False Dawn

Chapter 14

Riddick was ducking into alleys now, taking a seemingly random path down unknown alleys. But when he made a sharp right followed by another and then stopped suddenly she had to wonder if he really did know where they were. He slid her to her feet in the tight space and covered her mouth with his hand. She didn't need to be told. Discovery was death at this point.

He turned his back to her, nearly pressing her against the rough wall with his back. The sound of running feet came closer, and then just as quickly faded away.

He leaned forward a bit, checking past the corner, and then stepped back, turning to face her. "How many did you get?"

Jack rolled her eyes at his nearly normal speech. He wasn't even breathless, while she couldn't seem to breath at all. She held her hand to her chest, feeling the hot stickiness soaking through her bra and shirt just above her right breast. "Seven or eight. Hard to tell. Four more. At least." She couldn't catch her breath and the burning feeling in her chest was spreading. The need to cough had never been so strong but she held it back until her eyes were watering.

She couldn't see Riddick well in the dark alcove. All she could see was that his skin showed lighter than his clothing, and it was streaked with something darker on his head and arms.

"Were you hit?"

He was listening at the edge of the wall, for what she couldn't tell. All she could hear was the hiss of the insistent rain. At her gasped words he turned back to her, his silver eyes seeming comforting to her sluggish mind.

"Yeah, but not as bad as you. We have to get you to a hospital." He pulled her hand away and pulled her shirt down, ripping the collar so the wound was exposed. "We're lucky it came all the way through." His fingers smoothed over her skin, her bra tugged to one side, and she almost sighed at the contact of his hand. It was soothing in some way she couldn't explain, like a sense of relief washing over her.

"Hurt to breath?" he asked low.

She only nodded.

He reached down and ripped off the lower part of his shirt, folding it to press against her chest. "You're lung is collapsed. Don't cough."

She smiled at his order and reached out to him, her hand coming down on his arm. He grunted and pulled away.

"Riddick?"

He lifted his hand and in the dim light she could only see that it was as dark as the sleeve above. "Got one in the arm. Went right through. We're okay."

She nodded and he gripped her upper arm, pulling her away from the wall as he stepped to the entrance. "Can you walk?" he whispered, still looking away from her.

"Yeah. Riddick. I'm right behind you."

Jack wavered a bit as she stood behind him. She felt warmth spreading down her back and front, seeping slowly lower. The pain in her chest was actually bearable, more like a huge discomfort than actual pain. The need to cough was nearly overwhelming. A day from years ago appeared vividly in her mind. Shazza, Zeke, her and that asshole Johns standing on the wreck of the HG and Shazza had said that she felt one lung short. She'd been wrong. The thin air of T2 was heaven compared to this.

Her thoughts seem disjointed. Am I going into shock? She saw the flashing monitor screen 'Access Denied', then that little man 'Chip's' horrid smile. Sparks flying from the walls in that alley. Seeing her gun skate across the ground and into the gutter. Looking down Riddick's back as she bounced on his shoulder. Men coming at them, guns firing, badges flashing in the reflecting streetlights. The constant patter of the rain.

Riddick moved forward suddenly, his big hand still locked around her upper arm and he hauled her forward with him. Relief washed over her. Riddick would take care of her. All they had to do was reach a hospital.

Jack suddenly frowned. She blindly followed Riddick, only her feet moving one before the other, and no thought was required for that. They couldn't go to a hospital. Surely whoever was after them would check the hospitals for gun shot victims.

She heard Riddick's words from just moments before. He kept referring to her as 'we'. 'WE were lucky it went right through', 'WE'RE okay'. She couldn't help smiling at the memory. He could let go of her at any time. He was unscathed enough to make it. But he was dragging her along, and had stopped in a shooting gallery of an alley to help her. She stumbled after him, nodding to herself, agreeing with her inner dialog that she was indeed going into shock. Although the knowledge of her condition didn't stop the flood of her thoughts, or tears.

Riddick could make it back to the ship. She was just holding him back.

He'd stopped at the end of the alley, peering out carefully around the corner.

"Riddick?"

"Hmm?" was the only response she got.

"Where . . . are we going?" She coughed softly, covering her mouth, unable to hold in the urge any longer.

