The hot sun on her face woke her up and Anna blearily opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was resting her head on Ardeth's leg, her fist clenched around a handful of his robes.
Immediately, she sat up and regretted it. Her head gave a painful throb and she groaned. She rubbed her temples and shut her eyes for a moment.
"Morning," Rick said from the front seat. He turned around and handed her a canteen and some fruit. "We decided to just let you sleep through the night."
"Thanks," Anna said and took a long drink. "Sorry for sleeping on you," she said to Ardeth.
"You were tired. I decided it was best not to disturb you," he said. "These past few days must have been trying for you."
"No more-so than you," Anna replied.
She looked ahead, munching on the fruit, and saw a closed off field in front of them. In the distance, she could make out a yellow plane. "This is the airfield?" She asked incredulously.
Jonathan pulled into the field and turned the car off. Ardeth got out and held his hand for Anna. "Thank you," she said sincerely as she took it and he helped her down.
Rick led them a little ways a way to a small sand dune where the drunken, old man from the bar sat under a parasol drinking tea and listening to a record player.
"Morning Winston!" Rick greeted. "Uh, a word?"
"O'Connell!" Winston said enthusiastically. "Good morning. Have some tea."
"We're in a bit of a hurry today, Winston," Rick explained. "We've got a problem and we need your help."
"What's your little problem got to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Corps?" Winston asked.
"His Majesty?" Anna repeated feeling lost. "Isn't it—oh!" Winston and Jonathan gave her a weird look. "Ah, nevermind." Guess Queen Elizabeth II wasn't on the throne yet. Anna could have sworn she was. Didn't England celebrate her eightieth year on the throne or something just recently?
"Not a damn thing," Rick ignored Anna's outburst.
Winston put his cup down, his full attention on Rick. "Is it dangerous?" He asked.
"You probably won't live through it," Rick said bluntly.
"By Jove, do you really think so?" Winston asked eagerly.
"Well everyone else we've bumped into has died. Why not you?" Jonathan said.
"What's the, uh, what's the challenge then?"
"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy, and save the world," Rick stated.
Winston laughed, stood up, and saluted Rick. "Winston Havelock at your service, sir!"
He ordered some men to prepare his plane and he beckoned them over. They were all handed caps and goggles and then they had to address the problem of five people for a two-person plane.
"I can strap two of you to the wings," Winston said thoughtfully.
"I'll take the gunner," Rick said.
Jonathan and Ardeth would be strapped to either side of the wings and they were left with the problem of what to do with Anna. "She's skinny, she could squeeze in with O'Connell," Jonathan suggested.
"No," Rick said. "I wouldn't be able to get at the gun."
"Or I could be strapped on your side," Anna said to Jonathan. "Together we shouldn't be that much heavier than Ardeth."
And so Anna found herself strapped next to Jonathan on the left wing. If anything, Anna preferred being in a nice, safe airliner when Winston got them up in the air. The wind whipped her hair around and Anna tried really hard not to look at the ground.
"Are you all right?" She heard Rick shout to them over the wind.
"Do I bloody look alright!" Jonathan shouted back.
"Doing fine!" Anna yelled. "Trying not to look at the ground!"
They passed a sandstorm and Anna felt a foreboding feeling in her gut. "We have to be close, don't we?" She asked Jonathan.
"What?" He shouted in her ear.
"WE HAVE TO BE CLOSE!" She yelled.
But before Jonathan could answer she heard Rick shout, "Hey Winston, peddle faster!"
"Hang on, men!" Winston shouted and the plane dived down.
Anna let loose a scream and she squeezed her eyes shut. The plane leveled up and Anna allowed herself to look behind her. She really wished she didn't.
The face of Imhotep smiled sinisterly at them from a wall of sand. The mouth opened wide and they were engulfed by sand. She heard Jonathan yelling but Anna kept her mouth firmly shut to keep herself inhaling sand. She buried her face into the wing.
"Here I come, laddies!" She heard Winston laughing over the noise.
