Riddick tethered off the power cells, wrapping the ropes around his shoulders, tying them off at the front and holding on. He looked up at Fiona. He had made her go to the front, made her distance herself. It was safer up there, more secure. The beasts would swoop after they passed, go for the ones in the middle, and try for the bigger one at the end, but not her.
It was safer.
He looked away from the woman who couldn't take her eyes off of him. He didn't want to take his off of her but he had to focus on getting them out. If she was smart, which she was, she'd get her ass to that ship and have faith in him to get himself there too.
"As fast as you can." He spoke soundly, everyone in front of him turned back to watch him grip the ropes one last time and give them a small tug.
"You sure you can keep –"
"As fast as you can." He pulled his goggles down over his eyes so he didn't have to witness the bloody massacre that would be all around them soon enough. They moved, a fast pace set into work as death loomed just behind them. Each step a reminder of the 200 pounds he was pulling, his muscles screaming for a rest.
They dove into the canyon, pushing through the first drop of skeletal bones and making their way to the ribcage that over shadowed the path. The baby hatchlings dropped from the sky like mist, scattering over the top of them, taking nips and bites at what they could see before running scared. Riddick watched as Fiona kept as low as she could, keeping a foots distance between her and the captain as they used the light as a shield.
He welcomed the slow down as they pushed through the ribcage but he knew just on the other side of the eight towering bones was a steep climb and an open sky. As they reached it, Fry and Fiona crawling up like dogs, a feral sound exploded all around them. The swiping, the clawing, the screeching.
"Don't look." Riddick's growl of a command was heard, and he noted that Fiona kept her eyes forward as she climbed. The captain however stopped, rising up from the ground before turning back to look at him. He watched as she looked up, defying him.
"Do not look up."
The blue liquid of their blood splattered down, entrails gathering around them and he could see the horror in Fry's face as she watched the giant cloud of predators above, waiting for the light to fade. The blue blood dripped down over her face, sliding down onto her neck, coating her hair and skin. Riddick's voice was lost in the whirlwind, as he demanded they keep moving. The steep climb becoming more and more of a feat as the bodies all stopped, all eyes moving upward save for Fiona, who was ten feet in front, waiting at the top, watching him down below.
He wondered for a moment if this was hell.
"So dark the clouds around my way I cannot see..."
Riddick looked to the Holy Man who began to sing, his dressing gown slowly turning blue. What was left of his boys huddled around him, whipping the droplets of blood off of their skin as soon as they landed. Imam's words were comfort to them, the soft melody drifting through the darkness, catching fire as the words slipped past the torches. "But through the darkness I believe God leadeth me. I gladly place my hand in His when all is dim, and, closing my weary eyes, lean hard on him..."
And as if the animals could understand him, as if they were taking note of his words, they pushed further down. An adult took charge and Riddick watched as the beast swiped at Fry, diving down and hitting the air that Fiona would have been standing in if she had not kept moving. The commotion caused Imam's boys to unlatch and move around, screaming now joining the chorus of the darkness.
"Suleiman!"
And he was gone. Riddick's eyes, his body just inches from the light, hidden by the darkness, watched the boy's last breath. He looked to his father, reaching out, trying to stumble closer to the light for guidance, but he had no luck, no helping hand from the lord above. He was pulled back, deep into the darkness, his own screaming hidden by the noise of the things eating him.
Everyone else flailed helplessly and Riddick pushed them forward. Imam tried to retrieve his son, tried desperately to push past Riddick but he carted the man up the hill. Fiona waited for him at the top, hands dug deep in the sand, eyes watching him and her surroundings fervently. He pushed the bodies of the rest up up up, pulling the agony of his saving grace behind him.
As he reached the top, Fiona rose up to stand beside him, taking to his shadow like she always did. Her hands and arms and legs were all covered in blue blood and coated sand. She shook, her obvious need for a rest trapped in her eyes. Her eyes, set on him, were a reminder of what awaited, her trace of a smile overcoming the weight of the situation. The canyon below them has widened, a straight path leading right to the settlement, wide enough to space out their move. He could see the clearing; just a few clicks away, the skiff visible just on the outer edge.
The drops from the sky started to fall more hastily, Imam holding out a hand to catch them. They weren't blue or red, but clear and a look of dreadfulness washed over him.
"Oh, no. No no no..."
The moment of clarity, the moment of hope was easily washed away in those few starting drops of the torrential storm.
Riddick watched as the bodies huddled together around the torches, trying to keep them lit. Fiona instinctly pulled closer to him, her arm bumping his side as she watched along side him. When they were left with just one flickering flame the roars overtook the night again.
Fry pushed the remaining bodies up against the wall, directing Imam to guard Jack as she tried to find a place to hide their only light.
"Riddick? How close?" Fiona looked up at him, her voice so oddly placed in the roars of the world around him.
"They ain't gonna make it."
He didn't look at their faces; rather he searched out the place he had hidden previously. Leaving the power cells there next to Fiona, he ran his fingers along the wall and found the crevice he had secreted in, when the search party had been there.
"Here..." He pushed aside the rock that guarded the entrance, looking in at the darkness to make sure nothing was hidden inside. "Hide here."
They didn't hesitate to crawl into the fissure, Imam, his remaining son, Jack, and the captain all piling into the tight space. Their trust went unspoken. There was just one light among them and it sat in Jack's hands, her eyes peering out into the darkness as Riddick pushed the rock shut on them.
He returned to Fiona, preferring not to look her in the eyes as he gathered up the cells.
"Lets get these to the skiff."
