Notes: Review! Review! Pleeeease! I seem to have lost the rest of my
readers. Dammit! Oh well, I really appreciate the faithful: abraxis,
ivorybrowneyes. You've been wonderful with your comments. Thank you so
much! (let's not mention the fact that I'm writing when I should be
studying for finals.hmmm)
Chapter 10
They saw no other creatures as they made their way through the ship. All Alex heard were occasional gratings on the metal, but nothing approached the group. As they had stepped outside the relatively safe area, Alex felt the coldness of fear settle in her stomach, but only briefly. With sword in hand, she was able to burn it away. She followed the light, but always kept her eyes on the surroundings. They eventually reached the hull door, and she turned to the side as Carolyn pulled it open. She pulled on the glasses as Carolyn moved the torch around, then went through the door. She jumped down onto the sand, then immediately crouched, sword at the ready, and kept her eyes on the sky. These fuckers probably fly, she thought to herself.
She heard the others jump down after her, and moved off to the side so they could follow Carolyn. If she was too close to the light source, the night vision would blind her. Plus, she hated to admit it but she would rather see what was behind them than ahead. She was no leader, but it was written all over Carolyn. Alex was content to let Carolyn do the leading and back her up. After all, she only recently started thinking of them as a "we" instead of just herself and the others.
She stayed at the back of the group, keeping an eye out for anything moving. She noticed Riddick doing the same thing, but still kept her distance from him. His defense of Carolyn had made her think he was going to go along with the group, but only somewhat. Anything was better than Johns, although he no longer underestimated her as much as before. Johns stayed at the side, covering the front and the side with his gun. She did not notice that both had eyed her in her fighter's stance, and the sword.
Carolyn whispered to stay close, then to wait in a group as she brought the light over to the adjacent cargo hold which they would try to get more light from. "Riddick!" she whispered, motioning for him to come over. Alex remained at the back as Riddick and Johns moved forward. Riddick uncovered his eyes, and looked into the hold for a moment. Alex couldn't see past the glare of the torch.
"Looks clear," he said. Johns moved closer to Riddick, and they started to move into the hold.
In the quiet, one of the creatures shrieked unexpectedly and leaped out from inside the hold, then flew away. Alex's heart was in her throat as she ducked along with everyone else. Again, she could not get over how large the big ones were. This time she got a good look at its mouth, all those razor sharp teeth. But now it was more of an appreciation, a curiosity for the animals. How they evolved, how they sensed things. Holding the sword took away her fear, for the most part. They waited. After a minute, no others had made any movement.
"You said clear!" Johns hissed at Riddick angrily from the ground near the ship where they were both lying.
"I said it looks clear!" murmured Riddick. Sort of a bastard thing to say, Alex thought privately. But true.
"Well, what's it look like now?" Johns asked.
Riddick brought his head up, peered into the hold, and brought it down again. "Looks clear," he said again, a smirk in his voice that Alex could hear.
Everyone got up and followed a cautious Johns and his gun into the cargo hold. After a few minutes of peering down barely-lighted hallways it became apparent that there were no uninvited guests in this part of the ship. Carolyn set the rest of the group to work to find any part of the ship they could scavenge and use for light. Alex, taking off her glasses as there was enough light provided by residual power cells to see by, found herself assigned to help Carolyn and Jack take out the glowing tubes that ran the length of the hold, connected to occasional power supplies. Alex worked fast, thinking of the skiff, that the longer they stayed in one place the more likely it was that the creatures would attack them there. She and Jack carried the tubes to the sled that Imam had constructed from a wall panel, which would hold the power supplies for the tubes, the power cells, Paris' torches, and any flares they found. As they were loading, she heard Riddick tell Carolyn that he would run ten paces ahead of them.
"And check your cuts, these bad boys know our blood now," he ended. With that, Jack looked up from where she was sitting, looking startled. Alex continued to loop the tubes together, but Jack seemed thoughtful. She shined the light from the tubes through her flesh, making it look as if it glowed red. Alex, as she mulled it over, agreed with Riddick, but wouldn't have thought of it herself. These creatures were animals, and once they attacked them, they would have the taste for human blood. Not like there was anything else on the damn planet they could eat. Alex shivered, wishing that they didn't have to go on the long trek from the ship to the settlement with nothing but some lights, a sword, a gun, and a few knives to protect them.
But it was the only way. Alex stood up, finished with the tubing, and picked up the line that would be used to drag the sled with. Staggering at its weight, she barely pulled it over to the entrance, where Riddick, Carolyn, and Paris were gazing into the darkness. The whirring and howling of the creatures never stopped even though they couldn't see them. Imam and the one remaining boy moved to the entrance, Jack hiding behind them.
"Are we actually going to do this?" Paris asked.
