Teyla ran, twisting and turning, well aware she was running away from the Stargate. She heard a faint whine in the air and groaned to herself; a wraith dart. Small, but all too deadly. At least the wraith on foot might back up. They didn't. Teyla realised that the dart couldn't pin point her exact position in the jungle, thank goodness.
Now she had to lose the wraith following her.
Teyla twisted around a tree and behind a bush. The wraith continued running right past her. She breathed a sigh of relief.
All she had to do now was find Ronon and Sheppard and then McKay. Then McKay would fix the DHD and they would all do back to Atlantis.
Ronon took Sheppard's scanner out of his vest. It was reading one wraith or human sized life sign headed towards his clearing. Ronon smiled; had to be Teyla or McKay, wraith rarely travelled alone. Ronon ran to the edge of the clearing to greet them and was grabbed by the throat by a wraith. Ronon yelled out.
The wraith drew back its other hand, preparing to feed off him…
and was shot down by P90 fire.
Ronon looked behind him. There was Sheppard, awake and P90 still raised. He lifted an eyebrow.
"You're welcome," he grunted.
Ronon grinned. "Thanks."
"No problem. By the way, why the hell did you hit me?" asked Sheppard, sitting up and groaning.
"Err… sorry about that, I thought you were a wraith," admitted Ronon.
"Oh, right," replied Sheppard and then frowned. "But wasn't Teyla with you?"
Yes, she was, I didn't think about that, I was acting on instinct," Ronon told him.
"Where is Teyla?" Sheppard wanted to know, looking around.
"We met some wraith and were separated," answered Ronon.
"I think they're purposely separating us," muttered Shepard, not looking happy.
"Why would they bother separating two people?" questioned Ronon.
"Because if McKay had been alone at the Stargate he would be dead, I shot the wraith that was going over to kill him," Sheppard reminded Ronon.
Ronon realised Sheppard had a point.
"And just then," he mused. "If you hadn't woken up when you did, that wraith would've killed me."
"Yep," agreed Sheppard knowing Ronon had gotten his point.
They both heard a faint whine in the air. A wraith dart. They were in a clearing.
"Sheppard we need to get outta here, d'you think you can walk?" Ronon wanted to know.
"You hit my head, not leg, Ronon," replied Sheppard, groaning as he got to his feet. "Where is it?"
"I think it's circling us," grunted Ronon. "Lets go that way." Ronon didn't realise he was pointing away from the Stargate.
"Hang on a sec," groaned Sheppard, he was blinking rapidly and leaning against a tree.
"You okay?" asked Ronon impatiently.
"Yeah," answered Sheppard standing up right again.
They ran into the cover of the jungle and stayed in a particularly dense bit of it.
"Any news on McKay?" Sheppard inquired.
"Yep, he radioed us and that was how the wraith found us," Ronon informed him.
"Oh. Did he mention his position?"
"Nope. We didn't speak to him, he doesn't even know that we heard him. We turned off our radios, although it was already too late to prevent the wraith from noticing us."
"Right. Have you tried to radio him since then?" persisted Sheppard.
"Nope. Would alert the wraith to where we are," grunted Ronon.
"Judging by the dart, they already know," pointed out Sheppard, the dart was still hanging around.
Ronon just shrugged. Sheppard sighed and looked down at his scanner for possible wraith.
"Oh, crap!" he exclaimed, glaring at the large group of wraith sized life forms headed straight for them and just about to walk into the clearing they'd just left because of the dart.
"What is it?" questioned Ronon.
"Wraith, headed this way, fast. We need to move."
Ronon looked far from happy.
"If I had enough weaponry I would wipe out every stinking wraith that ever existed!" he announced.
"Yeah, well, you don't," put in Sheppard, earning a particularly nasty glare for his trouble. He ignored it. "We need to get \away from here, now."
Ronon replied by raising his gun and walking back towards the clearing.
"Not that way! That's the way the wraith are, and they're closing in fast!" exclaimed Sheppard.
Ronon turned to run the other way, but it was too late, the wraith had seen him. Sheppard fired at the first few, aware that he only had two share clips and the one he was using was rapidly nearing empty. Ronon reached him without being stunned.
"Keep moving! I'll cover you, and then you cover me, we'll move forward like that," Sheppard ordered. His vision was clouding over again and his head was aching, he shook his head to clear it and surprisingly but thankfully it worked. He emptied the rest of his clip on the wraith, then ran forward while putting in another clip, as Ronon covered him. It wasn't working, the wraith were getting steadily closer no matter how many they shot, although it would probably help if most of the wraith they shot didn't get back up again later. They were going to have to abandon tactics and make a blind run for it. Ronon gave him a questioning look, obviously asking what to do next.
