The three walked away from the station, Riddick leading the way.
"Where are we going?" Jack asked.
"To visit an old friend," Riddick stated nonchalantly.
Traveling by memory, Riddick stopped at the only house that could possibly be Earl's. A small one bedroom, complete with metal link fence. The exterior showed all the aspects of a traditional bachelor pad.
Leaving Imam and Jack at the fence, Riddick walked straight to the door and knocked. Loudly.
"Hold on," came Earl's voice from inside. Riddick heard a dead bolt slide, then a couple key locks turn. The door cracked open, and Earl looked out. "Yes? What do you?" Earl gasped when he saw who was standing before him.
Earl tried to slam the door shut, but Riddick jammed his hand against it. Pushing it open, he stepped inside. "Hiya, Earl."
*************************
Jack and Imam stood outside, getting impatient.
"What do you think he's doing in there?" Jack asked Imam.
"I do not think I really want to know," the Muslim stated. "I DO feel sorry for the poor officer."
A few seconds later, Jack couldn't take it anymore. "I'm gonna go see how much damage Riddick's done." She skipped through the fence and ran through the front door.
The house was a mess. Chairs overturned, mirrors smashed, papers and books strewn all over. Jack frantically looked around the room to find Riddick, and saw him in the middle of a standoff between him and Earl. Earl had his gun aimed at Riddick, and Riddick held a kitchen knife, pointed at Earl, ready to throw it. The cop was barely standing. Blood trickled down his nose, bruises covered his face, and he leant more on his right leg, indicating that the left leg was broken. Riddick had a couple scratches, but none from this fight were as bad as the one he had received while fighting the carnivores.
"Riddick," Jack cried, providing just the distraction Riddick needed. As Earl glanced around to see who had spoken, Riddick threw the knife. It sunk deep in Earl's right shoulder, and he fell to the ground, finally passing out from the pain.
"Did you just kill him?" Jack asked.
"No, wrong side of the chest. Merely hindered his following us." Riddick casually walked to the door, leading Jack in front of him. "Come on. Let's find some place to stay."
*************************
When the sun began to rise, the trio was sitting outside of a night shelter.
"Look, Riddick. It's okay to get kicked out of jail," Jack started. "But did you have to get us kicked out of our only place to stay? Why did you get in a fight with that guy?"
Riddick could not explain why. The three had each received a bed at the shelter, even though it had been late. Jack and Imam had fallen asleep immediately, but Riddick had decided to keep one eye open. When he had gazed around, he had noticed this one guy staring back at him. As Riddick had continued to watch the man, he had realized that the guy had not been staring at him. He had been staring at Jack.
Unable to see Riddick's eyes through the dark goggles, the man had assumed that everyone was asleep. Quietly, he had arisen from his bed and had walked over to Jack's, an evil intent gleaming in his eyes.
Riddick's protective instinct had kicked in. That was the only explanation. Before the man had the chance to do anything, Riddick had leapt out of his bed and practically threw the man across the room. Jack had awoken at the start of the fight and sat up, watching the action. The fight ended quickly with the man leveled on the floor, and Riddick standing over him with someone's hammer in hand, ready to bash the guy's head in. Everyone in the room had woken up and was cheering on the combatants, and five of the shelter attendants were trying to break up the fight.
Now, they were sitting on the steps outside, watching as the first rays of sunlight peeked through the many buildings. Riddick was unable to truly answer the child's question, but Jack had a good idea what the answer would have been. She stopped talking, but traces of a smile appeared on her lips.
The shelter door opened behind them, and one of the attendants walked out. "I thought I told you three to leave. That means get off the property. Don't make me call the police!"
Riddick just looked at him, and Jack stuck her tongue out at him. Then, all three stood up and walked away from the shelter.
"I must say, Mr. Riddick, that traveling with you has been full of experiences," Imam stated.
"Same here, Holy Man," Riddick replied.
As they turned down a dark alleyway that the sun had not yet hit, Riddick heard footsteps following behind them.
Not alarming Jack or Imam, Riddick casually looked around the alley for a decent weapon. In a nearby trash can, a broken glass bottle stuck out the top. The sharp edge looked strong enough, so when they walked past the can, Riddick grabbed the bottle and snapped it over his knee, making the shard about shiv-sized so it would be easier to use.
Jack and Imam finally heard the footsteps, and she huddled close to Riddick.
