Sam paused for a breath and shifted her grip on the stretcher, the mist was finally starting to dissipate making it easier for too see where they were heading. They'd been walking in silence for the past hour, Daniel pacing slowly in front of her shoulders hunched forward. They were nearing the edge of the forest they'd been trekking through, and Sam hoped the clearing would shed some light on their position, or at least offer the chance to try and make contact with any teams who may have come to the planet in aid of rescue.
Pushing the tired ache threatening to turn into severe pain from her arms and back, she continued on head down, with a stubborn stamina. Her head shot up suddenly as she noticed Daniel move direction and feared fatigue had finally caught up with him and he had stumbled. Instead Daniel, having caught sight of something up ahead, had shifted position to take cover and retreat back to her position.
Sam followed his movements and dragged the stretcher from the main path, gently laying it by the side of large plants, which lined the route. Cautiously she made her way forward to meet with Daniel.
"What is it?" she asked as she came to a halt by Daniel's side.
"Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse" murmured Daniel, settling on his haunches and leaning on a thick tree trunk for support "Prior"
Sam processed the word slowly, as if he'd spoken it by accident. She sat back, straightening her aching back and stared ahead of her, expletives running through her head. Daniel merely stared at her, too tired to consider any of their options or offer any solution. Sam looked at him squarely before glancing back to where she'd left Cameron.
"Come on, we have to get off this path" she ordered quietly to Daniel, who merely nodded softly.
Retreating back to Cameron, Sam scanned the path before looking about the undergrowth. Picking up the edge of the stretcher with a new resolve, she shifted direction and dragged it through the plants further into the jungle of plants and bushes growing up about them. Daniel followed slowly, and Sam didn't miss the look of pain starting to etch his features. The arm injury and lack of painkillers was becoming an obvious problem. After dragging Cameron well out of the way of the path, she lay the stretcher down and helped Daniel settle down by it. The fact that Cameron hadn't awoke for over two hours was also worrying her. He hadn't been completely lucid before but he'd managed to respond somewhat to her until he'd passed out completely. She hoped it was more from pain and tiredness than internal injuries. Checking him quickly once more, she rearranged herself, clipping her gun to her vest and sliding a spare magazine into a pocket.
Settling by Daniel, she lay a hand over his forehead, and he gave her a wan smile. She took the radio from his vest pocket and lay it in his hand.
"I'm going to scan the area, see where he's headed and see if I can pinpoint where we are. Hopefully the radio will work through this dense plantation. Anything happens, any change with Cameron or you, radio me ok..."
"Sam..." started Daniel, unsure that she should be going alone
Sam ignored him and slipped the zat from her hip holster lying it by his side.
"Not sure how much good this will do," said Sam, looking over at Cameron once more before making a move.
Daniel managed to muster up enough strength to catch hold of her arm before she moved. Pausing she lay a hand over his and squeezed it gently.
"I won't be long, stay here and stay hidden"
With that she pulled away and started making a slow approach towards the tree line, this time avoiding the path and keeping in the undergrowth. Scouting an area, which gave enough coverage to stay hidden without deterring her view, she settled herself amidst the large overflowing leaves a plant. The Prior was walking parallel to her, in the opposite direction they had come from. The forest ended and opened up into a large expanse of open fields, not offering any coverage. The prior walked slowly, staff swinging back and forth as they paced forward. Sam took out her field glasses and tilted them towards him to get a better view. He chanted as he walked and she wondered why a Prior would bother staying on an uninhabited planet. Taking her attention from the prior for a moment, she scanned the surrounding views. Following the direction the prior was headed, the open space started to rise onto rockier ground, and Sam wondered if the cliffs it rolled into were the ones the temple had been built at the base of.
Lowering her field glasses she pondered on the thought and calculated in her mind, the direction they'd come from. It would make sense to go the way that the prior had come, he'd have had to come through from the Stargate. However he could have been exploring some other area first before heading here. Sam slowly slid herself back into the cover of the bush and forced her mind to go over the possibilities. From what she'd been able to summarise in her head, they'd ended up at the base of the crevice. And had to travel around the perimeter and upwards into the forest which lay behind the cliffs. Fatigue and hunger were starting to take their toll on her as her mind wandered over how long they'd been walking, and if they'd followed the correct direction. Compasses couldn't go wrong, but her judgement may have been.
She punched a fist into the ground and inwardly berated herself. She was trained for this; she was trained to endure worse than this. This should be a breeze, she knew what she was doing, and she had people relying on her to get them all home safely. Shaking her head and pushing all negative what if? Questions from her mind. Emerging once more slightly from the large leaves which sheltered her, she scanned the terrain once more, the prior continued on his way and she turned her attention to the direction he'd come from.
There was a chance that they could stay in the dense cover of the forest and make their way back to the Stargate that way. The forest had lined their way as they'd made their way to the temple, albeit as a picturesque edging to their trek. After walking for twenty minutes when they had arrived through the trees they'd been free of them. Going back to the Stargate via through the forest meant following the direction of the tree line, and that curved outwardly, probably adding more hours to their already long drawn out return. Getting the stretcher through the forest, off the path would be no mean feat. Sam doubted they'd reach even half the way before it got too dark for them to continue.
They had little choice, she prayed once more to whoever listened to her prayers, that the prior would stay away from them and either continue on his way and or get off the damned planet. She rested the sights of the binoculars on the prior as he headed up the steady incline towards the cliff faces.
"You start chanting and creating personal expanding shields around this planet for your buddies to build a super highway through the universe" muttered Sam to the distant figure "I swear I'll come back one way or another and beat your damned ass"
Sighing Sam sat back and rearranged herself a moment, crouching amidst the bush. Yanking her radio from the pocket on her vest and taking a breath, she depressed the button.
"This is Colonel Carter, to the SGC, do you read"
'Because the chances of them dialling the gate and receiving the signal are so high' she mused to herself, she knew radioing for any help, which may have landed on the planet, was a long shot, but it was a shot.
"This is Colonel Carter to any SGC teams…does anyone copy"
'If Landry had seen the conditions, he wouldn't have sent any teams in for the time being' Sam thought to herself 'And with prior activity in the area'
Sam frowned and turned from the clearing, heading back the way she came, lifting the radio to her mouth once more.
"Daniel"
"Yeah" came back the crackled reply after a pause
"I'm heading back to your position, you guys ok?"
"Yeah" replied Daniel, "I think Cameron may be coming too"
"Acknowledged, be with you in five"