Teyla ducks behind the gate for cover and peppers the ground at the mob's feet with bullets. Others raise their weapons and fists into the air and bellow with rage in a strange language, before starting forward at a run. Some of the party shriek and run back the way they came in fear. They crash into the other side of the clearing, an indistinguishable mass of undulating green, and skid to a halt at the sight of the activated Stargate. From what John could see when he inadvertently interrupted some kind of ceremony taking place in their village earlier in the day, they are armed only with spears, hand tools, and a few crudely constructed bows and arrows. John is not two feet from the tree line when everything goes to shit. She scans the tree line, then beckons them forward when all seems to be safe. She makes it to the DHD without incident and soon the blue of the event horizon is bathing the space around the gate in ethereal light. John and Ronon hold back to cover her advance from under the shelter of the trees. Teyla volunteers to cross the clearing first. But eventually they do reach the edge of the jungle and John practically sags in relief when that little cleared piece of land that always seems to encircle a gate finally comes into view. The jungle is treacherous and the very air seems to want to choke them. Letting everything else fall away, he pushes forward like the good little soldier he is, ignoring Rodney's constant protestations and his own screaming muscles as they take the last few kilometers at a jog. John pictures that little clearing surrounding the gate in his mind and makes that priority number one. If they can just get Rodney that far, then it's only a matter of defending their position and dialing home. The Stargate is only a klick or so north of their current location. Pretty soon Ronon slides in under Rodney's other arm to try and help move them along quicker. Thick vines like the one Rodney tripped over earlier make the journey arduous and slow. Teyla and Ronon take up defensive positions behind them as John drags an uncooperative Rodney alongside him. "Sorry about this, Rodney," John apologizes, grabbing Rodney by the wrist and draping the protesting scientist's arm over his shoulders as he moves them back off into the jungle. He practically blends into surrounding jungle, but John can see the glint of the spear he holds in one green hand. The man is clad all in green, painted head to toe in some kind of war paint. Through the trees, the first of their pursuers finally appears. John shakes his head, opens his mouth to admonish his overdramatic astrophysicist, when an elbow in the ribs by Ronon pulls his focus. He's holding onto Teyla and balancing on one foot, sweat running down his red face. "I know what you're thinking, Sheppard," Rodney interrupts his thoughts with a wagging finger. We must keep moving." John glances down at Rodney's ankle, plans forming and then dying in his brain like rapid gunfire. It's Teyla who voices what they are all thinking: "We cannot stay here, John. They're in a small clearing, but there's no real safe place to make a stand. John does a quick survey of their surroundings. The scientist winces, then pulls his foot back up from the ground with a groan. "Are you okay?" John asks as Rodney gingerly tries to put weight on an injured left foot. Behind them, the sounds of their pursuers rise up out of the jungle, their war cries primal and ferocious. John is at his side in an instant, hauling the scientist back up to his feet by the back of his tac vest. He goes down hard, his upper body disappearing into the fronds of a massive fern as he topples forward with a yelp. Five minutes into their mad dash through the trees, Rodney trips on a root.
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