Chapter 6
A/N: If any of my medical stuff is accurate, it is purely by accident.
A/N2: This came out a little talky. McKay and Beckett just wouldn't shut up this time. So, yes, this chapter ran a little longer than the others.
Beta: J.A.B.
Spoilers: The Hot Zone, Runner, Rising, maybe more
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"Oh, my god," whimpered McKay.
The blue blobs were now close enough for Rodney McKay to see Beckett's face through the windowed hood of his blue containment suit.
"What?" slurred Sheppard from the ground, not understanding the problem. Beckett and his team had found them and that was good enough for him.
McKay didn't answer, only stared in morbid fascination at the horrifying things from his nightmares—nightmares that contained nanoviruses, screaming dead colleagues and dancing blue containment suits.
"Hello, Rodney," greeted the softly accented voice of Dr. Carson Beckett. His voice seemed cheerful, but to Rodney's ears, it sounded forced. "With all these blasted roots we thought we'd never find you."
"The suits . . . y-you're wearing the suits," stuttered Rodney.
Carson awkwardly stooped down to look at the semi-aware Colonel Sheppard. "Colonel? Can you hear me?"
Sheppard forced his tired eyes open wide and gave a weak grin. "Blue's a good . . . color for you, Doc. I think . . . I might be a little . . . blue myself."
Beckett leaned in closer, mentally cursing the lowered visibility through the hood of his suit. He noticed the blue tinge to Sheppard's lips and his pale skin. "Aye, that you are, Colonel. We'll have you fellows back to town for some nice warm clothing and maybe some nice warm broth."
"You let me have coffee instead . . . and I might propose to you, Doc."
Carson chuckled and then motioned his people forward with the first litter and the emergency packs that carried the supplies. "It wouldn't be the first proposal I've received from a happy patient, Colonel."
Beckett purposely left himself wide open for a mocking remark from Rodney, but there was nothing. Carson shifted to see that Rodney was still sitting on the ground with his mouth and eyes wide open on his reddened face.
The first litter stopped next to Sheppard and Carson helped the weak man up from the ground and held on to him until John collapsed onto the canvas with a groan. A blanket was flicked out over John and, with shaking fists, he tried to clutch it up under his chin.
The next litter was motioned forward and Carson again turned to Rodney. "Now you, Rodney. Up you go now," he said calmly with his gloved hand on the scientist's shoulder.
McKay would have pushed the helping hand away if his burnt hands didn't hurt so much. His eyes refocused on the doctor as his brain chugged into thought. "Carson! You're wearing the contamination suits!"
"I'll have to tell Dr. Zelenka he was wrong about you being slow on the up-take, Rodney. Now, here you go."
As McKay and Beckett did a small dance, with McKay trying to glare at Carson and Carson trying to get Rodney on the litter, Sheppard's ride was moving away. The Colonel was grunting with each swinging motion of the litter as his bruises and strains complained.
Finally tired of the dance, Rodney forced his stiff and painful left hand to grab Beckett's suit. "Carson, what is it?"
"It's just a precaution, Rodney. Here we go now. We'll be back to town soon." Carson kept his eyes on the litter.
Rodney suddenly gave up his handhold and fell back onto the canvas, causing the two men holding it to stagger.
"Oh . . . my . . . god. We're going to die. You don't need to sugarcoat it for me, Carson. I can take it."
"Rodney—"
The thought of impending death caused a sudden infusion of adrenaline to hit McKay's system, chasing away his exhaustion and putting him in a state of giddy worry.
McKay's gaze turned inward in dismay. "Makes sense in a twisted way . . . we survive the Wraith, the rain, the cold and the mud to horribly die of some alien disease. I'm so young . . . too young . . . I can't go like this. It should be while I'm saving a planet full of people, and them having to say nice things about me at my funeral—"
"Really, Rodney—"
"Maybe Stargate Command can tell everyone I died a hero, you know, as a sign of respect for my great and many contributions here in the Pegasus." McKay paused for a moment. "Carter might even cry over me—she always regretted missing her chance with me."
"Rodney!"
The babbling man turned his head sharply against the litter canvas to look at Beckett. "What, can't you see I'm dying here?"
Carson heaved a sigh. "This is why I don't tell you things having to do with medical conditions. Or let you borrow my medical books. Your hypochondria just had its merry little way with you just now, didn't it? You're not dying, Rodney," said the doctor in a weary voice.
At least, Beckett hoped Rodney wasn't dying.
McKay narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You're wearing the suit, Carson. I've seen you in one before and—oh, guess what—people were keeling over left and right at the time."
