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karohemdPreviously
Early in the morning we boarded two trucks, one driven by Alex the other by yours truly. Our local guide, Mohammed, was in the first truck and led the way. A while after we were out of Cairo and in the open countryside, well, desert, the accelerator suddenly jammed, with the sole of my boot wedged between it and the floor. Our truck was speeding up so quickly I was unable to avoid running into the truck in front with an almighty bump. Thankfully, Alex managed to steer out of the way, leaving us careening on towards a rather sharp bend. Just in time, I managed to free my foot and bring the truck to a screeching halt with everyone inside intact. It took Thomas a while to fix the problem but eventually we were on our way again.
It was late afternoon when we arrived at the camp. With the help of our guide we learned that the professor and his helpers had a crate to the dig site but not returned, although by now they should have had.
Prof. Carter, Silas and I scouted up the ridge and over in the distance we made out some occasionally winking lights that most likely came from the dig site so we climbed down again and persuaded the others to go out to find the dig site and hopefully, Prof. Nelson despite the failing light.
We made good progress and soon saw the dig site. A large rectangular area, surrounded by the remains of a wall with a large bonfire burning in the centre. There were three Egyptians, too, who, after we shouted our greetings, opened fire. Thomas tried to negotiate in his rudimentary Arabic but his efforts were only met with more rifle fire so we had to return the "greeting". After several exchanges I had enough trying to hit the imbeciles so when they had to reload, I jumped up and charged. Meanwhile Alex had snuck around the perimeter and just before I had reached my intended target, Alex took the Egyptian out with a well aimed pistol shot. I'm sad to report that all three (the third one had disappeared down a hole in the ground but later returned) were killed but we persevered.
The hole in the ground turned out to be an entrance with steps leading down so I carefully made my way down but whoever was waiting succeeded in surprising me and I received a bullet in the stomach. I went down. Robert and Thomas came after me and managed to take down the shooter, only to run into further trouble. I could hear a strange voice chanting, shouting and more shots and battle noises. Inhuman shuffling and moaning, too.
Most of what follows I reconstructed from the few things I managed to witness myself and the tales of my companions:
At the end of the corridor leading away from the bottom of the steps was a larger chamber, in which two open, upright sarcophagi stood, each holding a mummy. On the floor was the mutilated corpse of Professor Nelson and between them stood Roger Hill, his erstwhile assistant, chanting in Ancient Egyptian with a book in one and a dagger in the other hand. When Robert and Silas entered the chamber, the mummies came alive! Hill was taken down quickly but the mummies seemed unbeatable as bullets seemed to be of no use. Surprisingly, Silas managed to weaken one by repeatedly punching it but in the end received an almost fatal blow himself.
Meanwhile, Prof. Carter and Alex helped me up the stairs and briefly saw to my wound. I felt helpless as I was too weak to move, the bullet wound burning like fire in my gut. I was propped up next to the fire, rifle in hand and hoped I'd be able to defend myself but thankfully, I was spared. One mummy appeared, shambling after Robert out into the desert. Robert managed to shake his pursuer who then apparently carried on into the dark night.
The other mummy, already weakened by Silas' punches tried to flee as well but Alex threw a burning bottle of gin at it. Dry as it was, the fiend caught fire immediately and soon fell over, exploding in a ball of flames.
With the danger over momentarily, we gathered our forces, Alex administering first aid to those who needed attention, which was everyone except Alex himself. Some of us had gunshot wounds, others had been injured by the mummies or had sustained burns while trying to retrieve brands from the bonfire as makeshift torches.
A long discussion followed as to how to proceed. Prof. Carter was adamant to stay behind and decipher the hieroglyphics on the walls of the chamber while everybody just wanted to go back to Cairo. Eventually it was decided that Nicolas would be sent to the site to keep Prof. Carter company and then return in the other truck while the rest would return to Cairo. There were more discussions back at the camp which led to everyone except Alex, Silas and I staying behind.
Despite an accident, we made it back to Cairo and I'm now safe and recovering in a nice private room at the hospital, eagerly awaiting the return of my companions.
