They don't just wait until night fall. They wait well into the night, when the guards might be lulled into a sort of complacency by the quiet and darkness. They, after all, have no idea of what was to come. This is just a normal night for them, and normalcy might lull them into a false sense of security.
The wait is torture for Riddick. Sitting there with Jack pressed against him, not able to do anything about it. When all he wants to do is pull her to him and kiss her senseless. To pull her clothes off and reveal the body beneath. To caress her skin and sink into her warmth and…
But he can't. And he shouldn't even be thinking about it. Not now.
Around midnight, he rouses the girls. They were so exhausted, they'd slept pretty much all day and into the night. They're close to the edge but haven't given up yet. They impress him. They're stronger than they look.
After they all eat, he crouches in front of Laci. "Okay, kid. I'm going to leave you with Jack for a little while. I'm coming back, but you need to be good and do exactly as she says. No curling up, no sleeping, no crying. Follow her orders and wait for me to come back for you. Got it?"
She hesitates a minute, but then nods.
He smiles. "Good." Putting his hand on the rats' nest of her hair, he rubs a few times, then stands up. His eyes find Jack's, and he nods. "Let's go."
They leave as a group, silent, weapons out. The air around them is tense and nervous. Even the little ones are wide-eyed and pale faced, scared about what was to come.
They find a little hollow in a wall near the fence hidden by some bushes. Jack and the girls squeeze into it.
Riddick puts his hand on Jack's shoulder. "I won't be long," he says, "I'll find a weak point and come back to get you. We'll all go in together."
She twirls her knife in her hand and gives a semblance of a cavaliere smile. "We'll be waiting."
He nods and turns to go.
Riddick circles the spaceport once, gauging the various points for weaknesses. He thinks he finds one the first go 'round but wants to be sure. By the second time around, he is. The fencing is weak. The guard is sleepy and leaning against the fence. His weapon is hung loosely at his side, and he looks half drunk.
Jack is crouching in the hollow when he returns. Her weapon snaps up when he pushes the bush aside, but she relaxes when she sees him.
"Let's go."
Silently, they all follow. It's about a mile and a half to the weak point. The girls have learned to walk on noiseless feet. Even when they start breathing heavily, they do it quietly.
When they make it, Riddick hides them all behind a dumpster. "What do you think? Go in hard, all at once, or us go first and the girls come when we're done?"
Jack narrows her eyes and assesses the scene. "Do we have something to cut the fence with?"
"Got a bolt cutter in the pack. Should make short work of it."
"And there's only one?"
"On this side."
Jack nods. "Girls, stay here until we call you. Karina, keep watch."
"Got it." The oldest girl takes position in front, her staff ready to do damage.
Riddick glances at Jack. Silently, they count down. Then, as one, they race across the distance to the guard.
He never stood a chance. Didn't even get to send off a message before Jack stabs him through the throat, felling him.
Riddick pulls out the bolt cutters and makes quick work of the fence. Then, he turns and waves to the girls.
They run to them and, one by one, squeeze through the fence.
"This way," Riddick orders. He takes off at a light jog, which kills him, because a time like this calls for speed. But the little ones wouldn't be able to keep up, and it's too dangerous to carry them right now.
He hears the girl's footfalls behind him as they follow. They cross an empty field that's, thankfully, unlit. Riddick can see ships in the distance, as well as dark shapes moving. More guards.
He brings the group to a stop near the edge of a building. Scans the night.
The largest concentration of guards is around a likely looking ship. Probably the best ship they could hope to get. It's mid-sized, has some weapons, and, since there are guards around it, is probably fueled and ready to go.
"That one," he says.
Jack exhales hard and rubs her forehead. "How many men?"
"Twenty? But there will be more. We need to clear a path and get the girls on. Karina."
"Yes?"
"Be ready to run. Get them all ready to run. When we say, you run as fast as you can to the ship and get onboard."
Her face is grim, mouth set into a thin, hard line. "Got it."
He glances at Jack. Meets her eyes.
If there was time, he'd kiss her. Just in case. But there's not.
The look on her face is knowing, though. She smiles and lifts her knife. "Ready to play a game?"
"What game?"
"Who's a better killer?"
He grins. "Let's play."
Later, I can't remember the particulars of the fight. I know Riddick and I go in hard. Five men are dead before they realize they are under attack. Riddick and I move in complete harmony, working together to take down each threat, each man. We kick, punch, stab. Turn and weave. We use each other and the men we fight to gain advantage. The ground is slick with blood and the air rings with screams.
As Riddick predicted, the twenty around the ship aren't the only ones. More men pour out of the surrounding buildings and ships. But they, too, fall to our superior skills until finally there is a hole. An opening.
"Karina!" Riddick roars.
The girls burst out of their hiding place and run towards the ship. Karina is first, Tasha last, prodding the little ones, urging them to go faster.
I hit a button on the ship, lowering the ramp. "Go!" I scream.
Karina pounds up the ramp just as reinforcements come out of the nearest building. They begin shooting—at the girls, at the ship, at me and Riddick. The girls scream and start running faster.
Laci makes it. Then Regan.
Ellie and Tasha are almost there when Tasha falls.
"Shit!" I swear.
"Get Ellie."
I run to the little girl, who's a few feet front of Tasha. I heart Tasha sobbing in pain, shouting something at Riddick as I scoop Ellie into my arms. I want to go to her, but Riddick is there, so I turn and start running to the ship.