Suddenly, a shot rang out, and Imam fell to the ground. As Jack ran to his side, Riddick whirled around to face the gunman.
Pike, with three of his buddies from the jail cell. "Well, looky here," he laughed. "It's Goggle Boy and his merry crew."
"How the fuck did you get out?" Riddick asked, carefully positioning the glass shiv for fighting.
Pike smiled. "It's a nice little loophole called bail." The smile vanished. "You and your friend embarrassed me in there. There's no way in hell I'm letting that go unpunished."
Off to the side, Jack gasped back tears. She rose to her feet and looked directly at Pike. "You killed him. You son of a bitch, you killed him!" She barely finished her words before she flew at Pike in a vengeful rage.
"Don't!" Riddick yelled, but it was too late.
As Jack reached Pike, he grabbed her, twirled her around, and held her to him, gun pointed at her head. She struggled to get free, but he secured her tightly.
"What a nice little situation we have here," Pike said, flexing his finger around the trigger.
"Let her go!" Riddick demanded.
Pike smiled, and tauntingly asked, "Oh, does someone have an attachment to this little piece of..."
Wham! Jack racked him with her elbow. Distracted by the intense pain, Pike loosened his grip only slightly, but it was just enough for Jack to break free. She ran toward Riddick as Pike's friends huddled around him.
Jack was only three steps away from Riddick when Pike recollected himself, took aim, and fired the pistol. As the bullet hit, Jack stumbled and started to fall, but Riddick caught her in his arms, careful not to cut her with the shiv.
Riddick knelt to the ground, holding her close, her head resting on his arm. Looking up at him, she whispered something that would be inaudible to any normal person.
"You're welcome," he said, while slowly removing his goggles. He wanted eye-to-eye contact with her.
With her remaining strength, Jack leaned up and kissed her hero lightly on the cheek. Then, she breathed her last sigh and died right in his arms.
Riddick knew that dead, blank stare. He had seen it several times on the faces of his victims. At times, he had reveled in it, studied it. Not now. It was not supposed to be on the face of someone he had survived with. Someone he knew about. Someone he cared about.
He placed her on the ground, closing her eyes with one hand. When he heard a slight chuckle, he whipped his head up and glared at Pike.
Pike just smiled. "Oops. My bad." He turned to his friends. "Why don't you guys take care of him? I'll watch and enjoy."
Riddick slowly stood up as the three men rushed at him. When the first reached him, Riddick merely swung his arm around, glass shiv connecting with the man's abdominal cavity, just below his stomach. As Riddick continued to slice upward, the shard cut all the way up the guy's chest, disemboweling him. As the man fell to the ground, the other two guys flanked Riddick on either side.
Moving with the speed of a panther, Riddick grabbed the guy at his left and spun him around, throwing him at the man to his right. As they connected, Riddick slammed them both into the side wall. One of them tried to get back at him, but Riddick stuck his right hand up, shiv pointed out. The combined force of Riddick's jab and the man's velocity caused the shard to puncture through the guy's occipital cavity and straight into the brain, killing him instantly. Riddick lost the grip on the shiv as Pike's final friend tackled him to the ground.
"Zack, rip his head off!" Pike called from his stationary post.
Zack got a couple good punches in, slamming Riddick in the head or the gut. A couple kidney shots. He felt pretty good about himself, until Riddick lifted his foot up and kicked Zack over his head. Leaping up, Riddick grabbed Zack by his head, lifted him off the ground, and ran him into a fire escape, skull first.
Throwing the barely conscious Zack to the ground, Riddick grabbed the nearby metal trash can and turned it upside down, dumping out the contents. He hefted it over his head and quickly slammed the rim down just below Zack's neckline. The body convulsed once while Zack's head banged around the sides of the can with a dull thud.
Riddick turned to face Pike...
Just as a bullet tore from the gun and into his left arm.
Riddick fell to the ground, clutching his arm and looking at his attacker. "You forgot about this little friend of mine," Pike smirked while pointing the gun to the sky. "I told you, I can't let any of this go unpunished.
As Pike cocked the gun, Riddick reached across himself and grabbed the glass shard from the eye of the second fallen body. He flipped to face Pike, prepping the shiv for throwing. He launched the shard just as Pike pulled the trigger.
It all happened in less than three seconds.
