"Do you realize we're standing inside a room that no one has entered in over 3,000 years." Evelyn stood on the left side of Rick and Zi on his right.
"Whoo! What is that god-awful stench?" Jonathan said as he got off the rope. Zi, Rick and Evelyn looked at him as he looked up at the warden right behind him. "Oh," realizing that it was the warden. Zi suppressed a giggle. Rick looked at her and smiled as if to tell her that he found it funny also.
Evelyn walked over to a mirror, dusted off the cobwebs and started angling it up towards the light.
"And then there was light." The entire room filled with light as the sun bounced off the mirror and then reflected on an aisle of strategically placed mirrors.
"Hey, that is a neat trick," Rick was impressed.
They walked in a single file line: Rick, Zi, Evelyn, Jonathan, and then the warden. Rick had Zi hold onto his belt so he knew he wouldn't lose her. The tunnel was dark, only Rick, Jonathan and the warden carried torches. Evelyn put her hand on Zi's shoulder to let her know that she was also there for her. Even though Evelyn didn't know Zi all that well, she had great respect for Rick's need to protect her. And since she was older than Zi, who also had no other female really in her life, Evelyn also felt protective over her.
"The legs of Anubis." Evelyn confirmed as they emerged from the tunnel. Zi let go of her brother's belt, but stayed close. "The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here." Before Evelyn got a chance to look, there was a loud noise and they all pushed up against the base of the Anubis statue. Evelyn took hold of Rick's torch so he could hold two guns. Zi shied behind her brother as much as possible. Jonathan grabbed a small gun.
As the moaning got closer, they all jumped around the corner, only to come face-to-face, and gunpoint-to-gunpoint with the other group.
"You scared the be jesus out of us, O'Connell." Mr. Henderson said, a little relieved.
"Likewise," Rick responded. He uncocked his guns and started lowering them, as did everyone else.
"Hey, that's my tool kit." Mr. Burns eyed something that Evelyn was holding. Zi knew that Rick had taken it for Evelyn.
"No, I don't think so," raising his guns again, as did everyone else.
"Okay," Mr. Burns was a little frightened by the guns pointed at him. "Perhaps I was mistaken." The guns lowered again.
The negotiation of who got to the legs of the Anubis statue went on for a few minutes, until Evelyn pointed out, assuredly, that there were other places to dig. Rick lowered his guns and let Evelyn lead them to a room below the statue.
On the journey there, the warden was misplaced. He went off to seek his own treasure. Rick didn't care. As long as the man didn't try to take his sister with him, Rick was happy to get rid of the man for a few hours or even days.
Evelyn was right, this room held some sort of treasure of it's own. After some time of Evelyn, Jonathan and Rick standing on small statues in order to dig into the ceiling, they took a break. While Evelyn explained the process of mummification, which Zi already knew, Jonathan practiced his golf stroke.
Thanks to the loose dirt from digging, and thousands of years of weathering, a sarcophagus fell from the ceiling. It wasn't exactly the book that Evelyn was looking for, but it was still exciting. The hieroglyphics on the top read "he that shall not be named". Rick then noticed a lock on the outside of the sarcophagus. Evelyn realized then, that the 'puzzle box' that Jonathan had 'borrowed' from Rick, was the key for the lock.
Zi was noticing how quiet it was and it bothered her. She walked to the door of the room, careful to stay in view of Rick. When all of a sudden she heard someone screaming. As the scream got closer she turned to run back to Rick, but bumped into him because he came up to her. His gun was drawn and he held Zi behind him as he went into the hallway.
The screaming came from the warden who came running into view holding his head. He ran head on into a wall. In that instant, Rick pulled his sister close and buried her face in his shirt. This was not something he wanted her to see. Even though he was now relieved that he didn't have to keep the warden away from Zi, he still didn't want her to have to see someone die.
Even though Zi didn't see it, she still knew what happened. She crumpled to the ground in shock. She wasn't sure how she should feel about this. Was she happy that the warden could no longer think that Zi was still under obligation to him? Or because now she wouldn't have to tell Rick what she did to try and free him? Should she feel terrible that she even thought these things? Inside she was a mess of emotions, but on the outside, she just stared at the body of the warden lying on the floor. Motionless and wide eyed.
