I came home from work on the 21st to find out a friend lost her battle with cancer the day before her birthday. She was a sweet, wonderful, intelligent woman, and we had shared many great conversations, usually about the books we'd read.

I wish I could write more, more quickly. I need one of those armbands from Anise. Do you think she still has the one Daniel wore and that I could borrow it!? Oh, think of the stories I could get out then! :)

Thanks for all the reviews! I love it!

Chapter 4

"Why are they coming our way? I thought the goop you and Carter had on you would keep them away." Jack retorted, eyeing the wall of people blocking their way to the 'Gate.

"I don't think that's a foolproof theory, Sir." Carter replied, knife out and ready to use it.

Fortunately, for the team, they were faster than their enemies. They turned and ran at an angle through the dark trees, hoping they wouldn't knock themselves out or twist an ankle, which had been known to happen to one SG member or another over the years. They hoped to put some distance between themselves and the other...whatever they were, while attempting to go around them and hope they could put themselves between these creatures and the Stargate.

They ran for about twenty minutes before Jack halted them. They had each quickly realized this plan was in vain, but hadn't wanted to admit it. Though the creatures weren't that fast, they were fast enough to draw SG-1 some distance away from the Stargate.

Ba'al bent down, hands on his knees, breathing rapidly. Even in serious situations, Jack could usually muster a wisecrack or two, but he stayed silent this time.

"What now, Jack?" Daniel asked, peering into the trees, straining to see in the darkness if any darker form moved. The little light that had been left had seeped into a deep darkness. They could hear the sounds of the creatures, the brush being trampled, twigs snapping, the air moving, but they couldn't yet see them.

Teal'c turned to Ba'al. "How have you managed to remain alive?"

Ba'al took a moment before responding. The others weren't sure if he was wary of giving away any hiding spot he'd found, or if he had other plans. None of them gave Ba'al an ounce of trust, even if they were on the same side at the moment. Finally, Ba'al sighed and announced, "there's a small group of buildings that sit on a ledge on the far side of those hills you saw in the distance. They couldn't climb up there. It'll take a while to get to."

They were tired and hungry. Jack rubbed at his face. "Let's move on to plan B. We'll get some sleep and we'll be able to better scout out the area during the day. In the meantime, we can lead them as far as we can from the Stargate and hope they don't turn back this way."

They all nodded, though no one could see, though no one was happy about their new plan.

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay, Jack."

They half ran, half walked for what seemed like days, though it was only minutes. Jack knew the hills that had been off to their right had to be several hours away.

It was going to be a long night.

Several hours had gone by. Bone wary, they had jogged as much as they could, but Ba'al had slowed them down. Jack couldn't believe their luck running into Ba'al, of all places in the universe. He sighed silently.

They had run out of trees quickly, to their relief, and a moon shined down through a cloud sodden sky. There wasn't much light, but it was more than they'd had when they had been within the thicket of trees. They seemed to have put a decent amount of distance between themselves and those dead looking people. Every once in a while, there would be one or two walking aimlessly not far off. At first, SG-1 was on high alert, but Ba'al hushed them and advised to keep walking, albeit slowly.

So, they had slowed to a comfortable walk and ignored the others. Nothing bothered them, not even the wind. They were too far away to be noticed, it seemed.

After another hour, Sam whispered and pointed. "Look, you can see the jagged peak of the hills over there. What do you think? Two, three miles?"

"At least." Daniel said, without much excitement. It seemed like a very long trip yet, being tired, hungry, cold, and surrounded by a foreign landscape.

As time carried on, so did SG-1 and Ba'al.

"Are we there yet?" Jack almost seemed to whine. No one answered because the answer was obvious.

A few more minutes went by, then Ba'al stopped them and took a moment for himself, his hand fingering his jaw, his other hand holding his elbow. "That way," he pointed and pivoted slightly.

After a few more minutes, he pulled aside a tall clump of grass-looking strands. The trip up wouldn't be easy, nor the most difficult task SG-1 had ever undertaken, but no one looked happy.

Up they climbed, using rocks and small trees that were only an inch or two in diameter, as leverage and handholds. Periodically, the ground gave way under their feet, sending them sliding down a few inches. Loose pebbles skittered down the slope silently. Ba'al reached the top first, followed by Teal'c with Jack pulling up the rear.

Though still night, the landscape seemed to be slightly brighter here, as if a few hundred feet of height made all the difference for the moon.

Nestled back against a segment of hill stood several small buildings, much like the ones they had seen during the day, though these buildings stood obviously abandoned and in disrepair.

It was no wonder these buildings hadn't been visible to the team during the day, hiding in plain sight, yet out of sight.

Ba'al led the way towards one of the buildings. He opened a wooden door and held out his hand, as if welcoming his friends into his home.

When Jack entered, he saw several bowls sat on a wooden table, along with what he believed was a primitive oil lamp. In a corner, on a table, stood rations of food and a bowl of water.

Jack walked back outside and motioned towards Teal'c. "You and Carter do a perimeter check of the area. Report back with any findings."

"Yes, Sir." Carter replied and followed Teal'c off into the night.

Jack and Daniel turned to Ba'al. Jack motioned for the others to enter the building and each sat in a makeshift chair. "How long have you been here?"

