Chapter 4

Riddick's ears were trained on the distance, listening to the things around him as he tried to find the best thing to do with the people following him. He didn't know why he was tolerating them really. If it were up to him, he would leave them all behind. Rhya wouldn't be though. He knew that. She was too resilient to be left behind. Besides, she would probably kill him if he tried. The thought made him smile as the four of them came to a slow pace before stopping.

Rhya had been watching Riddick, but taking nothing in of her surroundings. Her mind was fevered with what had and would happen that she didn't notice something important. It wasn't until they came to a stop that she spotted the tracks in the sandy, gravel ground. She glared.

"The hell is this shit?" Johns asked when he noticed their tracks. "You think this is a fucking joke, boy?"

His voice was so grating; Rhya's true feelings came out before she could keep them back.

"Shut up Johns." Rhya sighed. "I'm getting sick of listening to your bullshit."

The man spun around and aimed his gun squarely at her chest. Jack shuddered and backed away from the conflict a bit more. Riddick only watched. He wanted to see what was going to happen. Rhya simply smiled. Johns' grip was shaking ever so slightly.

"What's the matter Johns?" Rhya asked with a cocky smile. "You're shaking a bit."

"You think you're so fucking clever don't you?" he growled. "What makes you think I won't fucking blow your head off right now?"

She growled internally. It wasn't the first time she'd been threatened, but this was different. Rhya needed Johns for the moment and seemed to have forgotten it briefly. Unfortunately, to cater to his level of arrogance, challenging him was a bad idea. She had to be subservient. So, thinking quickly, Rhya let her smile falter just enough he could notice and mistake it for fear. He did and his thin lips immediately twisted into an unsettling smirk as a result.

"That's what I thought." he smiled before turning to Riddick with his gun still aimed. Rhya rolled her eyes the moment Johns wasn't staring at her anymore. He was a moron, but she needed him. Though his use was dwindling. "The fuck do you think you're doing here?"

"I circled around to think." he told the deranged man calmly before turning back to the area in front of them. "The valley down there's full of them. It's suicide, especially with the girl bleeding."

"The fuck you talking about? She's not cut."

"Not her." Riddick replied before turning to Jack. "Her."

Eyes gradually fell to the baldheaded child. Rhya rolled her eyes.

"Shit." she sighed loudly. She'd sensed something was wrong, but didn't think it was that. Unlike Riddick, Rhya couldn't see the monsters in the distance licking their lips when they saw Jack.

"I'm sorry." Jack cried. "I should've said something but…"

"We can take her back to the ship before going through." Riddick said, ignoring her whimpering apologies. "At least then we have a chance."

"Fuck that." Johns spat. "Just stuff a cork in the fucking kid and let's go."

"She'd be safer there." Rhya said. "It's not that far anyway. She might as well just wait for us."

"We aren't going back!" Johns spat, this time wavering slightly.

Riddick and Rhya noticed. Slowly, the two shifted their stance and stared at the man in uniform.

"Why are you so against this, Johns?" Riddick asked curiously.

"What'd you do?" Rhya asked irritated.

"I'm not going to catch grief from a pair of fucking killers." he growled. "I did the same thing you two would've done."

A strange realization began to trickle into the minds of those eying him.

"They're… dead. Aren't they?" Jack asked and she wiped tears from her cheeks.

"No shit." Johns spat hatefully. "Now fucking butch up and let's go."

For a moment no one moved. Riddick stared at Rhya as they shared another one of their silent conversations. Johns watched as her eyes never faltered from the large man, but something else happened that was far more interesting. Without her knowledge, Rhya had stepped ever so slightly in between Johns and Jack. Riddick noticed the movement. He growled to himself, unaware she had heard it. Scowling, Rhya narrowed her eyes to him. Slowly, Riddick shook his head. Rhya sighed.

"Come on." Riddick finally muttered disappointed.

Rhyallah felt her heart jerk. She knew what he was reprimanding her for, but she couldn't help it. Without another word, Rhya grabbed the kid, held her closer to her side and followed the two men.

Silence moved between the four. No one spoke because there was no reason to, at first.

"So here's the deal…" Johns began after a lengthy silence.

