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Chapter 8
Rodney and Teyla followed John's tracks until they reached Lake Parnak, only the great lake wasn't as Rodney remembered. Around it, once mighty, Sequoia-like trees had decayed to become hulking dried mounds of splintered wood amid rotting vegetation. On the banks, the grass had changed from its glorious golden hues to pale and sickly green and the blades had wilted to the ground. Strange mounds of decayed biological matter dotted the area, though what they'd once been was unknowable. There was no sign of life around the lake. No birdsong or local animal calls. Not even the giant insects made an appearance on the barren landscape. But most disturbing of all was Lake Parnak, itself.
Once a home for various water life and support for many of Caronaa's inhabitants, the lake now appeared stagnant. In fact, it looked nothing like a lake at all. The water was black and viscous with a thick, dark crust covering large areas. Atop this lay rotten carcasses; wildfowl, and fish, apparently keen to escape the toxic environment only to die upon the crust and under the bright sun.
"Rodney, look," Teyla pointed to a shuffling form that made its way towards the edge of the lake. The creature was dragging its feet, its long arms trailing behind creating long unbroken tracks in the dirt. It made strange sounds and its once long and sharp claws were splintered and torn. The beast looked utterly emaciated, seriously ill if not dying and it gasped, reaching for the poisoned water, seemingly unaware of the danger.
Despite the fact the creature was one that had attempted to kill them, both Rodney and Teyla instinctively ran forward to stop it from touching the water. As they closed in, they could see its pelt rippling and shuddering.
From behind them came a roar. "Stay back! Get away from it!"
Rodney turned to see Ronon bolt from the treeline, looking fierce and oddly terrified.
"Move away from it!" he shouted and both Rodney and Teyla took several quick steps back from the creature.
Ronon bounded toward them then stopped a few yards away on the other side of the beast. He was covered in cuts and bruises and his right arm hung awkwardly by his side. His shirt and trousers were torn, saturated in blood and an unidentifiable black fluid. He took no notice of their shocked stares and said, "they're still highly violent in this state."
As if to negate his words, the beast slumped to the ground and onto its back. Its head turned to face Rodney and Teyla. Eyes wide open, milky, unseeing, but full of suffering. It grunted softly as the movement beneath its skin increased. Rodney felt queasy at the sight, yet was unable to look away. There came a nauseating sound of something wet and tearing and Rodney gagged when he saw something small and grey force its way through the skin of the beast's neck. Hundreds of little creatures burrowed their way from inside the felled beast, struggling to free themselves with their tiny little legs. The beast died with a weak, strangled cry that shook Rodney to his core.
With the beast dead, the tiny creatures hastened to free themselves of the corpse which moved sickeningly from the increased struggling within. They burst through its neck, its arms, its stomach, and legs. All with mouths that consumed what little of the beast remained as they crawled out and over the emaciated corpse. Black blood oozed from the exit holes and Rodney saw it was the same fluid that Ronon was drenched in. A stench filled the air that made Rodney bury his head in the crook of his arm to cover his mouth and nose. He and the others stepped further back as a sea of the tiny creatures dropped to the ground and crawled towards the dark, oily water. But some were too weak, hardly able to pull themselves free of the skin. These died in their holes, their mouths biting at the air as they expired. Many that headed to the water didn't fare much better. Their little legs were unable to pull them towards the water fast enough and so many dried under the heat of the sun, never reaching their goal.
The ones that did reach the water found that a different version of death awaited them.
The first dipped a leg in and tried to pull back suddenly, but the oily nature of the water stopped it from escaping. Rodney saw it twisting feebly, held firm by the viscous fluid. Where the water touched, its grey skin bubbled and turned a sickening green. Others were now trapped by the water, all suffering the same death throes as the first. Then more joined them, but these tried to save the ones burning in the water only to fry under the sun's glare.
It was over in a matter of a few minutes.
The dead beast was little more than skin and bones. Most of the creatures were drying quickly to husks as the ones trapped by the water slowly submerged with the movement of the oily substance.
When one, final creature, slimy black and much larger than all the others emerged from the corpse, Rodney had seen and knew enough to understand what he'd just witnessed. His stomach heaved violently then he vomited until it was empty and bile burned his throat. He felt Teyla rub at his back as he retched painfully. Heard a loud blaster shot and when he straightened and wiped his mouth dry, Rodney saw the blast hole where the creature had been and Ronon putting his blaster back in its holster.
"Even after all this time, you've still not got the stomach for this sort of thing." Ronon smiled, though there was no chiding in his words. In fact, he looked just as shaken as he and Teyla.
"It's not that," Rodney whispered before another wave of nausea struck him silent.
He knew what these things were and understood what had just happened. He saw the worried glances from the others but found himself unable to speak as the horror of his understanding gave him the knowledge he wished he never had.
The creature had carried the tiny beings here to the water. The creature didn't fight those living within it. And, the creature had the same blank expression John Sheppard had worn the last Rodney saw him.
An awful, choking, wave of revulsion and terror stifled the cry of panic that lodged in Rodney's throat. He stared at the others, wishing them to come to the same conclusion so that he didn't have to voice the words that frightened him so much. He saw the moment Teyla understood, saw her blanch and place a hand to her mouth. Saw her lurch forward as her stomach convulsed and emptied at her feet.
Ronon watched them both carefully. "What just happened?" he asked after a few moments.
Neither Rodney nor Teyla answered him as they looked around the area, now seeing the mounds they spotted before for what they were; other beast corpses. They desperately scanned the area, searching for a similar mound which might also hold the signature black uniform of the Atlantis military.
They saw none.
"You have no idea what this means?" Teya asked.
Ronon shook his head, his expression darkening. "You saying this has something to do with Sheppard?"
Rodney spat sourness from his mouth and finally found his voice. "Those were the same things that hit him. The big one, in the end, that's what hit him when they fired on us. I pulled them from his chest. But I missed one, and now… now he's a walking incubator for them."
Ronon neither blanched nor said a word. If he was concerned, he didn't show it, but Rodney saw his posture stiffen, his good hand wander towards his weapon and his jaw tighten. Ronon looked away, eyes roving over the landscape until he found what he was searching for.
"This way," he growled and took off in a sprint.
The others didn't have to ask where they were going. The master tracker had obviously found the direction John had wandered. They hurried behind Ronon, Rodney huffing and puffing but doing his best to keep up. He said nothing of the pains he still felt following his encounter with the tree, nor the energy that blasted him into it. His injuries would heal, his bruises would fade and his frazzled nerve endings would settle in time. But John Sheppard didn't have the luxury of time and his injuries would only get worse. What they would do when they finally found him, Rodney didn't know. How the hell they would remove the larvae that now surely coursed through his veins wasn't something Rodney wanted to think about, just yet. Without the Jumper, they couldn't take him back to Atlantis for care and any rescue ship sent would likely be too late.
He's going to die because he made a promise to a girl, he thought bitterly then hurried to keep up with the others.
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To be continued... your Cookie reviews are awesome :D I'm enjoying them! :D