She opened her eyes as the sand died away but the engine was damaged and Anna braced for impact. The plane landed hard in the sand and Anna heard metal snapping and things cracking. Luckily, the strap kept her on the wing or else she might've been seriously hurt.
"Jonathan," Anna whispered when the plane stilled, "are you okay."
His only response was a groan. Anna wiggled around but the rope still held tight. "Excuse me," Jonathan called. "A little help would be useful if it's not too much trouble!"
Rick appeared from the other side of the wing holding his bag. "Yeah, yeah. All right," he grunted.
He undid Jonathan first and he fell to the ground with a whump. But with Anna he was gentler and eased her down, setting her on her feet. "You alright?" He asked.
"Let's not do that again," Anna said and winced when she felt a bruise on her ribcage.
Ardeth took the Thompson off the gunner seat and set it against his shoulder while Rick went to check on Winston. "Winston! Hey Winston!"
But the elderly man didn't respond. He was still in the cockpit. Dead, Anna thought glumly. Another one gone.
The plane gave a large creak and began to sink. "Quicksand!" She heard Ardeth shout. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. "Get back, it's quicksand!"
The four of the watched the plan sink beneath the ground and Rick gave Winston one final salute before they started their long trek to Hamunaptra.
"So how do we find the statue of Horus?" Anna asked after a few minutes.
"There is a part of the temple none of us have explored," Ardeth said from behind her. "There was a cave in—it's blocked by rocks but the stories say Horus rests beyond."
"Well that's convenient."
Anna shivered a little as they passed into Hamunaptra. Had they really only been here a few days ago digging for treasure? Only a few days ago so many people were still alive..
Honestly, if I was Ardeth I would have just blown the damn place sky-high. But she probably wouldn't have put an ancient, powerful curse on an undead guy in the first place. Whoever did that was a colossal idiot.
Ardeth led them to the rock-filled entrance and he and Rick began digging while Jonathan directed and Anna watched. She wanted to help but Rick just waved her away.
"I'd take those bigger stones first," Jonathan ordered. "Take them from the top, otherwise the whole thing will cave in on us. Come on, put your backs into it." Rick and Ardeth stood up and stared at Jonathan threateningly.
Jonathan chuckled weakly. "Yes, well, you've got the idea. Chop, chop."
The two men begrudgingly got back to work while Anna snickered. "Nice, Jonathan."
"Oh hush you," he snapped at her. Instead of ordering Rick and Ardeth around, he examined the room they were in. He drew closer to the wall were blue beetles were inlay-ed in.
He pried one out and held It up to his face. "I say. Gents, you should come and have a look at this."
The shell began to crack and Jonathan let out a cry and tossed the thing in a panic. Anna, out of pure reflex, caught it. And to her horror, the same scarabs from earlier came out of the case and bit her arm. Pain shot up her arm as it burrowed into her skin and she started screaming.
"What?" Rick was there next to her.
"It's in my arm!" She wailed.
Rick grabbed her arm and ripped open her shirt sleeve. There was a bulge in her skin as the scarab moved up her arm. "Whoa!" Rick exclaimed.
"DO SOMETHING!" She shrieked.
Rick grabbed her arm and straightened it. "Hold her," he ordered and Ardeth grabbed her and held her steady against him. Rick pulled out his knife and Anna realized what he was going to do.
"Not that, not that!" But Rick inserted the blade and began to pry the bug out. "HOLY FUCKING SHITBITCH JESUS H. CHRIST," Anna howled, her head falling against Ardeth's shoulder.
The bug came flying out and as it ran back towards them and Rick shot it.
"You cussed worse than a bunch of sailors," Rick said in amazement when he turned back to Anna who was cradling her wounded arm.
"You stuck a knife in me! After a bug tried to kill me!"
She turned her eyes to Jonathan, furious. "You!" She snapped. "Don't touch anything! Don't look at anything, don't think about anything, just don't even do anything!"
"Sorry," Jonathan said, looking very sorry indeed.
