Author's Note: So much for the nice and easy walk in the park... Here goes. As some might have guessed already, this story got some inspiration from Jurassic Park. But it's very vague. The inspiration, I mean, not the story.
Though Sam had always had a scientific mindset, she'd never been much of a naturalist. The more she saw of this place, the more she was starting to regret it. This would be a paleontologist's paradise. Although it was pretty close to paradise, just in general.
The nature was incredible. The butterflies were bigger than Sam's head, and the dragonflies had bodies thicker than her wrist. During their march through the rainforest, they'd come across several paths. They'd figured the dinosaurs had made them, but it had still been a slight shock when they'd actually met a long procession of elephant-like, three-horned dinosaurs walking slowly along one of them. While they had waited for the animals to pass, Teal'c had named the species as Triceratops. Daniel had added that the name simply meant they had three horns.
Teal'c had taken them all by surprise when he'd revealed how much he knew about these animals. He'd been able to name almost every single one they had seen, and, even more importantly, he could tell whether they were supposed to be dangerous. They'd only met plant-eaters so far. Even the tank-sized, spike-covered Ankylosaurus, which had been one of the scariest indigenous creatures Sam had seen on any planet, had just peered at them without much interest and went on munching leaves.
All in all, SG-1 had done little more than walked all day long, but it had certainly not been dull. The only shadow in paradise was the rain. It had begun after half a day's walk, and it showed no sign of ceasing. It was a rainforest, after all. It was warm enough, but even though they'd brought rain clothes, they were still soaked, as if they'd been swimming.
When the green light around them started to fade into a green twilight, Colonel O'Neill decided that they'd start looking for a campsite. According to the map based on the UAV-feed, they were still several hours away from the ruins, and they weren't in a hurry. They could just as well get a good night's sleep before they got to work.
They found a sheltered place under a huge tree, and set up camp there. With the continuous rain, there was no way they could get a fire started. At least they had self-heating, just-add-water MREs, so they could get nearly warm food, and it was dry enough inside the tent. Hopefully the rain would stop before the morning. They'd all be happier if Daniel got his coffee.
Teal'c took the first watch. Even though Sam really wanted to change out of her wet clothes, she also wanted to ask him a few things, so she stayed outside.
"Teal'c, I've been wondering... Do you think all these animals are exactly like the ones that used to live on Earth?"
"As no one has ever seen a living dinosaur, I cannot be certain, Captain Carter. Nevertheless, these creatures are a complete match to the approximations that paleontologists have built based on the fossilized remains that have been found."
"Don't you think that's a bit odd? That creatures that were extinct, what, tens of millions of years ago, are still alive, exactly the same, on an alien planet?"
"I do find this unusual. However, all the dinosaurs we have encountered seem to be from the last period of time before their extinction, the late Cretaceous period. Perhaps they were brought here so that they would be saved from the fate their kind faced on Earth."
"Sounds like a good explanation, but who brought them? I can't see the Goa'uld doing something like this--what would they gain from it? And how did they get the animals here? Surely not through the gate. Probably with a ship. A real Noah's Ark."
"Indeed. I have also been wondering. So far, we have encountered no carnivorous dinosaurs. It is not completely unexpected, since there are likely to be many more herbivores. Still, I did expect to meet at least some small ones."
"Maybe whoever brought them here just picked plant-eaters--but no, wait, of course not. There'd be nothing to keep the population in control without them. Unless the ones responsible for this all did that themselves, and still keep doing it. Maybe they're still around here, somewhere."
"Perhaps the ruins shall reveal the history of this planet."
"I really hope they-" Sam fell silent. She thought she'd felt something. The ground shaking slightly, like in a barely noticeable earthquake. She frowned, and cast an inquiring glance at Teal'c. Teal'c raised his eyebrows and nodded.
They both picked up their guns, just in case, and waited. The Colonel and Daniel, who had been talking in low voices inside the tent, had fallen silent as well.
A good while passed, and nothing happened.
O'Neill peered out of the tent. "Carter? Did we have any clue that there might be earthquakes on this planet?"
"No, sir. And I'm not entirely sure it was an-"
There it was again. A shiver running through forest floor.
Whatever it was, Sam didn't like it.
O'Neill disappeared into the tent again.
