I do not own any of these characters or story plot or anything in this story. All of these belong to the writer of The Mummy Returns. I only own my character- Ms. Sara Case.
"Is that gold?" Jonathan asked, staring at the bracelet with greedy light blue eyes. Alex shrugged his shoulders while everyone else stayed silent, staring at the scorpion bracelet in shock.
"When I stuck it on I saw the pyramid of Giza and then whoosh! Straight across the desert to Karnak." Alex spoke in a rush, blurting out to everyone the visions the bracelet had showed him. Everything he had said, all of the locations flew straight over Sara's head and she felt faint, overwhelmed by the situation. She leaned back to hold her head between her knees. She let out a loud sigh, trying to stop her sudden vertigo. Dead mummies, ancient kings, vision from a bracelet?!
Ardeth Bay stood up in a rush, closing the space between himself and Alex in a few strides. He took Alex by the shoulders, his chocolate eyes bulging slightly as he felt tempted to shake the boy silly, "By putting this on, you have started a chain reaction that could bring about the next apocalypse." Alex gasped loudly, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Isn't it better for him to have it rather than the bad guys?" Sara asked meekly, her sing-song voice muffled by her hands that were still placed on either side of her face. The colour was slowly returned to her face as she maintained her position, her face still buried in her lap.
Rick placed a hand on Ardeth firmly, making him pull back from Alex. "You," he pointed to Ardeth Bay, giving him a serious look, "lighten up. You," he looked to Alex, "big trouble. And you," he looked at Jonathan, still staring at the bracelet with clouded over eyes as he swerved the double decker bus all over the street, "pay attention!" Jonathan snapped out of his trance and jolted forward, steering around the honking angry cars.
A crash sounded behind the bus, and Evelyn left her place next to her husband and son to run to the back window where Sara was seated. "We have company," she breathed, dread filling her as she looked on at the broken brick wall of the museum in the distance that imploded. Filling out of the gaping hole were four mummies, torn flesh and ancient bandages hanging from their limbs.
Sara twisted her torso around quickly to stare out the back window as the figures looked about with empty eyes before catching site of the bus. They roared unnaturally in unison, sending chills throughout Sara's entire body, and started running after the bus, jumping over cars and crawling on the walls of the old cobblestone buildings. Sara closed her eyes tightly as if to make the monsters trailing them disappear; but when she opened them the monsters were still there, howling and groaning inhumanly.
"I've always hated these guys," Rick said, appeared behind the crowd at the back of the bus and unzipped a duffel bag containing all sorts of guns. He laid the bag on an empty seat of the bus close to Sara, and she watched wide-eyed as he passed them out among the bus. Evelyn took a small pistol and hurried Alex towards the front of the bus where they would be out of harms way. "You want the shot gun?" He asked Sara, who was too frozen to speak, so he merely gave it to Ardeth along with another gun.
Ardeth knelt down in front of Sara placing the shot gun in her empty lap. "You'll be fine, just go with Evelyn. If anything happens, you fire this." She exchanged looks between him and the large loaded gun on her lap, unsure what to think. Ardeth took her hands in his and placed the gun in them firmly, holding her hands in his grasp for just a moment longer before cocking his own gun and standing up. He helped Sara up and led her with a palm on the middle of her back towards Evelyn, who sat her down at the front of the bus next to Alex. Ardeth smiled genuinely at Sara, his teeth gleaming perfectly, before taking his place at the back window and aiming at one of the mummies.
Rick kissed his wife and son before filling his gun full of bullets and cocking it. He nodded at Ardeth and walked onto the second level of the bus, "Just like old times."
Evelyn blocked the view from Alex and Sara as Ardeth began to shoot at the mummies. Gun fire could be heard from all directions, as well as the sound of breaking stone and rubble. Alex tried to look around his mother's figure to see what was going on but she stood in front of him protectively and watched the chaos that she was shielding her son from.
Sara peered out the window on her right to see two mummies scale the wall of a building beside her, screaming when they looked at her with hollow eyes, their jaws stretching from the tissue as they howled. One was quickly shot down by Rick, but the other dodged all the shells he unloaded at it, running sideways on the wall.
Suddenly the one on the wall leaped down, swinging itself into the open door at the back of the bus. Evelyn turned around swiftly; covering Alex as Ardeth fired all the bullets in his gun at the mummy, his eyes closed at the force of the gun rocked his entire body. The creature shrieked in pain at the force and amount of bullets from the small distance between it and the gun, and the bullets tore its waist and stringy flesh on its legs open further. It clawed at the metal bars on either side of the door, looking for some form of grip before propelling onto the hard cement of the ground.
Banging could be heard from up above along with the quick footsteps of Rick and the shots. Ardeth reloaded his gun, only to be taken off guard as the top half of the mummy swung back inside the cabin of the bus, making it way down the length of it by swinging back and forth on the metal bars lining the top of the bus. With a quick swipe, it knocked Ardeth's gun out of his hands and smashed his head into a window. Evelyn and Sara screamed, jolting to their feet as the mummy continued to slam Ardeth repeatedly into the windows. Evelyn pushed Alex closer to the front in attempts to keep him away from the mummy's whipping hands and Ardeth flew backwards as it hit him again. He wiped the blood off the corner of his lip and punched the mummy in the chest, sending it flying into the back window. It smashed harshly; the shattering of the ancient bones sounded throughout the bus and fell in a heap on the floor.
The mummy crawled forward, using the metal bars again to support its self again. He grinned sadistically, showing its aged cracked and discoloured teeth as it's fingernails grew long and sharp, deadly looking. It quickly darted at Ardeth, slashing him in the chest with its talons.
