WORST CASE SCENARIO - by NotTasha
CHAPTER 11: APOCALYPSE
Teyla and Ronon moved back the way they'd come, quickly poking their heads into buildings and shops, trying to find their missing teammates. Ronon lurched, using walls and windowsills to keep him upright. He blinked, shook his head, wobbled and staggered, but never stopped moving. Teyla stayed with him, wishing she'd thought to keep the wagon.
Ronon was heedless of the dangers, continuing to make his way toward the fuel distillery, not caring that they were often exposed, free of the protection offered by the other buildings.
"Sheppard!" Dex bellowed, wincing. "McKay!" His voice reverberated in the close weather. He often clutched his arms to his chest, to relieve the pain in his ribs – not that it stopped him from shouting.
Teyla echoed him. "Doctor McKay! Please respond! Colonel Sheppard! Are you hurt? Do you need assistance? Answer us!"
Teyla checked one shop while Ronon took the one next door. She never strayed far from him. She kept a careful eye on her companion, watching his uneven tread, wishing that he might be able to rest, but knowing that wouldn't happen – not while the others were missing.
She just hoped that they found them soon. She wanted to be irritated with Sheppard and McKay. She wished to find them in a nearby room, with their radios off, fussing about with that sought-after anti-Wraith device. They'd be all excited about it, like children, and incapable of understanding her exasperation.
She would get annoyed. Dr. McKay would be frustrated with her annoyance and tell her exactly why she shouldn't be so upset with the circumstances. He'd go on and on about it, explaining why his methods of communication (or lack of communication) were superior to anything she'd dreamed up.
She'd fume.
Sheppard would step in and utter some smooth remark that would settle ruffled feathers, and Ronon could collapse spectacularly in some corner and then Beckett would arrive with a bag packed with every necessity, knowing something was wrong.
That was her wish.
They found footprints in the dust, but not their companions. They kept searching, knowing that it was only a matter of time before something blew up.
She didn't mention the danger again. She knew that Ronon was aware of it, but perhaps he didn't truly understand the depth of the situation?
No, that wasn't true. Ronon knew.
The Satedan wouldn't stop his search until the others were found – pain, concussion, kiwanda or explosion wouldn't stop him.
Her little dream -- finding her friends unharmed and annoyed – grew dimmer.
Visions of the attacking kiwanda filled her mind, and she worried about what would have happened to her friends if they stumbled upon another of the beasts – or if they'd found some other equally horrible fate. She swallowed down that fear and soldiered onward, keeping her gaze on Ronon, preparing herself to catch him when his strength gave out.
Determinedly, Ronon kept moving, driven.
"We will find them," Ronon declared, giving Teyla a glance as they walked.
"Yes," Teyla agreed.
He grimaced and touched his head. "So," he led, "how bad is this… explosion thing going to be."
Teyla bit her lip for a moment. "I do not know," she truthfully stated. "I believe it will be very bad."
"Doranda bad?"
She lowered her gaze a moment at the mention of that incident. She knew little of what happened on Doranda itself – her memories of that time were of a different situation. "No," she responded. "It cannot be that destructive."
"Hmmm," Ronon responded, oblivious to any thoughts that were unintentionally dredged up for the Athosian. "Think it'll blow up the whole planet?"
"I do not believe so."
They trudged onward. Ronon grasped hold of doorframes and walls to propel himself. "Think it'll take out most of the continent?"
"It is unlikely?"
"What about the Gate?"
To that question, Teyla gazed in the direction of the Ring of the Ancients – hidden in the fog and the hills. "I am unfamiliar with such explosions, but I believe the ring is far enough away to escape the blast."
"So, it's not that bad." Ronon hitched up his pants a little as he struggled forward.
"I do believe that the town is at risk," Teyla went out. "Much would be destroyed once the fuel reaches the furnace."
"As long as the Gate's going to be okay. We can get out of here." At a tavern, Ronon came to a halt. He gave it a curious look.
"Ronon?" Teyla inquired.
"They came in here," Dex declared. "And didn't come out."
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"There!" Sheppard shouted, pointing the P90's light toward a metal door embedded in the rocky wall at one side of the tunnel. Lobster beasts clicked just behind them. "Get behind that door!"
Gasping McKay reached it, releasing his hold on his hurt arm to try handle on the metal door. "Probably some sort of equipment room," he hissed through his teeth.
