Chapter 2 tonight! Yes, and I believe this deserves lots of reviews (no hints - blatant begging). Thank you in advance.
She hadn't been this terrified going through the gate since those first few times. Fortunately it only lasted a few seconds but still, they were some of the worst seconds she'd ever experienced. She compared it to jumping blind into a black pit, not knowing what was at the bottom.
When they finally walked through the gate, the first thing she noticed was that it was warm – not hot, not cold – simply warm. The next was that there was a soft breeze and the smell of water – salt water. She stopped, the Colonel held tightly at her side, and gazed out in front of her.
Leave it to the Colonel to take them to a tropical paradise. The gate was situated at the edge of a lush, green jungle. Laid out before them was a pristine beach, the clean, white sand twinkling in the sunlight. Beyond it was the ocean – at least she assumed it was an ocean. The water was blue, the gentle waves topped by white. It was a scene taken from paradise.
"Wow Sir, you can really pick them!" She moved slightly so that she could see the quiet man at her side. He wasn't even looking at the scenery but instead had his eyes focused downward toward the platform. She sighed and held him more tightly.
"I guess we'd better go find a place to set up camp. After that I can find out if there's anyone else here. It would be nice to settle down for a little while. I don't know about you, but I've travelled through enough gates for one day."
Of course the Colonel didn't respond. He didn't even move but continued to stare down. She wondered if he was actually looking at anything or was simply in a daze.
"Come on, let's go Colonel." With that he began to move, although his steps were more halting now and she had to struggle harder to hold him up. "Getting tired are you?" she asked, as cheerfully as she could. "Me too. I could also manage a bite to eat."
They worked their way down to where there was a small outcropping of rocks at the edge of the jungle. It would serve to keep them hidden slightly, in case there were less-than-friendly people around. "Here you go Sir", she helped lower him to the ground. "I'm going to set up camp now but first, have some water." She held the canteen out to him but he didn't move, so she wiggled closer and held it to his lips. At that he did drink, again seeming to respond to direct orders or instructions but not able to take the initiative himself.
She quickly grabbed a sleeping bag and laid it out beside him and then gently helped him on top. "Just rest Sir. I'll be right here."
For the next forty-five minutes she set up a small camp. She only had one small tent, which would be rather cozy for the two of them, but decided to put it up in case. Although it was warm right now, and would probably remain pretty temperate through the night, she didn't know what might be lurking around and decided that the minimal protection of a tent would be better than nothing.
Once everything was set up she returned to check on the Colonel, to find him sleeping. He appeared to be resting comfortably and peacefully, but couldn't really tell for sure. Whatever was wrong with him made it difficult to tell.
She realized she was starving and decided to pull out some food. She had enough rations to last a week, but would soon need to make a decision about what they were going to do.
By the time her meal was heated up the Colonel was awake. He lay quietly, his eyes on hers, again not moving. She was so worried about him but didn't know what to do beyond make sure he got food and water and rest. "Hungry Sir? I've just heated up some food – I don't even know what it is, but it tastes like chicken. Would you like some?"
She moved over beside him and helped him sit up so that he was leaning against the large boulders at the edge of their camp. He sat quietly; his arms limp by his sides, his eyes gazing at something in the vicinity of his knees. She wanted to scream, to see if something, anything, would pull him out of this trance-like state. She restrained herself, knowing it would do little good and could actually harm the Colonel.
Sam reached out and touched his arm. "Come on Jack – let's see if you can eat something." She tried to feed him small bites of the MRE but he wouldn't open his mouth. He wouldn't even look at the spoon, his eyes continuing to stare downward. After a few minutes she gave up and ate the meal herself. Wanting to weep with fear and frustration and tiredness, instead she went and got the canteen and offered him a drink.
As before he accepted the water, drinking from the canteen when she held it to his mouth. When she pulled it away he stopped and didn't look at it or respond to her in anyway. If he was still thirsty he didn't show it, seeming to accept that she'd finished giving him the water. She experimented briefly by holding it to his lips again and again he drank.
Regarding him through narrowed eyes she wondered about his reactions. She'd noticed it before – he responded to her – mostly, but wasn't able to initiate anything. Barring a couple of brief looks at her, for the most part he seemed to remain in some kind of stupor. She had no idea how to get through to him, or even whether she could.
She pushed herself to her feet and stretched. "I'm just going into the bushes a ways Sir", she told him, "to the latrine. Just stay here, okay?"
As she walked off she snorted softly. "Right – as if he's going to get up and go exploring!" It was only as she was finished – pulling up her pants and zipping them – that she thought about the Colonel. "Crap!" He'd had something to drink – numerous times. He must have to go. Now how in hell was she going to manage this? The thought of 'handling' things on her own definitely didn't appeal, not when it was the Colonel.
She made her way back to him, not surprised to notice that he hadn't moved from the position in which she'd left him. "Uh Sir?" No reaction. "Do you – uh – have to go to the bathroom?" She watched him carefully, but there was no reaction to that at all. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. She was clearly going to have to take charge. "I think that maybe we should head to the latrine. It's been a while since you've gone." In fact he hadn't gone – not since they'd found him. He must be terribly uncomfortable.
