Chapter 3

((And now Chapter 3! Sorry this one took a bit longer than the others, it's because I had to do my online school work all this week, and I could only get small breaks…so it might be a bit choppy. Anyway! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!))

It took a lot of effort to force her eyes open, once she woke up. How long had she been unconscious? Almost everything was bruised from being flung around the small, enclosed box, but now everything was still. Something warm was trickling down her forehead, and she reached up with difficulty, feeling the blood on her skin. There had been no difference in the level of darkness when she'd finally forced her eyes open, and she suddenly realised with a flutter of panic that her box was upside down on the ground, with the exit facing the unyielding metal floor. That's what she felt at least, when she gingerly searched for breaks in the glass, being able to put her fingers through the biggest one. Cold metal flooring, which meant she was still in the ship at least.

Claustrophobia and panic began to set in as she pushed against the floor, trying uselessly to push the heavy chamber right side up again, but she couldn't even lift it a little bit. In the end, she flipped over on to her back, pounding her fists on the ceiling (or rather, the back of the chamber), and yelling, praying that there was someone alive to hear her…

Her breath was coming fast, and if she'd been able to think clearly, she'd know that she was using up the air in her small chamber quickly, and that she was going to suffocate if she didn't calm down. Thinking clearly, however, was far from her mind. The only clear thought getting through was that she had to get out of the box right this fucking instant! Just when she was starting to give up on somebody hearing her, there was a scraping sound, directly to the left of her ear. Turning so that now she was back facing the ground, she turned her head, calling out.

"Hello? Hello! Is somebody there! I'm in the box – woah!" Just as she was finishing off her plea for aid, her box suddenly flipped right side up, sending her backwards into the ceiling of the chamber with a thump. She suppressed a groan, covering her eyes as light blinded her temporarily, and so it was that whatever hand pulled the lever on the outside of her box went unseen. By the time she sat up out of the newly opened box, there was nobody around her, leaving her confused as to who had freed her from her prison.

Once she was sure that none of her limbs were broken, she carefully crawled out of the chamber, tripping on the edge on her way out and nearly sprawling on to her face. Catching herself at the last second, she grabbed on to one of the few beams that were still intact for balance, and looked around. She could hear voices; calling out to one another, trying to find loved ones and friends through the unholy mess that was the passenger compartment.

Where there had been at least forty or fifty cryogenic compartments before, there were now only somewhere between ten and twenty left intact and still in the ship. The rest had obviously gone flying out when the side and rear of the ship had been ripped away. The only reason her own compartment had remained in the ship appeared to be that it had caught on to a beam or another chamber or something of the like.

Finally stopping her legs from shaking uncontrollably, she moved slowly forward, side-stepping sharp pieces of metal and debris, her eyes wide as she surveyed the damage. What the hell had happened that could down a ship so easily? More importantly, where were they? Climbing over a beam, she found herself amidst a surreally quiet chaos. A young woman around her age seemed to be searching for her partner; a man named Zeke. She had seen the two of them come in together, obviously new settlers, on their way to New Mecca she supposed.

Stepping forward to help her, she slipped and fell slightly, finding herself face to face with said Zeke, obviously trying to reach his emergency release lever to get out of the chamber and go reassure the woman. She could hear him calling out her name (Shazza), trying to get out. Crawling, she found the lever on the outside and yanked it, causing the door to open and him to roll out.

"Here! Over here!" She called, waving her hand at Shazza, and she watched the two embrace each other, obviously glad that they had both survived relatively unscathed, and smiled lightly. How sweet that was. Continuing silently on her way, she found herself face to face with him. The merc, Johns, and he looked back at her and frowned, and she saw the puzzlement in his eyes. He recognised her face. Smiling idly, she moved past him quickly, but she could feel his eyes on her back, before he moved on, probably looking for Riddick.

As she continued on, she realised why he would be looking for Riddick here instead of assuming he had died in the crash. Riddick's cryo-chamber (and it could only be Riddick's, seeing as it had large letters spelling out 'Lockout Protocol. No Early Release' on the front) was sitting right-side up, but the convict was no where to be seen. Obviously used the crash as an opportunity to escape. Just as she was wondering this, she heard a loud commotion from somewhere to her left, and she pushed aside some crates to see Riddick and Johns engaged in mortal combat.

