Don't own anything related to the movie Pitch Black. (I wish! But sadly no). But Minx, Hocks, Deo, and any other characters related to them are all mine.

The World She Knew

She was hiding out in an underground brothel, staying with her oldest friend, Dana. Who was working tonight, but Minx still felt safe. The room was dark and musty, that of an old basement. She closed and locked the door behind her, groaning at her aching wounds. She laid on her stomach on the five inch thick excuse for a mattress, and buried her face in the pillow. Her eyes were heavy and so was her entire body, but no sleep came to her. All that arrived was the nightmare.

Three weeks ago:

"We have to leave Deo! The towns crawling with new and suspicious faces. Plus with Karth murdered last night, it's not safe anymore." Minx quietly pleaded, to her business partner and the first love of her life.

But Deo shook his head, "No! We have to destroy all evidence. Even then you know noth-"

But she cut him off, the panic in her body rising. "Deo, Karth called be last night, he said that the mercs were in town! And crushing our false identity-ring was their top priority. Then capturing you and me was the next on their list." She paused to shift her suede rook sack on her shoulder that held all of her belongings. Deo looked at her, his eyes filled with determination. Shit! She thought, becoming frantic, We don't have time for this!

They were standing in their operation headquarters, surrounded by computer screens, and supplies. The room was dark and cold like a refrigerator. Only to her it felt like an ominous coffin. Her lungs tightened at the thought of what was to come. The mercs, the shots ringing through the precious night air, the realization of their complete utter defeat, and worst of all the feeling of her freedom slipping through her fingers.

She knew something was going to happen, she felt it deep in her bones, "Look the money, pride, freedom, and equipment ain't worth shit if were dead!" She said in a whisper, not wanting to confess to herself the possibility of dying.

"But if we live the evidence will send us into something worst then death! Me to slam, you to god knows where! I'm not going to let that happen." He said with a cryptic resolve.

She shook her head quickly, "Neither am I Deo." She said desperately, then she reached into her pocket for her solution. She felt it soft in the palm of her hand, heavy, smooth, and warm. It was a military explosive. The conclusion it would bring making her head pound.

You could play with it all day long, it was harmless. But when paired with a stick-like detonator it was lethal. She showed it quickly to him, then stuffed it back into her pocket, "Now if we put this on the monitors, we can-"

But she never finished an explosion ruptured through the air, sending scraps of stainless steel metal flying. The nightmare began.

The ceiling began to rain with debris; the fires of hell seemed to seep through the floor. The front of the room burst into flames as the sparks collided with the loose wires sprouting from the computers. A round of shots rang through the air as she tumbled to the ground, pulling Deo with her.

As fast as it came, the shots subsided, followed by those intolerable words, "Come out with your hands up!" It was a male voice, some sixty feet from her, "Don't make this hard, or my friends will have to get involved, and they don't play as nicely as me!" The voice boomed but it seemed to only sound like a chilling whisper in her ear. Her body began to vibrate as adrenaline began to pulse though its entire existence.

Suddenly she heard diesel engines in the distance. That could only mean one thing…reinforcements.

Frantically, she eyed her surroundings, taking in possible escape routes. Only two: The door way in which the mercs came in, or, the window.

With the explosive in her left hand, she motioned Deo to follow her. Minx pushed off with the tips of her foot and broke into crawling on all fours. She felt stinging pins radiate up her elbows, then arms, as her flesh scraped on the rough concrete floor.

Her body gave a quick flinch as a monitor to the left of her exploded into flames, sending more plastic and metal raining down on them.

"You must not have heard me correctly, come out or I'll have to drag you out." He said, blasting another monitor into oblivion, then another, and another, until the entire left wall was ridden of computers. The window was nearing closer and closer into hopeful reach.

Just a little further! She thought desperately. Suddenly she spotted what she was looking for, the gas heater. She quickly slammed the explosive into the register, and stuck the detonator in. She began moving toward the window when the unthinkable happened.

Another booming explosion filled the atmosphere. But this time it was followed by a heavy crash, sending an earthquake vibration though the floor underneath her. "Well well look what I found" Oh Shit, he found the safe! Minx realized, "Some extra dough to add to my commission." The Merc chided, mocking surprise.

She continued to the window, focusing on the night sky, and the sounds behind her. Out of the side of her eye, she saw a flicker of movement. In that moment she felt like screaming. A cold chill ran over her entire body, as she saw Deo stand up. You fool!