Carolyn turned to him, and spoke confidently. "We stay together, we keep the light burning" she said, nodding. "That's all we gotta do to live through this thing." She went back inside, presumably to find Johns, as he was the only one not there. Imam helped Alex drag the sled outside, and the others took up their positions on the sides, looping the tubing around them to keep them in the light. Alex was the only one besides Riddick near enough to the ship to hear Carolyn talking to Johns.
"Look, we're just wasting light here," she said.
"You give him the cells, and a ship," Johns mumbled, "and he'll leave all out there to die. He'll leave all of you." At that, Alex turned to look at Riddick. He must not have noticed her staring because a tightening of his jaw muscle betrayed emotion. She looked away. So he did have feelings. Or was he just worried that there would be a hitch in his plan to kill them all? She couldn't figure him.
"I don't get it, Johns," came Carolyn's voice. "What is so god damned valuable in your life that you're worried about losing? Is there anything at all? Besides your next spike." That startled Alex, his next spike? Realization came suddenly. Johns must be an addict, a hype. Although how a merc became a hype, she'd never know. Most of them were too busy tracking down their quarries. She held a certain disgust for addicts, but also a sympathy. She'd seen people wasting away on the street, all their money gone to pay for drugs. Their weakness, she thought. Although there was a time when she had almost been on the verge of trying something, anything, to make the pain stop. Instead she burned it away, and lost some other emotions besides.
Carolyn came outside from the ship, and after a few minutes Johns slowly followed. Riddick stood impassively looking out into the darkness, and Alex again took out her black glasses and put them on. A slight wind ruffled her short black hair. Jack offered her a loop of tubing near the back of the sled while the others were putting theirs on, and she took it. She placed it in a position which would allow her easy access to her sword, but it still inhibited her movement. They were all prepared.
Riddick started jogging ahead of them, and they quickly followed. The glow of the tubing wasn't enough so that it blinded Alex, so she could see around them. Paris was holding the cutting torch, and the others were holding the ends of the tubing, trying to aim them into the darkness. As they got out of sight from the ship, her heart beat faster and faster. She could see what the others could not, that hundreds of the creatures surrounded them, to break away when the lighted sled approached them but to only gather behind them as they left. Riddick must be seeing the same thing, she realized. It would only make the others more afraid to realize how many of them were out there, so she kept her mouth shut and put one hand on the sword.
After they had been traveling for about fifteen minutes, they slowed their pace, as Imam and Johns were getting tired from dragging the heavy sled. Alex didn't want to slow, she wanted to run to that skiff, but as she wasn't pulling the sled she could see how they could be tired. Carrying one cell even a short distance had made her gain an appreciation for how heavy they were.
They stopped to take a small break, and at that particular moment, the cutting torch in Paris' hands decided to go out. As it did, the light noticeably decreased, and the howls of the creatures sounded again. Near.
"Stay close!" Imam reminded Paris, and he and Johns began pulling the sled again. Paris reached into the sled, pulling out one of his bottles/converted torches, and knocked out one of the flares so it rolled on the ground. Jack saw it, and taking off her looped tubing, called, "Wait!" to the sled-pullers.
A warning sign could have flashed in front of Alex's face as they stopped and Jack proceeded to go outside the circle of light.
"Jack!" Carolyn cried, to warn her. But she still crept towards the torch. They all stopped. Alex looked into the darkness and saw the creatures gathering, preparing to attack. She drew her sword, hoping that if they did she would at least be able to fight some of them off. Prevent them from killing her.
Imam threw off his tubing and ran to Jack, knocking her to the ground just as one of the creatures swept in, barely missing them as they lay flat against the sand. Johns fired into the air, and Carolyn went over to Jack and Imam. Alex remained in ready stance, facing the darkness, at the back of the sled. The creatures hovered just outside the circle, and had backed off a little bit when the gun fired. But they did not seem afraid of the gun.
She heard movement behind her, at the sled. Paris, screaming in hysterics, started to crawl away from the sled.
"Paris!" she called, unwilling to leave the light. But he kept crawling, muttering to himself.
"Paris! Get back here!" Carolyn ordered him, having turned when Alex called the first time. Alex saw the creatures begin to gather around him, cutting him off from the group. She couldn't have gotten him even if she had tried. She whirled around as one of the power supplies for the tubing fell, and sizzled, as Paris dragged it along. Carolyn and Imam crawled after it futilely trying to stop it from disconnecting from the other tubes. But they weren't fast enough. All of the power supplies failed, and the glow slowly faded. Alex started backing up, back towards the sled. She looked around to see Riddick crouched a few feet away from the others, a knife in his hand, looking outwards. The creatures were far away, except near Paris.
