking on. Every time he would make a little progress, something else pulled him right back to square one.
Ford, hearing the argument between the physicist and his commanding officer, seeing the corridor now dimly lit, kept his light on, shining down the hall. He could have sworn he saw something slip behind what looked like a long dead potted plant.
"I ah, think getting out of this area would be, a real good idea, I think we should get moving sir."
Sheppard looked to him, his face, normally straight forward and inward could no longer conceal it's disappointment in McKay and loss of the one good lead they had. He simply nodded, letting a solemn and professional air overcome him that quite frankly, frightened Ford a little. He knew what it meant when John got like this. It meant the Major had just about his fill of one thing, especially something bad that shifted him into an almost tyrant mode, often believing that his way was the best. Ford had seen this same air get Sheppard and Weir biting at each other's throats at its worst.
John walked on down the left corridor, his team following close behind, keeping on edge, on guard for anything. The dim haze of the hall seemed to consume them as Sheppard began systematically pounding his fist on any door he came across.
Aiden could tell just by the withheld harshness in the Major's knocks just how pissed he really was at McKay, and he wondered then, if they ever did find the doctors, if John wouldn't think twice about deliberately leave Rodney behind.
Hours passed, at least if felt as if they had. Since his watch was broken beyond use, Ford couldn't really tell when one hour ended an another began. But searching the narrow corridor that branched off into several rooms to the left and several more enclosed rooms on the right, seemed to be taking forever. And the deeper the team went into the sector, the more shut in they all felt. Like the walls would creep up on them, threatening to clamp shut, crushing them. Perhaps it was just the heat Aiden was feeling, becoming more and more unbearable as they moved along, a slow, sluggish pace that was making the young lieutenant anxious. He almost wished now that something would happen, an odd inner itch that begged they'd be attacked, or find the doctors, or Wraith, anything that would break the crippling silence of the sector.
Worst of all, Sheppard had completely stopped talking, opting for hand signals when he thought he heard something. Usually the Major would be, by now, making a crack about how the place had seen better days, or how he'd like to get the guy who decorated the halls to do his room. Bouds was getting skittish, often stopping when his eyes caught on something, whether it was really there or not, causing the young man to make a jerking moves every so often. Estin, a more seasoned soldier but about the same age as Aiden, kept cool and collected, staying close to Sheppard.
Sheppard fumed within himself. How could McKay have done that? He gave the man a direct order, and Rodney simply ignored it, opting for his own overreacting. Part of John wondered now if perhaps there really was something lurking around in the halls, or if it was all this heat, messing with their brains, causing them to hallucinate. Maybe whatever sort of device the docs had found was giving off more then a technology-fritzing field, maybe it was also making them go slowly insane. Great, just what he needed, rabid munchkins and loony men with guns. What a fitting end he thought. He kept walking, seeming to be completely unaware that Ford and Bouds where no longer behind him….
"Hey, Bouds, what are you doing man? We gotta stick together." Hissed Aiden as he realized he hadn't heard Bouds make a jumpy movement in quite awhile. He turned round to see the young solider standing before an open doorway, staring into the darken space within.
"Bouds?!" Ford quietly shouted, trying to get the kid's attention, But Bouds neither complied nor tore his eyes away from the doorway. Instead, he raised a hand, pointing towards the darkness.
"There's---there's something in there Ford. I---I saw eyes, red, little eyes"
Fearing that perhaps Bouds had lost it, Aiden walked over to him, watching the soldier's flesh go from a rosy red from the sweltering heat, into an almost sickly sheet white pale. Mouth agape, finger shaking at the door.
Following Bouds's finger, Ford looked at the doorway, seeing nothing but the darkness of an unlit room, nothing more, nothing. At least nothing to get so freaked out about as Bouds was doing. Laying a hand on the young lad's shoulder Aiden spoke softly to him. "Hey, there's nothing there Mike, just, just an empty room is all." He laughed trying to make light of the situation, trying to draw Bouds away from that section of the hall. "It's all this damn heat, making your eyes see things, that's it. Like mirages in the desert."
"No, no Ford, I s—saw it, I saw eyes. R---red glowing ones, just, staring back at me from in there. I ain't seeing things." Bouds stuttered, turning his wide, frighten eyes towards Ford. Aiden had heard of shell shock before, known what being a new soldier out of the box felt like. Wondering if you'd ever see action, how many people he would have to kill in his lifetime. But never in his wildness dreams did he ever imagine he'd be here, fending off aliens and, well little red eyes. He took his fear in stride, learning from it, using it to make him stronger. But some men, like Bouds, just weren't ready to look outside the little safe box of wars of men against man, that there might be things out there, bigger and scarier then that. Bouds could accept killing a man for land and country, to save his own life, but when it came to excepting that the things we feared as children might just be true. Little monsters that went bump in the night, that, that was just too damn much for him to take.
"I'm sure you did Mikey, come on, let's catch up with the Major, I'm sure he'd like to know what you've seen huh? Give us a bit of a heads up." Ford urged gently, pulling Bouds who was now staring back at the door along with him. Ford thought that when they finally found Dr. Beckett, he'd have to mention that maybe Mike Bouds needed some, professional help, someone to talk to.
