Sonny Whitelaw - The Chosen

Aiden pulled off his pack, intending to take a splint from his med kit. The girl clutched at his sleeve. “Please! We have little time before the Wraith come. We must get to the inn!”

“I still sense nothing.” Teyla glanced up at the Major. “If we attempt to move her leg before it is immobilized, the damage will be great.”

Stragglers continued to stumble along the path, breathless but doggedly determined. None stopped to offer help, although one or two cast a sympathetic look in their direction.

“Perhaps they have some kind of early warning system?” McKay theorized, looking around nervously.

Sheppard scanned the area. His eyes settled on the village. “If there is protection there, it’d be closer than heading back to the jumper.”

“Whoa, hold on a minute!” McKay objected. “If by protection you mean the EM field, let’s use some basic common sense here. With or without their energy weapons, I don’t really care to enter into yet one more running battle with God knows how many Wraith attacking from every direction.”

“If they’re even coming,” Sheppard retorted, glancing at Teyla. “Lieutenant? How long before you get that splint in place?”

“Not long, sir.” This, at least, was something he was trained to do. Aiden swallowed hard and went to work, ignoring the girl’s screams and scrabbling hands. A busted leg hurt like hell.

Teyla was trying to reassure the girl with gentle words. “What is your name?”

“Lisera,” she supplied between cries. “Please stop. It hurts so much!”

“Almost done.” Aiden tightened the splint. “It’s not perfect, but it should do ‘till we get back to the jumper.”

“The inn,” Lisera whimpered. “Not far. Please!” Her face was pale with shock and her eyes were imploring. “We must get there in time.”

“Teyla?” said Sheppard again, his gaze on her intense.

Pursing her lips, Teyla hesitated before replying, “Perhaps it is as Dr McKay says. These people may have a distant warning system.”

The horn blew again, and several more people ran past. “If we’re caught out in the open, we’re toast,” said the Major. “Even in the jumper I don’t like the idea of negotiating a swarm of Darts to get to the ‘gate.” He gestured toward Lisera. “Ford, can you carry her?”

“No sweat, sir.” Aiden pulled his pack on, swung his P-90 to one side and gently scooped Lisera into his arms. The girl cringed with pain, but stoically bit her lip and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Lisera, my name’s Aiden Ford. These are my friends Major Sheppard, Dr McKay, and Teyla.”

“Meet and greet later. Move now.” Sheppard’s gaze was focused on the village, where the majority of the mob was beginning to disappear from sight. “Why is everyone going to the inn?”

Seemingly confused, Lisera took a moment to reply, “For the Chosen to lead us to safety, of course.”

Ahead of them, Aiden saw McKay shoot Sheppard an inquisitive look and mouth ‘Chosen?’ The Major gave a quick shake of his head and kept going.

Aiden could feel Lisera’s trembling, and her tears were dampening his collar. This kid was beyond terrified and well into the first stages of shock. And she was light as a feather. He’d thought her legs were kind of skinny, but the rest of her was just as bony.

Keeping pace with him, Teyla, asked, “Are these attacks common, Lisera?”

“The Wraith have not come for many years, since long before my birth.” She noisily sniffed back her tears. “It was not until recently that the raids began again.”

The backs of his two teammates went rigid, and they traded a glance. Aiden knew the Major felt responsible for waking the Wraith, but to his way of thinking, the issue wasn’t even worth debating. Leaving Colonel Sumner behind — leaving anyone behind — hadn’t been an option. Besides, Aiden had taken out plenty of the guards himself. It just didn’t make sense that one rescue mission had been enough to start this galaxy’s version of the War of the Worlds . Then again, for all anyone knew, just landing on the Wraith’s godforsaken planet might’ve been enough.

“Where is the place of safety?” Teyla asked.

“Inside the Citadel. The winged monsters cannot fly over the lands protected by the Chosen, but the Wraith will attack on foot, just as…”A tremor went through Lisera’s voice, and she leaned into Aiden’s shoulder. “Just as they did two weeks past, when my brother was taken.”

The same jolt of sick fury hit Aiden every time he heard something like this. His arms had been getting a little tired, carrying the girl, but he hugged her closer, trying to infuse her with his determination to save her. “Almost there,” he said reassuringly.

McKay pulled up short, looking at his now-dark handheld scanner. “We’re under the EM field. Everybody stick together, because the radios aren’t going to be worth much.”

“We’re at the village,” Aiden said to Lisera.

The girl’s head turned in the direction they were traveling.

“So the Chosen come to the inn to help move everyone inside the Citadel?” Sheppard asked over his shoulder.

“There is a transport there,” she replied. “But the Chosen will not wait for long, for fear that the Wraith will discover the transport and use it to penetrate the Citadel.” Her eyes turned to the massive wall encircling the city, about three miles away. “We must hurry!”

“Which direction?”

“Pass the well,” Lisera said through clenched teeth. “And then go to the left, along the waterfront.” Her terror of the Wraith clearly outweighed the pain she had to be feeling.

Walking quickly beside Aiden, Teyla drew her P-90 closer, all senses primed to detect the first sign of attack. He met her eyes, and she shook her head. If the Wraith were coming, they were still out of range of whatever it was she used to perceive them.

Ahead of them, the village streets were deserted. Aiden glanced around, noting possible places of refuge. Most of the single-story structures were made of wood, black stone and some sort of thatching on the roofs. Fishing nets were strung all over the place, and a strong odor drew his attention to racks of drying squid-looking things.

They passed a couple of piles of rubble that might once have been buildings, before they’d become the targets of some artillery-level weapons.

Lisera’s voice hitched as she explained, “The second time the Wraith’s winged monsters came, they breathed fire on the market stalls. Then the Chosen used their powers to protect the village and the monsters fell from the sky.” Her voice dissolved into whimpers. The pain was really getting to her now.

The Major’s head snapped back, and he started to say something, but a growing commotion nearby diverted his attention. They reached a stone well featuring an old-fashioned hand pump, and looked left down a cobblestone road that opened out into an expansive square. The area was rapidly filling with people, crowding against each other, some spilling down toward beach. The tension level was skyrocketing. As they drew closer, Aiden began to make out what was being said.

“The Chosen have forsaken us.”

“The transport cannot take us to safety!”

“The Wraith will kill us all!” came the increasingly desperate cries.

Lisera stiffened, and her arms tightened around Aiden’s neck. He felt her heart pounding and her breathing quicken. Wild-eyed, she began to sob and shake her head, saying, “No, no ,” over and over again.

Red-faced and panting from exhaustion, people ran up behind them, desperate to force their way through, but there was nowhere to go. In order to better see, a few climbed on top of boats that had been hauled up onto the beach.