Alex tried fumbling around in the bucket on the sled, looking for a flare, knowing what would happen to Paris but unable to stop it. She made the mistake of glancing over there briefly and found her eyes riveted to the spot. They were thick around him, and as he sat on the ground, wounded by a gash, he brought out a flask and took a sip, then spewed it into his lighter's flame. It blinded Alex for a moment, and when her vision returned she could do nothing but stand there, watching in horror as the creatures tore his body apart. Like Shazza, the image burned itself into her brain. Her grip on the sword was loose, the shock of Paris' death threatening those walls.
She barely noticed as Carolyn lit the flare behind her, and the others lit their alcohol torches. She pulled her eyes away from the grisly scene. The rest of them were all right. Riddick walked back towards the sled and stood five feet from her, also looking at what was left of Paris' body.
Carolyn came up behind Riddick, carrying the bright green flare. "Do I even want to know?" she asked. Riddick cocked his head as if considering telling her.
Alex broke in. "No, you really don't," she said, turning towards the sled again to find a torch for herself and shaking her head, trying to remove the images. But Carolyn remained where she was, peering into the darkness. Alex lit the torch from Imam's that was already aflame. There was a sick feeling in her stomach. Disgust. For someone to be torn apart. Ugh. But she clenched her jaw. The night was definitely not over yet. "And miles to go before I sleep," she thought to herself.
She stupidly looked at the torch in her hand, realizing that it was blinding her. She decided to take off the glasses for awhile, in order to have more light surround them. Riddick was already leading them. Jack looked at her take off the glasses.
"Don't you want to see?" she asked.
"Torch blinds me, it's too much light. I'll put them back on in awhile," Alex answered. She smiled tersely at Jack, barely even curling her lips before looking out into the darkness, now more frightened than when she was able to see, but at least they'd have more light around them. The loss of the tubing was a real blow.
They trudged on for what seemed like hours. Carolyn's flare went out, and she grabbed one of the improvised torches for herself. Alex was no longer sure where they were, hoping that Riddick knew where he was going. He had to. He had as much of a desire to get away from these things as any of them. At least, she was pretty sure that he didn't want to die down here.
"Are we getting close?" Jack asked Carolyn.
In reply, she shouted at Johns, Riddick, and Imam. "Can we pick up the pace!?"
Johns threw down his rope and started to angrily walk over to Carolyn, when he saw Imam staring at something on the ground, and stared too. Alex walked over and saw the unmistakable drag marks of the sled in the sand. They had crossed their tracks. Riddick, who could see in the dark, had led them so that they crossed their own tracks. What the hell? What reason would he have to do it, was he going to turn on them? He seemed calm enough, and in full view.
Johns strode over to Riddick, who was crouched ahead of them, looking ahead. "You wanna tell me what the hell's going on?" he asked.
Imam joined him. "Why have we circled? Are we lost?"
"Listen," Riddick started to say.
"Do you even know where we are?!" Imam said firmly.
"Listen!" Riddick shouted, standing. The outburst startled Alex, and everyone else by the looks of it. Riddick always was so controlled, so calm. Perhaps the planet was beginning to weigh on him as well. In the silence, they heard the constant hissing noises of the creatures, moving somewhere around them. As long as they were stopped, Alex put her glasses back on to take a look at where they were.
"Canyon ahead, I circled once to buy some time to think," he continued, again controlled. Alex couldn't figure out what he had to think about, besides getting to the settlement and their ticket out of here.
"I think we should go now," said Imam decisively, glaring into the darkness.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Riddick said, still looking off into the canyon ahead. "That's Death Row up there, especially with the girl bleeding."
Alex quickly looked at Carolyn, and Carolyn looked at her. Neither of them had a trace of blood on them. There was Jack, too, but.Riddick couldn't know about Jack. Alex was sure she was the only one, from that moment so long ago. Just in case, Alex glanced at Jack. She saw no wounds on her, either. She looked back at Riddick as everyone else was looking at her and Carolyn.
"What the fuck you talkin' about, neither of them are cut," Johns asked, angrily.
"Not her. Or her. Her." Riddick turned around and looked straight at Jack. Damn! He had known. It wasn't anyone's business but Jack's if she wanted to travel as a guy, and Alex thought that should be kept a secret. Everyone else hadn't known, and turned around in realization to look at Jack, who was obviously uncomfortable with all those eyes on her. As Alex saw calculating glances from Imam, Carolyn, and Johns as they realized the truth, she looked back at Jack to see her almost on the verge of tears. But Alex still couldn't see her bleeding. Where was the blood from? And then she realized. Oh. OH. Poor Jack, to have to admit to that.
"You gotta be kidding me," Johns drawled with disgust in his voice.
Alex slightly in front of Jack to keep her away from everyone else. Poor kid. That's all she was, a kid, who was already scared. She didn't need to take the blame for the creatures tracking them through the endless night. Alex felt pity rise within her.
"I-I just thought it'd be better if people took me for a guy, I thought they might leave me alone," Jack started blathering.
