To make it clear the Harry Potter and Riddick character/world is not mine, they belong to J.K Rowling and whoever owns Riddick. This is a fanfic, which means I'm not the original creator only the writer of this particular story.
Chapter 20: fi, fo, fum- who trespasses on my home?
Zeke had put up an improvised tarp so he could get some shade whilst working on the communal-grave since the sun was brutally beating them down with its heat. Three wrapped corpses was laying on his left side and much to his disgust they were starting to smell. While he worked the dry ground with his pike axe and shovel Zeke made sure to keep a sight-line on the crashed ship so that every now and then Shazza can wave to him so he can wave back. It was an old trick of theirs to signal each other that everything was A-Okay. After all he didn´t put much trust in Paris.
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The three Chrislams had once again run ahead of the party and Johns was starting to think that the kids' brains must be damage for how can someone be that stupid to just run headfirst into danger.
Harry sneezed and looked around; it seemed like someone was talking about him but the only one close was Johns and Imam, the latter with his eyes on the sky praying to his god and the other on the kids looking disgusted. Shrugging it off as some allergic reaction he continued tracking behind the others wishing that the sun would drop dead. He wasn´t built for a sunny weather, he was British for Merlin sake and the sun was starting to fry him.
Ginny had wanted to go to Thailand for their honeymoon, bloody hell like he would ever set his foot in a sunny place again. When they got out of this mess he was moving somewhere cold and dark, preferable with crappy weather and thick mist.
Caroline was on the right side of the party and standing a bit aside from the others as she looked out the empty space in front of her. She couldn't stop thinking about the bones behind them and hope that the desert wasn´t as empty as it seemed. Suddenly she snapped to attention as the children came rushing back from the hill they had disappeared behind just moments ago. They were shouting and waving their hand in a panicked manner and Caroline feared it was more bad news.
"Captain...captain..." the boys shouted as they ran past Imam, Johns and Harry so they could deliver the good news to the leader. In their excitement they forgot that the blonde couldn´t understand them and as they talked and pulled on her clothes the grownups feared the worst. It was at last Imam that calmed the children and had them explain what they had seen. The news was good and as Imam repeated it to the captain, Johns and Harry hurried ahead to get a better look at the miracle.
The Chrislams had found a small colony of buildings made out of metal and as the men move around the hill to get a better look, Harry trips over something hard buried in the sand. It a robot of some sort and reminds the wizard of the toys Dudley used to play with as a child. He digs it out from it burial-place and lifts it up to get a better look.
Its head is protected by some type of plastic and inside there is a ventilator? Harry couldn´t be sure for the machine-work was foreign to him, but he guessed it was meant to work as a solar-panel since this planet only offers sunlight. It had two legs and two arms with a body that reminded him of ancient knight armory. He is broken out of his study by Imam that has reached him and he sees the captain move past him to join up with Johns. Ali the youngest boy looks at the toy and bites his lip while he hides behind Imam.
"We do not seem to be alone here, yes?" Imam says to the prisoner that holds a child's toy in his hands. Imam is starting to like Harry, for the man, in spite of the dire situation, places a child's need ahead of his own which is proven further as Harry smiles at his youngest and hand him the little soldier. In a rare moment of understanding they both look ahead with the child standing between them, wondering what awaits them and how to best protect the innocent.
Johns who stopped a bit ahead, now standing together with Fry when Harry tripped follows their sight before he looks back and answers.
"Never thought we were." Before he turns his eyes back to the settlement and issues an order to head forward whilst telling the others to keep a sharp eye on the shadows. The only sound that surrounds them when they enter the settlement is the creaking of an old weathervane shaped like a rooster that is creaking in the wind.
Wherever they look all they see is a sand-worn surface meets them. In the hopes that someone will answer, Suleiman, the oldest of the boys, calls out a greeting.
"Assalamoo ahlaykum!"
The only response is the echo that is heard around the settlement. To Fry it looks like the entire place is built from stacked shipping containers. It's not a home, she realizes, but a research facility of some sort. That is not boding well as it is clearly abandoned since broken equipment and rusty tools litter the ground.
Hassan follows his brother and shouts out a greeting, the boys seem desperate for an answer and Harry's heart goes out to them. He knows the fear that grips you when you enter a dead community and only the ghosts of the past are there to greet you. He had gotten used to it during the silent war as the Death Eaters loved to go on killing sprees, sparing no life in their wake. He is broken from the horrible memories by Johns, who is never far away from his prey.
"They are long gone. Whoever they were they left a long time ago." Harry can only nod for fearing a scream attack if he has to open his mouth. This place, same as the grave-yard is filled with pain and death, those who lived here never left. Harry walks deeper into the compound, away from Johns, for he can´t stand the man near him at the moment.
