Okay! I have like 15 minutes to type this up, and it's early, so bear with me if the grammar's kinda screwy. I'll post it again with more detail if it's all that bad. Oh, and replies to all of my AMAZING reviewers will be posted at the bottom. I have not forgotten about you! Okay, I'm rambling now, lets get on with the chapter.
Chapter III: The hole.
Amaya raced forward, making sure her pistols were loaded as she almost flew across the sandy terrain. She stopped suddenly at a large hole, a smaller, bloodier one against the back wall.
"Allah, Buddha, and all things holy," She hissed, breathing in to have the scent of the Male prospectors blood almost smothering her nose. She glanced up to see Riddick across from her, and hear the dull pounds of the rest of the group's feet.
"Go," She whispered, turning around, but Riddick was already long gone, tearing back across the sand.
When she finally caught up, Johns was battling Riddick and Shazza was trying wrathfully to get a shot in. "Stop!" Amaya shouted, practically ripping Johns off the larger man.
But Johns had the goggles off already, rendering Riddick helpless. Shazza swept forward to point a kick at his head, but Amaya easily caught the foot, spinning the other woman backwards to land hard on her butt several feet away.
She fought desperately as Johns, who had now succeeded in tying up Riddick, was going for her. She almost grinned as he came down to eye level, not hearing what he said from the blood ringing in her ears.
She head-butted him hard, but he had his Nightstick out already, and slamming it into her shoulder, she winced as she blacked out for the second time that morning.
Amaya awoke slowly, assessing her body without opening her eyes. She was chained to a steel wall, sitting on her knees. She ached all over, from the definite bruise on her shoulder to where she had a splitting headache from head-butting the Merc. She opened one eye slowly to realize she was inside the Hunter-Gratzner, one arm chained to the wall, and another chained to the massive wrist of Riddick.
This left her in the uncomfortable position of having an arm across the man's thick bulk, meaning that if he tried to burst out of his shackles, he'd be taking her arm with him.
She sighed, and looking over her shoulder, decided that since she had nothing better to do, she might as well check him out. Bald, eyes closed and muscled chest rising and falling in sleep. She wondered what exactly his eyes looked like, someone had said something about a shine job but she wasn't sure.
She was almost through her examination when he woke. He didn't say anything, just met her eyes with ones a brilliant silver, softly luminescent in the faded light. She vainly tried to keep her heart from racing, but knowing that was hopeless, raised her chin and met his coolly penetrating gaze with an equal one of her own.
"So you're awake," The voice of Johns cut through the silence like a knife. Amaya whirled around, trying to keep her body from leaning back into Riddick's instinctively. The con standing behind her made her feel safe, and Johns did anything but.
Amaya changed her comfortable stance to a more protective one. "Really? Well then I hope you can explain why the hell I'm shackled to a wall?" She rattled one of the chains for emphasis. He grinned at that, and Amaya noticed the purple bruise on his forehead.
"Dude, did I do that?" She grinned, not able to keep the tone of triumph from her voice. Johns turned his expression to a glare.
"Well last time I checked, you weren't in much of a position to say anything, now are you?" He snarled quietly, stepping forward, way into her personal space. She took a step back, almost pressed against the incredibly muscled form of Riddick. She knew it was stupid, but she much preferred a killer to Johns any day.
She glanced at the door as Carolyn and Jack entered. They both just stared at the position she was in, and Johns cleared his throat quickly, taking out the key to the shackles.
"Now Amaya, if you promise not to start anything, I'll let you go, okay? I know you're probably not comfortable there, so as long as you promise, I'll take off your cuffs. Amaya nodded dutifully.
"I promise," She grinned, her voice slathered with fake cheerfulness. He nodded, casting a look at Riddick before taking off both chains, deeply gauging both her wrists in the process.
She stepped away from the con, turning to face Johns with an elegant bow. "Thank you, O Dear One, for rescuing a poor damsel in distress." She commented, the phony British Accent making Carolyn crack up.
"And uncomfortable? I beg to differ," She whispered under her breath as she walked back into the bright sunlight. She heard a deep chuckle from behind her, and grinned at the idea that Riddick heard.
Johns ran up to her once she was several yards away from the ship. Before she could spurt a sarcastic comment, he backhanded her hard across the face.
"What the hell was that for?" She asked, licking a spot of blood away from her lip.
"That? That was for hitting me. And this-" He raised a fist to hit her again, but she caught his fist, and threw it away from her. He shrugged, and kicked her already sore legs away from her. "-That was for befriending the convict. Now, we were debating it before, but we've decided that you're gonna play a little hide and seek with us, okay?"
Amaya met his eyes warily. "You mean Zeke?" She asked slowly, remembering the bloodstained hole. Johns smiled. "Exactly. Now, let's get moving." He shoved her forward with the muzzle of his gun, and as she reached to grab her pistol she noticed it wasn't there.
"Where's my-" She began to ask for her pistol, but Johns just attacked the shackles to her wrists. "Talk again and I'm using the bit." He hissed in her ear, making her squirm inwardly in disgust.
The journey to the hole was long and hot, and Amaya wished for some oxygen. She caught Jack glancing at her apologetically, and even Shazza seemed slightly sorry.
