The desert wind comes and goes, trying its best to take my tent along with it. I reach my hand to one end of my tent to keep it from being swept by the desert.
"Wooo that was close" I commented.
I am just about done setting up my supplies and tent. I have a sleeping hammock on one end of the tent and a decent table to use as my treatment table. My supplies are placed on one end of the table with my bandages, suture material and everything else that I got from that small village we passed through. As I unpacked the rest of my supplies, I took out the book that I had borrowed from Dr. Bey, analyzing the cover and the pages to ensure that they had all dried from that swim in the Nile.
"I just hope he doesn't get mad at me, feels like I ruined a Library book." I said under my breath. I sat on the hammock and started contemplating on whether I should apologize to the guys or just be stubborn and keep to myself. I mean I could just sit on my ass and ride through this trip until we're ready to leave. But then I would have to talk to them on the way back. I place my head over my knees, diving more into my thoughts and trying to come up with a solution to resolve that outburst I had earlier.
"They might be already starting their excavation, no point in talking to them until later tonight. Maybe I'll just make them dinner as a way to apologize."
I left my tent and started walking towards the food supply to see what I could make. I see that we have a plentiful amount of rice and some chicken. It may not be much, but maybe I can make some sauce to add to the chicken. I start making the rice and boil the chicken, when suddenly another gust of wind comes through and I thought the fire that I worked so hard to create would be extinguished, but thankfully it didn't. Time passed by and the sun started to set, with still no sign of the group coming back, I would assume they would be there all night. Everything was prepared as I set up plates and an assembly line of food for the men to grab. I wondered if I should start up the fire again so that the food could warm up, when yet another gust of wind came out of nowhere and almost knocked over the food. I flung my body to catch it before it fell to the ground. I sighed in relief to catch the pot, then I said, "I swear to whoever is listening, if another gust of wind comes through, I will start to riot!"
Of course whoever was listening paid no mind to me as another gust of wind came through, as if the desert was taunting me.
"UUUUGH!!!" I screamed.
I stomped towards my tent, deciding not to fight the universe and just stay inside. I sat on the hammock as I looked over to the book that I received from Dr. Bey. I start to skim through the book again just to pass time when suddenly I hear screaming in the distance. I jump to my feet and walk out of my tent to see where the screaming was coming from. I started running towards the faint screams, the closer I got, the more the screams became louder. It wasn't long after that I came upon the entrance of what looked to be a tomb.
"Oh shit!" I said aloud. I went to grab a torch that was set up at the entrance of the tomb and started making my way to find where the screams were coming from. As I go deeper into the tomb, I start to think, 'Who is at the other end of that scream?' At first my mind went towards the guys, but I also considered Evelyn's group. As my imagination started to spiral, I started to breathe heavily and my adrenaline started to spike as well.
"GUYS!? CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" I yelled, hoping for a response.
"ISAAC! DAVID! BERNARD!"
I can hear the echo of their names running through the labyrinth and bouncing off the walls. It wasn't long after that I could hear a faint echo that didn't belong to me. I start inching closer to that echo and then I hear more of a commotion as I walk deeper into the tomb.
"Anna..."
I can hear them. That voice, it was them.
"I'M HERE!" I yelled back
I can hear them! I can hear which direction they are now! I start running through a long passageway when I hear my name much louder and closer.
"ANNA!"
My run turned into a sprint as I turned the corner to see Bernard running towards me.
"BERNARD! I yelled.
"ANNA!" He yelled back.
We started running towards each other, and as we both came to meet each other, we were both out of breath. Bernard then starts to tell me
"You *gasp* gotta come quick! Men *gasp* hurt!" He said while trying to catch his breath.
He immediately grabs my hand and starts to lead me to another hall. I then started to worry as I didn't know who was hurt within the group. Bernard guided us through the tomb as quickly as possible and when we got closer, a murmur of voices started getting louder and more distinct. We reached the end of a narrow hallway when we see David and Isaac trying to carry wounded men on their backs.
"Hurry! We gotta get them help!" Said Isaac.
"I can only go so fast Isaac!" Responded David.
"Oh my god! What happened!?" I said as I ran towards the two to see what had happened.
"Anna! Thank God you're here! The diggers got sprayed with something and their faces started to melt!" Said Isaac in a panic.
"I think it was some ancient egyptian trap!" Explained David.
I went to see the diggers faces and when I lifted one of their heads, I could tell the skin on their faces were sloughing off of their skull. I didn't want to waste any time
"Oh shit! We gotta take them out of here! How many more are back there?!" I asked.
"There's one more back there!" Said David.
I then grabbed Bernard and said, "Bernard, you know the layout of this place better than I do, go and grab the last man and bring him back to my tent now!" And with no hesitation Bernard makes his way to grab the last digger.
"David, Isaac, lets go! We need to get them out of here now!" I yelled.
Issac took the initiative and started leading the way out through the tomb.
"This way, I'll guide us outta here!" Isaac said.
We all follow Issac through the tomb, as we make our way back to my tent. Turning on sharp corners and speeding through long hallways, we eventually made it out of the tomb. Once we made it to the surface, we started to sprint towards the tent.
"I need one on the table and the other on the hammock!" I directed.