"Just leave me!" I hear Tasha shout. "Go!"
I make it to the top of the ramp and hand Ellie off to Karina. Then I turn, ready to head back.
"Holy fuck," I swear when I see Tasha.
Tasha is in Riddick's arm. Her leg is twisted at an odd angle. Tears stream down her face. She's shaking her head, but Riddick ignores her cries to be left behind. He dodges bullets, zigzags around them, and finally makes it to the ship.
"Close the ramp!"
I hit the button and the ramp begins to close. I hear gun fire and feel a sharp pain on my arm. I look down and see that I've been grazed by a stray bullet. Blood wells from the gash, but it hasn't penetrated. I'm not hit badly.
The ramp closes before any other bullets can do any damage. I breathe a quick sigh of relief.
"Take her." Riddick pushes Tasha into my arms and heads to the cockpit. "Buckle in, girls, we're not safe yet!"
I usher the girls into the main room. Karina starts getting everyone seated and buckled in while I put Tasha on a small bench protruding from the wall. It'll serve as a med bay for now until we can get her somewhere safe.
She's still crying. Her face is stark white and she's shivering. "You should have left me," she moans, writhing in pain. "You could be gone."
The ship lurches as Riddick takes off. Tasha is almost tossed from the cot, but I catch her.
"Calm down," I sooth her, strapping her in. "We're fine."
"We're not going to make it."
"If we don't, it's not because we went back for you." I stroke her forehead. "And we're almost there. Just a little bit more."
She convulses suddenly. She barely makes it onto her side before she throws up. "Hurts," she moans.
I stroke her hair and nod. "I know. Wait here."
Carefully, because the ship is dodging and diving all over the place, I make my way to the entrance where Riddick dropped his pack. I drag it back to the main room and start digging until I find the morphine.
It's so hard giving it to her when I know it's so addictive, but she's in so much pain and there's no way I can fix her leg. Not right now, in the middle of a chase with the ship bouncing around like this. Normal pain killers aren't going to do anything for her, and I just want to give her some peace.
I only give her a little. Just enough to relax her and take the pain away. The tense lines on her face smooth and her eyes close. Tears are still sliding down her cheeks, but I don't think it's from pain anymore.
"You okay?" I ask, stroking her hair.
She nods and smiles. "I'm okay. It doesn't hurt. My head's fuzzy."
"Try to get some sleep." I kiss her on the forehead, then turn and go to the cockpit.
There are two ships after us. I take the co-pilot's chair and fire up the weapons. This has never been my strong suit, but I'm able to aim and fire at one ship.
It grazes across their hull and knocks out their navigation. It immediately goes into a tailspin and drops behind.
"Good shot."
"Lucky shot," I correct.
Riddick swerves and brings me into a good position to fire on the other vessel. I do, but it dodges and avoids the blast. It fires back, hitting us. The ship shakes, but we stay up.
"Almost to the edge of the atmosphere. I'm reading a few more up there."
"We can get out," I say, palms damp with sweat. I aim again and fire.
This time, I hit it square on. The ship explodes, causing our ship to shudder again.
We blast out of the atmosphere and into space. There's about ten more ships waiting, but they're scattered and moving slowly. Riddick finds a hole and blasts us through it. I fire continuously, at anything and everything, barely taking time to aim.
"Okay," he says, "We're beyond the gravity well. And…" His fingers fly over the consol.
The ship lurches, groans, and shakes. And then, bam. We make the jump.
Riddick turns to me, a smile on his face. "And that, I must say, was a pretty damn fine escape."
I stare blankly at the empty space around us, unable to believe it. "Are we really gone? We really made it?"
"We really made it."
I laugh. Then I cover my mouth, because I don't remember the last time I've made a noise quite that loud. I'm shaking all over and I can't quite catch my breath. "Oh my God. Holy shit."
"Hey, hey. Calm down." Riddick takes my hands in his and squeezes them. "You're fine now. Just breathe."
"I just… I can't… I mean…"
"Shh." He squeezes my hands again. "Breathe."
Still shaking, I do as he says. I force myself to inhale as deeply as I can. My eyes are stinging, and my head is spinning, but it slows as I inhale. "Riddick."
He pulls me out of my chair and into his lap. I'm so much bigger than I used to be, and I don't fit against him like I did when I was a child. But I curl up against him and lay my head against his shoulder. His arms come around me. He rests his head against mine. And we sit there and breath together for a long time.
I don't know how much time has passed before he says, "You okay?"
"Yeah." I wipe my eyes and lift my head. "Yeah, I'm good. I just can't believe… I honestly thought I was going to die on that planet. I thought…"
"I know. But you didn't."
I put my hand on his cheek. "Thank you."
His eyes meet mine and then he surges forward and kisses me.
I groan deep in my throat and open my mouth. My hand slides around his neck, and I hold him tightly to me. Our tongues twine around each other, caressing and stroking. His hand slides up my back, holding me close.
"So, I take it we're safe."
I break away from Riddick and turn.
Karina is standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. She does not look pleased.
"Yes, we're safe. We made it," I say. I uncurl myself from Riddick's lap and stand.
She cocks her head. "Well. You might want to come back and tell the little ones that. They're scared."
"Of course. Sorry."
She nods. And then, unexpectedly, she bursts into tears and runs to me, wrapping her arms around me.
"It's okay," I whisper, rubbing her back. "We made it. We're safe now."
But I know it will be a long time before any of the girls believe me.