Riddick groaned internally. How much longer was he expected to listen to this man's bullshit without sticking him? He was only human -as far as he knew- and there was only so much a man with his patience level could take.

"You do the kid and I'll keep Rhya off your back."

Riddick couldn't hide his laugh.

"You really think you can control her?" he asked with a sideways glance back to the Merc.

"Don't worry about her." he replied with a slight smile. "She's under control already."

Riddick exhaled a slight chuckle and shook his head as he looked forward once more. Johns had no idea how little control he truly had.

"So why the kid? Why not her too? She's got a bounty." Riddick muttered.

Rhya walked behind the two more than a few feet and didn't like what she was hearing. She didn't know if Riddick knew she was able, but she was and didn't like where their conversation was leading. With her spare hand, Rhya grasped Jack's shoulder and applied a slight bit of pressure. Looking at her strangely, Jack did as she was silently told.

"Just a little further." Rhya muttered, making sure to remain close enough to hear, but not so close she couldn't act if she had to.

"Does she really?" Johns asked happily. "How much?"

"Who knows." he shrugged. "But there's a few planets that would like to get a hold of her."

Rhya's back tightened.

"She's had some work done." Riddick smiled. "More than enough people would pay to have a geno-morph."

A low growl emanated from the young woman's throat as she listened further, one she knew Jack couldn't believe or understand, but she didn't care. Rhya was losing her patience with the two men in front of her and was starting to rethink her previous deal with the bounty hunter. Johns, on the other hand, loved what he was hearing.

"Well if she does, she does. But the kids got to go first." Johns finally said.

"I don't know if you'll get pass Rhya."

"She's nothing a shot to the chest won't take care of." he sneered.

Riddick growled.

"Oh don't tell me you have a soft spot for the bitch?" Johns laughed. "When she was so willing to sell you out."

Riddick's head snapped to the bounty hunter's smiling face.

"You didn't figure that out?" Johns asked with a laugh. "The bitch sold you out. Thought she would get me to help her control you and split the bounty after she gutted you."

"Isn't that what you planned on doing anyway?" Riddick asked, angry his suspicions were confirmed.

"Hell I'll take you in alive, get the bigger bounty and they can deal with you later. I don't give a shit what you do after I get paid." he shrugged.

"Well, well, well…" Riddick muttered to himself. "Isn't that interesting..."

~!~

Rhya walked a few paces behind the two men, not liking what she was hearing or that Riddick seemed to be considering it. Her eyes narrowed slightly and her mind raced with a way to save her own skin.

Johns couldn't stop thinking about the money. He loved money. He breathed it and it was the only reason he got into his current job. If Rhyalla had enough cash on her head, he'd consider leaving her alive, but the risk was high. It may not have been as high as keeping Riddick breathing, but he didn't know what she'd been spliced with and geno-morphs were unpredictable at best.

"So, how much of a bounty does she have on her head?" Johns asked. He obviously wanted to weight whether or not she was worth it.

"Enough." Riddick replied cryptically.

"Well, so much for gutting her and leaving her to rot."

Riddick tensed his grip slightly at the haunting laughter coming from the man beside him.

Rhya glared her internal hatred at the Merc, thinking of all kinds of unsavory things to do to him when something caught her attention. Deep within the darkness, she heard screaming. Rhya stopped, her hand lightly touching Jack and instructing her to do the same as she looked around them. There, far behind, was a light, a blip in the darkness.

"Riddick," she called, bringing it to the convict's attention.

The barreling man turned to see the same orange glow coming towards them. His brow tensed curiously as he tried to see what it was, what was holding the beacon in the middle of the blackness, but the light itself was making it difficult.

"The fuck is this shit?" Johns growled.

The small group's attention had shifted to the source of the yelling, an angry voice and not the terrified screams they had become accustomed to. Johns felt his back tighten when the image of a face became visible in the orange glow of what they now knew was a torch.

Frye.

The woman made her way straight for Bounty Hunter, picking up the pace and all but running when she saw they had stopped. Anger and hatred touched her features as she dropped the makeshift torch at Rhya's side and rushed the man.