"Doctor, Jack. You need a doctor." He stood and squeezed her arm so hard it hurt. "Walk normal," he growled at her, and then dragged her forward, walking with her across the street, dodging cruisers. She couldn't tell if she was walking normal or not. She felt like a drunk after last call, aware of her inabilities but unable to correct them. They stepped up on the other sidewalk and she stumbled.

"Hang on, Jack." His hand tightened on her arm, the pain there worse than the bullet wound through her chest and she stood up straight again.

"There!"

The yell sounded from down the street and suddenly she was being yanked forward. She put one foot in front of the other, but it wasn't enough and she was being dragged forward.

Gunshots rang out just as they turned the corner and she cried out as a searing pain coursed through her left leg. Riddick didn't stop. He dragged her forward and then lifted her. She held onto him this time. Gunshots sounded behind them again just before they turned the corner and she thought of firing back. But did she even have her gun?

He crossed another street, and Jack thought she recognized the restaurant they had eaten in earlier. Their ship! They might be able to reach the Argentine!

Suddenly Riddick stumbled and dropped, though he held onto her. She took one faltering step back from him as his fall brought her to her feet. His shined eyes had never shown her a bit of emotion, but now she saw the anguish there. Her heart wrenched as painfully as the wounds to her flesh, and she sat heavily on her ass, her leg refusing to hold her.

Riddick was struggling to his feet and she watched him, feeling dazed yet profoundly impressed. He was like a locomotive, he just wouldn't stop. In the light now surrounding them she could see that he was covered in blood. His or hers, she didn't know and guessed it was a bit of both.

The barrel of her gun dug into her back and she reached back to pull it free, feeling guilty that she hadn't thought of the third weapon before.

Shouts from nearby sounded and she cocked her head a bit. They were coming from different directions now. But as she turned her head she realized they had reached the flight pad. The ship was right there!

A shot fired. She turned her head to see a small group running toward them, running down the tarmac, but still out of gun range. She hauled herself to her feet, gaining her balance at the same time Riddick reached her.

"Go!"

"What?"

She stepped away from him, limping from the crazily throbbing pain in her leg. "Go!"

His eyes widened that little bit as she stepped further away from him. "Jack!"

She held the gun up, aiming it at the group approaching, but she still stared at him. "You can make it, Riddick."

He took one step back and she saw pain lance across his face as if he hated even considering leaving her. She smiled, knowing that no matter what, he loved her, "Go, Riddick! Please!" she yelled, backing further away, needing to put distance between them for his safety. "I'm not going to make it to a doctor and you know that." Tears spilled down her cheeks, knowing she'd never see him again, but wanting him to live. "I love you," she whispered hoarsely.

He took a step toward her, that determined stubborn look on his face and she turned the gun on him. She needed to see him go if it was the last thing she did. "Now, fucking go!" she screamed, steadying the gun.

He stared at her, for the first time an emotion besides anger showing on his face, uncertainty, fear, respect, and maybe even love. "You wouldn't do it," he told her harshly, his eyes darting from her face to the gun she held and then to the ever-approaching men.

She smiled a bit, understanding. He had to go, even he knew that, but he couldn't do it on his own. He wanted her to make him leave. Biting her lip painfully, she pulled the trigger. He barely flinched when the bullet passed through his thigh with a spray of blood on the opposite side obscenely lit by the lights behind him. It was a safe shot, away from any vital arteries, done more to cause pain and remind him that she could pick him off by the piece. He finally nodded the tiniest bit, his face once again set in that expressionless deadpan, and then he turned and ran. She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding when she saw him reach the ship. A bullet that she figured had been intended for him caught her in the shoulder and she went down, but she held onto the gun.

She was in the middle of them now. There were more than a dozen men. Some were ignoring her and going for the ship. They only glanced at her, and then went quickly after the bigger prey that was disappearing into the just now closing hatch. They didn't see her raise her gun, so weren't aware of the danger. Their brains exploding out of the fronts of their collapsing skulls was probably the last thing they saw.

Jack got four. She had to strain to focus past the pain she was feeling, but managed to kill four before she was hit in the head from the men coming at her from behind. Her head felt like it was going to crack open, or already had, but she clung to consciousness, and life, just long enough to see the Argentine take off safely.