Cowboy Like Me || The Mummy/Night At The Museum [COMPLETED]

2 ||

You can sense Rick's eyes on you as the two of you ride through the sand dunes on your horses. Not saying anything, not checking you out - just looking. It was a mix of flattering and unnerving.
"Eyes front, cowboy," you order, and he rolls his eyes and gently encourages his stallion.

The starry night turns into a cloudless day, and you are far away from your old coworkers following a map that Evelyn had given to O'Connell before she left. That girl was brilliant, and now you were closer to that treasure and mystery than ever before.

"Aaaaand stop here," Rick calls out, and both of you gently make your horses stop. Wind brushes grains of sand around your boots as you look at the map, and stab a finger to a specific area. "Right there! See where the topography is slightly different - the tomb could be making the sand denser."
"Hmm," he replies, nodding. "I think that's it. Where is that from here? Ah!" He answers his own question and traces a short path with his thumb, before getting back on his horse and motioning in the direction. "That way!"

You both set off, elated and energised, imagining your new futures as bona fide explorers... before a new mirage appears before you. But this time it isn't facetious.

Around the buried tombsite is a settled gaggle of men with cars and maps and flags, all shouting to each other in the biting wind. They hadn't found the tomb yet, which is obviously causing them considerable damage, but there's no doubt they will soon.

The horses hesitate in their paths, and you lean over to Rick. "What will they do once they see us?"
"What?" he shouts in reply, causing the workers nearest to look up. And as soon as they spot you, they alert the others.
"Crap! Rick!" you scold, and he pouts, looking quite sexy to be honest.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you!"
"No time," you tell him as you watch the men start to run towards you, "we need to go - now!"

You try to get your mare to move but she simply refuses, even when you dig your heels into her hard. Rick's does the same, so you both have no choice but to slide off and run. Reaching for each other's hands so as to not lose each other, you dash as fast as you can through the sandstorm, the shouts of Americans and Englishmen catching up to you.

You put one foot in front of the other - then fall through one of them.

You both tumble through the earth and down into a clearing underneath the ground, coughing and blinking out sand. You're the first to look up properly, and when you do, you slap O'Connell to join you in awe.
"Oh my God," is all he can say - as you gaze at the underground tomb of Ahkmenrah and his family.

Letting go of each other's hands, you wander round the dark cave, staring at everything and carefully handling the sarcophaguses. The embalmed mummies look so peaceful, at rest for eternity... You wonder if you'd ever have that kind of peace!

But no need to pontificate, as arms suddenly twist round your torso. Your mind goes to Rick, and you turn round to tell him off - but the words die on your tongue as you see Rick running towards you in a panic.
"Y/N! No!"

Your questions turn into muffled cries as the men around you gag you with cloth scraps and tie you up in rope. You have no idea what they're going to do with you, but when they prise off the lid to Ahkmenrah's sarcophagus, it becomes crystal clear.

"No, please, please!"
One of them slaps you to shut you up and starts to hoist you up into the coffin. A tear escapes and snakes down your cheek, staining the cloth in your mouth. You never thought it would end like this.

"We've got enough space, do him too!" a voice booms from somewhere above, and you don't have time to question before the same person who lifted you up begins to do the same with Rick. They're shutting you both in there, together, with the Pharaoh! You're going to die together alongside a long-dead corpse!

You scream and kick against the sides of the sarcophagus, trying desperately to do something, until O'Connell manages to get one of his hands free and clutches yours. His gag doesn't move so you don't understand what he's saying, but his soothing tone calms you and you look into his sloped eyes. The brown in them is the darkest thing you see, before they close the lid of the coffin.

Dead, dusty silence. It's so quiet and black you'd think you were already dead. You have to admit, it scares you, even though Rick's hand is still in yours. You wish you were both free so you could huddle together, feel even slightly safer, but the chances of that happening were slimmer than the corpse you're lying next to.

Suddenly, the sarcophagus lurches about. You grip Rick's hand even tighter and he reciprocates, letting you know that he's also scared shitless. All around the coffin are distant shouts in English and Arabic, as the box shifts and bumps into what you assume is a car. You think of your own cart pulled by your horse, and more tears come out. You're never going to see your dear mare again.

You and Rick both stay holding each other's hands until you fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Beside you, O'Connell sighs in defeat: neither of you were strong enough to face off against the expedition, and now you were going to die being carted off to who knows where along with an Ancient Egyptian artifact.

Eventually, the oxygen runs out in the cramped coffin, and the two of you finally succumb to that last, long sleep.