When they stopped at the hole, she was about to lean forward when a shove from Johns sent her nearly sprawling into the hole. She caught herself before she hit the dirt with almost feral grace, though taking a stumbled step before regaining her balance.
The smell of blood was almost stifling down there, and Amaya tried not to breathe, hard with almost no oxygen to begin with. "So what do you want me to do?" She called up, fighting for air, and trying to undo her shackles. She must have left her lock pick in her other pants.
"I want you to tell me if Riddick killed Zeke." Johns said smugly, rubbing sweat off his neck.
"And how do you expect me to do that?" She asked sarcastically, looking around the hole again.
"Well, Agent Amaya Martinez, you're a cop, you tell me, and I know you have four murder charges under your belt, so don't say you don't know how to kill people." Amaya glanced up in shock, looking from face to face of the people surrounding the hole.
No one was about to help her, and even Imam seemed resigned to her fate. "Oh, and that hole seems like a good way to begin, by the way," Johns said with a smile.
Amaya flipped him off as she looked at it. She closed her eyes and breathed in, ignoring the blood. There was something else in there. Predator.
She stepped back, feeling her back against the other side of the pit. "No way in hell, Johns, I'm not going, and you can kill me or something first." He shook his head, and raised her pistol.
"Amaya, you go in there, or I kill you. Personally I'd prefer if you lived, there's a couple terrorist groups that wouldn't mind your head, but hey, you pick."
"You don't get it! There's something else in there, dammit! You'd better get on with killing me, cause I'm royally screwed if I do." Amaya shouted, trying to ignore the primal fear running through her body.
"Amaya, you either go in there, or I'll give you Riddick's head on a plate. He's the one tied up, remember? You seemed pretty fond of him back in the ship, how would you like it if I gave him to you with a bullet between the eyes?" Amaya sighed. He'd probably do it too, the bastard.
"You know what? Fine!" She shouted, going to a crouch in front of the hole, trying to balance with her shackles on. She held back a shudder of pure fear as she put her head and shoulders through. It was inky black inside, and she flicked on the flashlight in her belt, staring at the blood sprayed all over the walls with distaste.
"You'd better be worth it Riddick." She sighed, pulling the rest of her body through. After several seconds of crawling and biting back waves of claustrophobia, the tunnel opened to a gloomy cave.
It was too dark for her liking, and even her now gold vision couldn't do much to penetrate the ledges and corners. She sighed, and slowly brushed her flashlight across the floor. She stopped suddenly when Zeke came into view, fighting down a scream. It wasn't Zeke, more like the Prospectors ankle, the ivory bone showing through jagged hunks of torn muscle.
She spun around at the feeling of something behind her, but seeing nothing, glanced up at a shaft of light above her. This was good, a way out. Sighing in relief, she jumped up, meaning to grab at a piece of rock just above her head.
Amaya ignored the sense of De Ja Vu as she felt another presence just behind her, but gasped as long claws caught her just below the center of her collarbone, ripping backwards across her shoulder, another claw went through the bone of her shoulder, separating the bones with a 'pop.'
Her still chained forearms hit the wall in front of her hard, and with a surge of almost animal adrenaline, she tossed the heavy flashlight behind her, grabbing at any handhold with her good arm.
That took her almost halfway up the tunnel, but the monster that was chasing her hadn't given up. The claws raked at her again, though now only lightly grazing her boot-covered ankle. She moved again to make another dodge for the surface, shouting as she climbed, trying to kick off the animal at the same time.
She almost fainted at the sight of several pairs of hands reaching down to help her. Another couple were clawing more dirt away from the opening, and with a final kick, she was dragged out of the hole.
She lay panting on the sand for several moments, cursing and trying to breathe at the same time. She took a deep breath at the familiar feel of an oxygen tank, practically ignoring the voices of everyone around her.
"What happened?" The voice of Shazza interrupted her frantic breathing.
"You……… should have taken……… the shackles…. Off." Amaya panted, glaring at Johns. She was about to say something else, but she closed her eyes against a wave of exhaustion making her see spots.
"…..Riddick's gonna kill you." She heard Jack say to Johns, before closing her eyes against the sheer heat.
A/N: I think that's the longest chapter I've written like ever. Hope no one was really bored, I changed some plot around from the movie, but hey, Artistic License Baby! Lol, well I gotta talk to my beloved reviewers now.
Nicole: Thanks. I hope you liked this chapter.
Hyper Vyper: Lol, yeah I guess she is. So keep up with your story, I really do like it.
Kiie: I know! Well tell me what you think of the next chapter, it really means a lot to me. Oh, and cool name btw.
BurgerKingsHamburgler: Lol, there are so many Mary Sues out there, it gets scary sometimes. Precisely why I invented Amaya. As far as the Riddick/ Amaya action, it's coming, I promise. I don't mind them like having a good makeout scene in the first chapter, but hey, there is a plot too, well I think. Oh, and I used to baby-sit this kid named Amaya (she was like 6) and I always loved her name. I'm not sure if she spelt it that way though…. Anywayz, I'm not old really, let's just say I can drive but I can't drink….. legally anyway.
A/N 2: So yeah, here's the chapter. I used a wee bit of swearing, but it's not BAD, and I won't say anything else than I've already used, I think……
Well R & R, and tell me what to do with my plot, cause I've got NO IDEA.