He stops in his tracks when he rounds a building and just stares.
"Johns…. JOHNS." Harry is at first scared to speak loud in fear of the sight before him disappearing, but when the cop doesn't hear him he gives a happy shout that bounces off the walls. Within seconds Johns is by his side, adrenaline pumping through his veins and the gun drawn. Harry doesn't even look at him just points with a huge smile on his face. He might not know the machinery of this time but the thing in front of them is quite obvious. Before them looms a moisture-recovery unit, a hulking machine in disrepair and covered in sand.
Harry feels tears on his cheek and he start laughing. Johns just stands there paralyzed until Imam comes up behind him and starts repeating a mantra filled with joy.
"Water...water there was here... the blue… the blue sun did not tell lies… God is great."
Imam´s boys are dancing and shouting prayers which get Johns and Harry to laugh with them and soon everyone is hugging each other in relief. They would not die of thirst for where there was water, there was hope.
The joy-killer was soon above them as Fry rounded the corner. She had gotten sidetracked when she had discovered the settlements landing-site but when no transportation or radio was found she had chosen to follow the shouting. She was happy about the water-unit but soon got tired of it since she didn´t know how to work it. To get the others onto the exploring again she asked the obvious question that was on everybody's mind:
"Has anyone discovered who these people were? Why would they leave so much behind?"
Harry just gave her his best Snape-stare as he stood in the middle of the pathway with the suddenly quiet party spread around him and all looking gloomy.
"I don`t know what it is that makes you so determined to look at the world in a piss-poor-emo-way but can´t you for ten seconds let other people be happy Lady? We were having a good time here."
Johns knew he should clip the prat for that but in his heart wasn't in it, as he quite agreed with Harry. That woman may be hot as hell but she was really starting to get on his nerves with her constant questions.
"Shut it Little Crazy, the Cap has a point." The line in itself sounded forced to Harry as Johns kept on talking trying to get the kids to dig out the unit as he and Imam discussed the settlers´ faith.
Soon Harry and the Chrislams are crawling over the moisture-recovery unit, trying to assess what repairs needs doing whilst Johns stands below monitoring them. Much to every once relief (mainly the cop and the prisoners) Fry had decided to explore some more and was nowhere in sight. Harry and Johns, no matter how little they liked each other, was in a silent agreement to try and keep it that way. The woman was more of a hindrance than help with her constant negative mood and questions.
Caroline, unknowingly about the men's irritation with her, was entering yet another one of the rooms in her strife in getting a bigger understanding of the place. The only thing that has met her eye so far is years of dust, personal things and photos littering the rooms. Everything seemed in disorder, like someone had been in a hurry to pack but hadn´t known what to take. No food was found either.
One of the rooms, further away from the others, was at first hard to get open, but after some pulling the door slammed open creating a loud noise that echoed down along the surrounding buildings. Yet again it is only darkness that greets her and she wonders for a second if that is all there is here, complete light or complete darkness. She tries the normal commands that are used to get the lights working. The other rooms hadn´t been a problem as they had been left open and at the mercy of the sun. She gets no response to her command and soon she searches for old-style wall switches and yet again, nothing. Noticing black-out blinds on a window, Caroline crosses the room to throw them open and as the light fills the room she sees a table which seems to have a planetary system model placed upon it. When the sun hits the table the planets start spinning and Caroline understand that everything here is run by the sun as there is no darkness. When the room gives nothing else away, except from a calendar that seems connected to the solar-system, she reenters the gushing sunlight. Not having a direction in mind she thinks about heading back to the others when something glints at the edge of her vision. Fry turns to that direction and looks harder.
Her heart suddenly starts pumping faster and she bolts from the door and starts running in high speed down the lane, happy shouting fills the air.
"EUREKA!"
Johns and Imam trade looks when the sound reaches them and Harry starts climbing down from the watering-unit his curiosity peeked. What can have gotten their captain so happy?
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Fry stops on a groomed runway, out of breath and leaning onto her knees for support. She can't stop smiling and the feeling seems so foreign to her but the beauty in front of her deserves to be admired. When the others finally catches up to her, Fry is already hugging the left behind treasure whilst laughing.
When Harry start to realize what the huge piece of machinery in front of him is; he can´t believe his luck. Well, sure everything up till now have been shit, but to get both water and a ticket off this planet, that just seems like a miracle and just for this he may not kill Fate and Destiny when he meets them.
They all just stand together and marvel at the skiff that to Harry looks like it is one part light-duty vehicle of an foreign hybrid technology, another part bush plane, and a third part space craft. Its wings are wind-torn and have holes in them, but they seem reparable and the hull looks intact.
