Rick's Kryptonite

Memories & Sandstorms

        It didn't take long for me to realize what was going to happen to us. My eyes filled with unshed tears as I was walking near Evy. I tried not to let my emotions show, I didn't want to scare her as she was already scared enough. I wasn't too sure Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth could get to us in time to save our lives. I knew I would do everything in my power to keep Evy safe. That was my main priority. I let my mind wander back to my childhood to what got me into this mess...

I was only about 7 years old. I was climbing up the stairs to our attic, flashlight in hand ready to discover this new world of which I had thought up in my head. I flipped on the actual light switch which ignited the single bulb and a couple lamps we had in this ginormous room. I walked further in, the room was cluttered with older artifacts that my mother and father had decided weren't worth their time or just didn't have room for downstairs anymore. I looked at the rustic furniture that used to be downstairs but wasn't any longer. I wondered what and where it came from, how it got here, it's story. I had always been fascinated with how things came to be. My parents being explorers and 'treasure seekers' really encouraged this quality in all of us. Hence why Jonathan picked up the quality of being obsessed with treasure and money. It was a good quality in their eyes. Thunder struck around me, scaring me a little, as the lightning lit up the room I was about to see into all the nooks and crannies around me. I looked around the room amazed by all the beautiful relics of the past. I kept walking to my destination, I lifted this chair that was secretly some steps up to a shelf that contained a dusty old book with a lovely seal on it. I smiled at my achievement excited to learn about whatever this book contained. I stepped back down the chair and turned around only to be met by my mums face.
"Mum!" I whispered, surprised she knew I was up here, she was tending to Jonathan and his latest problem. And she was currently pregnant with Evy so I definitely wasn't expecting to see her up here rather I was expecting my dad.
"You're not supposed to be up here." She scolded me for my adventurous mind.
"I just wanted to know." I said looking into her eyes seeing something sparkle. They gleamed with mischief.
"Well you're old enough I suppose. You should know the story." She said as she took a seat rubbing her belly smiling.
"Okay, here we go..." She took off into a story of romance, deceit, treasure and wonderful adventure. I was hooked, this sparked my interest in Egypt. I needed to get out there eventually. I smiled holding the old book in my hands just listening to her speak about Egypt with such love, it was her home. She finished her story smiling at me holding her stomach with care. Mum suddenly grimaced in pain and cried out. I jumped away from her wondering what the problem was, there was what looked like water at her feet. She looked at me saying:
"Go get your father." I knew this wasn't the time to ask questions. I ran down the stairs calling for my father and Jonathan if he was around, they'd know what to do. Little did I know that would be one of the last times my mother had shared a great story with me... 

I swore to myself that would not be the last time I ever found any treasure. I would go beyond the norm and out of my way to find these things she told me about. Eventually, later in my life I would be telling Evy the same story my mother told me when she was pregnant with her. I told her that story the week before I left home. I snapped out of my thoughts realizing that Evy probably needed some comfort in what was happening in the moment. I just knew I needed to get my baby sister out of this sticky situation.

Rick's POV

I knew we needed a game plan. We needed to get both Joe and Evy back from Imhotep. Who knows what that bastard had plans for.. Sick man wanted vengeance on Joe and needed Evy to bring back his dead girlfriend, that was not okay in my book. Jonathan drove us to the airfield at Giza where I knew Winston might be willing to help us. He was sitting underneath an umbrella with a record player at his side sipping some tea.

"Morning, Winston. Uh, a word?" I asked him as our gang climbed up this sand dune to get closer to the man who was going to help us whether he liked it or not.

"What's your little problem got to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Corps?" He asked me. I looked plainly at him.

"Not a damn thing." I said. Winston wised up for a second, sitting up straighter and setting down his tea.

"Is it dangerous?" He asked me his eyes widening. I thought about lying to him but decided it would be better if I didn't.

"You probably won't live through it." I said nodding my head a little. He knew Joe, this should blow over relatively well.

"By Jove, do you really think so?" He asked sounding almost excited about it.

"Everybody else we've bumped into has died. Why not you?" Jonathan hopped into the conversation. I knew he was more worried about his sisters than I was. They both could handle themselves. 

"What's the, uh-- What's the challenge then?" Winston asked me.

"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy and save the world. Winston, It's Josephine and her sister." I said plain and simple. His eyes showed fear for a second, him and Joe were close at one point. He was probably wondering how she got captured and why I had to go get her back. Winston always knew there was something between Joe and I, he just never voiced it aloud except to me always joking that we'd be a good couple blah blah blah...

"Oh! Winston Havelock at your service, sir!!" He said getting up and saluting me. He led us all over to the plane we'd be taking to get to Hamunaptra, which I had no idea how he would find in the dunes but oh well. I sat behind him in the co-pilots seat, with Jonathan and Ardeth being the unlucky ones who were clinging onto the wings. We took off and were making our way towards Hamunaptra when I whistled looking to Jonathan to make sure he was okay because he looked like he was going to puke at any second.

"Are you all right?" I asked giving him a thumbs up.

"Do l bloody look all right?" He reacted to my question poorly, I don't blame him though. I then whistled to Ardeth to ask the same question.

"How you doin'?" I asked him. He had this goofy grin on his face like he was having the time of his life. I looked around seeing this giant sand tornado of sorts.

"See that? I've never seen one so big." Winston said pointing to it.

"Never?" I asked unsure if he was being serious or not.

"No!" He answered. I looked around a little as we kept soaring through the sky.

"Oh, my God..." I announced upon seeing the giant sandstorm headed towards us.

"Hey, Winston! Pedal faster!" I yelled to him. I knew he must've seen it in the mirror he had.

"Hang on, men!" He yelled to us as he sent the plane into a dive hopefully shielding us from the storm over these rocks that Hamunaptra was. The sand followed us over it and we picked up amazing speed. I looked into the sand and saw a face. Imhoteps face, it smiled smug with itself. I quickly took the gun and started shooting at it, yelling as I did so. I knew this could be the end. I threw on my goggles and ducked into my seat. The sand consumed us and sent us into a spin.

"Here l come, laddies!" I heard Winston yell and laugh like a maniac. Surprisingly, the plane was solidly fine as the sandstorm disappeared from behind us. We ended up losing control and crashing promptly destroying the plane. I threw my weapons bag out of the plane and hopped out of my seat, and walked around to the side to help Jonathan.

"Uhm a little help would be useful, if it's not too much trouble!!!" I heard Jonathan yell.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." I said coming to get Jonathan down from his peak.

"Winston!! Hey Winston." I tried shouting but didn't hear a reply from him. I walked up to him and checked for a pulse. I didn't find one. Wow, I didn't think this excursion would actually kill him. I looked to Jonathan and back when suddenly the plane started sinking with Winston inside.

"Quicksand!!" I heard Ardeth yell as Jonathan quickly pulled me back away from it. "It's quicksand!" Ardeth said again as we continued backing up from the plane. We watched as the plane sunk into the ground. If Joe were here she would've found a way to get him out, I'm sure of it. I brought my hand up and saluted as the plane went down out of respect for Winston. I knew we didn't have much more time before Joe might be dead so I picked up my weapons bag and carried onward. I needed to get them back, I needed to tell Joe I've loved her from the moment I met her but I couldn't do that when she was with some creature who wanted her dead.