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Chapter 5

After eating breakfast, the team packed their gear and waited for an opportune time to climb back down the hill. Once they reached the bottom, they remained close to the hill for as long as they could and tried not to bring any attention to themselves.

As luck would have it, they remained in the clear for longer than they'd thought, but their luck had to come to an end eventually. One of the stragglers had come too close. It seemed to be only half-aware of the five humans, didn't try to hurt them, but was too close for any of their liking. Before Jack could make a decision and voice it, Ba'al had seen to bringing the zombie thing to an end by thrusting one of his knives into the back of its skull, not only once, but three times. It fell to the ground with a thud and as the knife was pulled out of the skull by the force of gravity, it made a sickening, wet sound.

Jack was furious. He walked over to Ba'al in three quick strides and grabbed him by his clothes, forgetting that Ba'al still had long dried blood and other fluids covering him. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" He tried to keep his voice down, but failed.

Though Ba'al still held the knife, he didn't try to use it on Jack. Ba'al appeared unfazed by Jack's confrontation, but he did try to brush Jack's hands from his clothes and step back; Jack only squeezed his fists around the fabric harder and tugged, bringing Ba'al closer.

"I took care of it."

"You are not in charge here. You don't get to make the decisions when they affect the lives of myself and my team. I don't even know why we are even letting you in our presence, let alone alive."

Daniel stepped forward and put a hand on Jack's forearm. "Ja...ck." He said slowly.

"Not now, Daniel."

"I did not realize you kept SG-1 in such tight control, Jack." Ba'al mocked.

Not realizing what he was about to do, Jack pulled back and let a fist fly into Ba'al's face, knocking the Goa'uld to the ground.

Carter tried not to hide her own satisfaction at seeing Ba'al flat on his back. His nose and his lip started to bleed. She had wondered how long it would take before Jack's patience had run out.

Teal'c didn't intervene, but merely raised an eyebrow in response.

Daniel tried to calm Jack down, but wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to make Jack any angrier, especially not at him.

"Uh, Jack..." Daniel began.

Jack turned to Daniel. "What, Daniel?" he said, his impatience and anger now pointed at Daniel.

"Jack. Look, I'm not saying he didn't deserve that, but we can't draw any more attention to ourselves. We just got some of their attention. "

Jack looked, for a moment, like he wanted to strangle Daniel, but then his features relaxed and that emotionless mask he often wore took place. He glanced down at Ba'al who had yet to get back up and walked past him.

Teal'c followed Jack silently. Daniel and Carter exchanged a look, then Daniel shrugged. Jack will be Jack, after all.

Carter looked back after walking a few feet past Ba'al and said, "you coming?"

Ba'al sighed and got to his feet. "I have no idea why I am going along with this." He trailed after SG-1.

"Because, like it or not, you need us. We could shoot you just as easily as leave you here. It would be one less worry for Earth. I don't know why we don't do just that, but it's not my call." She looked squarely at Ba'al. "It's his." She pointed towards her CO. "So, I wouldn't try anything stupid."

Ba'al was silent for a few seconds before mumbling, "stupid. Right."

Though he'd said it under his breath, she'd heard him. She could only imagine what General Hammond was going to say when they got back. She could see the look on his face right now. She could hardly wait for the debriefing on this one.

Jack was in a bad mood. He wasn't completely sure why, but it had to be because of Ba'al. He didn't think it was only because Ba'al was currently with them. It was something else nagging at him. He didn't want to be in a bad mood. He was responsible for SG-1 and needed to focus on getting them back through the 'Gate alive. It did him no good to be irritable now. He could take out his anger and frustrations at the gym after they got back home. Hell, he could probably even convince Hammond to let him and Ba'al have a go at it in the gym and then kick his ass till he felt better.

Carter's voice broke through his thoughts. He hadn't heard her approach him. "Sir, we have more following us. They're following us closer than before. If we don't do something, they'll be too many for us." She said this quietly but with conviction.

She was doing what Carter did best. Telling Jack, her CO, that he needed to get over whatever little temper tantrum was going on in his head and that he needed to order them to do something to divert further unwanted circumstances.

Jack stopped. "You're right, Carter," he admitted. He looked around. The land was flat except for the hill sloping up next to them. They were still quite a distance from the trees and the Stargate, since they were walking today in order to blend in better, though right now that didn't seem to be working too well. He might have blown it earlier when he had shouted at Ba'al.

Damn. Some Commanding Officer you are, Colonel O'Neill, he thought with a grimace.

"What's wrong, Sir?" Carter asked, watching his features change.

"I don't know, Carter. What do you think we should do?" He asked her pointedly.