"Turn! Turn! Turn!" Evelyn screamed at Jonathan, in attempts to stop the mummy's preceding assault on Ardeth. Jonathan followed the order instantly, turning the wheel as sharply as possible, sending everyone in the bus off balanced. Sara and Alex slid onto the floor, clutching at each other and the seats to stop from sliding into the battle zone. The mummy and Ardeth Bay were thrown against the window again roughly; Ardeth's limp body fell onto the ground. Evelyn slid into Jonathan, and he yelped, running the bus into a light pole as he tried to regain control of the vehicle.
"Get out of the way!" Jonathan yelled at the other drivers on the street as the bus fish tailed dangerously all over the road, threatening to hit the smaller vehicles. He turned again, throwing the mummy into Ardeth Bay. Ardeth yelped as the mummy struck him in the chest with its long nails, making four deep wounds in his chest just above his heart. Sara quickly scrambled about on the floor, her hand grabbing in all directions as she frantically looked for her shot gun that lay underneath a seat of the bus. She grabbed it and stood up, bracing herself against one side of the bus. She held the gun awkwardly, trying to keep her aim steady as she stumbled about the bus in her high heels and fired multiple times, shattering the back window and sending the mummy flying through it.
Sara slid in a seat next to Ardeth, in a daze at the feeling of firing a gun. She tore a piece of cloth from his midnight robes and pressed it tightly to his wound in attempt to stop the bleeding. "It's going to be okay," she reassured him, and took his warm calloused hands in her free one. He nodded faintly, squeezing her hand tightly as Jonathan zipped around the sharp corners of London, through alleyways and small streets.
Yelling and groans could be heard from the top level of the bus, and Evelyn looked towards the roof, praying for her husband's safety. Jonathan's cries brought her back from her own thoughts and she looked out the front window next to him, gasping at the low bridge sign. "Everybody down!" She yelled, and they sank to the floor of the bus, covering their heads for protection. Sara lay next to Ardeth, their hands still entangled with one another.
The ripping of metal and the shattering of glass filled the air as the top of the bus broke off due to the strength of the stone bridge scrapped the roof; and the sheets of metal and broken glass fell behind the bus on the street with a loud thump.
"Is everybody okay?" Jonathan yelped from the front of the bus, the pressure of the situation obviously shown as his voice raised two octaves higher than normal. Sara looked around at the destruction before getting up and helping Ardeth to his feet. She checked on his wound before helping Alex and Evelyn up, checking for wounds of their own caused by the debris from the bridge incident.
Jonathan followed the road he was on until it led to the London Bridge were he decided it was far enough away from the museum to pull over. He brought the bus to a final stop and dropped his head onto the steering wheel, ignoring the loud blare of the horn went off. Jonathan let go of the small bit of air he had been holding the whole car ride and sighed, relieved and exhausted. "Great driving, Uncle John!" Alex called out, swinging his arms around his uncle's shoulders and giving him a gentle, playful punch to the side of the head. Jonathan nodded, his face still implanted into the wheel, too terrified to move or say anything.
Rick climbed down the stairs of the double decker bus, looking about as he ran his fingers through his short brown cropped hair, shaking bits of glass and metal debris from his hair and clothing. He pointed at Ardeth, a look of pain spread across his exotic features, distorting his blue tribal tattoos. "You okay?"
Ardeth forced a smile in Rick's direction as Sara sat down next to him again after finishing her once over of everybody. His hand instinctively crawled towards hers, finding comfort in its warm, "This was my first bus ride."
Rick chuckled and leaned back against a wall of the bus, looking for support for his own exhausted body. He groaned, feeling every place where he had been struck by the mummy he had been fighting, every punch and kick he had felt. My body is definitely going be sore tomorrow. Evelyn stood beside him, letting out a relieved gasp of her own. He looked at her and drew her to his chest by wrapping a strong hand around her waist and pulling her in. "What would I do without you?" She asked softly, and he chuckled again, kissing her softly.
Alex gagged slightly, turning away from his parents and walked towards the back of the bus in attempt to block out the display of affection from his parents. "Jeez, get a room," he mumbled under his breath, completely unimpressed. He peered around at the back of the bus, observing the shattered back window and gazed up at the stairs, staring at the shredded metal roof. He looked back at his parents, still kissing and shook his head.
Sara placed a hand on Ardeth's chest in a comforting motion as he rested, a look of peace spread over his face and his eyes closed. She got up and walked to where Alex was stood. "You know," she said slowly, leaning down until they were eye level, "you were very brave." Alex blushed, and looked down, kicking at the debris on the ground. Sara smiled at him and brushed her hand through his blond hair in a playful motion before something behind him caught her eye. She stood up straighter, squinting as she tried to make out the figures in the darkness close to the bus. Suddenly dark hands, clad in red cloth, shot forward and wrapped themselves around Alex's mouth and waist. "No!" Sara screamed, and tried to free him before she too was grabbed by another set of hands covered in red material.
The sudden commotion at the back of the bus alerted everyone at the front, making them look back just as Alex and Sara were dragged off the bus; kicking and screaming as they went. "Alex!" Rick yelled as he ran to the back of the bus to save his son. Ardeth stood up as well, jolting from a burst of adrenaline as Sara screamed out his name, terrified. The two made it to the back of the bus in time to see Sara and Alex thrown into a black car before it zoomed off quickly. Rick jumped out of the bus and started running after it, ignoring the burning in his lungs as he pushed himself forward as fast as he possibly could. He could feel every muscle in his body ache, begging him to stop, but he pressed on, motivated to save his son as he ran… but the car was faster. The last thing Rick saw of his son was the cloth to the back of the car's window thrown open and Alex's terrified face yelling for his father. The car zoomed off and Rick slowed until he eventually stopped, staring off at the car as he sobbed silently.