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Whilst the scouting party is thanking every holy power they can remember everything isn´t going as smoothly back at the crash site. Paris has been hearing strange noises the past five minutes and he is having problems with convincing himself it is Jake taking a piss at him.
"This now qualifies as the worst fun I've ever had. Cut it out JACK." He raises his voice a bit at the last word but doesn't dare to scream afraid that it may not be Jack that answers him. He gets no response and the quiet noise is broken off with a high sound of metal scraping together which has Paris out of his chair and climbing down the look out.
With his war-pick firmly gripped in his clammy hand Paris checks the perimeter before he takes a look inside the ship. Nobody is around but the sound doesn't stop. He quickly finds Shazza and Jack who are working inside the ship with the light-torch, trying to get the crew lockers open in hope for weapons, medicine or even better food. When Paris sees the boy standing next to the women he start laying in on Jack and accuses him of pranking and horse-playing. Shazza defend the lad and ask the man why he is so creeped out.
Suddenly another high noise is heard from outside, but the child is standing right in front of him. All three look at each other and they all think the same thing; it´s RIDDICK.
Suddenly a shadow passes by the hull-holes and the three survivors quickly group together with their improvised weapons in their hands. Shazza take the initiative to call out loud to the person outside who she hopes is her husband.
"Zeke?"
No answer is forthcoming and Jack springs to the other side of hold where the biggest hole is so that he can look outside. The only thing he can see is a bare head and a tall body. He mimes back to the others that it is Riddick and they all hurry to the opening. No one wants to be cornered if the big guy is there to kill them.
Meanwhile Zeke is getting worried as neither Jack nor Shazza has waved to him for a while and, as he is done with the grave at last, he hurries back.
Shazza, unknowing that Zeke is on his way, grabs the biggest of the war-picks that has a meter long "blade" and moves with a catlike grace to the opening ready to defend herself. Jack is close behind followed by a terrified Paris, the boy is only armed with a hunting boomerang and Paris himself is useless.
All eyes are watching the shadows movement as it getting closer to the opening. Riddick who has reached the crash site is skulking along the shadows with his blade drawn. Shazza is lifting her weapon and is ready to swing. The person outside is moving closer and closer. When the shadow reaches the opening Shazza doesn't think, she just lets the pick swing in a wide sweep with all her power behind it.
"STOP." The sound suddenly breaks the silence and Shazza stops on instinct at the child´s scream. Mere seconds later she understands why, facing them is a total stranger who looks badly sun-burned dressed in torn clothes and is bleeding from a head wound. The war pick is centimeters from the strangers face.
"Thank god, I have… I thought… I was all alone… others?... I thought I was the only one who..."
He throws himself forward when Shazza lowers the pick, trying to embrace her when suddenly a gun-shot is heard and the next thing Shazza is covered in blood and brain matter. The stranger sinks boneless to the ground with half his face blown off. In the background Zeke is standing with a smoking gun. At first he doesn't understand what he has done but when he sees his wife's horrified face anxiety starts to grow within him. That wasn´t Riddick!
Paris is standing paralyzed inside the ship, feeling sick and can only hear his heart pounding. It sounds like it's going to explode. Jack is frozen too, but she can´t feel anything and the only thing she can think of is that it was someone else, just another innocent survivor. Jack had never before seen so much blood and he couldn´t understand why there was so much blood.
Zeke is the first to move as he rushes forward to check up on Shazza and when her dead eyes look into his, he can feel the pain he has caused in her heart. She has never before had to see someone killed. Zeke knew that this would haunt her forever and it was his fault.
After making sure that she is unharmed Zeke checks the dead stranger and as he bends over you can see, if you chose to look, Riddick reclined on Paris' look-out point happily drinking some fine scotch. He is entertained by the show down below but there is another thing that has caught his eye:
Zeke's breather.
As the survivors are huddled around the dead and gives their prayers, no one sees Riddick jumping down and jogging towards the pikes.
Jack and Paris are too busy hugging each other, looking for comfort and Shazza is trying to work through the horrible image of her husband killing someone. Zeke is just trying to cover the body so that everyone will stop looking at it. He is a practical man in a tough situation and he knows if they get too fixated on the body they will stop focusing on the more important problems. He needs to get the body out from their sight and lucky for him he just finished digging a grave.
Within the hour he had the body packed and ready but before he had time to drag it off Shazza hugged him.
"You were protecting me. I know that. Do you?"
"I know l'uv. I just wish that I had taken more time..."
"Zeke, you're the best man I know. Do the deed and come back quick, 'u here me. I wan' 'u close. "
Zeke kissed his women before he started the journey towards the grave with a warm feeling in his chest. He had killed, but his woman still wanted him. He would learn to deal with his crime.
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