"It's not working!" Sheppard yelled to him. "Run!"
They ran as fast as they could further in to the jungle. Ronon was pulling ahead, that was until he almost ran head long in to a second group of wraith.
Ronon ducted the many stun blasts and leapt to the left, Sheppard went to the right, unable to follow Ronon through all the stun blasts. They had been separated again.
Teyla waited until she sensed no more wraith near by and then left her hiding spot. She had two choices of what to do next.
She could finds Sheppard, Ronon and McKay, ensure they were all alive and well.
Or she could head back to the gate and wait for Atlantis to send help and tell them the situation when they got there.
It was a hard choice, she knew it would probably be a long walk back to the Stargate because she would be avoiding wraith the whole way, It would be even harder to find all of her teammates.
Of course, if she alerted a Puddle Jumper as it came through the gate to the fact that there were darts in the air searching for them so it could be cloaked before it was discovered, that was very important. If a Puddle Jumper was taken down and damaged, not only would they have lost a Puddle Jumper, the people inside would also be trapped on the planet.
But.
Her teammates were in danger, probably even fatal danger. If she went off to help them she might be in time to save them. She would never forgive herself if she chose to wait at the Stargate and one of them died. Teyla didn't know what to do.
Sheppard walked quickly through the jungle. He'd managed to lose the wraith for the moment, but he was sure they knew roughly where he was, they'd be following him. He looked down at his radio, Ronon had told him that he and Teyla had theirs turned off, but McKay's wasn't. Ronon had said that McKay had tried to radio them, meaning he wasn't worried about giving away his position to the wraith, possibly he was somewhere safe, although Sheppard couldn't think where. He wasn't worried about giving away his position either, the wraith already knew just6 about where he was, Sheppard decided it was worth the risk. He switched on his radio and was surprised when he didn't hear static.
"…hear me? Sheppard? Teyla? Ronon? I wasn't joking, I'll settle for a wraith. If you're a wraith, please respond. Okay, okay, I was joking, if you're a wraith, please don't respond, I don't want to hear what you've done to my teammates. Unless they're still alive, please say they're still alive. Hello? Can anyone hear me? There's no one there, is there? No one can hear me. No nonononono. Sheppard? Teyla? Even Ronon! Where are you? Why can't you hear em? Oh, God, I can't believe this, you can't all be dead! You aren't just not responding just to stir me up are you? Because that's really unfair. WHY CAN'T ANYONE HEAR ME? SHEPPARD, TEYLA, RONON, PLEASE RESPOND! WHY CAN'T ANYONE HEAR ME?"
It sounded like McKay was in hysterics. It must have been a long time since he'd heard from any of them. Sheppard pressed the button on his radio.
"I can hear you McKay," he calmly told the scientist.
"Sheppard?" McKay sounded surprised, but hopeful.
"Yup."
"You ass hole! Why haven't you been answering you're radio? I've been calling for ages! Nearly a whole hour! You've been winding me up, haven't you? I can't believe you did that! Well, actually I can, but still! That was mean! I didn't even know if you were still alive! Or Teyla and Ronon. Where are Teyla and Ronon? Do you know where Teyla and Ronon are? Have they been caught? Are they hurt? Are you hurt? Where are you?"
Sheppard winced at the sudden cascade of questions.
"McKay…" he began.
McKay continued regardless.
"What's been going on? Why aren't Teyla and Ronon answering their radios? Did you know we have a full two hours at least before Atlantis sends back up? Do you think we can survive that long? Are Teyla and Ronon still alive? Are they with you? Do you know the full extent of the damage on the DHD? Have you had a look at it yet? How badly did you kill it? Is it guarded?
"Shut up," grunted Sheppard.
McKay continued ignoring him.
"Do you think you could fix the DHD with my instructions over the radio? Or do you need me there? If I gave you instructions over the radio would the wraith find you too quickly to fix it? How many wraith darts are currently looking for us? Do you know if Jumpers can open their rear hatches in mid air?"
Sheppard frowned, that was a strange question.
"Have Teyla, Ronon or you gotten injured? Do you think we can all survive until Atlantis get here or are we totally and completely screwed? I mean I know I think we're screwed, or at least, I am. How about you? Can you make it back to the gate in time to greet Atlantis's back up or are there too many wraith? How far are you from the gate? Not too far, I hope. How about Teyla and Ronon? Are they with you?"
"Shut up McKay."