Ba'al raised his shoulders and then left them slump again. "A few weeks."

Daniel looked at Ba'al incredulously. "Weeks? I don't believe it."

Ba'al looked at Daniel. "What's not to believe? My own people have become weak and abandoned me. Ran away in fear like cowards. It wasn't until three days ago, I discovered how to blend in with them, so naturally, I hadn't been able to locate the Chappa'ai. If it weren't for me, you could be dead as well."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Jack said. "What did you do for food and water?"

"I made do."

Jack just nodded. Daniel looked around. Carter and Teal'c returned. "The perimeter is secure. I will take first watch, O'Neill."

Jack nodded again. "Let's get some sleep, folks."

Teal'c stood tall and still outside the building where the rest of his team slept. Ba'al, not wanting to sleep in the building with SG-1, found a spot a few yards away and sat down, leaning against a rock. He pulled out a protein bar SG-1 had given him from their rations and chewed. He didn't try to talk to Teal'c and Teal'c did not talk to Ba'al, though he did give a sidelong glance at the Goa'uld from time to time.

Jack came out of the building, after having slept fitfully for about four hours. Everything was quiet. The moon still shined down through the clouds, creating an eerie glow across the landscape below their ledge. It wasn't much light, but enough to provide shadows from some of the scrub brush. There were a few stragglers walking around, mostly by themselves, but a couple small groups of two or three. From this distance they didn't look very dangerous. At least they didn't appear to be hunting his team.

"Go get some sleep Teal'c. I'll take over." Jack said, not looking away from where his eyes had focused on a long shadow that crept slowly towards another.

Teal'c merely bowed his head in reply and stepped in through the door.

Daylight had just broken over the horizon. Jack stood and stretched, bones cracking here and there. He ran a hand through his grey hair and looked around. Though the light had barely broken over the horizon, it was light enough to see that there were more of the creatures walking around below than Jack had estimated during his watch in the dark.

Ba'al also got up from where he'd sat against the rock all night. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder for a second before removing it, as if they had been life-long pals. "What's plan B?"

Jack looked at Ba'al. Jack ignored him. Instead, he turned towards the building when Carter came out, followed by Daniel and Teal'c. "Good morning, kids! Ready to go home?"

Carter had changed into her spare BDUs to sleep. She didn't want to think about carrying around the soiled pair. She had peeled the soiled clothes off her as if they had been dipped in hydro-caloric acid. She'd wiped her skin clean as much as she could with their stash of moist wipes. Now that she'd gotten herself a few hours of sleep, she felt better, but she still felt as if the residue of the remains of that person Ba'al had killed yesterday were still clinging to her skin.

She looked over at Ba'al who stood some yards away from her team. He hadn't taken off the hooded coat. He was chewing on one of their protein bars. How he could eat like that...she shuddered. Her stomach did a somersault at the thought of eating and she'd changed her clothes and washed herself as well as she could.

Daniel had started making coffee as was the usual routine in the mornings when they were off-world for more than a day. He'd lit the butane canister and heated water from his water canteen, added the instant grounds and waited for it to steam. He offered everyone a cup, then took his own and sat down next to the building they'd slept in, knees drawn up, cup resting on his knees.

Jack had started looking around. He had his binoculars out and was scanning the area below them. Nothing much had changed since the night before. There didn't seem to be more or less of them down there, since he'd last checked, and they seemed more harmless in the light of day.

Carter had gone over and knelt beside the Colonel. "Sir, it was dark last night, but Teal'c and I think there might be another way to the Stargate if we continue from one of these ledges. It may take a little longer, but we'd have to worry less about them," she pointed below.

"I don't want to risk it, Carter. The ground is too soft. You see how there's hardly any trees or brush along there? It must have rained recently and washed a lot of it down the hills. If one of us falls or gets hurt, we'll have a hell of a time getting help."

Carter only nodded. "Yes, Sir. We're ready to go when you are." Carter stood.

Jack resumed his inspection with the binoculars and merely nodded.

Carter started to walk away, but suddenly stopped and turned, "Colonel?"

"Yes, Carter?"

"What do you think happened to all the people that died?"

He turned his head to look up at her. "What do you mean?"

Carter slightly raised her hands palm up in front of her. "I mean, where are all the bodies? Ba'al said yesterday that if they get you, you're dead."

"That's usually what happens, Carter."

"Right. I know that, Sir, but where are all the bodies? There was no one in any of those houses we searched yesterday, and we haven't come across any new ones. Ba'al brought his men here and said the ones who survived fled. Where's the rest of the Jaffa?"

Jack pondered this for a moment. Then he pointed to the land below. "They're walking around down there?"

"None of them look like the Jaffa." Carter pointed out.

"Where are they then?" Jack asked, not sure what Carter was getting at.

"I don't know, Sir, but it's odd, don't you think?"

Jack got up on his knees and wiped his hands on his pants. "We deal with a lot of odd, Carter. This is just another one of those...odd...ities..." he finished, having no idea if what he said even made any sense. He got to his feet.

"Let's go home, Carter."

"Yes, Sir." She followed him back towards Daniel, Teal'c, and Ba'al.