Firstly, this episode occurs immediately after the events of Fever. There aren't any other spoilers at all. However, because it follows on so directly from the original episode, I have quoted the end of that episode at the beginning of this story. The quoted section is highlighted in blue, sorry - I just borrowed it.
Secondly: The following story is intended for entertainment purposes only. This document can be freely distributed with the condition that no part of the text is modified, and this notice is included with all copies.
Some characters and elements of this story are the property of St Clare
Entertainment/Sci Fi Channel and are used without authorization. No copyright
infringement is intended. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work. Any comments or criticism would be welcome.
Wade stirred, finally. Quinn had been waiting to check she was really over the Q.
"Quinn?" She sat up slowly to see him sitting looking at her. "I had the strangest dream." Wade still felt tired in fact.
Quinn smiled. "It wasn't a dream," he said, touching her forehead gently.
Remembering what she'd thought was a dream, Wade shuddered slightly. "Am I going to be OK?"
Quinn looked into her eyes, and gently stroked her hair back, his smile even bigger than before. "You're going to be fine."
"You look so happy." Wade looked up at him.
"I am happy. Everyone's getting healthy again. And we really made an impact now, we brought the people on the last world a cure. No matter what happens from here on in, sliding made a difference." Quinn paused and looked at Wade. "Get some rest."
Wade was tired. She lay down and was soon once again asleep. Quinn watched for a few moments, then looked up to see Rembrandt and the Professor entering the tent.
"How is she?" asked Rembrandt.
Quinn turned to him. "A lot better. She just went back to sleep."
The Professor was already preoccupied by their next problem. "Did you tell her about the cannibals?"
Pausing to listen to the beating of the drums, Quinn replied, "no. Why stress her out? She went through enough on the last world."
The others nodded, but were distracted by the sudden silence. The drums had stopped. The three of them moved to the door of the tent, Quinn bending down to get a look out past the others.
"Who do you suppose they're gonna eat first?" fretted Rembrandt.
"I suppose the young are more tender." The Professor sounded almost hopeful.
Quinn looked up at the Professor. "Age before
beauty. That's a universal tenet."
Rembrandt caught Quinn's eye, and seeing the Professor also
turn to him felt obliged to stand up for himself. "Don't look at
me! I'm just a chicken McNugget, you the quarterpounder."
The Professor frowned at him from under his knotted handkerchief, and began to try to formulate a plan of escape, rather than continuing to squabble. "Whatever, Mr Brown. I suggest we try to come up with a plan."
"I sure wish I had my car," Remmy whined, taking the opportunity to glare at Quinn for landing him in his current predicament.
Quinn refused to be drawn into another fight, he had a better idea. As the cannibals began to approach the tent, he quickly explained. The Professor nodded.
"As plans go this one has a certain merit," the Professor grimaced approvingly at his former student. "Go and wake Miss Wells while I keep watch." He fingered his home-made spear again.
"I get the tent pegs then? Great. How come I always get the bum jobs?" Remmy moaned for a moment. But no one was paying any attention to him anyway.
Quinn re-entered the tent to wake Wade. "Wade?" He shook her gently, "Wade? Come on, you woke up a minute ago!"
Wade stirred, but she still looked mostly asleep. Quinn explained what was going on as he helped her to her feet.
"What! You didn't think I might want a little warning before I got eaten alive?" Wade swayed unsteadily, still not over her illness.
Quinn looked at the floor. "I thought you might want the rest."
Wade was too shattered to continue to argue, particularly when she knew he had been well-intentioned. "So, what is it you want me to do?" she asked.
"Take that corner of the tent and drop it when I shout." Quinn gestured to the far corner.
"Then what?"
"Run like hell and hope they don't get out in time to follow," Quinn replied.
"Right," said Wade firmly, getting into position. As she reached the tent post she gripped onto it tightly to steady herself and tried not to sway too violently while Quinn was still watching.