Riddick was clinging to the tubes up above, and had his chained feet wrapped around Johns' neck, trying to strangle him, while Johns was swinging at him with a whip-like metal object. Riddick obviously had the upper hand, and she slunk back out of the way, in case Johns should see her and wonder why she wasn't trying to help. Just when she was sure Riddick was going to win, the tubes he had been clinging to broke, and he fell backwards, bouncing off of things with sickening thuds before falling to the floor motionless.

Johns said something to him that she couldn't hear, and she watched as he proceeded to handcuff Riddick to a beam, which was probably incredibly uncomfortable, with both his shoulders twisted backwards. Meanwhile, Carolyn was digging through the remains of the flight deck, obviously looking for Owens, and Shazza was torching some chamber, releasing a child who looked to be only around twelve or thirteen, unscathed and not even afraid. It certainly made her feel stupid, to have been panicking inside her own chamber. Which reminded her of the fact that she still did not know who had released her from that prison.

There was suddenly a commotion and everyone was gathering on the flight deck. Following along, she gasped as a hellish vision came into sight. Owens, though still alive, was lying on his back, with a long metal pole shoved directly through his chest. How the hell he was still alive was a mystery to her, but the fact was that he was screaming nonsense and obviously in intense pain. Carolyn seemed at a loss for a moment, then looked towards the group gathered around her, trying to give her advice. There were cries of "Pull it out! Just pull it out!" and "No, it's too close to his heart…" among other things, making it very confusing.

"There's some Anestaphine in the med-lock at the back of the cabin!" Carolyn said finally, and Alicia knew that there was no way that Owens could live. Carolyn just wanted to ease his passage into death with drugs to numb the pain. They all turned, however, and now it was obvious…there was no more med-lock. There was barely any cabin left. It was an older gentleman with glasses and a lot of expensive looking robes that stated the obvious to the rest of them.

"Not any more there's not." They all looked at him, then over at Carolyn, who had a look of silent despair in her eyes. Looking at Owens' face, which was sweaty and delirious with pain, she quietly ordered the rest of them to leave. Alicia looked around, then turned and started climbing over things, going out the door on to the planet which they had been condemned on to. Looking around, all she could see in all directions was miles and miles of hot, burning sands. The air shimmered with heat, and she looked up at the sky, in which there were two suns, one yellow and one bright red. No wonder it was so hot. Trying to breathe was difficult the second she stepped out, and she turned to stand back in the shade that the ship offered. Off to one side, she could hear Arabic voices chanting, and could see an older man and his three students chanting, facing each other and praying.

Standing in the doorway, she turned her head and she could see Riddick, still blindfolded and still with a bit in his mouth. Shaking her head in disgust, she considered going and at least taking out the bit, but the second she moved, she found her shoulder grabbed extremely tightly. Turned around, she found herself looking up into the face of Johns. Fuck, he knows who I am! She thought irrationally, her eyes wide, as there was what felt like a long second of silence between the two.

"Wouldn't go back there if I were you. He's an escaped convict…on his way to a triple max slam to pay for all the murders he's committed…He's right dangerous." Johns said finally, releasing the hold on her shoulder, and she glanced over her shoulder as if curious, breathing a short sigh of relief. He had no idea who she was…he was just keeping his bounty safe so that he would get full pay when the time came. If the time came. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Sara." Alicia answered smoothly, without batting an eye, amazed at her own lack of shakes. This was the first time she'd actually personally lied about who she was, and it was difficult to do without fear that she would be discovered. "Sara Aicila, English teacher and collector of interesting things, neither of which does me any good here." Holding out her hand to be shaken, Johns looked at it for a moment, then slowly shook it, smiling, probably with the dim thought that he was impressing her somehow.

"Johns. Just call me Johns." Nodding, she let go of his hand, and turned, exiting the cargo area, and climbing up on top of the ship with the others, before letting out a hiss of air, and absently wiping her hand on her pants. Egotistical jackass. She had pulled up her hood again, both to shield herself from prying eyes and to hopefully keep some of the sun off of her, and she gasped as she looked out at the field of destruction that stretched for miles behind the ship. There were overturned and burned cryogenic compartments strewn all along the deep groove that the ship had dug into the ground, and smoke and steam rose up from unseen fires. Shaking her head, she took a seat on the ship, looking out at the field for what seemed like a long time, until she heard Fry climbing up. Turning in her spot, she looked out at her for a few moments, then back at the destruction in front of her. It was insane. One moment, she had been confident, on her way to New Mecca where she could fade from existence, and now they had crash-landed on some planet spawned of Hell and neither she nor Riddick had escaped, not that there was anywhere to escape to.

