I do not own.

Gatlocke stood grinding his teeth on the precipice overlooking the desert.

"Sir, they're not here!" One of his minions came up to him.

"I can see that, you numbskull!" He snapped angrily. His follower recoiled. He scratched his cheek with his blade. "They couldn't have gone far." He said to himself. He walked along the edge. Then he bent over. Running his fingers across the ground, he quickly got up. Looking across the dessert floor, he squinted against the midday sun.

"Gentlemen!" He announced. "I want every man, woman, and child down this ledge, now!"

"Yes sir… but…uh… we don't have any woman or children with us." A minion answered.

"We don't?" Gatlocke queried. He took a quick look. "Well, Jeeves, take a note. Tomorrow we recruit some women and children."

"Yes, sir." The one named Jeeves answered pulling out a pen and pad.

"In the meantime," His tone changed menacingly. "Start your search here." He pointed at the bottom of the ravine.

0o0

Six tried to radio Providence but his comlink only received static. Holiday had somehow lost hers in the jolt during their jump down the side of the cliff. So there was no way of calling for help. Putting distance between them and Gatlocke was their only option.

Six and Holiday had moved quickly through the dried riverbed at the bottom of the ravine. They tried hard not to disturb their environment. Six wasn't sure how good a tracker Gatlocke was. The ground was rocky enough not leave any footprints. But they made sure not to disturb any vegetation. Even with the restrictions, they moved rapidly along the makeshift pathway. As the time wore on, Holiday found herself slowing down. Sweat dripped from her chin. She wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. Six finally noticed that Holiday looked exhausted.

"Let's take a break." He suggested. Holiday noticed enviously that Six was barely breaking a sweat.

She hobbled over to a rock and sat down. Pulling out her canteen from her satchel, she took a long drink before offering it to Six. He accepted it and took a sip. When he returned it, the canteen didn't seem any lighter.

"You know we can't become dehydrated. It's dangerous out here." She reminded him.

"I know." He answered flatly.

"Don't be stubborn." Holiday admonished.

"I'm not." He replied.

Holiday dropped it knowing nagging never worked with him. Corking the canteen, she placed it back in her satchel. "We should head out again." Holiday said as she got up.

Six pulled her back so fast that she fell behind him. Looking up she gasped.

A 10-foot tall scorthius, a scorpion-like EVO, loomed over the rock where she had been sitting. It waved its claws menacingly as it climbed over the rock towards them.

"We must be in its territory." Six muttered as his blades slid into his hands.

"They usually live in caves." Holiday said. "And they shouldn't be out in the midday sun."

"Something must have disturbed this one." Six backed away as it swung its claws at him. He jumped with both blades in his hand to slam them into the scorthius' thorax. Its tail caught him in midair. His blades clattered to the side as he slid to a stop.

Holiday pulled out her gun. The scorthius screeched when the bullets hit it. It brought its claw down on Holiday. She rolled out of its way. Getting on one knee, she shot it several more times. Its tail lunged at her. Before it could get close, a blade came flying through the air slicing the stinger. Green goo oozed from the wound. The scorthius screeched again but loss interest in the fight. It scuttled off to nurse its wound. Holiday got off her knee. Six walked over after retrieving his blade.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I should be asking you that." Holiday said looking him over. "That was a pretty hard hit."

"I've had worse." Six commented but made no move to leave as she ran her hand over him to check for wounds. When she got to his head, her hand stopped.

"You have a nasty lump." She said fingering the spot gingerly. "It should be iced."

She froze when Six took her hand and gently pulled it to his chest not letting go. "I'm fine." He said in a tone she had never heard before. Her eyes locked onto his, which she could see because of the way the sun backlit his sunglasses. She could feel herself leaning in.

The sudden roar of motor bikes broke them apart. Six pulled her down the rocky pathway and around a bend. He scanned the area before shoving her to the rock wall.

"Go up!" Six urged as he helped her climb the side of the cliff.

"Where…" Holiday started asking.

"No time. Keep going." Six cut her off.

Holiday wasn't sure where he wanted her to go but the insistent pressure on her back kept her moving until they reached a ledge.

