Up Close & Personal
Lily's POV
The doors close shut behind, as soon as I and Riddick enter the cargo hold and we're all locked inside the only secure area. How long it'll remain secure is another question. The survivors have huddled together, a defensive method evolved from our ape ancestors millions of years ago, but I don't see how it can be useful.
'If she only stayed down, she'd be okay. She wouldn't have died', obviously. But I refrain from saying that out loud as Fry goes to comfort Jack.
'You all remember the boneyard?' says Johns; oh I wonder if he knows I'm the one who told Fry everything about him. It wouldn't help our relationship which already appears to be in tatters. I'm joking, like I ever want to establish peace with someone who's a mercenary. Bodyguards and mercenaries have an automatic, mutual dislike.
'These might be the fuckers that killed every other living thing on this planet' No shit Sherlock.
'What are we gonna do now?' Jack asks, almost a whisper.
'Are these the only lights we have? Is this everything?' Imam asks, worried
'No. There's a cutting torch on the floor here. I just can't find it' Fry tells everyone. My attention turns to the door; I hear them, the raptor like things wailing just outside.
'Quiet. Everyone' Imam walks to the door, putting his ear up against it. The others push past me, piling beside him, listening to howls outside.
'Why do they do that? Make that sound?' Jack asks, I guess the sound freaks her out. Well the constant clicking and wailing will give a heads up where they are. Or it'll be the last thing you hear before you die.
'Perhaps it's the way they see, with the sound reflecting back. Echo location' yeah, that was obvious from the onset of their high pitch cries. I then realise Fry is beside me, staring hard at my eyes, her face filled with confusion, and curiosity. Oh, yeah there's not that much light here so my purple eyes have come out, I'm about to say something when I whirl behind, there's one in here. Somewhere above us.
'How the fuck could one get in here?' Johns ask, his torch shining down the dark corridor.
'Could be a breach in the hull I don't know' Fry, really please don't answer any questions unless you're really sure.
'Well go on Johns, check it out' I say, leaning against the wall, an eye on the corridor in front. I can't help but smirk, knowing that though Johns has that big shotgun, he won't do a thing. He just can't.
'I'd rather piss glass' talk about being a man.
'Come on Johns, you got the big gauge' Riddick says.
'Why don't you fucking check?' Really, what a pair of pussies. I dump my bag with Jack, who holds on to it. She too stares at my eyes, before blinking in astonishment and gives me a wink and a finger to her lips promising not to tell anyone else. I grin down at her. I push between Johns and Riddick, removing my sword out of its case in one fluid movement, whipping it out in front of me, the blade eager to kill.
'How disappointing boys, maybe I'll show you what a bodyguard can do' I say over my shoulder. I scan the purple coloured corridor. Nothing. I take another step forward but someone pulls on my shirt collar stopping me from moving forward.
'Where do you think you're going?' I know that voice,
'Oi, let go' I growl, looking up at Riddick with a cold hard stare waiting for him to let go.
'No' a beaming smile on his face. I struggle against his grip on my collar but I don't want to tear my shirt and walk around in a bra so I stop after a while.
'Bastard' before I hear Riddick's reply, I hear Paris's panicked voice,
'I'm not staying here one more second!' I look past Riddick, and see Paris going for the main door lever, ready to flee into the night. Would have been another death had Fry not lunged for him.
'You don't know what's out there!' Fry shouts at him, forcing him back.
'I know what's in here' but we found there's nothing in here, yet. Otherwise it would have had our heads already.
'Sit him down!' Johns orders who picks up a torch cutter, and he starts making a hole in the wall. Before long there's a burn outline appears on the wall. Johns kicks out our escape hatch.
'Hurry' Johns tells everyone, and they walk through the hole. Riddick who still has a hold on my collar, yeah I'm surprised too at how patient I'm being, finally he lets go. He holds an arm out, waiting for me to go first, wow what a gentleman, still a prick though. I put my sword back, and I shove past him, and enter the next room. Isn't he being too…protective? But I shrug that meaningless thought away.
'Now we're trapped in a much smaller space. I hate this!' Paris complains. Johns torches away for the next room. I realise our little family has shrunk. Riddick's gone, one of the holy boys are gone too.