"Come on Sir – I have to get you up. I know, this is going to be uncomfortable for you – but you'll feel better afterward."
She managed to walk him a little ways into the jungle but decided not to go too far. At least they weren't on a hill! She choked slightly on that, but knew her laughter was more from nerves than true humor.
"Okay Colonel – here we are. I don't suppose you can do this on your own?" This time he was staring at a tree rather than at his feet – which she supposed might have been progress, although right now she really wanted him to say something sarcastic and send her away. "No? Okay then, I'm gonna help you – although so help me, if you ever mention this I will deny it!"
She leaned him up against a tree, not sure how steady he was on his feet. She then took a deep breath and reached for his fly. Oh God – she couldn't believe she was doing this. Just pretend you're a nurse Sam, she told herself. There is absolutely no reason to be embarrassed. Right – no reason – but she was anyway. She pulled down the zipper and decided to undo the button as well. Might as well make this as easy as possible.
She paused then, not quite sure what to do. Okay, that was a lie. She knew what to do – she just didn't want to. With a quick prayer she reached out, only to have her hand knocked away.
"What?" she glanced up, startled, to see the Colonel staring at her, still with no expression, but he was looking at her. "You want to do this on your own?" she asked. No answer – not even any reaction – but somehow she knew that that was exactly what the Colonel wanted. "Okay – I'll just give you some privacy. Uh – let me know when you're finished?"
She observed him carefully for a few seconds, but he seemed steady enough. With a sigh she turned and moved a few feet away, behind another tree. "Okay Colonel – I'm not looking."
She stayed perfectly still, wondering if this was going to work. She prayed it was because she so didn't want to have to help him any further than she had. A moment later she could hear the sound of him peeing and breathed a sigh of relief. So he was able to do some tasks on his own. She wondered what it was that made him able to do some things but not others.
"All done Sir?" she called after a few more minutes. When there was no reply – which she had been expecting – she headed back to his location, making lots of noise to let him know she was on the way. By the time she arrived he was in exactly the same position as she'd left him. She glanced down to see that he was put together – his button done up and his pants zipped, and breathed a sigh of relief. "All done? Good. Now let's get you back." She went to reach out to him when his hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. She looked up, startled. "What is it Sir?"
He was again looking at her but this time – oh God – this time she could see some life in his eyes. It wasn't much, and it wasn't the spark of life and mischief that was usually the Colonel - but it was something. She wanted to cry but instead she patted his hand. "You're welcome Sir", she said softly. "You're getting better and soon you're gonna be fine!"
He continued to grasp her arm the entire way back to camp, but when they arrived he let go and practically slid to the ground. He was asleep within moments.
The next day she tried to get him to eat but again he refused. This time she gave him some broth to drink and at least he accepted that. They again took the trip to the jungle and again she left him to take care of business on his own. She didn't unzip his pants this time but he seemed to manage that on his own. She was truly grateful.
She spent a little time helping him wash. Well, if truth were told, she did the washing, while he sat quietly. She wondered what would have happened if she'd simply left him. Would he have done it himself? She decided not to try and find out – not today. And anyway, she had to admit to herself that this she enjoyed. "There you go Sir – all clean. Now why don't you lie back and rest. I'm going to do a little exploring." She waited until he was lying back down and then placed the canteen and his radio by his side. She debated whether or not to leave his gun, but in the end decided not to. He wasn't in any shape to fire it and could end up hurting himself. She just hoped there were no dangers in the vicinity.
She hated leaving him, and looked back every few feet, but knew that she had little choice. They had to find some kind of civilization or move on to another planet. "Where could we go where the NID won't find us?" she muttered to herself as she made her way down the beach. Sadly, she couldn't think of anywhere they had visited – where she might want to return – which the NID wouldn't have on their list.
As she walked she sighed. Maybe they'd luck out and she'd find some nice, friendly natives.
Well, if there were any they were well hidden, she decided after a few hours of hunting. She'd returned to check on the Colonel twice – both times finding him asleep. She'd woken him up and given him a drink and the second time had taken him to what was now their 'latrine'. He was back to staring aimlessly, initiating no eye contact with her. However she knew he had it in him and continued to be hopeful that he'd improve.
By that evening she was tired, but no closer to finding anyone on their tropical paradise planet. She'd observed a few fruits that were probably edible, but other than that – and maybe catching some fish, she didn't know if they'd be able to find enough food to survive. She also couldn't claim to be good at fishing, at least not fishing in the ocean, and they didn't have any equipment. "Sir – I certainly wish you were better", she'd muttered at one point, "because I'm not quite sure what to do. If we don't find anything in the next couple of days, I think we'll have to try another planet."
