Here is another chapter for you all! There will be some announcements at the end of the chapter. Thanks so much for following! Enjoy!
I do not own The Mummy, only my OC's.
It hardly took an hour to get where they wanted to go. The abandoned airfield that once belonged to the Royal Air Force in Giza no longer had gates to enter through. Fallon knitted her eyebrows at the site of a long, shattering building. Why were they here?
"Rick, what is this place?" Fallon asked.
"My friend, Winston, can help us out. This is where he spends a good majority of his time," Rick explained.
"Help us how, exactly?" Kelly muttered under her breath.
After parking and getting out of the car, they strode over the sand dunes, following the sound of a gramophone a good 100 feet into the airfield, where they encountered a large old man sitting in a chair underneath an umbrella and sipping tea.
"Is that O'Connell, my dear boy?" Whom Fallon could only assume was Winston called out as he saw the group approaching.
"Morning, Winston, uh, a word?" Rick called back.
"Of course!" Winston replied zealously.
"Who is this chap, again?" Jonathon muttered to Kelly.
"A friend who was a pilot in the Royal Air Force back during the Great War," Kelly told him as they trekked through the sand up to Winston. "I've met him once or twice."
Fallon could barely make it up the dunes in the boots Kelly had lent to her. Even with the socks stuffed into them to try to make them fit better didn't help the fact that they were still a little too big. She stumbled through the orange sand, tripping over her own feet, as Kelly teased and giggled. Ardeth, who had been trailing behind her slowly, in a few single strides, was by her side and placed a hand on her back and the other on her arm, steadying her.
"Thank you," Fallon whispered as they made it up the dune and on steadier ground to discuss their predicament with Winston.
"It's not a problem," Ardeth said.
"Winston, we have a problem," Rick started.
"Ah, and what does your little problem have to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Force?" Winston asked.
"Not a damn thing," Rick replied with the straightest face Kelly and Fallon had ever seen.
Winston put his teacup back onto his saucer. "Is it dangerous?"
"Well you probably won't live through it," Rick said.
"By Jove, do you really think so?" The Air Force general asked.
"Well, everybody else we've bumped into has died, why not you?" Jonathon proposed.
Fallon noticed Ardeth's eyebrows knit together and his brow wrinkle, forming a concerned look on his face.
Winston stood up and placed his tea cup and saucer on a table beside his chair. "So what's the challenge then?"
"Save the damsel in distress, beat the bad guy, save the day," Rick summarized. A delighted grin spread across Winston's face.
"Oh! Haha, Winston Havelock at your service, sir! Ha ha!" Winston saluted them.
Kelly grinned. "I love him."
The fighter plane that Winston Havelock still flew when he wasn't as under the influence of alcohol as he can be (which wasn't often) was ancient and falling apart, and definitely needed a new paint job. For a quick and convenient rush journey into the desert back to Hamunaptra it was ideal. There was only one small tiny problem that Fallon could see wrong with it. Aside from the cockpit seat, there was only one other place to seat one person, the gun-carrier. That seated two out of 6 people.
"How are we going to do this?" Kelly inquired.
"Well, it looks like we're going to have to strap a couple of you to the wings," Rick replied, pulling on some goggles.
Fallon, Kelly, and Jonathon stood with their mouths agape.
"We're gonna what?" Kelly gaped at Rick.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Fallon muttered.
Ardeth turned to her suddenly. "What do you mean by that?"
This caught Fallon off guard. "Oh, nothing...I'm just nervous is all. I'm really unsure about all of this."
"Golly, Ardeth, you jump at every odd thing she says as if there's something wrong. Calm down, you don't always need to be there to save her," Kelly said, punching him in the shoulder.
Fallon looked down at the sand. Now that she thought about it, Ardeth was always there. Helping her up, across sand dunes, like he was always rescuing her.
"She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself," Kelly added. Fallon met Kelly's eyes. "I mean she could fight you with a sword, knock you off your horse, outwit you in a battle of knowledge and books. And she has. She's certainly no damsel in distress."
Fallon took a breath and realized that Kelly was right. After surviving Hamunaptra the first time and not only discovering what happened to her parents, and learning of a great power she possibly possessed, did she fully realize the strength that she did possess.
Before Ardeth could say anything, Rick walked over with extra pairs of goggles, hats, two long sets of rope, and some leather belts passing them out.