"When I say." Quinn looked earnestly down at her, worried she wasn't fit for this sort of thing . Wade nodded, silently gritting her teeth.
"They're coming!" yelled the Professor. "How are you getting on with your sabotage, Mr Brown?"
"Nearly done." Remmy's muffled voice could just be heard through the wall of the tent.
"Ready everyone. When I say." Quinn stood at his own tent post, watching the Professor acting as bait at the opening.
The moments of waiting were terrible, each of them stood silently praying that Quinn's plan would work as intended, and that there would be no one left behind for the cannibals. Finally, the moment came. The Professor shot through the tent past Quinn and Rembrandt, and the cannibals began to enter the tent.
"Now!" screamed Quinn.
No one needed a second warning. The smell of the cannibals in the tent was incredible. As Quinn shouted each of them dropped their tent poles and ran, successfully trapping the cannibals inside the tent. Remmy thoughtfully pulled a few ropes as they began to run, hoping the make the cannibals' escape harder.
And they ran. The Professor led the way, but Quinn and Rembrandt quickly caught up Wade, and taking an arm each propelled her along faster than her shaky legs could cope with.
"Come on, Wade," panted Quinn, "you can do it." But he could see her resolve failing.
"This way," called the Professor, beginning to run at great speed down a small hill leading away from the cannibals' camp. The trapped cannibals was already chasing them though, and in the heat of the midday sun, none of the Sliders could sustain their pace for long.
Waiting for Wade and Rembrandt, who was pulling Wade along, the Professor turned to Quinn. "We must find shelter, boy. We cannot keep this up, not at this speed, or in these conditions."
"But there's nowhere to hide, Professor. We have to keep moving." Quinn looked back nervously. "Wade can still run for the moment, she'd've been fine if not for the Q."
"I never suggested otherwise, Mr Mallory. Under normal circumstances the girl has more energy than the rest of us put together, but not at the moment. We must be practical." The Professor looked at Quinn, sternly, almost daring him to argue.
"Well we can't stay here." Quinn grabbed Wade's arm again. "Come on!" And he was off again, the others trailing behind him.
During their brief rest, the cannibals had gained a significant amount of ground. The Sliders were now within range of the spears, adding a further element of risk to their flight. Remmy took the lead, plotting the best course through as many obstacles as possible and trying not to think about anything other than putting some distance between them and the cannibals. Quinn followed him closely, still supporting Wade, and the Professor brought up the rear, practically breathing down their necks. As the spears began to land within feet of them, the four of them found new energy to speed up, as if that little extra incentive made all the difference. Even Wade began to look a little more lively.
"Come on, guys. We can keep going!" Quinn rallied the others between gasps. "You OK, Wade?"
Wade nodded determinedly. She looked pale, but he could see now that she would keep going for a while.
"Aaaaagh!" The Professor yelled, furious. "Ridiculous creatures. No human being would mistake us for the main course."
Quinn turned to see what the Professor was complaining about. "Professor!" There seemed to be a huge amount of blood coming from a gash on the Professor's arm.
"Keep going, boy. It's not that bad. Really, it'll be fine, only a scratch." The Professor insisted, grimacing at the pain.
Quinn kept going, still following Remmy, but he was worried. The cannibals had been gaining even before they had sustained any injuries.
Wondering what the noise was, Remmy turned to see the Professor holding his bloodstained arm tightly, and Quinn obviously running out of ideas.
"Come on, man! They're gaining on us. I'm not ready to die as someone's supper." Remmy began to panic. He was tempted to just run for it himself, but he seeing the look of rising panic on Quinn's face he dismissed the idea. He could never abandon them, for a start he'd be stuck on this miserable planet forever, he thought. He ran back.
"Q-ball, try to help the Professor bandage his arm, I'll help the girl," called Remmy. As Quinn looked up Remmy could see the relief on his face.