"Precaution," insisted Beckett stubbornly as he reached out to steady McKay as they lifted him over a tangle of roots.
"Really?" The desperation in that one word was almost heart breaking. "You're not just trying to break it to me gently?"
Carson shifted his shoulders from side to side, uncomfortable with Rodney's longing look. "Well, it's most likely just a precaution."
"Carson!"
Beckett's lips twitched under his hood. "I'm sure you and the Colonel will be fine. I will need to look you over—take a few samples and do a few tests. You'll most likely have a perfectly lovely stay in the town's charming medical facility. Just like a vacation."
Rodney tried to frown without moving his facial muscles. "In town? Wouldn't it be better to go back to—wait a minute! You lying . . . you think we're infected with something and that we'll trigger a lock down in Atlantis if we go back!"
Carson kept walking, trying for nonchalance, but wasn't sure he was carrying it off in the bulky suit that made him look like an overgrown blueberry. "Yes, a nice, warm bed and all the warm blankets you need. Won't that be grand, Rodney?" chirped Beckett, completely ignoring Rodney's hot glare.
Rodney opened his mouth to reply with a sharp and possibly witty comment, but subsided and contented himself with muttering a few choice words under his breath.
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Teyla had joined Ronon in his guard duty in front of the town's medical facility after Beckett's personnel no longer needed her help. They had both watched Beckett and four of his team leave to search for the Colonel and McKay and saw the sullen expressions of the surrounding crowd.
Teyla knew that Dr. Beckett planned to care for the survivors of the town after seeing to Sheppard and McKay, but she didn't know if it would be safe after what she was witnessing right now.
Even after Beckett had left, the mob had continued to grow as more frightened townspeople emerged into the daylight to see what and who had survived the Wraith culling.
Teyla recognized a few people who had been near Ronon and herself as the culling took place. Some had even handled the town's primitive weapons and helped defend the caves from the Wraith.
Their earlier valor dissolved the moment they looked upon the state of their town and their people.
The buildings were still eerily standing unscathed as if nothing had happened. The only structural damages to the town proper were a few knocked down fences and posts.
The only evidence of the actual culling were the Wraith and human bodies from the fierce ground battles that took place as people tried to protect themselves and their families when they were cut off from help.
As the enormity of the loss penetrated the shock of the survivors, despair and anger swept through the mob like lightning. Each member fed off the others in a vicious circle that pushed the emotions higher and higher.
"Dangerous," grunted Ronon as he grinned fiercely at a man who broke from the mob and came too close to the medical building. Ronon's blaster was drawn and pointed at the man's groin.
The man decided to retreat to the safety of the crowd.
"I agree. I do not believe the Colonel and Dr. McKay will be safe here for long," responded Teyla as she tilted her head to keep an eye on what looked to be the two ringleaders of the mob.
One of them appeared to be the town's own Director.
Usually the calm center of the team, Teyla tried not to allow that part of herself fall away when a disheveled woman stepped forward with an old knife in her hand.
"You people! You were to be our saviors! Why did you allow my children to be taken? Did we not offer enough to be considered friends—to have the protection of your weapons?"
Teyla understood the woman's anger and guilt at surviving when those closest to her had been taken by the Wraith. She was sure that Ronon also understood after losing almost his whole civilization to them, but he would be less likely to be considerate of the townswoman's raw feelings.
Teyla stepped slightly forward to catch the woman's glare so that her teammate would be less likely to aim his blaster at the new threat. "Of course you are our friends. We helped as many as we could at the caves."
"Helped?" The woman's laugh had an edge of brittle hysteria. "Helped? Look around you. Over half of us are gone."
She stumbled back to the mob to clutch at an older man's shirt. "Here! Jaken's wife and mother!" She staggered from him to another man, not noticing when her flailing knife cut the top of his shoulder. The man didn't seem to notice it either. "And Korl's father and four brothers! All gone!"
Ronon, trusting Teyla to handle the frenzied woman, shifted to watch the mob as a few people began to bob their heads in agreement. At the same time, others were beginning to gain enough courage to approach the medical building and its two foreign guards.
"I too have felt the loss of loved ones due to the Wraith," said Teyla in a commanding voice. "My village barely escaped destruction. My people, and Colonel Sheppard's people, can help you rebuild."
The woman just laughed again. A high and keening sound that grated on everyone's nerves making the mob even more edgy.
"They better get here soon," muttered Ronon as he pulled his battle sword to back up his energy blaster.
Teyla only nodded as she hefted her P-90.
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The litters were now almost side-by-side as the muddy Sodden Lands fell behind the small medical team.