Kelly got close next to Ardeth. "It's endearing and sweet though. It shows that you care." She claps a hand on his back. "And that's why you get to ride the wing strapped to her."
"Okay, who's going to get strapped together to the right wing?" Rick asked, uncoiling some rope.
"Ardeth and Fallon will be!" Kelly called out immediately.
"Um-!" Fallon started until Kelly clapped a hand on her back.
"We need to keep the weight distribution even on each wing," Kelly interrupted her.
They first decided to tie up the pairs at the waist, that way there would be no separation while flying. Climbing onto the wing of the plane together seemed to be the most difficult thing. Kelly fought endlessly with Jonathon, screaming at each other on the preferred method to climb onto the wing. Fallon and Ardeth simply stared at the wing for a second, conjoined at the hip by the rope. Both of them tried to hide how uncomfortable they were by trying to think of the best way to climb onto the wing without either of them falling awkwardly.
After an excruciating silence that seemed to last forever, Fallon spoke. "Well obviously we need to step and climb onto it together, very synchronized."
Ardeth cast her a glance and nodded in agreement. He took a step towards the wing and Fallon stumbled on her feet at the sudden jolt. They giggled at the mishap.
"Not like that," Fallon chuckled.
They hobbled over to the wing.
"Let's put our hands up on the wing, and then on the count of three let's jump and climb up with our free leg," Fallon suggested. "And if I'm lucky you have enough body strength to help pull me up the rest of the way because there is not a chance that I have enough upper body strength to hoist myself up this wing."
Ardeth laughed at her comment and she glowed with pride at her ability to amuse him.
They placed their hands up on the wing and counted together slowly to three. At the final count they hoisted themselves up onto the wing, but Ardeth did it with much more strength than Fallon could propel herself, and she struggled to climb up over the edge of the wing while still strapped to Ardeth's hip. The edge dug into her side and she resisted crying out, until Ardeth chuckled and clutched her arm and pulled her up onto the wing.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Fallon chortled. "Yes. It looks like I was right."
"See Jonathon! Why can't you just agree to do it like that?!" They heard Kelly shout at Jonathon.
"Because I'm not that coordinated, you toshpot!"
"What does that word even mean?!"
"Could you two stop arguing and get up on the plane so I can strap you all to it and we can get going?!" Rick shouted over them.
He strode over to Ardeth and Fallon and threw a couple of thick leather belts around them and buckled them onto the plane. Rick kept his eyes on his work but Fallon could tell he wanted to say something. When he was done he glanced up at the two.
"You, uh, you two gonna be alright?" Rick asked, his voice heavy with discomfort.
Fallon nodded. "Nothing to worry about."
"Well, uh, you make sure she doesn't slip or fall," Rick said to Ardeth seriously.
Ardeth nodded his head. Rick handed the two of them some leather flight caps and some goggles and moved on to Kelly and Jonathon with a single glance back at Ardeth and Fallon.
They finally set off after another five minutes and Fallon instantly felt uneasy. Her stomach churned and wrenched as the plane took off, and realized that she wasn't breathing as soon as the plane lifted itself into the air and was climbing in altitude. She had wrapped her arms around the edge of the wing, clinging on for dear life, not caring that her arms were aching already. She immediately regretted this, this was a huge mistake!
As they soared over the desert at increasing speed, unable to hear anything, she wanted a distraction. Anything! She looked over next to her and saw Ardeth, clutching the wing, with the biggest smile on his face. At least someone was enjoying himself. His smile slowed her heart rate and almost brought a smile to her lips.
"Are you having fun?!" She screamed over the roar of the propellers.
She could only make out a laugh coming from him, so she took it as a yes. She wished she could talk to Kelly, which personally she wished she was strapped to the wing with. Right now as her heart beat in her chest, and she could hardly breathe from the fear of her situation, all she really wanted was for Kelly to say something smart or sarcastic to make her feel better. And she wanted Adam to be there.