"I don't care!" Sheppard shouted, exasperated. It was a metal door along one side of the tunnel – the entrance to a room, or perhaps another tunnel. All he cared about at the moment was that it would keep out the lobsters of the apocalypse.
The door squeaked as McKay opened it. Sheppard faced the nestuccas as the creatures scrambled toward them. His mouth went dry as he brought the P90 around to smack at them again.
"The light? Hello?" McKay called irritated.
"Get in there!"
"It would be helpful if you stopped shining that thing everywhere but where …"
"Get the hell out of my way, McKay." Sheppard watched them come --
Rodney slipped through the door, pushing it open wide enough for Sheppard. "Come on!" the physicist shouted, hanging on.
But there was no time for Sheppard. The lobsters were on him.
The creatures snapped, hurling themselves at their prey. With a smack, Sheppard used the P90 as a bat, lofting one of the creatures into the ceiling. The next one met a similar fate. But there were so damn many of them. They clawed at his pant legs, pulling themselves upward at an astounding rate, all fired up to consume him.
He was aware of Rodney's shouting. He knew that McKay was fighting off the creatures as well. Heroically, Sheppard pulled at the things, tugging them from his clothing and lobbing them into the walls that surrounded them. "Shut the damn door!" he shouted from outside the space.
Rodney looked at him, his eyes huge and terrified, and incredibly blue. He did nothing to shut the door and kept kicking at the creatures. "Colonel!" he kept shouting. "Colonel! You're NOT going to leave me to fend for my self!" he declared as he fought with the crustaceans. "Because I have SERIOUS issues with that."
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Teyla came along side him, and peered in as well. It was a simple tavern, like many she had seen in her travels. It looked… nice.
They pressed their way inside, eager to find any clue. They were close! Surely, the answer to their quest was at hand and they would find Sheppard and McKay. Whether they were alive or dead was another question altogether.
Teyla looked around the room, trying to figure out where to start her search. She watched Ronon move off to nose around some of the chairs, looking for something. She moved toward a table, looking for any trace – and for a moment they searched.
And then, it happened.
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Nestuccas were everywhere -- leaping from the floor, striking him in the chest and shoulders. Sheppard spun, trying desperately to free himself, and to slam the door shut to get McKay clear of the things. But the creatures were on his back, clinging at his neck. Their disgusting tails slapped at his face and claws clenched at things that should never be clenched in that fashion. And McKay was still shouting.
There were worse ways to die – but he couldn't think of any at that moment.
Oh God, this sucked! One of the damn things was trying to force its way down his shirt. Another had grabbed hold of his neck. More were wrapping around his arms and legs.
He didn't want to die… not today, not tomorrow, not any day soon – and sure as hell, he didn't want to die under a wave of lobsters.
His hands kept grabbing, wrenching the creatures loose, slamming them into the walls, punting them across the room, smashing them to the floor – but they kept coming… up his neck, slithering around his head, determined to suffocate him with their clickity-clackity bodies.
Oh God!
And then, suddenly, mysteriously, the nestuccas let go. They just dropped. Sheppard staggered a moment in surprise as the things let loose and scurried like crazy. Finding his bearings, Sheppard made use of the opportunity. He slammed the butt of the P90 around like a broom, sweeping the seemingly stunned creatures hither-and-yon as he cleared a path.
He didn't know why they let go, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He grabbed hold of the open door and…
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Without warning, the walls flew at Teyla, rushing with an ear-shattering KABOOM. The sound hit her like a wave. Surreally, tables and chairs leapt from the floor. Lanterns and heavy mugs heaved through the air. She shrieked at the shock, her voice swallowed up in the tremendous cacophony.
She looked for Ronon, but couldn't find him as the whole room jumped and was torn to pieces before her eyes. She dove for whatever cover she could find as the world exploded around her.
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Sheppard looked up as a glow emanated from the tunnel. For a moment, his eyes widened at the sight, curious. Then the heat came at him as the wall of fire filled the tunnel.
"Crap…" he hissed as, without thinking, he shoved his way past the door, knocking McKay backward in the process, thrusting him further into the room as he slammed the door shut behind him.
Things had definitely gotten worse – much worse.
He jerked back his hand as the secured metal door turned scorching hot in an instant as tunnel outside the door filled with fire. Heat engulfed them as he went down.
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TBC - ooo... something went BOOM