Carolyn, looking frustrated, started towards her then stopped. "Jesus, Jack!" she said, "why didn't you tell me!" At this Jack crouched down and clutched her chest to her knees, with tears falling down her face.
Carolyn immediately crouched down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," as she went to hug her. "Are you really bleeding?" Alex felt a stab of pain at seeing such a caring gesture come from Carolyn. It was something that she could not do, not now, anyways. But for now, she would have to defend Jack from those who would blame her and be angry with her for something she had no control over. Especially Johns, who was looking at Jack with anger and disgust.
"Coulda left me at the ship, Fry, how come I didn't say something sooner?" Jack said dully.
"I knew" Alex said to the others, looking them in the eye in turn, daring them to come down on her for knowing Jack's secret. "It was her choice. And no one deserves to be left here, so don't even say that," she finished, turning to look at Jack while she said the last part. Jack looked up at her with tears in her eyes, but eyes with hope in them, then looked back down at the ground.
Carolyn tried to comfort Jack, to tell her it was okay. As Alex watched Johns carefully, she heard Riddick softly talking to Imam, saying that the creatures had been smelling Jack ever since they left the ship. Though Alex had no intention of leaving Jack behind, she had to admit it was a big problem. The creatures could get scent off of her wherever they went. But she was just a kid. Alex had felt some sort of duty to look out for her, since the very beginning. Jack looked so alone and frightened, emotions that Alex had, too, buried deep within her.
Carolyn stood up. "Look, this is not going to work. We're gonna have to go back," she said, downcast.
"What'd you say?" Johns started, angrily. "You're the one who got us out here in the first place and turned us into sled dogs," he said as he started walking towards her.
"I was, wrong, I admit it, okay, can we just get back to the ship," Carolyn's confident demeanor from before was gone. Alex couldn't figure it out. Yes, Jack was bleeding, but they had made it this far, hadn't they? Or was it that the canyon was so thick with the creatures that they would be more daring than the ones before.
Johns was pacing back and forth. "I don't know, Carolyn, nice breeze, wide- open space I'm starting to enjoy myself out here!" he shouted at her.
Suddenly Carolyn's confidence was back. "What, are you high again?" she sneered, "just listen to yourself Johns." Alex kept looking around them. The creatures weren't to be seen, except farther off in the distance. But if they kept arguing for long, they'd be back.
At that, the controlled façade that Johns had put out until now started to slip. "No, no, you're right, what's to be afraid of! My life's a steaming pile of meaningless shit anyhow, so I say mush on! The canyon's only a couple of meters and then it's skiff city. So why don't you butch up, stuff a cork in this fuckin' kid and let's go." His whole body stance was threatening, Alex was surprised he hadn't reached for his gun yet. Jack started crying again. Alex felt that tension building again, but this time it was much more dangerous in the great outdoors.
"She is the captain!" Imam broke in forcefully, "we should listen to her!"
"Listen to her?" Johns scoffed. "When she was so willing to sacrifice us all!"
What was he talking about!? Alex looked at Carolyn, who was denying what Johns had said.
"During the crash she tried to blow the whole passenger cabin, tried to kill us in our sleep," Johns talked over Carolyn's insistence he shut his mouth. But Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. Carolyn? Tried to kill them? But then she remembered the look on Carolyn's face when she had first met her. The blank look, the look that didn't believe what happened. So that's what had happened. "We are fucking disposable, we're just walking ghosts to you aren't we!?" Johns continued.
Carolyn lunged at him, screaming at him to shut up. Johns easily knocked her to the ground, and scowled at her, as Imam came up to them, shouting to stop. Alex still couldn't believe that Carolyn had done something like that. She who was their leader, now lay on the ground with a look on her face like she was disgusted with herself. Alex was stunned. She had trusted her. And yet, perhaps she had relied on Carolyn a little too much. So easy to accept the secondary role. Carolyn was just another person, fallible as anyone else. But she had taken the leader's role, taken it and protected these people with her.
"Oh, Carolyn," Johns said laughingly, "how much do you weigh now?" As she stayed on the ground, he grabbed a flare and snarled at Imam, "Verdict's in. The light moves forward," moving off onto the hill.
Alex saw Carolyn still laying there in the dirt, and she somehow knew that like anyone else, Carolyn could do things in her life that she regretted. She moved in front of Carolyn and crouched down. "Is that true?"
Carolyn brought her face up from the earth and looked at her eyes. "Yes. It's true. I, I tried to blow the hatch. Save the rest of the ship. Save myself. But Owens, he stopped me." She had tears in her eyes. Tears of self-loathing, perhaps. "I'm sorry," she gasped.
Alex looked at her, considering. Even in the little time they had, Carolyn had changed some, maybe felt a responsibility towards them. She had ordered them. Gone ahead of them into the unknown. Yes, she was sorry. That was enough for Alex, who might never forgive herself for what she had done that long time ago. But she could forgive Carolyn, who had proved herself in other ways. She held out her hand for the other woman to grasp. After a second's hesitation, Carolyn took Alex's hand, and they both stood up and looked out into the darkness.