Poor Adam. Her brother was back in the hospital ward at Fort Brydon in Cairo with a bullet wound in his shoulder, and she was on the most dangerous mission of her life. There really was no knowing if she would come back to Cairo to see him again after all of this was over. There were still so many things she needed to tell him, all of the secrets she had been keeping since this whole ordeal started. He deserved to know them. And she wanted to talk to him about their parents. After everything that had happened in the past day she had nearly forgotten that she still had to solve the mystery of her parents. Her heart sank as she realized that she had lost track of her mother's journal, the only thing that tied her to the truth of her parents' deaths. She needed to return to Cairo after all of this was over and find out what happened; and she hoped to do it with Adam together. But the future in her mind still looked bleak despite her short-term goals. Imhotep wanted her. What if there was nothing they could do to kill him, and Evy was sacrificed, and Fallon became a pawn for Imhotep's use? And what about Kelly? Kelly still hadn't told her what Adam and she discussed before they left the medical ward. Whatever it was, Fallon hoped that it was comforting, and everything Kelly deserved to hear. If they didn't come back to Cairo, Kelly and Adam would never have the chance to pursue a stronger relationship.
Rick's shout over to her and Ardeth interrupted her train of though. "How you doin'?"
Ardeth didn't reveal an answer, though Fallon was sure that Rick could see the beaming smile on Ardeth's face. Fallon couldn't bring herself to say anything either.
The wind began to pick up and sand started to fill the vision of everyone attached to the plane.
"Winston! Peddle faster!" Fallon heard Rick scream. The alarm in his voice made Fallon's heart beat faster. Why would Winston need to peddle faster if there was no immediate emergency? The sound of the machine gun told her otherwise. Sparks went flying and bullets flew out behind her at an invisible target, though she couldn't imagine what it would be.
And that was when more and more sand gathered around them, blocking her vision and clouding her goggles.
"Hang on!" Winston called out.
The plane shook rapidly. Fallon could hear nothing but the wind gushing out sand, the sound of the propellers, the screams of her companions, and the maniacal laughs of Winston. The sand storm shook the plane like it was made of paper, and spun it out of control. All Fallon could do was scream, even the sand flew into her mouth as it whisked around her.
The finally, the sand cleared and fell around them back into the desert. Fallon, relieved, began to cough out the grains of sand that had launched themselves deep into the back of her throat. But the sputtering of the engine made her stop as she realized that the plane was plummeting down towards a sand dune.
With a crash and a puff of sand puffing around the plane, Fallon felt the impact that had her almost flying off the wing with the leather straps snapping. She would have too if it hadn't been for the rope tying her to Ardeth, instead it took the wind right out of her. She almost couldn't believe she was still alive from that crash.
"Let go of the wing," Ardeth said immediately as soon as he shook his head to clear his vision.
They slid off onto the sand together and Ardeth immediately began to untie the rope binding them. Rick hopped out of the plane, taking off his cap and grabbing his large tool bag he had stuffed underneath the seat.
"Um, can anyone help us here if it's not too much trouble?!" Jonathon shrieked. He and Kelly were almost upside down on the broken wing, still strapped and tied together with the ropes and leather straps.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses," Rick uttered.
"I will not hold my horses, thank you very much!" Kelly seethed. "I am sick of being tied to this idiot!" Rick cut their straps and they fell onto the ground where he cut the rope.
Ardeth removed his cap, still trying to get his bearings, revealing black curls coiling every which way in all directions.
"Whoo! Nice hat hair!" Kelly cheered as she removed her own to reveal a very similar hair fate.
Ardeth grabbed for the machine gun on the plane and yanked it off, admiring it as Rick made his way back over to the cockpit.
"Winston!" Rick called.
Winston had not said a thing since the plane crashed. They discovered a stationary Winston there in the cockpit, his eyes closed peacefully, and after Rick had checked his pulse was it revealed that the impact had killed the poor chap.
The sand beneath everyone's shoes began to quake and sink, and the plane was jolted even more so into the sand.
"It's quicksand!" Ardeth shouted and everyone moved away from the plane hastily.
On more solid ground they watched the torn apart fighter plane sink into the sands just outside of Hamunaptra, dragging Winston along with it.
AN: Hi all! Thank you all so much for keeping up so far, I hope you are enjoying it. I am going to be trying to write these last couple of chapters as quickly as I can for you all. There's probably going to be about 4 more chapters tops. Yes there will be a sequel to this one called The Heart of the Medjai: Unfinished Memories taking place during The Mummy Returns, and I have already announced that I will be writing a new Mummy fanfiction in the meantime called Tiger's Eye. Tiger's Eye will most likely have 3 stories, I have been developing it a lot this past week and it has expanded into something incredible that I can't wait to share with you all! Tiger's Eye is going to be a lot more put together and well thought out so the writing process is going to take longer as I want it to be cleaner as far as writing goes, Heart of the Medjai will be in the meantime.
Please FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND REVIEW! Thank you all!