Beckett called a halt long enough to pile more blankets from the emergency packs onto his two charges now that there were no roots or underbrush to snag them off.
Rodney rolled his eyes as he tried to keep the rough material from rubbing against his hands and face.
Sheppard, on the other hand, just burrowed deeper into his blankets.
"Is he okay, Carson?"
Beckett turned from the Colonel at the concerned tone in Rodney's voice. It wasn't often that Rodney made a friend, but when he did, he latched on tight. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud most of the time.
"He's just cold, beat up and tired right now, Rodney. Once we get him back and properly looked after, he'll be fine."
Rodney waited until the litters were moving again. "What about his face?"
"Hmmm?"
"His face," repeated McKay. "The Wraith slashed him with his fingernails. That can't have been hygienic."
Dr. Beckett moved closer to Rodney and briefly touched his covered leg in reassurance. "Aye, I'm sure it wasn't, but we'll take care of it. Now, why don't you just rest until we get there? You've had a hard time of it. You both have."
"Sure-sure," mumbled McKay as he turned his head to see Sheppard's spiky hair peeking out of the bundle of blankets.
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The town's Director met Beckett's team at the edge of the settlement, wringing his hands in anxiety. "Doctor, I'm afraid that there has been an unforeseen development."
Beckett stopped the litters and frowned at the fretful man. "What has happened?"
"My people . . . they are angry and frightened. They didn't mean to—"
At the sudden stop in the words, Carson got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What is it, man?" he demanded, his accent growing stronger with his fear for his personnel, Ronon and Teyla.
"They-they have gathered near the medical building. Some are insisting that you will refuse them medical treatment just as Colonel Sheppard refused to stop the Wraith culling. They tried to raid your supplies and—"
"Good God, I'd never refuse to treat anyone. Where in the world did they get such a daft idea?"
There was more hand wringing from the Director.
Carson sighed deeply and shook his head. "You told them that and you should bloody well know better. You know I was planning to see the injured when I returned from looking for our people in the swamp. I've also seen the reports on the treaty talks and I know we've offered nothing but our total support to your people."
"But, there was no support! Where was the flying machine? Where were the weapons? I—my people don't understand!" cried the man, his face turning red.
Carson turned away slightly, ignoring the distraught man. Since they were so close to their objective, he activated his radio and attempted to contact Teyla and Ronon.
All he heard in reply was static.
"What ever you've done, you best pray that they are not dead," said Beckett harshly as he moved to Colonel Sheppard's side.
Carson hated to do this to the ailing man, but Beckett was no soldier and he needed some instructions about what he should do next.
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Ronon didn't have time to answer his radio as it clicked.
Teyla's radio was lying on the ground—smashed and bloody—from a rock that caught her on the side of her head. She was now bleeding, the blood streaking her forehead and her cheek.
Ronon rumbled in his chest and raised the corner of his lip. The cowards hiding in the writhing mass of the mob threw more rocks. If Ronon knew which ones were doing it, they would be dead right now.
Several men already lay at Ronon's feet—some were unconscious and a few more were holding gaping bloody wounds.
The ex-Runner didn't hold back when his teammates were threatened. It was almost a relief that he could use his skills and his fury for something.
"Teyla," he called as he saw a flash of blue from the corner of his eye.
Teyla didn't turn at his call. She kept her eyes on the turbulent people. "Go and help our people. I will hold back the mob as long as I can," she said over her shoulder. She reached up, smeared her blood from her eyes, and adjusted her aim.
For once, Ronon didn't argue, he just turned and ran to Beckett and his charges.
When he stopped next to them, he saw Sheppard sliding from his litter and just about falling to the ground as his legs gave way. As his nest of warm blankets fell away, one of Beckett's people grabbed John's filthy jacket to keep him upright.
McKay was already on his feet, swaying slightly as he tried to gather himself for what lay in the town.
Sheppard's eyes had a distant look and his face was pale, but he nodded his head at the Satedan and feebly pulled his borrowed gun from his leg holster.
"Run and don't stop for anything," was the only advice Ronon had for them.
Beckett's people looked anxious, but Carson just pulled his sidearm and nodded for Ronon to lead the way.
They started off in a staggering run, with McKay and Sheppard each held upright by strong hands. For the most part, McKay and Sheppard's legs wouldn't work, and they each ended up being dragged along.
For those in the big blue suits, it was like running a strange sack race. Every step made the extra bulk puff with air and attempt to wrap around their legs.
They hit the edge of the mob with Ronon howling a garbled battle cry that brought to mind bloody battlefields and old soldiers. He swung his sword in wide arcs to keep the closest threats away. His blaster was held ready to shoot anyone that pointed anything that looked like a weapon at them.
