HELLO BEAUTIFUL

by evilgrin on 29 Dec 2005, 00:21

::ELEVEN::

Vaughn is halfway down the hallway already, barely even looking at the broken heap of Davis, his neck broken, as Riddick and his girl slip into the service tunnels. It’s about a quarter mile, in the dim half light of those tunnels, before they break out into the landing, and, most likely, their ship. If they make it out safely, Vaughn will kill both Petrie and me. Hell, he might kill us anyway, if he gets the chance. It’s just a matter of who kills who first, as we enter the gloom of the tunnels.

~~

“Ava…”

A kiss that bruises. The animal hasn’t left either of us yet. We know we have to keep moving, but sometimes there’s more to surviving, to living, than just running.

“There are at least two more following.”

“Yes. They’ll be expecting us to take the tunnel towards the landing. So lets not. Let’s finish it. Here.”

You take my hand, and we slip backwards, away from the entrance of the corridor, in the opposite direction of the landing. Turn and wait for them to come through the door.
~~

Vaughn is through the door, turning to go down the hall towards the landing, by the time I get through the door.

“You fucking lost them, old man!! We never should have waited.”

He’s losing it. How it became my fault, I don’t know. I suppose it’s easier to explain it away that way. He’s hated Riddick so long, and can’t stand the thought that Riddick was so close, and he did nothing about it. Worse, that it might have been his own fault, because, in setting Davis up for the kill, he let Riddick and his girl escape. So he needs someone to blame. I’m it.

I start to ease down the tunnel. We’re facing each other, guns pointed at each other.Of course, at the worst possible moment, Petrie shows up.

We both turn towards Petrie, now coming through the doors to the service tunnel, unarmed. Vaughn takes his opportunity, and shoots me. Hell, I knew it was coming at some point. His nerves are shot, or he would have done a better job of it. Knocks me back against the wall of the tunnel. It would be nice if I could say it was a gut shot, or he just hit a lung, or something specific. The ugly fact of the matter is that Vaughn’s weapon leaves a big messy damned hole. It would probably be easier to say what he didn’t hit. I haven’t got very long.

Petrie’s already hit the floor. Kid’s not so dumb afterall. What the hell he’s doing here, I don’t know. Don’t even know if I should be pissed or not. Hell, I didn’t expect the kid to live past today, anyways, so I shouldn’t be surprised at all to see him.

Vaughn’s seen what Petrie saw, the second he came into the tunnel though. Riddick and his girl, backlit by one of the tunnel’s few, dim, lights. Everyone stands frozen, for what seems like forever. It never really is. Just seems that way. I guess so you’ll always remember how things could have, or should have gone. Vaughn’s face, a rictus of hate, as he prepares to fire another shot. One last look at Riddick. My gun weighs more than I can bear, but I won’t have to bear it much longer. I think of being with Louise until my hand steadies. I fire a clean shot. A perfect shot. Face explodes into a shattered mess of blood and bone and brain, as you crumple to the floor of the tunnel.