Fry was trying to explain what might have happened to down the ship, giving the possibilities of a meteor shower or perhaps a rogue comet, and then, defeated, said that she didn't know for sure. Shazza shook her head, looking out at the destruction, before piping up.

"Well, I for one am thoroughly grateful." Shazza was standing close to her partner, Zeke, nearly touching but not quite, and turned to Fry with a smile on her face. "The beast wasn't meant to land like this…but I think you did well. It's pretty much thanks to her that we're still alive, really." Those around her echoed the sentiments, patting Fry on the shoulder and thanking her. Even Alicia stood up and gently patted her right shoulder, smiling and nodding her thanks.

A few hours later, they were all down in the tipsy-turvy cargo hold, with Alicia (a.k.a Sara) sitting in one corner, inwardly cursing as she watched everybody shifting through what was left of their luggage. Her one suitcase had disappeared entirely, including the gun, so she was basically just watching everybody else. Paris was in the middle of unlocking a chain that was wrapped over a case that looked like it was a mummy's tomb or something of the like. Half-expecting to see a rotting mummy when he opened it, she was pleasantly surprised, and moved forward when there was revealed a great amount of bottles of alcohol. Picking one up, she paused, looking at it with a frown. Something about the drink…reminded her of something. Shrugging it off, she popped it open and took a long swig, relishing the cold liquid sliding down her throat.

As the rest of the crew discussed the possibility of going to search for water, Alicia slid out of sight carefully, then, once she was sure that Johns was busy, sprinted across the hot sand back towards the ship, still clutching the almost completely full bottle in her right hand. Sliding mercifully into the relative coolness of the shady ship's interior, she slowed down, and paused, looking at Riddick from the back. The way he was sitting was obviously uncomfortable, and she felt bad for him, but she knew that nobody would believe that if she tried to help him out. She might get in trouble just from what she was about to do.

The room was silent other than each of their breathing, and then slowly she moved down the makeshift hall, her feet making hollow thudding sounds against the metal. Riddick still hadn't reacted, even as she stopped in front of him, and she stood, looking down, uncertain what she was doing. Finally, she kneeled, and reached forward, gently removing the bit from his mouth. Before she could speak, he spoke for her.

"Well, well, well…we meet again…Alicia," Quickly looking around to make sure nobody had heard him using her proper name, she opened her mouth to shush him before he blew her cover, but again he spoke before she could respond. "It wasn't that long ago that I first made your acquaintance, it seems…it also seems that the meeting did not result in much good stuff for you, did it? Last I heard, you had yourself a bounty over your head, just for helping me out of a jam. How interesting that one can be killed for helping another human…very interesting…." There was silence for a few seconds, and then Alicia spoke.

"I brought you something to drink. It's not water; they haven't found any yet, its some kind of alcohol. Here, open your mouth…." Leaning forward a bit, she held the bottle to his slightly open mouth and tipped the bottle up slightly, letting the liquid flow slowly into his mouth. "And yeah, what you've said is a fucking understatement…my life's a mess now, because of you." Pulling the bottle back, she took a sip herself, and watched as he took his time swishing the liquid around his mouth and then swallowing it. Although he was blindfolded, she had the oddest feeling, as if he could see her despite of it.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…it could be worse." He put in what felt like a long pause there, and she waited for him to explain how it could possibly be worse, and he lovingly supplied the information. "You could be dead." Swallowing nervously, she took another swig of her drink, and stood up, looking down at him.

"Compared to a lifetime of hiding, I don't think death would have been that bad." She said, more to herself than to him, and she popped the top back on to the bottle defiantly, though she had not given him much of a drink. "Your welcome." She said, sarcastically, since he had yet to thank her for bringing him the drink the first place. With that, she turned and started to walk away, forgetting about replacing the bit.

"I said I wouldn't forget." She stopped short, and heard him shifting behind her for a moment, and if she'd looked, she would have seen an almost amused half-smile on his face. There was no response, but she hadn't left yet. It wasn't until a few more seconds had passed, and then he finally heard her footsteps hurriedly retreating, and he smiled. He had shaken her nerves. Turning his head a bit, he looked up through a hole in the blindfold, and spotted a break in the beam he was handcuffed to. How useful…

Alicia exited not a moment too soon, still clutching her alcohol in her right hand, staring across the desert. 'I said I wouldn't forget'. What does he mean by that? Is he trying to make me confused? Shaking her head, she walked across the hot sands, towards the rest of the group, who were still discussing who would go searching for water, and who would stay at the ship guarding.