"Thanks, Remmy." Quinn gently pushed Wade over to Remmy, and tried to concentrate on the Professor's arm. A few sharp comments from the Professor later, he decided that seeing to the Professor's arm could only be done once they had stopped running.
As Quinn and the Professor dove round a corner they heard a loud scream.
"Wade!" They looked at one another, and dreading what he might see, Quinn retraced their steps. He found Remmy lying on the floor clutching his leg. Wade stood by him, apparently in a state of shock. Remmy wasn't making a sound, he was too busy concentrating on the pain.
"Run, Wade. Stay with the Professor. I'll help Remmy." Quinn pushed her a little, trying to hurry her along, but she still hesitated.
"Quinn.." Wade began. But the look in his eyes told her he wasn't willing to argue.
"Not this time, Wade. You have to recover first." As Wade left, Quinn turned to Remmy and the spears continued to rain around them.
The gash in Remmy's thigh was bad, and Remmy had lost quite a bit of blood, but Quinn didn't think the damage would be permanent. There was no time to do anything for it at the moment though, so Quinn helped Remmy to his feet. "Remmy, we have to go. They're almost on top of us."
"I can't, man. You go. Go on, get out of here. I can't stand on this." Remmy gasped at the pain.
"I'm not leaving you here. I can help you stand. Come on, Remmy!" Quinn yelled at him determinedly.
"Professor." Wade turned and saw that Quinn and Rembrandt had yet to follow them. "We have to go back for them. They might need our help."
"Miss Wells, you are in no condition for racing backwards and forwards rescuing people. I shall go by myself."
"I can try," insisted Wade.
The Professor saw the look on her face and sighed. "Fine, fine, come along then."
Quinn saw them returning and yelled, "no!" But by that time they were already right on top of one another, and the cannibals were getting extremely close.
"Into the trees, my boy," roared the Professor, helping Quinn to carry Remmy.
There was no time to argue, the four of them dashed into the woodland, struggling to remain far enough ahead to avoid being followed directly.
"Won't they be able to track us?" asked Wade, looking round nervously.
"Probably," agreed Quinn, looking at Remmy and wondering how to continue.
"How about we create lots of tracks and hide Remmy up a tree?" suggested Wade.
"You could all hide," said Quinn, "I'm the only one who's fit anyway."
Wade put her hands on her hips. "They'd never believe it, you wouldn't create enough footprints by yourself."
"Wade." Quinn was about to point out that they weren't leaving any footprints anyway, when he saw the look on her face and thought better of it. ".OK then, give me a hand."
As the others continued to run, Remmy sat safely up a tree busily tending to his wound, and cursing Quinn under his breath. "I could've been in a hotel, surrounded by fans. I was going to be a star." Remmy stopped himself. The others were doing their best, he knew, and he was beginning to talk out loud.
Quinn, Wade and the Professor shot through the trees as fast as their legs would carry them, praying that they would find their way safely back to Remmy later. There was no sign of their pursuers, the woods remained largely silent, but they continued to flee.
Finally, Wade turned to look behind. They were alone. "Quinn, Professor, I think we can slow down now. There's no sign of them."
"How strange, they seemed so determined until we came in here," the Professor observed.
"Are you implying what I think you're implying?" Quinn raised his eyebrows, concerned.
"No, of course not. These are perfectly ordinary woods, and you have been watching too many horror movies. Primitives often have ridiculous superstitions about such places," the Professor retorted.
"On the other hand, Professor. These superstitions usually have some reason," commented Wade. "We should get back and get Remmy anyway. If we've lost them we'll be better off together."
Quinn nodded, "yeah. Let's go." He turned to Wade, "how're you feeling now?"
"Much better. It's amazing what a little run in the fresh air will do for you," she smiled.
"I still think you need to rest," he grabbed her shoulder, turning her back to face him again. "You could've died on that last world."
"I concur, Miss Wells. You may not remember, but you were very seriously ill," added the Professor.