Chapter 10
They saw no other creatures as they made their way through the ship. All Alex heard were occasional gratings on the metal, but nothing approached the group. As they had stepped outside the relatively safe area, Alex felt the coldness of fear settle in her stomach, but only briefly. With sword in hand, she was able to burn it away. She followed the light, but always kept her eyes on the surroundings. They eventually reached the hull door, and she turned to the side as Carolyn pulled it open. She pulled on the glasses as Carolyn moved the torch around, then went through the door. She jumped down onto the sand, then immediately crouched, sword at the ready, and kept her eyes on the sky. These fuckers probably fly, she thought to herself.
She heard the others jump down after her, and moved off to the side so they could follow Carolyn. If she was too close to the light source, the night vision would blind her. Plus, she hated to admit it but she would rather see what was behind them than ahead. She was no leader, but it was written all over Carolyn. Alex was content to let Carolyn do the leading and back her up. After all, she only recently started thinking of them as a "we" instead of just herself and the others.
She stayed at the back of the group, keeping an eye out for anything moving. She noticed Riddick doing the same thing, but still kept her distance from him. His defense of Carolyn had made her think he was going to go along with the group, but only somewhat. Anything was better than Johns, although he no longer underestimated her as much as before. Johns stayed at the side, covering the front and the side with his gun. She did not notice that both had eyed her in her fighter's stance, and the sword.
Carolyn whispered to stay close, then to wait in a group as she brought the light over to the adjacent cargo hold which they would try to get more light from. "Riddick!" she whispered, motioning for him to come over. Alex remained at the back as Riddick and Johns moved forward. Riddick uncovered his eyes, and looked into the hold for a moment. Alex couldn't see past the glare of the torch.
"Looks clear," he said. Johns moved closer to Riddick, and they started to move into the hold.
In the quiet, one of the creatures shrieked unexpectedly and leaped out from inside the hold, then flew away. Alex's heart was in her throat as she ducked along with everyone else. Again, she could not get over how large the big ones were. This time she got a good look at its mouth, all those razor sharp teeth. But now it was more of an appreciation, a curiosity for the animals. How they evolved, how they sensed things. Holding the sword took away her fear, for the most part. They waited. After a minute, no others had made any movement.
"You said clear!" Johns hissed at Riddick angrily from the ground near the ship where they were both lying.
"I said it looks clear!" murmured Riddick. Sort of a bastard thing to say, Alex thought privately. But true.
"Well, what's it look like now?" Johns asked.
Riddick brought his head up, peered into the hold, and brought it down again. "Looks clear," he said again, a smirk in his voice that Alex could hear.
Everyone got up and followed a cautious Johns and his gun into the cargo hold. After a few minutes of peering down barely-lighted hallways it became apparent that there were no uninvited guests in this part of the ship. Carolyn set the rest of the group to work to find any part of the ship they could scavenge and use for light. Alex, taking off her glasses as there was enough light provided by residual power cells to see by, found herself assigned to help Carolyn and Jack take out the glowing tubes that ran the length of the hold, connected to occasional power supplies. Alex worked fast, thinking of the skiff, that the longer they stayed in one place the more likely it was that the creatures would attack them there. She and Jack carried the tubes to the sled that Imam had constructed from a wall panel, which would hold the power supplies for the tubes, the power cells, Paris' torches, and any flares they found. As they were loading, she heard Riddick tell Carolyn that he would run ten paces ahead of them.
"And check your cuts, these bad boys know our blood now," he ended. With that, Jack looked up from where she was sitting, looking startled. Alex continued to loop the tubes together, but Jack seemed thoughtful. She shined the light from the tubes through her flesh, making it look as if it glowed red. Alex, as she mulled it over, agreed with Riddick, but wouldn't have thought of it herself. These creatures were animals, and once they attacked them, they would have the taste for human blood. Not like there was anything else on the damn planet they could eat. Alex shivered, wishing that they didn't have to go on the long trek from the ship to the settlement with nothing but some lights, a sword, a gun, and a few knives to protect them.
But it was the only way. Alex stood up, finished with the tubing, and picked up the line that would be used to drag the sled with. Staggering at its weight, she barely pulled it over to the entrance, where Riddick, Carolyn, and Paris were gazing into the darkness. The whirring and howling of the creatures never stopped even though they couldn't see them. Imam and the one remaining boy moved to the entrance, Jack hiding behind them.
"Are we actually going to do this?" Paris asked.
Carolyn turned to him, and spoke confidently. "We stay together, we keep the light burning" she said, nodding. "That's all we gotta do to live through this thing." She went back inside, presumably to find Johns, as he was the only one not there. Imam helped Alex drag the sled outside, and the others took up their positions on the sides, looping the tubing around them to keep them in the light. Alex was the only one besides Riddick near enough to the ship to hear Carolyn talking to Johns.