Riddick watched anxiously as the blade hit its mark, slicing across Pike's external jugular vein. Blood spurted from the laceration, and Pike slumped to the ground. In a matter half a minute, Pike was dead, a pool of blood surrounding his body.
Only after the assured demise of Pike did Riddick surrender to the pain of the gunshots. Judging by the agony, Riddick was able to tell exactly wear he had been hit. The second bullet had ripped through his chest, nicking the ascending aorta of his heart. He knew he wouldn't last much longer.
Despite the stories of near-death experience survivors, there was no fading into darkness nor a calm, soothing light. Instead, an intensely harsh illumination flooded in front of Riddick's now closed eyelids. The light grew brighter and harsher as he faded away.
*************************
Brighter. Brighter. Brighter.
"Riddick? Riddick, wake up."
A sharp slap woke him. As his eyes fluttered open, his heightened vision revealed Jack leaning over him. She smiled. "It's about time. You've been out for hours. Guess you were tired."
Riddick sprung into a sitting position, staring at Jack. "What the fuck? You were dead a minute ago."
Jack started backing away. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Imam. That son-of-a-bitch shot both of you in the alley."
"Okay, you're starting to scare me now," she said. "Imam and I have been sitting here, waiting for you to wake up and trying to figure out how to steer the skiff until you do."
Only now did Riddick soak in his surroundings. They were no longer in the alleyway. Once again, they were aboard the skiff, a sea of stars ahead of them. Once again, he was on the cold metal floor of the ship, Jack slapping him into consciousness. Once again.
"There's no fucking way that was a dream." Even as he said it, parts of the memories were fading into nothingness. Soon, he'd barely remember it.
"It must have been an intense dream, Mr. Riddick," Imam spoke up from his seat. "You've been asleep since we went through that white circle. Do we knew what it was anyway?"
"No clue," Jack answered. "Probably just some random space anomaly. It didn't even do anything."
Riddick stood up and moved back to the pilot's seat. Staring at the controls, he tried to recollect his thoughts. They had been dead. ALL of them, shot in the alley. Weren't they?
Jack walked over to him. "Look, we're just happy you're awake. Not like we could do this without you." As she started to walk away, she patted him on the left shoulder.
Riddick flinched slightly. "Fuck, don't do that. It hurts."
"Where are we going?" Jack asked.
"To visit an old friend," Riddick stated nonchalantly.
Traveling by memory, Riddick stopped at the only house that could possibly be Earl's. A small one bedroom, complete with metal link fence. The exterior showed all the aspects of a traditional bachelor pad.
Leaving Imam and Jack at the fence, Riddick walked straight to the door and knocked. Loudly.
"Hold on," came Earl's voice from inside. Riddick heard a dead bolt slide, then a couple key locks turn. The door cracked open, and Earl looked out. "Yes? What do you?" Earl gasped when he saw who was standing before him.
Earl tried to slam the door shut, but Riddick jammed his hand against it. Pushing it open, he stepped inside. "Hiya, Earl."
*************************
Jack and Imam stood outside, getting impatient.
"What do you think he's doing in there?" Jack asked Imam.
"I do not think I really want to know," the Muslim stated. "I DO feel sorry for the poor officer."
A few seconds later, Jack couldn't take it anymore. "I'm gonna go see how much damage Riddick's done." She skipped through the fence and ran through the front door.
The house was a mess. Chairs overturned, mirrors smashed, papers and books strewn all over. Jack frantically looked around the room to find Riddick, and saw him in the middle of a standoff between him and Earl. Earl had his gun aimed at Riddick, and Riddick held a kitchen knife, pointed at Earl, ready to throw it. The cop was barely standing. Blood trickled down his nose, bruises covered his face, and he leant more on his right leg, indicating that the left leg was broken. Riddick had a couple scratches, but none from this fight were as bad as the one he had received while fighting the carnivores.
"Riddick," Jack cried, providing just the distraction Riddick needed. As Earl glanced around to see who had spoken, Riddick threw the knife. It sunk deep in Earl's right shoulder, and he fell to the ground, finally passing out from the pain.
"Did you just kill him?" Jack asked.
"No, wrong side of the chest. Merely hindered his following us." Riddick casually walked to the door, leading Jack in front of him. "Come on. Let's find some place to stay."
*************************
When the sun began to rise, the trio was sitting outside of a night shelter.