Bouds nodded like a small boy, separated from his parents, giving into to any adult who was being nice to him, promising they'd help him find his folks, that everything was ok. Ford patted Bouds on the shoulder smiling at him, thanking his lucky stars that it wasn't going to be harder then he thought to get the man to go with him. Aiden began to walk along the hallway, hearing Bouds clear his throat right behind him, seeming to try and loosen the tight grip of fear on his voice.
Bouds gripped his gun tightly, felling better that he was leaving that door behind him. Almost had it completely out of his line of sight, when the unyielding darkness within, seemed to reach out for him, trying to draw him back inside it. Except this darkness leapt and hissed, swarming over the young man in a matter of seconds. The only thing that made Ford turn back was the muffled shrieks that came behind him from Bouds. He spun round expecting to see the man freaking out, having a nervous breakdown. When instead he saw bits of Bouds, those parts clawing and swatting at whatever was massed all over him. Crawling blackness, howling and biting, tearing Bouds up as the young solider struggled, dropping his gun to the ground as he fell over, rolling about as if he was on fire.
Ford had only a moment of lucid thought, raising his gun, trying to aim for the constant shifting blackness that engulfed Bouds, praying he wouldn't hit the man instead of what was attacking him. When suddenly from above something fell upon him, many somethings in fact, pelting him and digging into his body. Before Ford had time to realize what was happening to him, he felt the sharp piercing of tiny fangs.
McKay had taken up an odd position, spreading himself out like an X on the floor with his jacket balled up resting underneath his head. He'd given up trying to shift some of the debris from in front of the door sometime ago. Finding the heat radiating from the generator too taxing on his endurance. Though, in his searching he did find a activation sensor on the left side of the door, though good use it was now since the panel was severely smashed in from the collapsed roof. Even if Rodney could fix it, it wouldn't have worked with the generator on, and he couldn't see the panel when it was off to test it.
So he instead, threw himself down and let his body and brain succumb to the growing warmth, this current exposure being the longest both men had endured. For it seemed the generator stopped its momentary shorts and remained on and processing for sometime.
"I think I'm dying." Rodney said with a half-hearted wine, managing to raise an arm, shirt sleeves rolled up as far as they could go, and placed it across his face, mopping the lingering sweat from his brow.
"You're not dying." Beckett sighed, shifting around where he sat, next to McKay and leaning up against the slanting chunk of ceiling blocking the only exit to the generator room. His anger was far less then it had been before. Carson had screamed at Rodney for a good ten minutes about letting the Major find them using the tracker, that they could stand a few more moments in the dark. But McKay had refused to listen to either man, tripping and stumbling towards the generator and activating it. Now with the lights back on, with the alien machine humming softly, he did in fact feel safer. But at what price was this safety? He wondered then if maybe he should rush the generator, rip out its wires and shut it down permanently. An act that might either save them or condemn them.
"Yeah well, tell that to my body, cause if you haven't noticed, it isn't getting any cooler in here." McKay's voice brought the doctor back from his thoughts.
Beckett moved about again, uncomfortably, feeling a piece of metal from the fallen ceiling digging painfully into his back. He thought then maybe the physicist had the right idea about taking refuge on the floor.
"It's the heat exhaustion you're feeling. And besides, a person would pass out long before they died."
"Well that's, comforting." I've always prayed for a nice slow death from exposure. And fate shines through once again." Rodney grumbled sarcastically, rolling on his side as he pulled his arms round his middle, hugging himself. With a disapproving wince he curled up slightly. "I think my stomach is eating itself."
"I've been trying not to think of food." As Carson wiped his face off, wanting so badly to kick McKay right in the backside, he had a perfect shot at it too. "I know its just the dehydration talking, but I'd give my bloody right arm for a glass of water right now." Beckett licked at his lips, finding his throat and mouth so terribly dry. He saw Rodney nod in agreement where he lay, back to the doctor.
"Oddly enough, I could go for a big bowl of hot soup."
"Lobster bisc?" Beckett asked, suddenly interested, and utterly confused on why the physicist wanted hot soup at a time like this. He found though, talking about food was not nearly as satisfying as eating it, but something was better then nothing. It could tide him over, if only for a moment.
"No, cream of mushroom." Rodney replied with a sigh, his stomach making the most accented gurgling sound. He curled up more.
Carson nodded, chuckling gently. "I've always been a bisc man myself."
"Too spicy." McKay, unseen, scrunched up his nose and made a face as if he'd just tasted something that didn't agree with him.
"Wimp." Muttered Beckett with a subtle, teasing grin. He raised his arms up high, trying to stretch out his back, which popped and snapped in response to the sudden use.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." McKay spat harshly, rolling completely onto his other side, propping himself up on his right elbow, watching the doctor as he finished his stretching.
"So, you got any ideas on what those, damn things are?"
Beckett looked to him, blinking the sweat from his eyes as he began to roll up his sleeves and pant legs. "Well, I've got a few wee theories. Nothing I can prove mind you. Not until I get one of those little buggers back in my lab and under the knife."