Teyla met them halfway as she snapped off single shots at the ground in front of the wild mob to discourage them from a full out attack.
"The nurses are keeping the door open for you," she said as she backpedaled to keep her eyes on her targets.
Carson looked up to see his two nurses in their blue contamination suits at the medical facility's entrance; one was holding a 9 mil and the other was gripping the edge of the door, ready to slam it shut when they reached the safety of the building.
They had almost made it when the woman with the knife, from the first incident, jumped forward and tried to drag Sheppard from the safety of their group.
"You! Where were you? Where were your weapons when my children were taken!" screamed the wild woman as she tried to pull John closer and push him away at the same time to get her blade into his flesh.
Against Ronon's order, Beckett's people stopped and tried to drag Sheppard back. John hissed as his arms began to complain at the tug of war between the two factions. At the same time, he was trying to pierce his lethargy long enough to bring up his gun.
John had barely moved when there was a loud thunk and the crazed woman flew backward, her hair flying.
With the pull gone, Sheppard and the two medical men holding on to him collapsed onto the ground with grunts.
Ronon was snarling at the woman from his protective position by Sheppard, his battle sword pointed at her head. "Mine is bigger."
The woman dropped her knife and fled, taking some of the mob with her.
When the mob flowed back from the team, Ronon jerked Sheppard up from the ground, not trusting Beckett's people to keep his team leader safe enough for the rest of the trip.
The two men that had been helping Sheppard pushed themselves awkwardly to their feet, and the ragged group staggered along with the howling mob snapping at their heels.
When they finally reached the building, they all but flung themselves into the opening and landed hard on the floor.
After the door was slammed shut by the nurse, all that could be heard was the harsh breathing of the Atlantis personnel as they lay slumped together.
Sheppard rolled away from the group onto his side and hugged himself tightly. "Doc . . . I could really . . . use that coffee now."
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Sheppard didn't get his coffee right away. Instead, he and Rodney were whisked into the facility's rudimentary showers, and scrubbed to within an inch of their lives.
"Ow! Carson, what—that hurts! Stop that! Carson!" shouted McKay as one of the blue suited nurses used a rough washcloth to scrub his naked back as he held his burned hands above the water spray.
"Settle down, Rodney. We have to make sure you're clean."
McKay grunted again as his nurse tried to scrub the hair from his head.
Sheppard was not as vocal he stood naked as a jaybird as his nurse in blue worked on washing the blood and mud off his neck and arms, before moving on. He was groggily tilted against the side of the shower, his eyes almost completely closed from the soothing warmth of the water.
"Clean?" squawked McKay as another tender place was scrubbed. "I don't think I've ever been this clean. What is going on?"
Carson, also still in his contamination suit, was standing just outside the showers with clean towels and sets of warm clothing. "I had a wee talk with the Director when I first arrived and found out that the swamps have been used as a dumping ground for years."
The nurse turned McKay around and he tried to protect what was left of his modesty. "Dumping ground!" he squawked.
Over the pounding water, no one heard Sheppard snort faintly at McKay's yell.
"Aye, I tried to get a list of what's out there, but they don't seem to know how to keep records. So, we're going with the basics for now. Get you clean, get you warm, put you on oxygen, take care of your injuries and then do a few tests."
The two exhausted men were wrestled from the showers and dried.
"Hey, watch it! Do I know you? I don't think so," said McKay snottily as his nurse stepped a little too close. "What were they dumping? Please tell me they weren't stupid enough to dump anything radioactive."
Carson shook his head. "No, thank goodness! But, from what I can gather, it's a noxious brew out there very similar to what would be in landfills and sewers back on Earth."
The doctor ignored the gagging sounds coming from Rodney.
"It's also probably how you got these burns. I believe someone mentioned a few explosions in the swamp while you were gone missing?"
Rodney stopped gagging and his eyes lit up. "Methane. That's the reason for the oxygen?"
"Aye, and you were lucky you didn't blow your bloody head off."
McKay glared at him. "Well, I didn't have many options out there! It seemed like the thing to do when I tried to shoot that Wraith."
This time they did hear Sheppard snickering which ended in a coughing fit.
"Oh, shut up! I didn't see you coming up with any brilliant plans out there, Colonel," groused Rodney as the nurse helped him pull on a set of blue sweats.
If John had been able to process everything that was happening, he would have mocked McKay's plan. Now, he was just lucky to be standing upright as his nurse pushed and pulled him into a set of black sweats.
Both men were hustled off to warm beds, oxygen and warm liquids.