Early in the morning we boarded two trucks, one driven by Alex the other by yours truly. Our local guide, Mohammed, was in the first truck and led the way. A while after we were out of Cairo and in the open countryside, well, desert, the accelerator suddenly jammed, with the sole of my boot wedged between it and the floor. Our truck was speeding up so quickly I was unable to avoid running into the truck in front with an almighty bump. Thankfully, Alex managed to steer out of the way, leaving us careening on towards a rather sharp bend. Just in time, I managed to free my foot and bring the truck to a screeching halt with everyone inside intact. It took Thomas a while to fix the problem but eventually we were on our way again.
It was late afternoon when we arrived at the camp. With the help of our guide we learned that the professor and his helpers had a crate to the dig site but not returned, although by now they should have had.
Prof. Carter, Silas and I scouted up the ridge and over in the distance we made out some occasionally winking lights that most likely came from the dig site so we climbed down again and persuaded the others to go out to find the dig site and hopefully, Prof. Nelson despite the failing light.
We made good progress and soon saw the dig site. A large rectangular area, surrounded by the remains of a wall with a large bonfire burning in the centre. There were three Egyptians, too, who, after we shouted our greetings, opened fire. Thomas tried to negotiate in his rudimentary Arabic but his efforts were only met with more rifle fire so we had to return the "greeting". After several exchanges I had enough trying to hit the imbeciles so when they had to reload, I jumped up and charged. Meanwhile Alex had snuck around the perimeter and just before I had reached my intended target, Alex took the Egyptian out with a well aimed pistol shot. I'm sad to report that all three (the third one had disappeared down a hole in the ground but later returned) were killed but we persevered.
The hole in the ground turned out to be an entrance with steps leading down so I carefully made my way down but whoever was waiting succeeded in surprising me and I received a bullet in the stomach. I went down. Robert and Thomas came after me and managed to take down the shooter, only to run into further trouble. I could hear a strange voice chanting, shouting and more shots and battle noises. Inhuman shuffling and moaning, too.
Most of what follows I reconstructed from the few things I managed to witness myself and the tales of my companions:
At the end of the corridor leading away from the bottom of the steps was a larger chamber, in which two open, upright sarcophagi stood, each holding a mummy. On the floor was the mutilated corpse of Professor Nelson and between them stood Roger Hill, his erstwhile assistant, chanting in Ancient Egyptian with a book in one and a dagger in the other hand. When Robert and Silas entered the chamber, the mummies came alive! Hill was taken down quickly but the mummies seemed unbeatable as bullets seemed to be of no use. Surprisingly, Silas managed to weaken one by repeatedly punching it but in the end received an almost fatal blow himself.
Meanwhile, Prof. Carter and Alex helped me up the stairs and briefly saw to my wound. I felt helpless as I was too weak to move, the bullet wound burning like fire in my gut. I was propped up next to the fire, rifle in hand and hoped I'd be able to defend myself but thankfully, I was spared. One mummy appeared, shambling after Robert out into the desert. Robert managed to shake his pursuer who then apparently carried on into the dark night.
The other mummy, already weakened by Silas' punches tried to flee as well but Alex threw a burning bottle of gin at it. Dry as it was, the fiend caught fire immediately and soon fell over, exploding in a ball of flames.
With the danger over momentarily, we gathered our forces, Alex administering first aid to those who needed attention, which was everyone except Alex himself. Some of us had gunshot wounds, others had been injured by the mummies or had sustained burns while trying to retrieve brands from the bonfire as makeshift torches.
A long discussion followed as to how to proceed. Prof. Carter was adamant to stay behind and decipher the hieroglyphics on the walls of the chamber while everybody just wanted to go back to Cairo. Eventually it was decided that Nicolas would be sent to the site to keep Prof. Carter company and then return in the other truck while the rest would return to Cairo. There were more discussions back at the camp which led to everyone except Alex, Silas and I staying behind.
Despite an accident, we made it back to Cairo and I'm now safe and recovering in a nice private room at the hospital, eagerly awaiting the return of my companions.