Riddick's POV
Lily needs to drop her set of balls before I get angry, how can she go off like that? Well I'll be keeping a watchful eye on her. She ain't dying here, not when I'm around. In the next room I notice something and head for it, something squishes underneath my foot. Slipping off my goggles I look down, the ground is littered with dead infants. Then I sense it, dark, aggressive energy. I look up and there is a raptor. It looks up, sensing me. I'm in a stare down with a predator. Interesting. Then one of pilgrim boys turn the corner, what the fuck is he doing here? I grab him, making him stop.
'Don't. Move' I whisper to the kid.
A second predator appears above us, clicking. I sense the kid's fear rolling off him, and then he bolts. Well that was to be expected, the predators are on him in seconds. A dumb last move on his part, he doesn't get any sympathy votes from me. I sense a third predator, and I make my move, darting around the cargo…
Lily's POV
Johns has made another hole, but we're short on a few people. Fry whispers anxiously,
'Imam? Lily? Do you know where they are?'
We both shake our heads, and all seven of us make our way through the container, with Fry and Imam calling out
'Hasan?'
'Riddick?'
We then hear the screams of death. Oh dear, there goes another one. We head for it, Fry's holding out her torch cutter when Riddick then appears round the corner, her light catches him straight in the face, and howling he stumbles forward. I can't help but feel smug that I can see in either light or dark, he must feel annoyed that his only weakness is light. Though we didn't realise a predator was right behind him, I reach for my gun as the space is too small to be waving a sword about but as Fry's light hits it, it has the same reaction has Riddick, howling and flinching back into the darkness. Wait? Did the light stop it? Johns is panicking as he shoots wildly in the shadows.
'Stop it!' Fry shouts, all gunshots ceasing.
'It's okay, I killed it' sure you did.
BAM! Something slams to the ground, and we all jump back as a synchronised splash pattern. Well what do you know? He got lucky and killed one. It's not as big as the ones outside, but it is nasty looking. Fry reclaims her dropped light, and beams it on the carcass, the skin steams, and starting charring black. Interesting.
'It's like the light is scalding it'
'It hurts them. Light actually hurts them' Fry says surprised, with a hint if happiness. Well aren't they similar to certain someone, looking at Riddick, his goggles back on. We then hear the sounds of flesh being torn, and cries of the raptors. Yeah, he's dead.
'Is that…Hassan?' says Imam, not wanting to believe.
'We'll burn a candle for him later. Come on.' We head for the next room, our group gone down by one.
Moments later we're in another container hold and we've shoved cargo against the doors and walls and have gathered around Fry's hand light. I'm by her side, leaning against some cargo, arms crossed, waiting for Fry to say something to the group. But instead,
'Lily' she addresses me instead. I glance up at her. Why would she talk to me? Does she want to make me captain? No I don't want that.
'You have something you wanna say?' Eh? Everyone turns their attention to me, except Jack who's been reduced to a shivering lump of mush on the floor on Fry's other side.
I think about it for a moment before clearing my throat,
'Nope' No really, I seriously don't know what I'm meant to confess to.
Fry sighs,
'Outside you said you can see them. And I saw your eyes they're exactly like…like his' turning her attention to Riddick. Ah the eye situation, oh boy.
'What are you on about? They're fucking normal!' Johns says angrily. Don't know why he's getting angry.
'You wanna explain it to me?' she asks sternly, both hands on her hips, I don't get the big deal though.
'Well, mother had my eyes shined when I was little, what more can I say' I say with a shrug.
'…Okay? Well, how come they're normal now?'
'Well the purple react to light like your pupils do to light, shrinking and expanding depending on the amount of light there is. They're quite sensitive though, during a normal day on a normal planet you'll probably see flecks of purple if you look closer. Well just imagine how the eyes of a cat glow in the dark' and that's my explanation done.
'So light does not hurt you?' Riddick asks, his goggles staring at me.
'Nope, my normal eyes just take over, I'm led to believe this kind of eye shine cost my mother an arm and a leg'
'Really interesting…' and that's the end of that.
Fry turns her attention from me to the rest of the group,
'So we've got one cutting torch, two hand lights and there's gotta be something we can rip out of the crash ship…' inventory of how much light we have. Good idea Captain.
'Spirits. They burn rather well' Paris suggests a useful idea
'How many bottles you got?'
'I don't know. Maybe 10' don't worry I'm not going to fuss over how he said 'maybe' even though it irritates me.
'I have a torch' I say
'Good. Johns, you've got some flares' he doesn't answer.
'Maybe we got enough light.' Enough light? For what exactly?
'Enough for fucking what?' Johns asks the question we were all thinking.
