Chapter 2: Fresh Meat

There was no way to tell time in the slam. All sense of it swirled together in a blend of numbers. Weeks became months and months became mere minutes. There was hardly anyway to tell and no one really cared there. All that anybody cared about was surviving. The only thing that anybody knew relating to time was how long others had been in compared to themselves. Everyone complained about being in for so long, but nobody could match up to Riddick's time. He had been in their longer than most of them. He was always their to watch the fresh meat come in. Watch as they had to adapt to Hell's Gate. They came and they went and Riddick was always there.

Watching.

Waiting.

The only thing that mattered was surviving.

Riddick's attention was drawn away from his thoughts when he heard the guards coming. They were dragging a body behind them. Fresh meat. They stopped across the corridor from his cell and threw the body in. There was a grunt as the body hit the cold floor. "Don't get too comfortable now. He'll be wanting to speak with you again."

On that note, the guards slammed the door shut and left just as quickly as they had come. Riddick stared, watching as the new inmate pulled themselves up to a sitting position. The lamps in the corridor flickered off suddenly. The electricity for the lights was always tempermental in Hell's Gate. It didn't matter though, Riddick still saw perfectly. What he saw though nearly made him question his ability. He did a double take. "You have got to be fucking me."

The fresh meat was non other than a woman.

Taren's head jerked up when she heard the deep voice. Although it was dark, something caught her eyes in the cell across from her. It reminded her of when she use to see animals in the dark. Their eyes seemed to shine off millions of colors. Only these eyes were all silver. She couldn't take her eyes off of them. She couldn't believe they were human eyes, but she knew that they belonged to whoever had spoken. A second later it was confirmed when the voice called out again. "They brought a woman to an all male facility? What the fuck is going on out there?"

Although the gravely, deep voice appealed to her, the words certainly did not. "Did you ever think in that conceited head of yours that maybe there were no females because they weren't stupid enough to get caught?"

"Is that right? Then that doesn't speak much for you does it?" She could practically see the condescending smile on his face. She felt about as small as a flea at that moment.

The laugh burst from the man and seemed to reverberate off of the walls. She hated him. "Fuck you."

"There's a lot of lonely men in here, you might end up doing just that." The thought sent a chill down her spine. She refused to stand down though.

"What? Did they get tired of you?" She smiled maliciously in the direction of his voice. She still couldn't determine what he looked like.

The man had the gall to laugh at her again. She shifted uncomfortably where she sat, her muscles cramping up from lack of movement. She was too tired to continue the battle of the wits and didn't respond. Taren turned to her left, about to lie down when his comment broke the silence again. "I wouldn't lie down there if I were you. There's a big ass nail."

Raising an eye brow in doubt, she slid her hand slowly forward on the floor. Sure enough her fingers curved around a huge nail sticking straight up. Her eyes widened in shock and turned back toward him. She could hear him pacing in his cell slowly. How in the hell could he have seen it from where he was? Her eyes narrowed in suspicion but she didn't say anything. Putting the nail in her pocket and with a final glance to the darkness that held the man's identity from her, she lay down on the chilled ground.

Taren awoke to find her cell door open and the lights back on. She had no idea how long she had slept. She lifted herself up and made her way out of her cell and into the corridor. All of the cells were empty and she heard a torrent of voices below her. Apparently the guards let everyone out to eat. Taren berated herself for not waking up when this had happened. Someone could have come in and raped her. Like the man had said last night, (or atleast she thought it had been last night) there were a lot of lonely men down there.

She made her way down the dark passage and came upon the stairs. She grabbed hold of the railing and slowly made her descent. When she hit the large room, there was a heavy stench of sweat, burned food, and overpowering everything else, men who had not showered in a very long time. Taren gagged. This room also had dim light which she was thankful for. She figured she wouldn't be noticed very well with all the commotion going on. Later she would ask herself what in the hell made her think she wouldn't be noticed.

The second she stepped off of the stairs, all went quiet. The men all looked like demons from hell. Most of their hair had grown long and shaggy, they were covered in sweat, they had deep bags under their eyes, and they had scars and cuts all over them. But their eyes scared her most. They were filled with rage, wanting, madness, and lust. She tried not to openly shiver. They weren't at all like the eyes she had seen the night before. Realizing there wasn't much else she could do, she walked between the tables and men over to a counter where food was being served. The kitchen was in a cage and the servers had to pass a foam tray with food through a hole.

She ignored the men as best as she could and was halfway there before she was stopped. A man grabbed her ass and whipped her around into his arms. He smiled broadly, the horrid smell of his breath wafting upon her face. "Well aren't you a sweet piece of meat. I think I might have to taste you."

The grotesque man who no longer had all his teeth and who had about 80 pounds of fat in rolls jiggling around upon a once built body, licked his cracked lips. Taren smiled seductively up at him. "You want to touch? Can I?"

The man nearly fell over with excitement. Still holding her smile, Taren reached between his legs and took hold over him with a grip that not even God himself could break. Her long, chipped finger nails dug into the very soft flesh. The man howled out in pain and let go of her. She still kept a firm grasp though. "You touch me again, this'll no longer be attatched. Kapeesh?"

The man nodded violently, tears in his eyes. When she let go, he fell down holding himself and moaning. Taren looked down at him with disgust and took a step back. "Like I said, there's a lot of lonely men down here."

Her eyes got as wide as saucers. She hadn't forgotten that voice from last night. She turned around slowly almost afraid of what she would see. When she turned she found herself looking up into silver eyes. Riddick's eyes.

Hey. I'm sorry it took so long to update. I was holed up in my rrom because the Phantom didn't win anything. Not really but I was still bummed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully it won't take me so long to update next time. :)

Milsa: Thanks for the review. I hope the good start turns into a great story. -crosses fingers-