"I'll be OK." Wade began to retrace their steps, praying they'd find Remmy at the other end.
Walking back towards the edge of the wood, the three of them were largely silent, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Behind them the trees rustled as something large walking behind them, watching.
"Remmy! Are you OK?" Wade finally spotted him, still sat in the tree where they'd left him.
"I'm fine, girl. Could've saved you a long trek though, those cannibals never came in here at all." Remmy grinned, glad to see them back.
"What about your leg?" Wade remembered the blood.
"It's stopped bleeding, the spear didn't go right in. It'll just be sore for a while," Remmy reassured her, partly trying to convince himself.
"Are you coming down, or should we stand here talking all day?" the Professor inquired.
"Do you need a hand getting down, Remmy?" asked Quinn.
"I'll be fine, Q-ball." Remmy climbed down carefully, wincing slightly as he put his foot on the ground. "Just down ask me to run anywhere for a while."
"We may as well rest here," observed the Professor. "There's still no sign of the cannibals, and we need a break. How long 'til we slide?"
"About 3 hours, Professor," replied Quinn, checking the timer.
"Would it be possible for someone to check the bandage on my arm?" asked the Professor, fiddling a little with the current bandage.
"Let me have a look, Professor." Wade turned to him.
"Wait a minute." Remmy looked round suddenly. "Did any of you guys hear anything?"
"No." The others chorused, listening intently to the sounds of the trees.
"It's your imagination, Remmy." Quinn sat down and relaxed against a nearby tree trunk, stretching his legs out.
"No, I definitely heard something." Remmy started looking round wildly. "Oh man, here I am on some parallel Earth being hunted by cannibals and now there's some other monster that I can't even see!"
"Calm down Remmy." Quinn shut his eyes. "Wake me up for the slide, guys."
"Easy for you to say, Q-ball. You don't have a dirty great hole in your leg." Remmy started to panic.
Quinn sighed and started to doze off, ignoring Rembrandt completely. He was mostly asleep when Remmy suddenly yelled loudly and began to run. Quinn stirred the others and they followed Remmy's tracks, still unaware of what had frightened him.
"Quinn, I can see it!" Wade called from behind the Professor. "Keep going."
"What is it, Wade?" Quinn kept his eyes ahead, trying to keep track of the trees, and Rembrandt, who was still a little way ahead.
"A giant spider! And it looks really mean."
"What?" Quinn could believe it.
"Do keep a grip on yourself, Miss Wells," chided the Professor, chuckling.
"Seriously! Keep going." Wade insisted.
Quinn didn't need telling again. They followed Remmy further into the wood. As Quinn began to catch Remmy up, he could hear Remmy muttering to himself.
"Giants spiders! This is ridiculous. I'm supposed to be a singer not an action hero. Spiders, I hate spiders." Remmy's monologue continued.
By this time the woods were growing quite dark, and the four of them often stumbled on tree roots and small bushes. Continually looking behind, Wade could see a number of the large, ominous shapes silhouetted behind them.
"They're still following, keep going," she called urgently, pushing the Professor a little and earning his retort.
"Yes, yes, Miss Wells. I'm going as fast as I can," complained the Professor loudly.
But Wade was no long behind him. She had looked back only to run headlong into a low branch. She lay unconscious on the ground.
The others didn't notice initially, they had problems of their own. Remmy had obviously found the spiders' web. Abruptly he stopped, suspended a few inches from the ground. Quinn and the Professor tried to dodge, but their momentum carried them straight into the web alongside him.
"Oh man, now I'm spider food. As if our world's spiders weren't bad enough," moaned Remmy, beyond panic now.
"We've got to get free," Quinn struggled violently.
"Stay still, boy. You'll get tangled and suffocate yourself," noted the Professor, seeing Quinn fighting the web.
"What do you suggest? We just sit here? And where's Wade? Left behind, with those things following us!" Quinn started to struggle again, but the web was too strong and he couldn't break free.