Holiday looked up and saw for the first time a small opening in the face of the cliff.

"You saw this from down there?" Holiday asked incredulously.

"I noticed the irregularity of the rock face and guessed there might be a cave up here." Six said.

Holiday wasn't sure she believed him but then again this was Six.

"Quickly." He said breaking through her reverie. Holiday hurriedly ducked into the opening followed by Six.

Luckily, the small opening led to a larger interior. There was just enough space for the two of them. It was pitch dark inside. There was some awkward shuffling to get into acceptable positions. Finally, they settled into sitting next to each other side by side. They were even able to extend their feet out. The top of her head was touching the ceiling. She could only imagine how hunched over Six was at the moment. They remained quiet. After what felt like an eternity, the roar of motorbikes grew to deafening proportions. Six could feel Holiday stiffen. Automatically, without thinking about it, his hand found hers. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Oy! How long does he expect us to keep going?" They heard a man complain.

"Until we find them, you dolt." Another one answered him.

"They were on foot! Them blokes can only get so far." A third one sneered.

"But those stupid insect EVOs held us up." The second grumbled.

"Hey, maybe they got eaten." The first spoke again.

"Don't be stupid! If she's dead, we don't get any money." The third snapped.

"The faster we can find them, the faster we can get back and get paid." Then with a roar of more motors, there was silence.

They waited. Holiday wasn't sure if it was safe to speak yet. Six said nothing, so she took her cue from him and remained silent. Their breathing soon matched. Her eyelids started drooping. It was dark and quiet but not uncomfortable. The cave was cool. There must have been another opening somewhere because there was a cross breeze that kept the air fresh. She thought she was awake until she felt a nudge. Startled she awoke to find herself snuggled against Six's chest. Glad that the darkness hid her hot cheeks, she tried to sound nonchalant

"Sorry, I didn't realize..."

"It's all right." He cut her off.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked.

"A few hours." Six answered.

"Hours?" Holiday didn't think she was out that long.

"You slept through most of the desert heat. We should be able to venture out soon with enough light for us to find our way but cool enough so we don't bake." Six said.

"We don't have a lot of time to travel before it gets dark. We're not going to get back to Providence in that short of time." Holiday pointed out.

"I'm counting on White Knight realizing that we never made it to our destination and come looking for us." Six said. "I'm sure they are already looking for us."

"I hope so." Holiday sighed.

"It's just a matter of avoiding Gatlocke and his men." Six said.

"I wish I could be as certain as you." Holiday said.

"Hopefully, Gatlocke's men won't be back this way. The tricky part is making sure Providence finds us before Gatlocke does." Six said dryly. "Ready to go."

"Yes." Holiday maneuvered around so that she could crawl out. Once outside she stretched. Her legs felt rubbery after not being used for so long.

Six's head appeared as he squeezed through the hole. "I think we should stay on the ledge for as long as we can to avoid both EVOs on the ground and Gatlocke's men."

He walked ahead testing the strength of the ledge which had just enough room for them to walk single file on. Holiday hugged the wall, keeping her eyes firmly glued on the back of Six's head.

At first the trip was uneventful if nerve-racking.

Then they heard the sound of a hawk calling. Holiday looked up to see it floating gracefully in the wind. It was joined by its mate. If they were not in such a dire situation she would have enjoyed watching their ballet in the sky. Just as she took her eyes off the birds, from the corner she caught a flash. Her head snapped back up.

"Six!" She called.

Six turned and scowled. From the opposite wall of the ravine, the sun reflected off the chrome of a biker. He was joined by several more bikes.

Then one of them produced a rocket launcher. Soon Six and Holiday was staring at a missile flying directly at them.

You're probably wondering why it took me so long to update. I wanted to finish all my chapter stories first. Then after I finished I was going to concentrate on this. I already had three pages written so I thought I would be updating pretty soon. So what the heck happened? I have been watching videos about people critiquing movies and writing. I got super insecure about my story. I began nitpicking every little piece. I kept changing it. I literally rewrote this chapter three times! I was not happy with it. I'm still iffy with it. I also have low motivation and family obligations to fulfill. So that's my explanation. I'm going to try to update more frequently.