The next time she felt the ground tremble, a sound followed the feeling. Rustling branches, something rushing through the forest, not very far from them. When it paused for a second, an ear-splitting roar cut the air.
Both Carter and Teal'c had their P90's pointed towards the direction of the quickly approaching sound.
She could see the nearby trees shaking, the leaves moving. Just like earlier on the same day, a reptilian head emerged through the foliage. But this creature was not small, cute and shy. It was a monstrous beast, its head bigger than their tent, its mouth filled with rows of huge teeth, which shone pale in the green gloom.
Without a moment's hesitation, they opened fire at the beast. They could've been tossing it with pebbles, for all the effect it had. It roared at them, and started closing in, with heavy, ground-shaking steps.
O'Neill was making his way out of the tent, dragging Daniel after him.
"Run! Carter, Teal'c, get the hell out of here," he yelled at them.
That really wasn't an order Carter wanted to obey, but she had little choice. With the primeval fear this creature raised in her, running seemed like the natural thing to do. So, she ran into the darkening night, right after Teal'c. She could only hope that the dinosaur would lose them. They were a lot smaller than it was, and though they were probably slower, at least they were more agile.
She ran, hardly thinking anything, except that they had to get away and fast. She still heard it roaring every now and then, but she thought they were growing their distance to it. All she saw was Teal'c's vague figure making its way through the forest, several paces ahead of her.
She had no idea how long they'd been going, when she noticed Teal'c was slowing down.
"I do not think the Tyrannosaur is following us," he told her. He didn't even sound out of breath. And he gave a name to the beast. Tyrannosaur. It sounded suitable.
"Yeah--yeah, I haven't heard it in a while... Sir?" she turned to look behind her.
She had been so sure Daniel and the Colonel were right behind them that she hadn't even thought about it. But they weren't. There was no one there, and no sounds in the darkness, except for a solitary bird, and the ceaselessly buzzing insects.
"Oh no..."
"Captain Carter, Colonel O'Neill is a great warrior and skilled in survival. It is most likely that he and Daniel Jackson escaped as well, only to a direction different from ours."
"I just wish we could know for sure. But if they're still on the run... Or if they're hiding--we can't risk calling them. Maybe we'd better wait for the morning."
"I agree. Now, we must find a suitable location for spending the night. Preferably one that will shelter us from other possible attacks."
They walked on in silence, wary of any sounds that might signal another Tyrannosaur, or something equally dangerous. The darkness had fallen, and it was hard to see a thing, let alone find a good, safe spot for sleeping. And it was still raining. She hadn't paid attention to it when they'd been running, but now she realized she was splattered with mud all over. Not to mention that she was dead tired--they'd already spent the entire day walking.
After a while, she noticed she'd been trudging on without one single thought. Teal'c was still scanning the surroundings actively. She wasn't helping a lot. Without explaining, he suddenly took a sharp turn to the right. She just followed.
"I believe we have found a shelter for the night, as well as located the ruins," he announced.
She peered towards where he was looking, but she couldn't see anything distinguishable in the darkness. Maybe his Jaffa eyesight was that crucial bit better than her regular human eyes.
He stepped through a dark space between two trees, and she followed. Only when she was right there, going through it herself, she noticed that this particular dark space was actually a huge doorway.
"We really ran all the way to the ruins? Wow," she muttered to herself.
"So it would appear."
It was just as dark inside as outside. There were plants growing here as well, bushes, trees, and low plants covering the floor like a rug.
She found the edge of the doorway, then the thick stone wall continuing from it. She began tracing the wall onwards with her fingers. Teal'c followed her. It seemed to go on indefinitely. The wall felt smooth and moist. Every now and then there were breaks in the surface, which she took to be seams between large tiles.
"We should rest, Captain Carter."
"No, I want to see how far this goes on... It can't go on forever."
"It could go on for half a mile."
He was right, and she was just considering that they could just drop down right where they were and go to sleep, when her hand met the corner of the room, or hall, or ruin. Whatever. She slid down, resting her back against the wall. Teal'c sat down next to her.
They had abandoned most of their belongings when they'd started running. They had no dry clothes, let alone sleeping bags. Not to mention that she was extremely worried about what had happened to the rest of SG-1. They might be safely asleep already, somewhere else in the rainforest... Or--she didn't want to think about any other options.
Despite the circumstances, she was so tired that she fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.