"No, I will not shut up! I need to know what's happening! Have wraith from another planet dialled in to prevent us from getting back up? Is the Stargate guarded? Is the gate itself damaged or is it just the DHD? Why did you shoot it? Oh, right, you were saving me, sorry. How many wraith have been killed? Are they dying easily. Or have they fed recently? Urrg. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to say that in to the radio."
"Rodney! Shut ya trap!"
"No, you stop interrupting. These questions are important! I need to know what sort of trouble everyone's in! How far away is the wraith base? Do you think they'll be sending thousands of wraith to hunt us or not too many because there are only four of us? Do you think they've guessed we're from Atlantis? Have they managed to get close enough to read the patch on your jacket that reads, Atlantis? Can wraith read?"
"McKay! Stop talking and listen to me!" ordered Sheppard.
"You listen to me! Do you think Weir will come to her senses and send back up early? I mean, sending one team to a wraith home planet, how dumb do you get? Do you-"
"McKay, you annoying, stupid bastard, SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!!"
There was a sudden silence on the radio.
"I beg your pardon?" came the insulted reply.
"Finally," muttered Sheppard. "Alright McKay, I'm going to answer as many of those questions as I can remember and then your gonna answer a few of mine. Teyla and Ronon are not with me, I have no idea where they are. They're not answering their radios because they've turned them off. The Stargate is not damaged. The DHD, according to Ronon, is pretty bad; I haven't actually seen it for myself though. I don't know how far I am from the Stargate, nor do I know how to get back to it. I have absolutely no idea if wraith can read or not, and yes a Puddle jumper can open it's rear hatch in mid air, but I wouldn't recommend it. You got all that?"
"Errm… Yeah."
"Good. Now tell me, where are you, and why the hell did you want to know if a Jumper can open its rear hatch in mid air?"
"That's the same question really," complained McKay. "I am sitting on a swaying tree that's growing out of a cliff face. That answer your questions?"
"Yeah… You okay?"
"No! The tree is swaying, Colonel, swaying!"
"I know the feeling," grunted Sheppard, pleased McKay had stopped his torrent of questions that had been making his headache worse.
"You what? Oh, I see. Did you know that although we're on another planet, in another galaxy, littering is still wrong?"
"Say what now?" Sheppard was confused.
"Littering is wrong, weren't you listening?"
"I was listening, but what the hell McKay? Have you totally lost it?"
"You fell off a cliff and on to a tree, right?"
"I… Yeah, I did."
"Did you for any chance eat a power bar on that tree?" asked McKay.
"You have got to be kidding me! I don't believe you! We're stuck on a wraith planet and you just told me not to litter!"
"Yep. Um… are you bleeding?" McKay wanted to know.
"I scratched myself on the tree," Sheppard told him, looking at his arm, it had stopped bleeding.
"Oh, right."
Sheppard heard a sharp gasp from the other side of the radio.
"McKay! Are you hurt? Apart from your head that is."
"Yes I am! My leg has been crushed by a tree sized branch and I've fallen down a steep hill several times!"
"How bad's your leg?"
"Bad. I bandaged it tightly so I could walk on it, then I fell over a cliff! How're you?"
"I've been better," answered Sheppard.
"You're injured?" questioned McKay.
"A little bit," confirmed Sheppard.
"How hurt?"
"Well, Igot stunned- that's how I fell off the cliff-I've still got pins and needles from that. I was hit on the head and I'm pretty sure I've got a nasty bruise from that, judging by my headache. Oh, and I've got that scratch on my arm."
"You were hit on the head?!" exclaimed McKay.
"Yep."
"How hard? Are you okay? What are you doing?"
"Quite hard," grunted Sheppard. " But, yes, I'm fine, and I'm heading quickly sway from a bunch of wraith who are following me."
"You're moving? If you've been hit on the head, you should be sitting down."
"I'm fine. Since when were you a medical doctor anyway?" Sheppard wanted to know.
"I'm not, that's just common sense, Colonel," replied McKay. "Beckett going to be pretty cross at you."
"I'm getting away from wraith, McKay," Sheppard reminded him. "I think he'll probably be more cross at Ronon, any way," he muttered under his breath.
McKay heard.
"Why would he be cross at Ronon? Ronon's not hurt, is he?"
"No, or at least not last time I saw him…" Sheppard started to say.
"You saw him? How about Teyla? Have you met up with her too?"
"Briefly," answered Sheppard, looking at his scanner, there were wraith coming from infront of him now. "DAMN IT!"
"What? What is it? What's happening?"
"More wraith. I gotta go, McKay. Sheppard out."
Sheppard turned his radio off and ran in another direction, he was pretty sure he was either gonna be majorly lost or caught by the time Atlantis sent help.