"Look, Riddick. It's okay to get kicked out of jail," Jack started. "But did you have to get us kicked out of our only place to stay? Why did you get in a fight with that guy?"
Riddick could not explain why. The three had each received a bed at the shelter, even though it had been late. Jack and Imam had fallen asleep immediately, but Riddick had decided to keep one eye open. When he had gazed around, he had noticed this one guy staring back at him. As Riddick had continued to watch the man, he had realized that the guy had not been staring at him. He had been staring at Jack.
Unable to see Riddick's eyes through the dark goggles, the man had assumed that everyone was asleep. Quietly, he had arisen from his bed and had walked over to Jack's, an evil intent gleaming in his eyes.
Riddick's protective instinct had kicked in. That was the only explanation. Before the man had the chance to do anything, Riddick had leapt out of his bed and practically threw the man across the room. Jack had awoken at the start of the fight and sat up, watching the action. The fight ended quickly with the man leveled on the floor, and Riddick standing over him with someone's hammer in hand, ready to bash the guy's head in. Everyone in the room had woken up and was cheering on the combatants, and five of the shelter attendants were trying to break up the fight.
Now, they were sitting on the steps outside, watching as the first rays of sunlight peeked through the many buildings. Riddick was unable to truly answer the child's question, but Jack had a good idea what the answer would have been. She stopped talking, but traces of a smile appeared on her lips.
The shelter door opened behind them, and one of the attendants walked out. "I thought I told you three to leave. That means get off the property. Don't make me call the police!"
Riddick just looked at him, and Jack stuck her tongue out at him. Then, all three stood up and walked away from the shelter.
"I must say, Mr. Riddick, that traveling with you has been full of experiences," Imam stated.
"Same here, Holy Man," Riddick replied.
As they turned down a dark alleyway that the sun had not yet hit, Riddick heard footsteps following behind them.
Not alarming Jack or Imam, Riddick casually looked around the alley for a decent weapon. In a nearby trash can, a broken glass bottle stuck out the top. The sharp edge looked strong enough, so when they walked past the can, Riddick grabbed the bottle and snapped it over his knee, making the shard about shiv-sized so it would be easier to use.
Jack and Imam finally heard the footsteps, and she huddled close to Riddick.
Suddenly, a shot rang out, and Imam fell to the ground. As Jack ran to his side, Riddick whirled around to face the gunman.
Pike, with three of his buddies from the jail cell. "Well, looky here," he laughed. "It's Goggle Boy and his merry crew."
"How the fuck did you get out?" Riddick asked, carefully positioning the glass shiv for fighting.
Pike smiled. "It's a nice little loophole called bail." The smile vanished. "You and your friend embarrassed me in there. There's no way in hell I'm letting that go unpunished."
Off to the side, Jack gasped back tears. She rose to her feet and looked directly at Pike. "You killed him. You son of a bitch, you killed him!" She barely finished her words before she flew at Pike in a vengeful rage.
"Don't!" Riddick yelled, but it was too late.
As Jack reached Pike, he grabbed her, twirled her around, and held her to him, gun pointed at her head. She struggled to get free, but he secured her tightly.
"What a nice little situation we have here," Pike said, flexing his finger around the trigger.
"Let her go!" Riddick demanded.
Pike smiled, and tauntingly asked, "Oh, does someone have an attachment to this little piece of..."
Wham! Jack racked him with her elbow. Distracted by the intense pain, Pike loosened his grip only slightly, but it was just enough for Jack to break free. She ran toward Riddick as Pike's friends huddled around him.
Jack was only three steps away from Riddick when Pike recollected himself, took aim, and fired the pistol. As the bullet hit, Jack stumbled and started to fall, but Riddick caught her in his arms, careful not to cut her with the shiv.
Riddick knelt to the ground, holding her close, her head resting on his arm. Looking up at him, she whispered something that would be inaudible to any normal person.
"You're welcome," he said, while slowly removing his goggles. He wanted eye-to-eye contact with her.
With her remaining strength, Jack leaned up and kissed her hero lightly on the cheek. Then, she breathed her last sigh and died right in his arms.
Riddick knew that dead, blank stare. He had seen it several times on the faces of his victims. At times, he had reveled in it, studied it. Not now. It was not supposed to be on the face of someone he had survived with. Someone he knew about. Someone he cared about.
He placed her on the ground, closing her eyes with one hand. When he heard a slight chuckle, he whipped his head up and glared at Pike.