Nobody knew Riddick was gone until Johns came running up, cursing violently, and saying that Riddick had somehow got away. He had found his restraints heading towards sunset, which was fast approaching. Finally, some reprieve from the heat. Just as they were all getting themselves weapons (ironically, Alicia ended up with the very gun she'd thought was lost), Paris came running up, breathing heavily.

"Excuse me!" He said, and everybody looked up to see what he wanted, as well as Alicia, who was loading up her gun gingerly. Although she had packed the gun in case of an emergency, she had never fired the damn thing, nor did she know how. "I think you should see this."

Alicia gasped as she rounded the corner of the ship, staring at the horizon, which was revealing the presence of yet another sun. Three suns. No nightfall, just constantly revolving suns, their heat threatening to drown her in sweat. All of the other's reactions were similar, with gasps and curses. Sighing, Alicia looked down at the gun in her hands, before sliding it into her pocket. She took a quick suck on her oxygen, having been feeling short of breath again. She, along with Paris, Jack, Shazza, and Zeke, were to remain at the ship, keeping an eye out for Riddick, and to look for anything salvageable in the ship.

Alicia watched as the rest of the crew disappeared over a rise, vanishing from sight, then jumped down from the ship to where Zeke was loading the dead bodies of Owens and the captain on to a makeshift sled, to go and bury them. Alicia had requested that she aid him in burying the bodies, because other than that she had nothing useful she could do, and the feeling of usefulness was…unpleasant. By now everything had obtained a bluish tinge, as the yellow and red suns disappeared below the horizon and the newly risen blue sun took over the sky. As she took one side of the harness that was to drag the sled along, she looked up and saw that Paris had got very comfortable very quickly, and she couldn't help but glare at him sourly. He was smoking a cigar and drinking his expensive alcohol, sitting in a lawn chair, and beneath an umbrella.

"You comfy up there?" Zeke called out sourly, in a heavy Australian accent. Zeke himself was a young man, with obvious Aboriginal background, though the heavy accent showed that it was not a direct relation that was the source of it. His hair showed a bit of grey in it already, and his body was heavily built, strong. She wouldn't go against him in a fight.

"Yes, well, it's amazing how you can do without the necessities of life, provided you have the little luxuries." Paris said with a smile, taking a puff of his cigar. Paris didn't seem the least bit disturbed at the sour tempers directed his way while others worked hard. After all, he was the metaphorical watchdog, making sure that Riddick didn't sneak up on any of them. Even if all that meant was that he had to sit on a lawn chair and relax. He was an older man with gold-rimmed glasses, probably in his forties, dressed in expensive looking cloths and velvets, and was obviously not at all used to labour or work. Which made her wonder why he had taken the cheapest flights available to get wherever he was off to. Perhaps he just didn't want to be too far from his precious antiquities.

"Well, just keep your bloody eyes open. I don't want that dog sneakin' up on our bloody asses." Alicia nodded in agreement, as she hoisted up her end of the sled, and they both dragged the cloth-wrapped bodies towards where they were going to bury them, near the spires that loomed up like the jagged teeth of some sleeping demon. Handing Zeke a pick, they began working together to dig a hole in the ground, and soon both of them were sucking greedily at their breathers, and sweating bullets. Though she hadn't known either of the officers they were burying, she just kept reminding herself that every person deserved a proper burial.

Time passed slowly, but after an hour or so they were at least three or four feet below the surface, though they were still digging constantly, needing to get it deeper and wider so as to accommodate both of the bodies. Suddenly, Zeke stopped, and she assumed it was to catch his breath, but then he unhooked the gun that Johns had given him and had dropped the pick to the ground. Stopping, she took a deep inhale of her own breather, pushing her glasses up from where they'd fallen down her sweat-soaked nose.

"What? What is it?" Zeke glanced down at her, and bit his lip, seemingly uncertain. "Well…? Did you hear something?" Alicia was not afraid of Riddick…okay, that was a lie, she was deeply afraid of Riddick, but she also knew…somehow…that he wouldn't kill unless he had a very, very good reason. She hoped so, anyhow...

"I dunno…just a feelin'…wait 'ere." With that, he climbed up out of the trench, and disappeared. Sighing, she shook her head, and turned, continuing to dig. Her dark blonde hair was matted and sweaty, and she was wishing more than ever that it was still the raven-colour it had been originally. She couldn't believe that her contacts had remained in her eye with all the dust and dryness here, and she was worried they would come out soon...her extras had been in her suitcase, which had disappeared. Shazza had lent her a hair tie, and she'd pulled back her hair so that it was out of her face, but some of it was coming loose, falling in her eyes, and she paused to fix it. That was when she heard it. An odd clicking sound, as if somebody were repeatedly trying to flick a lighter into life, and failing. Looking around, wondering if perhaps Paris had come around and was trying to light his cigar, she frowned.