"Here." Ardeth gingerly took her arm. He pulled some black fabric from the depths of his robes and dressed her wound.
"Thank you," Anna said gratefully when he finished tying the bandage.
Soon after, Rick and Ardeth cleared the rocks and they filed in. They came out in a darkened chamber. Rick unholstered his hand gun and shot at one of the mirrors. The bullet hit and the mirror reflected the lights, making the room bright.
Anna's jaw dropped. The room before them was filled to the brim with golden treasures. Jonathan floundered for words next to her. "Amazing," she breathed out.
"Can you see—" Jonathan started as they walked down the steps.
"Yeah," Rick said.
"Can you believe—"
"Yeah."
"Can we just—"
"No," Rick said.
"What did I say about touching things?" Anna asked.
Anna heard a croaking noise and the four of the whipped around. Mummies were popping up out the ground!
"You have got to be kidding me!" Anna groaned.
"Who the hell are these guys?" Rick asked.
"Priests," Ardeth replied. "Imhotep's priests."
"All right then." And Rick and Ardeth opened fire.
Jonathan reached around Anna and pulled Rick's hand guns out, handing one to Anna, and started shooting. Anna took careful aim with Rick's other hand gun and squeezed the trigger.
She held on with a steady grip as the gun recoiled but she she managed to hit one in the shoulder. She grinned and shot again, getting one in the head this time.
But the mummy priests kept coming and they were running out of ammunition. Rick grabbed Anna's hand and they all ran for it. They entered a tunnel and Jonathan and Anna ran down it while Ardeth and Rick covered them, shooting priests.
"There he is!" Jonathan exclaimed when they emerged from the tunnel. "Hello Horus, old boy!"
Anna heard a sparking noise and she looked to see Rick holding a stick of dynamite in his hand. "Time to close the door," he said and threw it.
Anna dove for cover behind the statue next to Jonathan and Ardeth and Rick joined her. The explosion caused the room to shake and priests to scream but the room was clear... for now.
Ardeth reloaded Rick's shotgun while Jonathan and Rick pried to the compartment open. Anna was out of bullets so she pocketed the gun.
There was more screeching noises from down the hall and Anna saw shadows in the distance. "Damn, these guys just don't quit, do they?" Rick grumbled.
Ardeth cocked the gun. "Keep digging," he said.
Anna reached down to grab some rocks but she felt something cold around her ankle and then her face met dirt. A priest had popped up from the ground and was pulling her towards him.
"Let go!" She squealed and kicked at its face. "Let go!"
The heel of her shoe connected with his jaw and she heard a cracking sound. She scrambled away as two more showed up and they attacked Rick and Jonathan. But luck was on their side. When the two men landed in a heap and the priests pried the compartment open, a trap activated and the mummies shrieked in pain.
Rick and Jonathan leapt to the compartment and pulled a small box out. They opened it to reveal a beautiful gold book.
"The golden Book of Amun-Ra," Jonathan said in wonderment.
Ardeth's gun clicked. He was out of bullets. "Save the girl," he addressed them. "Kill the creature." With a shout, he ran into the hallway, punching mummies.
"What are you waiting for!" Ardeth shouted. "Get out!"
Rick lit another stick of dynamite and he threw Anna into a corner, Jonathan following. Rick dived to join them as the stick blew.
"Let's go!"
But Anna hesitated. She could hear the commotion down the hallway but it sounded like it was getting fainter.
"You go!" She said. "I'll help Ardeth."
"Are you kidding me?" Rick shouted.
"No!" She shouted back. "Just go!" She didn't look back as she ran down the hallway, leaving Rick and Jonathan.
Ardeth had taken the fight back out into the treasure room and he was quickly getting surrounded. Anna did the only thing she could think of from twelve years of soccer. She slide-tackled them. She got one as she slid in, satisfied at hearing another cracking sound when she connected with its ankles.
"Anna?" Ardeth asked, shocked.
Anna grabbed a heavy, gold bowl, stood up, and whacked a priest right across the head with it. "I'm here to help you!" She announced.
