CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ENDURANCE AND ESCAPE
Scathach and Teyla were eating up the ground, pelting along the track at what had to be a record breaking pace. Conor and Ford followed behind, the lieutenant having a slightly harder time keeping up with all the body armor he wore. He was also watching the trees around them with as careful an eye as he could, but it was difficult to focus on anything at the pace the women were setting.
Scathach finally slowed, seeing the bodies first. Teyla was only a little behind her, and she was quick to start scouting the surrounding area for danger, moving up the hill above the small entrance way. Conor imitated the Athosian, his crossbow in his hands again as he skidded down the hill on the wet leaves in the opposite direction from Teyla, looking for suspicious movement.
Ford moved ahead, dashing to take point. He leapt over the four Wraith, peering into the entranceway for only a moment, then headed a little ways down the track to determine if any more Wraith were headed their way from the direction of the Stargate.
He came to an abrupt halt when he nearly kicked the Wraith head on the ground by his feet.
Both eyebrows shot up, and he gritted his teeth at the clenching in his stomach at the sight.
"That's not something you see everyday," Scathach said wryly, reaching his side. She smiled at Ford's obvious discomfort, then moved on, her skilled eyes now reading the marks on the ground.
Teyla came back down the hill, nodding at Ford as he turned to inspect the bodies. Nothing coming that she could see or sense.
The lieutenant walked carefully. Spent shells littered the ground around the entrance, and bullet holes were obvious in all of the bodies but one. Two were headless.
"How did they take their heads off?" he asked, looking behind him at Teyla. She shrugged, backing up to look inside the temple entrance again. Moving a ways into the interior, she saw nothing but cold, slime covered stone. With a sigh, she backed out and walked back to Ford's side.
"Can't believe they took down four Wraith by themselves," Ford admitted to her as she came up alongside. She shrugged.
"The major is a great warrior," she said with absolute conviction.
"Sure, but," Ford smiled, "Four? And one of them doesn't even have bullet wounds, how did—"
"One of them has an injured leg, his left," Scathach said from her position a little ways down the track, "And he is carrying the other one, probably over his right shoulder." She looked back at Ford and Teyla, "And we are not far behind. They are headed towards the Stargate, which is not far from here. And, from the looks of it, they aren't moving fast."
Ford looked again at the bodies...four...plus the two they took down on the other side of the hill...there were at least two more out there somewhere...more if Scathach and Conor weren't accurate in their count.
He hit his radio, "Major Sheppard. Doctor McKay. Do you read me?"
He waited a moment, his eyes focused on Teyla's. She tapped her own radio.
"Major, this is Teyla. Can you hear us?"
Ford grimaced as, again, nothing answered them but dead air. He shook his head, hitting his radio once more. "Major, if you can hear us," he said, "there are at least two more Wraith out there, possibly more. When you reach the Gate, find cover and wait for us. We're right behind you."
Conor jumped up onto the track, nodded at them, then followed Scathach as she started running down the track towards the Stargate, with Teyla and Ford once more on their heels.
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McKay swore lightly to himself as he debated putting Sheppard down to reach the major's radio. He'd heard Ford and Teyla loud and clear...from the radio on the major's shoulder hanging behind his back. If he'd been thinking clearly, he would have switched his busted transmitter with Sheppard's, but it hadn't even occurred to him when still near the entrance to try and contact the others...or that they would try to contact him. He'd only been thinking about getting himself and the major out of there.
Truth was, he didn't think he could put the major down right now. If he did, he would never get him back on his shoulder again, and stopping at all might cause his precarious left knee from moving any further at all. As it was, it had a powerful wobble to it which made him wonder if his shin and thigh were even connected anymore.
Okay, focus...left Right...left Right...left Right...left Right....
Each step was an exercise in just how quickly he could transfer his weight off his left leg and still keep moving forward. It was like a game: how far could he go before the knee gave out altogether? Could he even make the Gate? Could he even make it to that tree? Just make it to that tree, and then we'll see.
He also needed to focus on his surroundings, on how far he had to go, on whether the Wraith were chasing him, on whether it was going to rain....It felt like rain.
There was a lightening of the air up ahead—the clearing around the Stargate? Was he almost there?
Ha...made it to the tree...now, make it to that little fir tree over there and win a bigger prize....
Wait...was that....behind the tree...something white....?
"Shit!" he swore, falling to the side, dropping the major in a heap a little ways away from him.
The wraith stunner blast burst against the tree behind him, followed quickly by another just feet from where McKay had fallen before he rolled.
He propped himself up on his elbows, the P90 in his hands, and started firing willy nilly into the trees at any white thing that moved.
He was rewarded as one Wraith guard clearly came into view, staggering from bullet wounds. But it was still moving, the blaster aimed at him. Blue light flared in McKay's direction, missing him by inches.
McKay just continued to fire, praying, hoping, begging....
The Wraith collapsed to its knees from the barrage...then flopped backwards onto his back.
The doctor bowed his head to the wet earth, sighing in relief.
Lifting his head again, he blew the air out of his cheeks and worked on trying to stand. Oddly, he couldn't get his legs to work. His right shifted a little, but the left just wouldn't move. His knee felt like it was on fire.
He twisted onto his side, trying to push himself up with just his arms, determined to get his legs to work properly.
And saw the other Wraith, lumbering towards him from another direction. His jaw fell open—it couldn't be! It was like some cruel deity had a sack full of Wraith guards and was just shaking it over this damned planet—he could almost hear it's maniacal laughter. Movement out of the corner of his eye had him turning his head back towards the first guard on the track in front of him.
It was sitting up, looking for its weapon.
No! No, no, no!
McKay fumbled for the machine gun, but knew in his heart he had run out of luck. He couldn't take them both...not before one of them got him with....
BOOM!
The grenade exploded directly in front of the guard advancing from the side, sending it backwards onto its rear.
And suddenly, two more machine guns had joined the fight.
How that sound was like music to his ears!
He looked behind him, and saw Teyla walking steadily in his direction down the track, her entire attention focused on the guard on the ground in front of him, her hair flying behind her with the wind as the P90 fired in her arms. She seemed like something out of an ancient myth—unafraid and completely certain of victory, like Queen Boadicea facing down the Roman armies. She passed by Rodney without looking at him. Behind her, Ford was drilling bullets into the guard advancing from the side, the determination on his face unwavering. The Wraith never stood a chance.
"Are you all right?" a woman with wild blond hair asked. She seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, skidding to his side and staring him in the eye. "Can you walk?"
McKay just blinked at her, "Uh...I...."
"I got this one," a man's voice said, and McKay twisted some more to look over his shoulder. A red-haired man had pulled Major Sheppard to his feet, then up and over his shoulder.
"Come on," the woman said, offering McKay her hand, "We're going to get you home. No worries now. Your friends'll take care of everything."
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TBC -- I got kinda high on reading about ancient Ireland and England, as you might be able to tell. The women in the legends kicked a serious amount of ass. Is it weird that I really like the name Scathach now? Terrible name for a child, but a pet....hmmmm
Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! I would never write or post as fast without them!