Hope is a Waking Dream

Chapter 5

Waking up in the early dawn hours, Sheppard shivered with cold and watched his breath mist in the cool air, listening to the forest come alive around him. He was just about to move from his tree nest when he heard an unusual sound from one of the birds that had been quite consistent in its regular call the past day. Moving slowly and sitting up against the trunk of the tree, Sheppard peered through the branches, searching the forest around him for anything out of place.

And then he saw it. A tuft of blonde hair as a man moved slowly through the trees heading east. The man had a gun nestled in his arms and a pack slung over his shoulder. Sheppard watched for a few moments, waiting to see if anyone else was with him, then silently swung down through the branches of the tree, feeling his muscles stiffen in protest at the movement.

Landing lightly on the needle covered ground in heavy gravity was no easy feat. Sheppard kept his eyes on the man several meters in front of him and checked out his surroundings again, making doubly sure that they were alone before moving closer to him.

He was dressed in the drab brown leather and cloth of the Genii soldiers who had captured him, so Sheppard was sure he wasn't a native.

Moving closer, Sheppard made his move before the man could sense his presence, jumping forward and jabbing the man with a quick fist in the kidneys before he could call out. He had learned as a young man in the Black Ops that a blow to the kidneys is so painful you can't even scream, so it was usually the best place to aim for when you were unarmed. The man went down without a sound and Sheppard wrestled him silently to his back, grabbing the gun and pressing it against the man's temple as he knelt above him.

"Where are the others?" he whispered.

The man shook his head, his eyes hardening.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Sheppard said. He tore a piece of cloth from the man's shirt and stuffed it in his mouth. Keeping a firm grip on the gun against the man's head, he grabbed one of the man's fingers and twisted, hearing a brutal snap as the bone broke. The man's scream was muffled by the improvised gag.

"How many are you?" Sheppard hissed, pulling the wad of cloth from the man's mouth. The Genii's eyes were watering with pain and he shook his head again.

Sheppard grabbed the broken hand to break another finger and the man gasped, "Stop! There ... there are over a hundred of us."

Sheppard hid his shock well, narrowing his eyes to study the man. "All hunting me?"

The man nodded. "All of them." He chuckled. "You won't escape."

"Where's the Stargate?"

The man grinned maniacally. "There isn't one."

"How did you get here then?"

"None of your business."

Sheppard sat back on his heels. "Fine." With one swift move, he slammed the butt of the gun against the side of the man's head, rendering him unconscious.

It took several minutes for Sheppard to pat the man down, searching his bag and pockets for anything of use. He found a blanket, knife, canteen and a few packets of food in the man's bag, and he also wrestled the man out of his leather coat before using a length of rope that he found to tie the man securely to a tree, stuffing the gag back in his mouth before moving on, venturing deeper into the forest and away from the cliff that surrounded the valley.

He felt much more equipped, carrying the bag with food and water, the knife shoved into his belt and the Genii gun slung over his shoulder. He wouldn't freeze at night with the leather coat and blanket now. Things were starting to look up.