Her fist shot out and connected with the cop's jaw, but it did little to even sway him. Either she wasn't strong or just didn't have the conviction behind her assault. Johns didn't miss a step. Swinging around, he landed a blow to the back of her head sending her violently to the ground. He wasn't about to let some bitch put her hands on him.

"The fuck's wrong with you? The hell you doing here?" he bellowed angrily.

"You left us to rot." she replied quietly in a distant voice. "They came for us when the light went out. There was so much screaming… they just… ate everyone…"

Jack felt her stomach turn and nearly spilled everything she'd eaten at the thought of what might have happened. Rhya met Riddick's eyes. Their faces were blank. Johns backpedaled frantically as he struggled to find a way out of this. He had already freely admitted to setting the others up to die so they wouldn't have to come back with a ship, but it was easy to brag when he thought they were all gone. Now he had to come up with a lie to keep Frye compliant until he could kill her too or risk anarchy.

"Look," Rhya said as she stepped forward. She had long since lost her patience with both of these people and being only a few dozen yards from their location wasn't helping calm her. "The two of you want to settle this shit later, fine. But do me a favor and shut the fuck up."

Riddick laughed to himself as a flustered Johns turned his rage on her.

"I've had just about enough of your fucking attitude." he growled, producing his gun once more. "I'm thinking dead might just have to be how I deliver you."

Rhya growled under her breath. Whatever patience she had vanished when Johns spoke. Moving faster than the man could register; she grabbed his gun and jammed the butt up, cracking it into his nose and sending him flying backward. Still holding the weapon, she took aim at the Merc cradling his bloody nose.

"No, I've had just about enough of your bullshit." she hissed angrily. "And I'm starting to think I don't need your ass for anything anymore."

"How the fuck you going to collect the bounty then, huh?" he shot back. Johns wasn't going to keep his deal with Rhya secret if in Riddick's rage he offered the Merc help.

Rhya's eyes suddenly shot to the blank face of Riddick staring back at her. Johns took his chance and reached for his sidearm. He fired. Rhya screamed as the bullet tore through her arm.

The man was a worse shot than she thought, but it was still enough to take her back. She growled loudly, took aim and fired. Johns screamed as blood poured from his thigh. Rhya took her chance and kicked the small weapon out of his hand sending it flying into the blackness.

"Fuck. You." she hissed at him.

The air was thick and quiet for a moment. The only sound was the haunting calls of the flying monsters in the background. The other two women knew the sound would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

"Let's go." Riddick finally chimed, drawing any lingering attention to him.

With Jack's help, Fry had already come to stand and together they grabbed the power cells. Without even bothering to look at Johns, the two women followed Riddick into the horizon. Rhya remained for a moment, staring blankly at the pathetic excuse of a man on the ground clutching his wounded leg. She cocked a brow to him and began expelling every shell from the shot gun before tossing it into the darkness to join his sidearm. Without another word, she left.

"Wait!" Johns called as the small procession faded. "You can't leave me here!"

His calls fell on deaf ears. Johns attempted to stand more than once only to hit the ground hard. Rage surged through his body as he did his best to crawl to the torch Frye had dropped. He reached for it, holding it high into the air to see if he could spot anything helpful around him.

The orange glow of the torch began to fade slowly, sputtering as it lost fuel to keep burning. The echoing shrieks of the monsters sounded louder than before as they moved in. Their clicks and calls were surrounding him, taunting him from the shadows. Johns moved, swinging the torch around violently to keep an eye on everything. The fire sliced through the night, but it was getting weaker and the way Johns was swinging it around only made it worse.

Frantic to keep his eye on everything around him, Johns swung the torch too hard and the flame sputtered into nothing. He held it close. The embers barely glowed as he tried to breathe new life into them. Flapping wings grew closer, moving in from behind. He spun around to see his attacker only to feel something slice through his midsection. Johns felt blood fill his lungs, seeping out of his mouth as he tried to breathe, but instead choking on the substance. He coughed violently and threw up the coppery liquid only to have another beast fly in and snatch his head from his shoulders before disappearing back into the sky.

The headless corpse fell to the ground with a light thud. The rest of the stalking monsters immediately swooped in and ravaged the carcass completely.