Daniel was tired and frustrated and his head really hurt from where he'd fallen earlier. From the beginning the mission had gotten off to a rocky start. Immediately upon arriving on the planet the strap on Daniels pack had broken. As a result Daniel, in a less than suave moment, had lost his balance and fallen down the stone steps of the Stargate and cracked his head.
From that moment on things had just gotten worse. They had taken the path less traveled and they had paid the price. Daniel and SG-15 had been lost for hours, how many hours was unknown due to the fact that all their equipment had gone haywire the moment they'd stepped out of the gate. Their compasses, radios, and even their watches were no longer functioning properly.
Daniel was beginning to wonder whether they'd ever be able to find their way home. He and SG-15 were trudging through the woods, trying to find a way out of the seemingly impassible maze the forest had become, when he noticed a rock with a very familiar mark on it. "We're going in circles guys," Daniel said with a deep sigh.
Major Burns, SG-15's commanding officer, stopped and looked at their surroundings. "How can you tell?" He asked irritably. "It looks like every other part of the forest to me."
"That's how I can tell. I put that mark there this morning," Daniel said, pointing wearily at the rock.
"Great," Burns muttered, squinting up at the sun. The sun was still high in the sky which meant that there was still plenty of daylight left for them to find their way out. "We'll rest here for fifteen," Major Burns told his team.
Daniel dropped his pack and sat down on the cold mossy forest floor, grateful for the break. He put his canteen to his lips and found that it had gone dry during the long hot day.
Daniel knew that the stream where they had filled their canteens earlier was nearby, he could hear the sound of rushing water.
"I'm going to get some water," Daniel said, rising to his feet.
"Don't go too far. We don't know what could be in these woods," Major Burns warned him.
No more than twenty-five feet away, Colonel O' Neill, Teal'c, and SG-5 were searching carefully for any sign of their missing friends.
Teal'c stopped suddenly and raised his hand, signaling his teammates to stop. Jack came quietly to his side. "What is it?" He asked.
In front of them there was dense vegetation, to the left there was a barely visible path, and to the right there was a stream.
Teal'c could hear the sound of someone approaching clearly. "Someone is coming," Teal'c said in hushed tones.
Jack signaled to the others to take cover.
Daniel walked down the path that he'd taken earlier that morning, looking at his watch, the hour and minute hands spinning at an insane speed. He wondered in vain how long he and SG-15 had been lost. He knew at some point General Hammond would send a rescue team after them, it was just a matter of making it until then.
The sound of a twig breaking suddenly in the distance jolted Daniel out of his thoughts. He stopped and looked at the surrounding forest, searching for signs of movement.