'We stick to the plan. We get the four cells back to the skiff. We're off this rock' a good plan. But I know she'll be met with great opposition.
'I hate to ruin a beautiful theory with an ugly fact but that sand cat is solar, it won't run at night' Paris offers his opinion on the plan.
'So we carry the cells, we drag them. Whatever it takes' it's a suicide mission, not all of us would make it. The room is filled with troubled faces.
'You mean tonight? With all those things still out there?' Jack barely whispers, poor kid is terrified. Fry goes down to comfort her.
Johns then suggest another plan we should take,
'All right. Now how long can this last? A few hours? A day tops?' we don't know for sure, but we can't risk waiting here.
'I had the impression from the model, the two planets were moving as one and there would be a lasting darkness' Imam can really make everything sound biblical.
'These suns gotta come up sometime. If these creatures are phobic about light, then we just sit tight and let the sun come up' But we haven't got enough light, or food not to mention we aren't in a secure position. Fry's plan is the better one at least it doesn't resort to cannibalism.
'I'm sure somebody else said that, locked inside that coring room' a persuasive thought, and then I notice Johns' eyes, flickering between me and Jack
'We need to think about everyone, especially the kids' I take my scabbard off my back, and slam it down on the ground, grabbing everyone's attention.
'Who the fuck you calling a kid!' firing murderous intent at him, looking nervous he changes his answer quickly,
'I mean how scared is he going to be out there' pointing at Jack, who's still a small ball on the floor.
'Don't use them- I mean him like that' damn right you change your answer Fry.
'Like what?'
'As a smoke screen. Deal with your fear' you wouldn't have thought this kind of guy had the balls to catch someone like Riddick. I suspect that he used dirty tactics.
'Why don't you shut up for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide?' five seconds of silence pass by. You're digging your own grave Johns.
'I'm waiting' Fry has crossed her arms now, challenging him.
He still hasn't come up with anything. Fry carries on,
'How much do you weigh?'
'What's it matter?'
'How much?'
'Around 70 kilos, to be exa-'
'You're 70 kilos of gutless white meat that's why you can't think of a plan' well would you look at that, two things flaming at once, the torch and Johns. Ha! You go captain!
'Is that fucking right?' Johns makes a move towards Fry, standing where I am I lift my sword up, the tip kissing below his Adam's apple stopping him in his tracks.
'And where do you think you're going?' I say coolly, Johns' scoffs as his big gauge bumps into the side of my forehead, above my right eye
'Which do you reckon is faster?' a canine smirk on his face, oh so he does have balls. I twist my wrist, the blade whistles down cutting into cloth, slicing through flesh, and hitting bone. He screams in agony, and pulls the trigger and I dodge with a slight movement of my head. Applying more pressure I cut through the bone and his arm comes off, blood pouring and splattering everywhere. What do you know? A sword is faster than a bullet.
Or so I wish. Instead Riddick joins our little stare down placing a blade between Johns' legs. His shiv positioned for vasectomy. Johns surrenders first, placing his gun in its holster, he glowers at me as if it's my fault.
'You will regret this' and backs away. I kinda wished I had cut his arm off now, thank goodness for imagination.
'This solves nothing' Imam interferes, the tension in the room being broken by the sound of my sword sliding back into its case. Fry gives me a nod of thanks, before turning to the room,
'They're afraid of our light. That means we don't have to be afraid'
'And you are sure you can get us there? Even in the dark?' Imam asks, not totally convinced. Well hell neither am I but I'm willing to try.
'No, I can't…' I feel a 'but' coming.
'…but he can' pointing to Riddick, is that a good idea? I don't like this. Trusting Riddick can go so horribly wrong. I hope Fry has at least considered that.
Fry then turns her attention on me 'And her' well ain't this an odd turn of events. I see Jack lighting up behind Fry, she's got her confidence back I see. I sigh,
'Right, well let's get started shall we?'
Riddick's POV
Eyes shined when she was young my ass! Audrey sure covered everything so Lily wouldn't suspect that Audrey had a relationship with me. Not to mention I'm jealous! Those eyes of hers have no weakness, meaning she can really makes things hard for me to do what I want.
Johns is going to die soon. He reckons he can aim that big gauge of his at my kid and get away with it. I gave him a clear warning. He will lose his balls the next time he tries something like that. So Captain reckons she can trust me to look after them in the dark. Fine, I'll play her dangerous game. Let's see who'll survive the night.