"You----you don't think they carry any sort of diseases----do you?" McKay asked hesitantly, eyes looking about in fearful shifts as he absent-mindedly began touching the bite wound on the back of his neck.
Carson thought about it, considering their possibilities and the fact that the creatures they were dealing with were completely new and like nothing he had ever dealt with before. Granted their bites weren't that severe, Beckett had check each wound carefully, finding the punctures more painful then deep, bleeding more from the broken skin then any severed internals. However, he had been putting off the thought of possible infection, other then common dirt based ones. Who knew what those things were running around with, what they might be immune to and what could easily kill a man in days out here, in this strange, still savage galaxy they knew nothing about.
Catching McKay's worried, yearning glance by the fact the doctor was so quiet, Carson cleared his throat, taking on the reassuring tone he took with all he looked after, pushing down his own fear and worry to cater, slate, the other's worry and fear. Though he hated Rodney sometimes for the things he did, the things he said, Beckett was glad he wasn't alone in all this.
"It's possible, to be completely honest, but I doubt whatever attacked us has been surviving this long all alone with some incurable disease. If there's a treatment, we'll find it, that's all." He saw Rodney's body relax, finding the answer calming.
"Why? You feeling anything out of the ordinary I should know about?" Beckett continued, narrowing his glance in concern.
McKay rolled his eyes, griping. "If by ordinary, you're referring to the fact that I always hang out in sweltering hot rooms, then no. Nothing out of the usual. You?"
"No." Carson laughed, shaking his head. Leave it to Rodney to pull some arrogant comment into an already hellish situation, though he found the man's raised spirits, comforting. So to continue, he mused. "But I think it's a touch cold in here actually."
"Oh?" Chuckled McKay, rubbing one eye as he smiled faintly. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I think I'm catching a chill." He sucked in his breath, mocking a shiver.
Both men laughed for what seemed like the first time all day, for as long as they could remember at the time, finally feeling that a situation so bad, couldn't get any worse, and to find humor in that. Something to break the fear, the unease. To take their minds, though briefly, off the looming death that scratched about somewhere, above them, behind the ceiling panels.
Carson's grin increased as he added. "I say, you jack up that generator, before we freeze to death."
"Oh yeah." McKay smirked giving the doctor the 'ok' sign with his left hand. "I'll get right on it."
"And, whilst I do that." Rodney continued, with a slight order. "How's about you catch us some creature and we'll cook it up over and open energy field generator?"
Laughing deeply, Beckett sat up from his declining slump, feeling more energetic then he had in the last few hours. "I'll whip us up some beastie bisc, how's that?" Holding up a hand, in defense. " But not too spicy, I promise."
Rodney snorted with a grin, shaking his head at the crack the doctor made, finding it both a little insulting and far too amusing all at the same time. "I must be really out of it, you know. To find that in the least bit funny."
"Aye, what can I say?" Carson shrugged, speaking with honesty. "With the need for physical care on the rise here in the city, no thanks to you, may I remind jury, and no thanks to the bloody Stargate either. I've had little time to polish my stand-up act, so, please, bare with me."
Both men burst out in a bout of laughter, making Beckett cough gently and Rodney bow his head, squeezing his eyes shut. But soon the musing died away, leaving both with wistful expressions, wondering what was to be said next. McKay cleared his throat harshly, frowning. "I think I'm actually hotter and hungrier then I was before."
Carson sobered himself as well, giving the physicist a reassuring smile. "Ah, that's nothing. Heat's effecting me so bad, I swear I'm hearing things." He began to chuckle at the statement, soon stopping upon seeing Rodney not sharing his amusement, instead looking like he was deeply concentrating, shooting the doctor a nod. "No, I---I hear it too."
Beckett tensed up, listening again over the whirling of the generator in front of them, trying to single out the sound he heard before. The noise was something like a short popping, like firecrackers shot off on the 4th of July. However, these pops were getting steadily louder and more frantic in the approach.
"Sounds like---"
"Gun fire." McKay shot back, completing the doctor's thought as he leapt to his feet and carefully but swiftly scrambled up the embankment of metal to the only part of the door not blocked. There he pressed his head to the door, straining his ears to listen, urging his heart to quiet down from the jack-hammering it was doing within his chest from the sudden exertion and excitement. "It's getting closer, hand me a piece of metal!" Waving a hand at Carson who reacted without question, remembering their plan.
Beforehand, Carson had yanked two planks of metal free from the pile blocking the door, suggesting to Rodney that when someone came near enough for them to hear, they would use the shrapnel to make as much noise as they could, alerting whoever was out there to their location. Though at one point he imagined himself clobbering the physicist over the head with it and taking control of the generator for Sheppard.
Reaching down to where he was sitting, Beckett grabbed the shards and tossed one carefully up to McKay before climbing up the incline himself.
Rodney began to bang on the door, holding his twisted plank of Ancient building material like a club overhead.
Carson drove his piece into the sealed door like a bayonet, yelling at the top of his lungs. McKay quickly joined in, inwardly praying that the deafening racket they were creating in the generator room was enough to hear from outside. And not, accidentally, enough to bring the creatures back down upon them.