She raised her eyes in surprise. "Me, Sir?"

He shrugged, meaning: yeah, you.

"Well...you're not going to like it, Sir."

"I don't like any of this, Carter," he replied.

She nodded in agreement. She took a deep breath and released it. "I think Ba'al had the right idea, Sir. I mean, he did survive weeks here on his own, if what he told us is true."

"You're saying we-"

"Yeah."

Jack grimaced again. "Ah, Carter."

She smiled faintly. "Sorry, Sir, but you asked."

He patted her shoulder as he stepped past her. He motioned to the others who had stopped a short distance away to gather around.

"Okay. I admit I was being an ass. So, let's get past that and just do what we, ah, need to do."

"Which is what, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"Let's take care of these S.O.B.s here and then do what Carter suggested, which is to..."

He couldn't even say it. He moved his hand in a circular motion for Carter to continue.

"Thanks, Sir." she replied. "I think right now our best option is to take out these things following us and to...smell more like them."

"Wonderful." Daniel said.

"Even though I wish to remain smelling like myself, I believe that would be a wise decision, Major Carter." Teal'c bowed his head.

"Thanks, Teal'c."

Ba'al just stood there and looked smug.

It was actually easier to get rid of a couple dead-like-zombie people with short-bladed knives to the head, than it was to kill an army of Jaffa with fully automatic weapons from behind protective walls.

It was quieter, for sure, but extremely messy. Once they'd taken care of a handful that was closest to them, they regrouped.

Teal'c wordlessly went over to a corpse and jammed the blade of his knife into the chest cavity several times. It made a squishy sound. Dark red liquid began to spill out over the chest and soak into the tattered clothes before reaching the ground. Teal'c put his knife into the slot on his pants and reached into the chest with his bare hands. He began to spread what he came up with onto the front of his shirt and vest and repeated the process.

Ba'al followed suit.

Carter looked at Jack and Daniel, neither whom appeared in any hurry. Carter stepped forward and followed Teal'c and Ba'als' movements. She grimaced as the smell of blood and decay filled her nostrils. She thought she might vomit. She tried to hold her breath, but when she sucked air back into her lungs, the smell and the coppery taste of blood was all the more potent. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head as she sunk her hands back into the chest cavity and wiped the remains on her pants.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jack muttered as he did the same thing. The smell was worse than anything he could imagine. Oh, he had smelled death before. Seen death, been close to death himself times too numerous to count. But, this smell was different from the smells of teammates or loved ones lost. This was the smell of death that had died long ago but was still holding on by some strange force.

Now that the five of them were covered in the smell of death, they stood and looked at one another, stuck in this bizarre situation that they would rather soon forget. The reality of it was, they would remember this mission as they remembered all their missions. They would have to talk about it, write about it, and file it away in their minds in case they needed to remember some important part that would help them out of a later jam.

They walked on at a faster pace than before, testing the waters, so to speak. At one point, Teal'c veered off and purposely approached one of the zombie people and looked at it head on. It seemed to meet his eyes, though its eyes were unseeing. After a moment, it seemed uninterested in Teal'c and continued past him.

Teal'c stood still and let a few others try to sniff him out, but they all ignored him. He turned and walked back to the team.

Daniel was fascinated. His face was lit up like he was looking at a bundle of presents under the Christmas tree. "Did you see that? That's incredible!"

"I'd say it was stupid...and luck." Jack said.

"Don't you see, Jack?" Daniel continued, ignoring the pessimistic comment. "They think Teal'c is one of them. They think we're one of them, only because of how we smell to them. How many species have we come across that wouldn't kill their own kind-"

"Daniel, for cryin' out loud. These aren't people. They're the result of some sort of disease or-or...anyway, I wouldn't lay a finger on Teal'c if I was them. I'd call that smart."

Daniel shook his head. "Whatever, Jack." He turned to Sam and started babbling about historic findings of cannibalism, about some of the planets they'd visited where the inhabitants co-existed in such harmony that there was no crime, no murder, no ill feelings toward one another.

Carter listened for a few minutes, having more patience than Jack had, when it came to Daniel's rants. "Daniel, I don't think these things are the original inhabitants here. Or-they are, but they've been changed."

"Do you think Niirti could have anything to do with this?" Jack asked, holding out his arm and sweeping it from left to right, indicating the space around them and what must walk among them.

"Another failed attempt at creating a hok'tar?" Carter asked. "God, I hope not."

"I do not believe so, O'Neill." Teal'c responded. "I believe Niirti to be gone for good after she was killed on P3x-367."

Jack nodded. "Right. Just checking."

"Can we go?" Ba'al asked. "I thought you wanted to get home?"