Pike just smiled. "Oops. My bad." He turned to his friends. "Why don't you guys take care of him? I'll watch and enjoy."
Riddick slowly stood up as the three men rushed at him. When the first reached him, Riddick merely swung his arm around, glass shiv connecting with the man's abdominal cavity, just below his stomach. As Riddick continued to slice upward, the shard cut all the way up the guy's chest, disemboweling him. As the man fell to the ground, the other two guys flanked Riddick on either side.
Moving with the speed of a panther, Riddick grabbed the guy at his left and spun him around, throwing him at the man to his right. As they connected, Riddick slammed them both into the side wall. One of them tried to get back at him, but Riddick stuck his right hand up, shiv pointed out. The combined force of Riddick's jab and the man's velocity caused the shard to puncture through the guy's occipital cavity and straight into the brain, killing him instantly. Riddick lost the grip on the shiv as Pike's final friend tackled him to the ground.
"Zack, rip his head off!" Pike called from his stationary post.
Zack got a couple good punches in, slamming Riddick in the head or the gut. A couple kidney shots. He felt pretty good about himself, until Riddick lifted his foot up and kicked Zack over his head. Leaping up, Riddick grabbed Zack by his head, lifted him off the ground, and ran him into a fire escape, skull first.
Throwing the barely conscious Zack to the ground, Riddick grabbed the nearby metal trash can and turned it upside down, dumping out the contents. He hefted it over his head and quickly slammed the rim down just below Zack's neckline. The body convulsed once while Zack's head banged around the sides of the can with a dull thud.
Riddick turned to face Pike...
Just as a bullet tore from the gun and into his left arm.
Riddick fell to the ground, clutching his arm and looking at his attacker. "You forgot about this little friend of mine," Pike smirked while pointing the gun to the sky. "I told you, I can't let any of this go unpunished.
As Pike cocked the gun, Riddick reached across himself and grabbed the glass shard from the eye of the second fallen body. He flipped to face Pike, prepping the shiv for throwing. He launched the shard just as Pike pulled the trigger.
It all happened in less than three seconds.
Riddick watched anxiously as the blade hit its mark, slicing across Pike's external jugular vein. Blood spurted from the laceration, and Pike slumped to the ground. In a matter half a minute, Pike was dead, a pool of blood surrounding his body.
Only after the assured demise of Pike did Riddick surrender to the pain of the gunshots. Judging by the agony, Riddick was able to tell exactly wear he had been hit. The second bullet had ripped through his chest, nicking the ascending aorta of his heart. He knew he wouldn't last much longer.
Despite the stories of near-death experience survivors, there was no fading into darkness nor a calm, soothing light. Instead, an intensely harsh illumination flooded in front of Riddick's now closed eyelids. The light grew brighter and harsher as he faded away.
*************************
Brighter. Brighter. Brighter.
"Riddick? Riddick, wake up."
A sharp slap woke him. As his eyes fluttered open, his heightened vision revealed Jack leaning over him. She smiled. "It's about time. You've been out for hours. Guess you were tired."
Riddick sprung into a sitting position, staring at Jack. "What the fuck? You were dead a minute ago."
Jack started backing away. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Imam. That son-of-a-bitch shot both of you in the alley."
"Okay, you're starting to scare me now," she said. "Imam and I have been sitting here, waiting for you to wake up and trying to figure out how to steer the skiff until you do."
Only now did Riddick soak in his surroundings. They were no longer in the alleyway. Once again, they were aboard the skiff, a sea of stars ahead of them. Once again, he was on the cold metal floor of the ship, Jack slapping him into consciousness. Once again.
"There's no fucking way that was a dream." Even as he said it, parts of the memories were fading into nothingness. Soon, he'd barely remember it.
"It must have been an intense dream, Mr. Riddick," Imam spoke up from his seat. "You've been asleep since we went through that white circle. Do we knew what it was anyway?"
"No clue," Jack answered. "Probably just some random space anomaly. It didn't even do anything."
Riddick stood up and moved back to the pilot's seat. Staring at the controls, he tried to recollect his thoughts. They had been dead. ALL of them, shot in the alley. Weren't they?
Jack walked over to him. "Look, we're just happy you're awake. Not like we could do this without you." As she started to walk away, she patted him on the left shoulder.
Riddick flinched slightly. "Fuck, don't do that. It hurts."