She was getting very tired of talking to herself, at least that's what it felt like. It was eerie speaking to someone who didn't respond at all. It was almost as if he wasn't there. She began to feel guilty for the fact that they hadn't found the Colonel sooner. If they had, maybe he wouldn't be in the state he was in. "Damn it!" she'd whispered. "Why did this have to happen Jack? Why the hell did you agree to go to Earth? You should have left with Thor and then you wouldn't be – like this!" She impatiently rubbed the tears from her cheeks, knowing this was accomplishing nothing, but deciding to allow a few moments of self-pity. Tomorrow she'd be back to being the tough Air Force officer – tonight she was a sad, lonely and frightened woman.
"Good morning Sir!" she said cheerily. She was pleased when she actually got a few blinks in response to her greeting. "Been hangin' around Thor I see", she teased him. "I just wished I was as good at 'blink-reading' as you are. So, I hope you're hungry this morning because you are going to eat! No more of this picky behavior Sir. You need to keep up your strength because I am not going to carry you. I know – you'd like that, wouldn't you? But nope – you're going to eat a wonderful -" she pulled out one of her MRE's and looked at it "a wonderful meal of scrambled eggs and hash browns. Mmm – doesn't that sound yummy?"
She realized, ten minutes later, that she was living a well-known conundrum: the irresistible force had just run up against the immovable object. She was still waiting to see which one would win.
"You have to eat Sir", she said patiently, for about the twentieth time. "I will sit here until you eat this, even if we have to stay like this for the next ten years." When the Colonel didn't reply – surprise, surprise, she wanted to throw the eggs at him, but restrained herself. Her arm, the one holding the spoon, eventually got tired so she switched arms. "Did I ever tell you Colonel, that Jacob Carter was known to be one of the most stubborn General's the Air Force ever had? Yes, it's true. And you know what else? I am definitely his daughter. I once sat at the dinner table for six hours, refusing to eat my cauliflower. Eventually my parents gave in. So, we're in this for the long haul." She moved the spoon closer to his mouth, just touching it with the edge. "Come on Sir – it's just scrambled eggs!"
He completely ignored her – and the spoon, so she continued to sit, every few minutes switching the spoon to the other hand. After about forty minutes she'd decided she needed to do something to keep herself amused, and so started to hum.
She hummed all of the TV show theme songs she could think of and then moved on to children's songs. Once that was done she switched to Christmas music and then went back to TV themes. She was heartily sick of all of them, but singing – or humming – was better than dumping a tray of scrambled eggs and hash over the Colonel's – "Whoa!"
She almost did spill the eggs when the Colonel suddenly – and almost violently – took the bite of cold and congealed eggs that had been sitting on the spoon for an hour and a half. She watched as he chewed it and swallowed. She was so surprised she just stared, but after a moment made a small sound and scooped up another spoonful.
The Colonel managed to eat almost the entire MRE and Sam was pretty sure he'd hated the whole thing, even though his expression hadn't changed. She knew that if – no when, the Colonel was better she'd get serious payback for this one.
But right now, she didn't care! She wanted to dance – to sing. The Colonel had eaten finally. She looked at him and smiled. "That's great Sir – thank you!" She picked up the almost empty tray and stood up to place it in the garbage, humming as she went. She stopped suddenly when she heard what sounded like a groan. She glanced at Jack, to see him with an expression – an actual expression on his face. It was faint, but it was t here. "Sir", she breathed, watching him closely. He almost looked like he was in pain.
"What's wrong Sir?" she asked. His face evened out and the expression was gone, leaving her wondering what that was about, or whether she'd imagined it. She watched him for a few more seconds and then stood, this time quietly. Not looking at him, she missed the relief in his eyes.
The next morning started out much the same as the previous one. The Colonel was the same but she felt a little bit better, having seen glimpses of reaction from him. She convinced herself that it was just a matter of time before he was on the road to recovery.
Once the morning routine was taken care of, she sat beside the Colonel. "I'm going to go exploring again Sir. I'm heading west this time. I've left some food and drink for you as well as the radio. I'll call in regularly. Take it easy Colonel." She reached out and gave him a light touch on his shoulder and then stood quickly and was gone.
She'd been gone for just about an hour when she first spotted signs of life. A number of trees had been cut, obviously with a tool, and there were footprints all around. They looked human, which made her give a sigh of relief. She moved around the site slowly and carefully to see if there was anything else she could discover.
The only thing she found was a trail leading away from the trees and deeper into the jungle. She stopped and debated whether or not she should follow or whether to return to the Colonel. She hated leaving him alone, but knew it was important to find whoever lived here. After a moment she pulled out her radio. "Colonel", she said, "I've found some footprints, about an hour due west of camp. I'm going to follow them for a while. I hope everything is okay." She went to put her radio back in her vest when she heard a 'click' and then a soft hissing noise. The Colonel must have hit the talk button, although he wasn't saying anything. She wondered briefly if he had done it accidentally. "Sir?"
Suddenly she heard shouting and the sounds of branches cracking and leaves rustling. "Sir!" She turned around and began running back to camp, cursing at herself for having left the Colonel all alone.
She heard more noise – more shouting, and suddenly the radio went dead.
She ran faster than she ever had in her life.