"Look, we're just wasting light here," she said.
"You give him the cells, and a ship," Johns mumbled, "and he'll leave all out there to die. He'll leave all of you." At that, Alex turned to look at Riddick. He must not have noticed her staring because a tightening of his jaw muscle betrayed emotion. She looked away. So he did have feelings. Or was he just worried that there would be a hitch in his plan to kill them all? She couldn't figure him.
"I don't get it, Johns," came Carolyn's voice. "What is so god damned valuable in your life that you're worried about losing? Is there anything at all? Besides your next spike." That startled Alex, his next spike? Realization came suddenly. Johns must be an addict, a hype. Although how a merc became a hype, she'd never know. Most of them were too busy tracking down their quarries. She held a certain disgust for addicts, but also a sympathy. She'd seen people wasting away on the street, all their money gone to pay for drugs. Their weakness, she thought. Although there was a time when she had almost been on the verge of trying something, anything, to make the pain stop. Instead she burned it away, and lost some other emotions besides.
Carolyn came outside from the ship, and after a few minutes Johns slowly followed. Riddick stood impassively looking out into the darkness, and Alex again took out her black glasses and put them on. A slight wind ruffled her short black hair. Jack offered her a loop of tubing near the back of the sled while the others were putting theirs on, and she took it. She placed it in a position which would allow her easy access to her sword, but it still inhibited her movement. They were all prepared.
Riddick started jogging ahead of them, and they quickly followed. The glow of the tubing wasn't enough so that it blinded Alex, so she could see around them. Paris was holding the cutting torch, and the others were holding the ends of the tubing, trying to aim them into the darkness. As they got out of sight from the ship, her heart beat faster and faster. She could see what the others could not, that hundreds of the creatures surrounded them, to break away when the lighted sled approached them but to only gather behind them as they left. Riddick must be seeing the same thing, she realized. It would only make the others more afraid to realize how many of them were out there, so she kept her mouth shut and put one hand on the sword.
After they had been traveling for about fifteen minutes, they slowed their pace, as Imam and Johns were getting tired from dragging the heavy sled. Alex didn't want to slow, she wanted to run to that skiff, but as she wasn't pulling the sled she could see how they could be tired. Carrying one cell even a short distance had made her gain an appreciation for how heavy they were.
They stopped to take a small break, and at that particular moment, the cutting torch in Paris' hands decided to go out. As it did, the light noticeably decreased, and the howls of the creatures sounded again. Near.
"Stay close!" Imam reminded Paris, and he and Johns began pulling the sled again. Paris reached into the sled, pulling out one of his bottles/converted torches, and knocked out one of the flares so it rolled on the ground. Jack saw it, and taking off her looped tubing, called, "Wait!" to the sled-pullers.
A warning sign could have flashed in front of Alex's face as they stopped and Jack proceeded to go outside the circle of light.
"Jack!" Carolyn cried, to warn her. But she still crept towards the torch. They all stopped. Alex looked into the darkness and saw the creatures gathering, preparing to attack. She drew her sword, hoping that if they did she would at least be able to fight some of them off. Prevent them from killing her.
Imam threw off his tubing and ran to Jack, knocking her to the ground just as one of the creatures swept in, barely missing them as they lay flat against the sand. Johns fired into the air, and Carolyn went over to Jack and Imam. Alex remained in ready stance, facing the darkness, at the back of the sled. The creatures hovered just outside the circle, and had backed off a little bit when the gun fired. But they did not seem afraid of the gun.
She heard movement behind her, at the sled. Paris, screaming in hysterics, started to crawl away from the sled.
"Paris!" she called, unwilling to leave the light. But he kept crawling, muttering to himself.
"Paris! Get back here!" Carolyn ordered him, having turned when Alex called the first time. Alex saw the creatures begin to gather around him, cutting him off from the group. She couldn't have gotten him even if she had tried. She whirled around as one of the power supplies for the tubing fell, and sizzled, as Paris dragged it along. Carolyn and Imam crawled after it futilely trying to stop it from disconnecting from the other tubes. But they weren't fast enough. All of the power supplies failed, and the glow slowly faded. Alex started backing up, back towards the sled. She looked around to see Riddick crouched a few feet away from the others, a knife in his hand, looking outwards. The creatures were far away, except near Paris.
Alex tried fumbling around in the bucket on the sled, looking for a flare, knowing what would happen to Paris but unable to stop it. She made the mistake of glancing over there briefly and found her eyes riveted to the spot. They were thick around him, and as he sat on the ground, wounded by a gash, he brought out a flask and took a sip, then spewed it into his lighter's flame. It blinded Alex for a moment, and when her vision returned she could do nothing but stand there, watching in horror as the creatures tore his body apart. Like Shazza, the image burned itself into her brain. Her grip on the sword was loose, the shock of Paris' death threatening those walls.