"That's weird…." She muttered to herself as she clambered out of the trench. She found that she was alone, and the clicking sound had ceased. Very weird…Shaking her head, she had turned to return to digging when suddenly there were gunshots echoing off the spires around her. Three, in quick succession. Turning in surprise, she started to run across the sand, her breather falling off and clattering to the ground. Had they seen Riddick? As she arrived, breathless, back at the ship, she found Zeke and the others all gathered around a dead stranger, and Zeke was cursing violently. He'd thought the silhouette had been Riddick, and that he'd been about to attack and kill the others. As she looked around with a sigh, disgusted by the amount of blood on the ground and splattered on Shazza, her eyes fell on where Paris had been sitting, and she had to stifle a gasp. There was Riddick, calmly seated in Paris' chair, drinking some of his alcohol. Sly devil.

With now another body to bury, Zeke and Alicia dragged it back along on the sled, back towards the grave. By now Alicia was almost dying, short of breath and drenched in sweat. She had long ago discarded her cloak, knowing that if she hadn't, she would've died of heat stroke, so now she was in jeans and a very tight black T-shirt, the bottom of which she had tied up to try and cool herself off. It hadn't helped much. As they arrived back at the grave, they paused, and Zeke pulled the tarp back. They both looked down in surprise, for there was a small tunnel that had appeared at one end of the trench, and Zeke looked at Alicia as if she could explain it.

"That's weird…I didn't do that. I only got a few more swings in with the pick before your gunshots scared the fuck out of me and I went running to see what that was about…." Remembering that her breather had fallen off around some nearby spires, she glanced back, spotting it glinting in the blue sunlight. "I'll be right back, I dropped my breather over there…" Turning, she heard Zeke drop down into the trench, probably to investigate that hole. Jogging over to her breather, she happily picked it up and took a long inhale of the pure oxygen, and exhaled slowly. That felt a bit better, anyhow.

As she turned to return to the trench, she screamed as gunshots echoed from the trench, along with Zeke's yells of agony. Once again forgetting the breather, she ran, the breather falling from her shoulder to the ground with a dull clattering sound, and she leaped down into the trench without a thought, only to find all the walls splattered with the surreal crimson red of blood. "Oh my god…." Leaning down, she thought perhaps Zeke had disappeared down the hole, or at least been shoved down there by whatever had killed him. Oh don't sugar coat it with 'whatevers'. You know who must have killed him, you just don't want to say it. Riddick. Who else is there on this rock?

Just as she was turning around, having heard the sounds of Shazza running to Zeke's aid, something slashed out and wrapped around her ankle, yanking her with a thump and a cry to the ground, and then it started pulling her…into the hole. Screaming, her hands clawed uselessly at the ground and her legs kicked out at whatever held her capture. She could feel something biting and clawing at her legs, and pain flashed through her like red-hot flames. Just as she was about to lose what grip she had got on the wall of the trench, a dark figure leaped down and grabbed her wrists, and for a long moment it felt like she was the rope in an insane, nightmarish game of tug of war. Then there was a low growl, and something whistled past her head, and there was a demonic wail of pain from in the hole, and the grip on her ankles was released, and she was dragged back into the light.

Still crying with fear, she was pushed to the ground on her back, and she found herself looking up into black goggles that she recognised, reflecting her own shocked and terrified face back at her. In the upside down universe that this was, she had been rescued from death by the deliverer of death…Richard B. Riddick. In one hand he held what appeared to be a home made shiv, made out of what looked like bone, though it was bloodless. Considering how her legs were cut-up, and the way he had her pinned to the ground (although the reason for this she did not know), it did not look good for Riddick.

There was a gasp from up above, and both of them looked up to see Shazza, befalling this image with eyes who did not know what had happened before. There was a millisecond of shock for all three, then Riddick released her, and sprang up out of the hole, charging off among the spires. Staring at the hole in front of her, Alicia thought she could still hear the clicking, taunting her…then she ran for it, pain in her legs overruled by pure, blind fear of what was in that hole.

((Voila. Chapter number 3. Fun, huh? I love writing this stuff…I'll be a bit longer getting Chapter 4 up, because I have to work on my online school work. You guys understand, right? Of course you do. See you all soon!))