It's just like soccer, she reminded herself, and they are the ball. She ran for one and kicked like she would to send the ball down-field. Her kick hit him in the ribs and he fell into another priest. She backed up and grabbed a little statue this time and swung it like a baseball bat.
Beside her, Ardeth had taken his sword out and was slashing limbs and heads off. But Anna wouldn't allow herself to get distracted as she feinted around a priest and pushed it over. She stomped on it with her shoe and was pleased to hear a crack.
"Anna, duck!" Ardeth ordered and she did. She felt wind rustle her hair and the head of a priest came rolling down.
She held her statue aloft and brought it down on another priest's head.
And then the room was cleared. Somehow, some way, they managed to defeat the rest of the priests. Anna stood up and gazed around in amazement.
"Thank you," Ardeth said to her and she turned to face him.
For once she smiled genuinely. "You helped me quite a few times so it was my turn to repay the favor."
He chuckled. "Are you hurt?"
"No. Just some bruising but it'll fade."
"That is good."
Even disheveled he still looks good, Anna decided. And a bit of her was tickled to see that he was concerned for her. Maybe she should say something but she didn't know what.
Before she could open her mouth, the walls began to shake and the ceiling began to lower. "Hamunaptra is sinking!" Ardeth exclaimed. He grabbed Anna's hand. "We must go!"
They ran for it. Ardeth pulled her along the long corridors until they burst onto the surface. But they still weren't in the clear because the pillars were falling as well. "The camels!" Anna shouted as they ran for the herd of camels still laying outside the city.
They reached safety with the small herd of camels and they turned to watch Hamunaptra go up into dust. Anna gazed around anxiously hoping for a sign of the other three. To her immense relief, she saw them run out of the city.
"They made it!" Anna whooped in joy. She jumped up and down in joy and before she could think it through, she wrapped her arms Ardeth in a hug.
He stumbled back, eyes wide and then Anna realized what she had done. "Oh..." Her eyes grew wide. "I'm sorry," she blurted. "I was caught up in the moment."
But Ardeth was chuckling. "It is quite alright," he said. His eyes danced with mirth. "Come, I will take you back to your companions."
He helped her into a saddle on a camel and got in his own and they rode for where Rick, Evy, and Jonathan stood. They didn't notice them until Ardeth put his hand on Jonathan's shoulder. Jonathan screamed and they whipped around to see Ardeth and Anna.
"Thank you!" Jonathan cried. "Thank you very much!"
"Anna!" Evy exclaimed when she saw Anna ride up. Anna waved happily, glad to see she was safe.
"You've earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," Ardeth said.
"Yes, well, it was nothing," Jonathan replied still holding his hand over his heart.
"May Allah smile upon you always," Ardeth said. He kissed his hand, touched it to his forehead, and gestured it towards Jonathan, and led his camel away.
"And... youself," Jonathan said as he made a half-assed attempt to mimic Ardeth.
"Stay out of trouble," Rick called to him.
"Bye!" Anna said. Don't go, she wanted to add but she didn't. I hope we meet again.
"He's just leaving us here," Jonathan grumbled. "I guess we go home, empty-handed. Again."
"I wouldn't say that," Rick murmured as he stared into Evy's eyes.
Evy stared back and smiled.
"Oh please." Jonathan rolled his eyes.
But Anna grinned as Evy and Rick kissed. I just won five bucks from myself!
Jonathan approached a camel. "How 'bout you darling? Would you like a little kissy-wissy?" The camel bayed in his face and he recoiled from the smell.
Jonathan got on his own camel while Rick and Evy shared one. They had one last kiss before they headed back. back to Cairo.
-x-
And that concludes part one and the end of the first Mummy movie! Now we get to move into something a bit more exciting next round. And then the romance between Anna and Ardeth will really start rolling.
On another note, the amazing grapejuice101 wonderfully made a polyvore poster for this story! The link is on my profile if you want to check it out!
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter eleven!