She barely noticed as Carolyn lit the flare behind her, and the others lit their alcohol torches. She pulled her eyes away from the grisly scene. The rest of them were all right. Riddick walked back towards the sled and stood five feet from her, also looking at what was left of Paris' body.
Carolyn came up behind Riddick, carrying the bright green flare. "Do I even want to know?" she asked. Riddick cocked his head as if considering telling her.
Alex broke in. "No, you really don't," she said, turning towards the sled again to find a torch for herself and shaking her head, trying to remove the images. But Carolyn remained where she was, peering into the darkness. Alex lit the torch from Imam's that was already aflame. There was a sick feeling in her stomach. Disgust. For someone to be torn apart. Ugh. But she clenched her jaw. The night was definitely not over yet. "And miles to go before I sleep," she thought to herself.
She stupidly looked at the torch in her hand, realizing that it was blinding her. She decided to take off the glasses for awhile, in order to have more light surround them. Riddick was already leading them. Jack looked at her take off the glasses.
"Don't you want to see?" she asked.
"Torch blinds me, it's too much light. I'll put them back on in awhile," Alex answered. She smiled tersely at Jack, barely even curling her lips before looking out into the darkness, now more frightened than when she was able to see, but at least they'd have more light around them. The loss of the tubing was a real blow.
They trudged on for what seemed like hours. Carolyn's flare went out, and she grabbed one of the improvised torches for herself. Alex was no longer sure where they were, hoping that Riddick knew where he was going. He had to. He had as much of a desire to get away from these things as any of them. At least, she was pretty sure that he didn't want to die down here.
"Are we getting close?" Jack asked Carolyn.
In reply, she shouted at Johns, Riddick, and Imam. "Can we pick up the pace!?"
Johns threw down his rope and started to angrily walk over to Carolyn, when he saw Imam staring at something on the ground, and stared too. Alex walked over and saw the unmistakable drag marks of the sled in the sand. They had crossed their tracks. Riddick, who could see in the dark, had led them so that they crossed their own tracks. What the hell? What reason would he have to do it, was he going to turn on them? He seemed calm enough, and in full view.
Johns strode over to Riddick, who was crouched ahead of them, looking ahead. "You wanna tell me what the hell's going on?" he asked.
Imam joined him. "Why have we circled? Are we lost?"
"Listen," Riddick started to say.
"Do you even know where we are?!" Imam said firmly.
"Listen!" Riddick shouted, standing. The outburst startled Alex, and everyone else by the looks of it. Riddick always was so controlled, so calm. Perhaps the planet was beginning to weigh on him as well. In the silence, they heard the constant hissing noises of the creatures, moving somewhere around them. As long as they were stopped, Alex put her glasses back on to take a look at where they were.
"Canyon ahead, I circled once to buy some time to think," he continued, again controlled. Alex couldn't figure out what he had to think about, besides getting to the settlement and their ticket out of here.
"I think we should go now," said Imam decisively, glaring into the darkness.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Riddick said, still looking off into the canyon ahead. "That's Death Row up there, especially with the girl bleeding."
Alex quickly looked at Carolyn, and Carolyn looked at her. Neither of them had a trace of blood on them. There was Jack, too, but.Riddick couldn't know about Jack. Alex was sure she was the only one, from that moment so long ago. Just in case, Alex glanced at Jack. She saw no wounds on her, either. She looked back at Riddick as everyone else was looking at her and Carolyn.
"What the fuck you talkin' about, neither of them are cut," Johns asked, angrily.
"Not her. Or her. Her." Riddick turned around and looked straight at Jack. Damn! He had known. It wasn't anyone's business but Jack's if she wanted to travel as a guy, and Alex thought that should be kept a secret. Everyone else hadn't known, and turned around in realization to look at Jack, who was obviously uncomfortable with all those eyes on her. As Alex saw calculating glances from Imam, Carolyn, and Johns as they realized the truth, she looked back at Jack to see her almost on the verge of tears. But Alex still couldn't see her bleeding. Where was the blood from? And then she realized. Oh. OH. Poor Jack, to have to admit to that.
"You gotta be kidding me," Johns drawled with disgust in his voice.
Alex slightly in front of Jack to keep her away from everyone else. Poor kid. That's all she was, a kid, who was already scared. She didn't need to take the blame for the creatures tracking them through the endless night. Alex felt pity rise within her.
"I-I just thought it'd be better if people took me for a guy, I thought they might leave me alone," Jack started blathering.
Carolyn, looking frustrated, started towards her then stopped. "Jesus, Jack!" she said, "why didn't you tell me!" At this Jack crouched down and clutched her chest to her knees, with tears falling down her face.