She looked past him, and saw the Merc loading the safe's contents into a black duffel bag. Then she forced her eyes back to Deo, just in time to see his hand emerge from his pocket with a silver hand gun.

"Don't do it Deo!" She pleaded.

He shook his head, as he drew his gun, "You BAST-" Then she heard the thwack of a pistol as a lone shot cracked through the air. But the bullet didn't fire from his gun. Deo fell to the floor in front of her. His eyes glazed over, his finger still on the trigger. Minx's stomach turned, her body clenched, her head spun. Her heart stopped beating. Deo was gone.

She heard a chorus of clicking rifles and a concentrated sound of combat boots, her blood ran cold. She had to save herself. She climbed out the window, grasping the ledge for all she was worth. While there she planted another bundle of explosives.

"There she is, by the window!" Another male voice yelled.

She let go of the ledge, and grasped the wrought iron fire escape ladder. She soon realized it was very old, and half of it was missing. Rust and torn shredded metal dug into her palms, as the creaking of the stripped bolts holding it together became louder. She knew this ladder moved closer to the ground but it seemed to be stuck. She began to climb down to the balcony to her left but suddenly the ladder's bolts gave out, sending her plunging fifty feet toward the ground.

With the gray pavement approaching quickly, Minx aimed and dropped her rook sack into the dumpster below. Grinding metal sent copper sparks flying around her. The ladder seeming to pick up speed, as she began to feel sick.

She heard shouts from the window above then saw a uniformed commando start to ease out onto the ledge. Abruptly the ladder stopped its decent, giving her a slight jerk, making Minx slightly loose her grip.

She closed her eyes and swallowed realizing she was still had the first floor to contend with that just happened to be ten feet up in the air. There was only one saying that came into mind. Fight or flight?! She decided to choose both.

She took one hand off the ladder, and reached into her back pocket. Pulling out the switch to the detonator, she held her breath and pushed the button.

Seconds dragged past, it felt as if ten million life times were passing in slow motion. She waited, but nothing happened. All remained quiet, motionless, and sinister.

"Shit!" She cursed savagely, all hope draining from her body, the unattainable feeling of doom seizing her sole.

A single tear fell down her cheek, as she threw the detonator to the ground below. A second later it shattered into pieces, in the same moment came a bursting eruption. A ball of fire lit up the night sky as the whole top floor of the building exploded before her eyes.

Minx let go and dropped to the ground as sirens filled the air. She stumbled to her feet and started to run. Her heart beating in her ears. Her eyes blurred by tears. She heard footsteps echoing in the street behind her, voices, crashing debris, and rumbling engines. They all formed together into one horrid memory as the essence of smoke and blood filled her lungs.

She broke into a sprint, heading for a dark alley way that held a secret hide out within its walls. The diabolic 4 story brick buildings loomed in the distance as she neared her only planned destination.

She made a sharp left turn while bounding over a large sheet of ice. She gasped for air, the chill making her throat lock up, and her eyes water. She pushed it aside and somehow managed to breath.

Scampering up another wrought iron ladder, she made her way up to the hide out. At the second ladder she slipped, again sending her falling. She grasped the closest rung, and pulled herself up. Five minutes later she squeezed through the six foot high cracked brick into a space twice as deep. She braced herself by pressing her feet against the opposing wall, and her arms above her head. She heaved a great shuddering sigh and listened.

Two orbs of yellow light suddenly illuminated the alley way below. She heard voices. The sound bounced off the walls so that she could hear everything.

"She's gone." A male voice said, obviously disgusted.

"No she couldn't of just vanished. Mark my words she is out there!" Came another male voice, more cruel and bitter then the first. His comment made her lips curl into a grievous and tragic smirk. Got that right dumb-ass!

Present:

Eventually the hours passed, the dark of the night was replaced by the morning. She waited. Slipping out of hiding when she was sure the coast was clear, somehow she had made it to this place, but it was all a blur to her.

Suddenly her limbs sprang into life and began to throb with pain as the pain killers began to wear off and her body returned to its damaged state. Her skin stung harshly, reminding her never to do that again. I don't need to be reminded thank you very much! She cursed to herself.

Hell! How could I ever be able to forget? She slowly closed her eyes as the reality sunk in. Minx's life as she knew it had disappeared. She felt a single tear run down her cheek and let out a yelp of pain. A moment later the door was flung open and a huge figure stood in the door way, she heard a rifle click. Her eyes went wide as something struck her head and a cold wave washed over her body.