Remmy was limp, deep in shock. He couldn't take any more. Even a money spider was enough to make him want to leave a room, a spider 10ft high that had trapped him in its web was simply too much to take.
"Mr Mallory, remain calm. I think I can see Miss Wells over there," the Professor tried to make Quinn relax a little.
"Where? I don't see her."
"I would point, but it seems my arms are otherwise occupied, my boy. Look over by that particularly large tree," replied the Professor.
"I can't see her. Is she OK?" Quinn yanked one again at the web which held them. "Wade! Wade, wake up!" he yelled at the top of his voice. There was no reply, but he finally managed to see her himself. "She must've got knocked out by something. We have to get to her, before those spiders get back."
"Calm down, Mr Mallory. She is in fact our only hope. I suspect it is impossible for us to break free without her help."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Quinn looked once again at Wade's still form. "Come on, Wade. Wake up. You can do it."
"Shouting is only going to attract the spiders. It is unlikely to wake her, Mr Mallory."
"So what do suggest?" responded Quinn angrily. "I can't just do nothing, Professor. I have to get out of here. I have to know if she's all right, I'm responsible....." Quinn watched Wade intently, looking for some sign of life. "Professor! There's a spider coming towards her! We have to help her."
"And how do you suggest we do that, boy?" Seeing the look on Quinn's face, the Professor instantly regretted his remark. "All right we can try to wake her."
"Wade!"
"Miss Wells!"
Amazingly, Wade stirred a little. "Quinn? Professor?" She looked round woozily. "Where am I?"
"Wade, there's a spider behind you, get out of the way!"
Wade stood up and almost immediately fell over again. "I'm coming," she called as she righted herself once again.
"No! Not here, we're trapped," Quinn yelled frantically.
"Trapped? Oh God." Wade crawled round a tree stump. The spider was too large to follow her between the two trees where she now sat, so it began poking its legs round the tree feeling for her.
"What's happening?" Quinn could no longer see what was going on. "Wade, are you OK?"
As the leg reached for her again, Wade stood up and stamped as hard as she could on the spider's leg. The end came off, and the spider retreated, temporarily at least.
For a moment Wade was too shocked to move. Then the others' calls crept back into her awareness and she gripped what remained of the spider's leg determinedly.
"Wade's rescue service en route," she called.
Quinn chuckled, glad to hear that Wade was feeling more herself. "We're here, Wade. Quickly, the timer just beeped."
"What?" screamed Remmy. "Get me outta here. I gotta go girl. Get me out."
"I'm coming." Wade tried to shake her head clear and wobbled violently as she did so, almost getting caught in the web herself.
"Careful Wade that was close," warned Quinn.
"Me first," shouted Remmy, who was still too terrified to think of anything but getting away.
Quickly Wade took the disembodied leg and began to pull away the web, releasing first Remmy, then Quinn and the Professor, just in time for Quinn to open the vortex.
They landed in total darkness on something hard.
"Owch!" Wade crashed into the Professor, closely followed by Quinn. Remmy had already managed to get out of the way.
"Mr Mallory, kindly avoid throwing yourself last into the vortex until you have some control over your limbs. You're worse than Mr Brown!" the Professor cursed, whilst trying to straighten out his shoulder.
"Hey, I heard that," objected Remmy, about to launch a full scale argument. Then he was distracted by a noise. "Wait a second." Remmy started to get nervous again. "Do you guys hear something?"
"A drum beat," agreed the Professor.
"We gotta get outta here," panicked Remmy again. "I don't wanna die!"
"Drums. So what?" asked Wade.
Quinn turned to her, "remember the cannibals? Well....."
Then the noise of guitars started.
"These aren't cannibals, this is a rock band!" laughed Wade.
The lights finally came up to reveal that the four of them had arrived on stage at some rock concert. Thousands of people were staring at them.
Remmy's face lit up. "This is more like it," he laughed.