Carolyn immediately crouched down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," as she went to hug her. "Are you really bleeding?" Alex felt a stab of pain at seeing such a caring gesture come from Carolyn. It was something that she could not do, not now, anyways. But for now, she would have to defend Jack from those who would blame her and be angry with her for something she had no control over. Especially Johns, who was looking at Jack with anger and disgust.
"Coulda left me at the ship, Fry, how come I didn't say something sooner?" Jack said dully.
"I knew" Alex said to the others, looking them in the eye in turn, daring them to come down on her for knowing Jack's secret. "It was her choice. And no one deserves to be left here, so don't even say that," she finished, turning to look at Jack while she said the last part. Jack looked up at her with tears in her eyes, but eyes with hope in them, then looked back down at the ground.
Carolyn tried to comfort Jack, to tell her it was okay. As Alex watched Johns carefully, she heard Riddick softly talking to Imam, saying that the creatures had been smelling Jack ever since they left the ship. Though Alex had no intention of leaving Jack behind, she had to admit it was a big problem. The creatures could get scent off of her wherever they went. But she was just a kid. Alex had felt some sort of duty to look out for her, since the very beginning. Jack looked so alone and frightened, emotions that Alex had, too, buried deep within her.
Carolyn stood up. "Look, this is not going to work. We're gonna have to go back," she said, downcast.
"What'd you say?" Johns started, angrily. "You're the one who got us out here in the first place and turned us into sled dogs," he said as he started walking towards her.
"I was, wrong, I admit it, okay, can we just get back to the ship," Carolyn's confident demeanor from before was gone. Alex couldn't figure it out. Yes, Jack was bleeding, but they had made it this far, hadn't they? Or was it that the canyon was so thick with the creatures that they would be more daring than the ones before.
Johns was pacing back and forth. "I don't know, Carolyn, nice breeze, wide- open space I'm starting to enjoy myself out here!" he shouted at her.
Suddenly Carolyn's confidence was back. "What, are you high again?" she sneered, "just listen to yourself Johns." Alex kept looking around them. The creatures weren't to be seen, except farther off in the distance. But if they kept arguing for long, they'd be back.
At that, the controlled façade that Johns had put out until now started to slip. "No, no, you're right, what's to be afraid of! My life's a steaming pile of meaningless shit anyhow, so I say mush on! The canyon's only a couple of meters and then it's skiff city. So why don't you butch up, stuff a cork in this fuckin' kid and let's go." His whole body stance was threatening, Alex was surprised he hadn't reached for his gun yet. Jack started crying again. Alex felt that tension building again, but this time it was much more dangerous in the great outdoors.
"She is the captain!" Imam broke in forcefully, "we should listen to her!"
"Listen to her?" Johns scoffed. "When she was so willing to sacrifice us all!"
What was he talking about!? Alex looked at Carolyn, who was denying what Johns had said.
"During the crash she tried to blow the whole passenger cabin, tried to kill us in our sleep," Johns talked over Carolyn's insistence he shut his mouth. But Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. Carolyn? Tried to kill them? But then she remembered the look on Carolyn's face when she had first met her. The blank look, the look that didn't believe what happened. So that's what had happened. "We are fucking disposable, we're just walking ghosts to you aren't we!?" Johns continued.
Carolyn lunged at him, screaming at him to shut up. Johns easily knocked her to the ground, and scowled at her, as Imam came up to them, shouting to stop. Alex still couldn't believe that Carolyn had done something like that. She who was their leader, now lay on the ground with a look on her face like she was disgusted with herself. Alex was stunned. She had trusted her. And yet, perhaps she had relied on Carolyn a little too much. So easy to accept the secondary role. Carolyn was just another person, fallible as anyone else. But she had taken the leader's role, taken it and protected these people with her.
"Oh, Carolyn," Johns said laughingly, "how much do you weigh now?" As she stayed on the ground, he grabbed a flare and snarled at Imam, "Verdict's in. The light moves forward," moving off onto the hill.
Alex saw Carolyn still laying there in the dirt, and she somehow knew that like anyone else, Carolyn could do things in her life that she regretted. She moved in front of Carolyn and crouched down. "Is that true?"
Carolyn brought her face up from the earth and looked at her eyes. "Yes. It's true. I, I tried to blow the hatch. Save the rest of the ship. Save myself. But Owens, he stopped me." She had tears in her eyes. Tears of self-loathing, perhaps. "I'm sorry," she gasped.
Alex looked at her, considering. Even in the little time they had, Carolyn had changed some, maybe felt a responsibility towards them. She had ordered them. Gone ahead of them into the unknown. Yes, she was sorry. That was enough for Alex, who might never forgive herself for what she had done that long time ago. But she could forgive Carolyn, who had proved herself in other ways. She held out her hand for the other woman to grasp. After a second's hesitation, Carolyn took Alex's hand, and they both stood up and looked out into the darkness.