Carson then called for Teyla.
"Doctor, I am fine. There is just a small cut on my forehead," protested the Athosian leader as she stood by the medical facility's door.
Beckett came from behind the rigged curtain. "That may be, but you were also in that swamp, and also exposed. You'll need to wash and change your clothes before we get samples from you as well."
The woman sighed and unclipped her P-90. "Not a word," she warned Ronon as the warrior grinned widely.
"Not so fast," said Carson to the grinning man. "You came into close contact with the Colonel during the run. You'll have to scrub down as well."
Teyla actually laughed as she moved to use the showers first.
Beckett smiled briefly until he remembered that they were supposed to contact Atlantis and advise them when the Colonel and McKay were recovered. He stepped to one of the small windows to see that the mob still milled outside with some members now carrying weapons and broken fence posts.
It didn't look too likely that they would be able to reach the gate to get a message to Weir without taking some kind of physical damage in the process.
Beckett only hoped that Elizabeth got worried enough to open the stargate to contact them first, before it was too late.
He was also agonized over not being able to help the town's survivors with their injured. The healer in him wanted to fling the door open and let them all in, but even he could tell that the mob's hysteria had taken on a deadly edge.
Carson promised himself, after the Colonel and McKay were seen to; he would try to get some supplies to the desperate people that surrounded the building.
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Later, after Sheppard and Rodney's injuries had been cared for and they were warmed up with blankets and liquids, they were both getting oxygen and slightly drowsing.
Teyla was once again standing guard, but this time she was in a set of bright pink sweats with her hair still slightly damp from her shower. The small white bandage that covered her cut from the thrown rock was standing out against her darker skin tone.
Beckett had tried to convince her to take one of the empty beds and use the oxygen, but she refused. Beckett's people were battle ready, but they were not experienced enough to be on guard without someone watching over them.
Especially since their movements and vision were hampered by the bulky blue suits.
Ronon rumbled something to one of the medical men from nearby, and Teyla allowed herself to smirk at the look of the Satedan warrior.
She sneaked another look at Ronon's periwinkle sweat pants and his bare chest.
After his shower, the man had been so scandalized by the color of the offered pants that he had refused to wear the sweatshirt, stubbornly saying he preferred a bare chest to humiliation.
Ronon had then rearmed himself, grabbed his radio and stalked off to stare moodily out of the windows.
He was still leaning against the wall next to one of the small windows, keeping one eye on the outside and one eye on Beckett's people as they moved uneasily from place to place with their guns.
They were all on edge after Beckett had tried to send out supplies to the people. The offer had been greeted with weapons' fire and shouts. The supplies had been quickly dropped outside and the facility door slammed shut again.
The people had quickly dismantled the pile and the supplies carried off.
It didn't take long for the mob to start screaming for more.
And there was precious little left.
Carson shook his head sadly and tried to tune out the screams as he focused on the few tests he could run with the equipment he brought from Atlantis.
He wasn't just worried about the possible chemical and gas exposure—he was also concerned with the nasty little microorganisms that may have worked their way down into the cuts and burns of his patients.
And the possibility that Sheppard and McKay could have infected Teyla and Ronon in the rush to get away from the crowd.
Carson just hoped he had enough time to finish his tests before the angry townspeople tried to storm the building.
The doctor was leaning in to read the results of his first two tests when the shattering of glass surprised him. Carson turned to see several men crawling through a broken window, ignoring the cuts from the jagged glass.
Ronon was there with his sword before the men advanced too far, but another window shattered on the other side of the room.
More people came, some stopping to grab at the extra blankets and remaining supplies from Atlantis while others went straight for the attack.
Teyla brought up with her P-90. "Colonel! Dr. McKay!" she called in warning as she fired a burst in the close confines of the building.
Carson yelled for his nurses to get the waking patients to the relative safety of the floor.
McKay was reluctant to be protected by a nurse, but with his hands bandaged, he wouldn't be much help. He allowed himself to be pushed against the wall as the bed was tipped over as a barrier in front of them.
Sheppard, on the other hand, was awake enough to be demanding a gun from his nurse. She used the extra weight of her suit and his weakness to fight him to the floor so she could also tip over his bed for protection.
The men on the medical team were trying to get off shots in the close quarters without hitting their own people, but the situation was rapidly becoming a free for all fight to the death.
Beckett had grabbed his own gun and braced himself to take the life from some of these desperate people.
He was lining up for his first shot when he felt a weight on his back and a sharp pain across his right shoulder.
Carson was about to call out to Teyla when he heard a strangled scream and then everything went dark . . .
TBC