The stretch was easy. Fiona kept just a few feet in front of him, hands latched onto the bag he had given here what felt like ages ago. They pushed down over the edge of the canyon and were met with buildings in no time. They maneuvered their way through, her body pushing harder than he could remember it ever having to push before. As they boarded the dark craft, she took her seat in the pilot's chair. Riddick made quick work of sliding out the old cells and replacing them with new. When all was said and done Fiona flipped on all the switches and booted up the skiff.
"It's forcing a haul check, shouldn't take more than five minutes."
"There's enough light on this thing for longer."
She didn't question him. He expected her to. In that moment he expected her to ask him why he wasn't returning to that crevice in the wall. He expected her to defy him, to deny him his natural need to hide from the world and run like a wild animal. He expected her to want to go back and save them all.
He hit the button to close the hatch, and returned his attention back to the front.
"System check looks good. We can fly out in two." She looked back at him, that trace of a smile still there. Her hands hesitated on the console, watching as he stared her down.
Maybe she knew he felt guilty. He never could assume with Fiona.
The ship slowly began to wake, each light flickering on inside and setting off the next. When the head beams lit up both sets of eyes moved forward to look on to the settlement around them.
She looked weary, standing there, gulping down air that she desperately needed. Fry gathered all of her strength to bore down on them, demanding that they run her over as she stood there. In her hand was a bottle, a faint glow coming out of it. Riddick turned and hit the hatch button, letting the door open once again.
"Strong survival instinct. Admire that in a woman." He taunted her, hands holding onto the brim of the door, watching as she gathered herself up in front of him, standing there, defeated. But there was still a fire in her eyes, and he instantly found that he wanted to snuff it out.
"You're not leaving. Not until we go back for the others."
He laughed, her feeble demand of him comical. In two minutes he was going to fly out, that much he knew. In two minutes he would be assisting Fiona in setting the autopilot to put them in a shipping lane. In two minutes he would be carting her back to the tiny little bed and getting his fill. He glanced back, watching as the woman on his mind stood up from her seat and joined him there on the edge.
"I promised them we'd go back with more light. And that's exactly what we're going to do..."
"I think you're mistaken me with someone who gives a fuck." He dropped his hands, one of them finding the small of Fiona's back. He could feel the tremble in her, the uncertainty in that small woman coming off like waves. As he stood there, watching Fry formulate her response, he realized that what he had originally expected from Fiona was there. She was defying him, demanding that he return to the others, but she wasn't vocalizing it. She was hesitating during the haul check, watching him think over his choice.
"What, you afraid?" Fry jabbed at him, trying to shame him, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Confusin' me with Johns now. Fear was his money. I only deal in life and death." He removed his hold from Fiona and took a few steps forward, crouching down just in front of her. "All that stuff in between? Some shade of grey my eyes don't see."
"I trusted you, Riddick." Fry stepped forward, dropping the bottle into the sand. "Goddam, I trusted that some part of you wanted to rejoin the human race."
"There ain't any use in this conversation captain." Fiona's silence ended as she responded before Riddick could get his smartass response out. "The human race ain't worth rejoining, you'd know that if you understood."
"You of all people." Fry moved her eyes and attention to Fiona now, disregarding Riddick altogether. The bigger man rose, Fiona stepping up beside him. They stood just on the edge of the cover, rain still pouring down on the captain. "As a woman, how can you let them just die out there, all alone?"
"Don't go playing the sympathy card on me." Fiona crossed her arms over her chest, shifting slightly so she bumped into Riddick. "I've long since lost that desire to care for every living breathing thing that you seem to hold so dear."
"Ride with us or get eaten, make your choice quick." Riddick ended the talk, seeing the anger in Fry's eyes and feeling the frustration. He turned his back to the captain, heading up the ramp just a fraction of a step before Fiona lunged forward from her spot beside him. It shocked him, not only that he hadn't expected her to move nor knew she was going to, and that she also had the strength.
He turned quickly to watch her slam into the captain and throw the woman to the ground. A shiv bounded from the blonde's hand, falling into the muck of sand on the ground.
"I thought..." Fry coughed out words as Fiona pressed down on her windpipe, her other hand securing the woman's arms. "You didn't care about any living thing."
Riddick was transfixed, watching as Fry gagged, Fiona tightening her grip and reaching back her now free arm. She balled her hand into a fist and just as she was about to put the world of hurt into the captain and knock her out, he stepped up and took her hand in his. She swiveled instantly, picking herself up and pushing him away from her, a scowl on her face.
"This ain't saving those people. Let's get this the fuck over with." Riddick helped the captain up, turning back to Fiona who was freshly drenched and shaking. "You're staying here."
She opened her mouth to fight, stepped forward and glared up at him, and he met her there, in the darkness. The captain could be invisible for all they cared as he stared her down, lifting his goggles to catch every inch of her body heat in his eyes.
"I can't afford to lose you." He made it soft, direct, eyes drilling into her angry ones. "You ain't got much fight left in you and I'm holding out for that to be used later. Now get your ass back in that pilot seat and get the ship ready."
It had been years since he had given her such a direct order. His words were a wall of strength, and the last time he had done this she had trembled in front of him with fear. Now she only stared back at him with the same fiery hatred she had been giving Fry. She'd forgive him later; he needed her safe right now.
Turning his back on her, he snatched up the light band he left at the entrance and turned to the captain, pointing out into the darkness. She scooped up her bottle, the glowing lights inside wiggling. Neither of them turned to look at Fiona as they marched into the delicate storm pushing around them, her gaze cutting scars into Riddick's skin as she watched him walk away.