Isaac and David following my direction, placed the two men on each surface, which gave me time to put my hair in a ponytail. I grabbed an oil lamp and hung it to the top bar of the tent to get better lighting. I then assessed the two men to see which one was more critical. It was obvious that I could only do so much at one time and with what little supplies we had as it was. I then started instructing Isaac and David to place a blanket on the two men and start grabbing me supplies to try and get whatever it is off of their faces.
It wasn't long after that Bernard showed up, with the last man he's carrying on his back.
"Anna! He's dead!" said Bernard.
I grabbed my stethoscope to assess the man Bernard carried in, I placed the end of the stethoscope on his chest to confirm that he was indeed dead. I took off my stethoscope and asked Bernard to take the corpse inside so that I could take a better look at what we were dealing with.
As I was assessing the corpse, I could see blisters forming around the exposing parts of his face and neck, causing the skin on his face to melt, but that was not the worst of it. It appeared that the man's eyeballs were melted as well. The eye sockets were sunken in, which tells me that the eyes were no longer viable. It had dawned to me that even if I could save the other two, they would be living the rest of their lives blind. It wasn't long after that the one man on the table was starting to convulse.
"Shit!" I yelled
The man's body started to have uncontrollable convulsions and he was having a difficult time breathing. Isaac goes to hold down the man's shaking body in which I joined too.
"HE'S GOING INTO SHOCK!" I yelled
"WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO?!" screamed Isaac.
I had to make a decision. There was no way I could manage this shock without me ignoring the other man on the hammock. Either I can put all my effort into stopping this man from dying and risk the other into going into shock as well or try to prevent the same fate for the man on the hammock.
"FUCK! DAVID! IN MY BAG, THERE'S A BOTTLE OF WATER, I NEED YOU TO OPEN IT AND RINSE THE OTHER MAN'S FACE AND MAKE SURE YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM EITHER!"
"WHAT IS THAT GOING TO DO?!" Asked David.
"THEY HAD ACID SPRAYED ON THEIR FACES! IF WE DON'T TRY AND GET THE ACID OFF HIS FACE, HE'S GOING TO DIE! NOW STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND DO SOMETHING!"
As David was doing that, I turned my head towards Isaac to say, "Isaac, there's nothing that I can do at this point to stop this man from dying, not without taking him to a hospital. I need you to understand that this is all that we can do, now I'm giving you an out. I can stay with this man and make this as painless as possible for him until he passes, but you don't need to be there when it happens" I said.
This must have shocked Isaac as he paused for a second before grabbing my hand to say, "I'm not leaving you, I'll help you in whatever I can." He said.
"Hold him down, I'm going to grab him a pain injection."
I left to grab my medical bag with all of my medicines, I looked for the bottle that contained Morphine. I grabbed a syringe and pulled up enough to sedate an elephant. With this amount, the man will overdose, but won't feel any pain and he'll pass peacefully.
I take the syringe at hand, I go to the man on the table.
"Isaac, I need your belt please."
Isaac did exactly what I had asked and gave me the belt in hand. I went to tourniquet the man's arm and tightened the belt. The man's veins were prominent as I went to give the injection. As the needle pierced his skin, I drew back on my syringe to receive blood into my syringe. With that confirmation, I loosened the belt and pushed the lethal injection into the man's blood stream. It wasn't long after that the man's body stopped convulsions and he was more relaxed. But of course, with that came the listlessness and the slow breathing that came along with it. I went to grab my stethoscope to listen to the man's heart beat. I listened and listened until that slow beat of the drum became silent. That's when I knew that he was gone.
"He's gone," I whispered.
Isaac tried to grab my shoulder, but I knew my work wasn't done, so I evaded his touch. I went to the man on the hammock to find that David did exactly what I had asked and rinsed the man's face thoroughly. I then go to my bag to grab Arsinothricin, and pull up about 3 milliliters to give the the last surviving man.
"What are you giving him?" asked Isaac.
"I'm giving him an antibiotic injection, to help fight any infections he might procure from this incident." I say as I push the needle into the muscle of his leg to give the medication. I checked his heart and respiratory rate every 15 minutes to make sure that they were not getting worse and made sure that he was nice and warm as well. Not long after Isaac, David and Bernard left the tent to take care of the bodies, while I remained in the tent, keeping a close eye on my sole survivor. It was probably a good hour until Isaac came to check up on me.
"Anna, do you need anything?" He asked.
I didn't have a quick response to his question as my adrenaline dwindled to nothing and my head was in its own mindset.
"No, I'm fine. I just need to place bandages over this man's eyes."
Isaac obviously paid no mind to me and came from behind to give me a big hug.
"I thought you weren't that big of a hugger." I said.
"Shut up and take it." he replied.
We both stood in this position for a minute when I broke the silence.
"Isaac, I need you to tell me what happened down there."
Just when he was about to tell me, he released his hug and said, "Did you hear that?"
I didn't but we both stood in silence to listen closer.
"Help!"
Isaac and I heard that faint cry for help, we walked out of the tent and saw a figure in the distance waving his arms.
"Is that Jonathan?" I said.
We both jogged towards him, when we saw O'Connell coming out of the tomb with a limp body on his back. We both then ran towards him and when we had met with the group, O'Connell said, "I think he's dead, but I couldn't tell for sure."
He drops the man's limp body to the floor and I go to check for a pulse. It's the same man from earlier that I said he did not have good hygiene. I grabbed his arm and I could not feel a pulse, I then looked at his eyes and saw that he had no blinking reflexes, but there was a big bruise and a gash across the forehead.
"He's gone, let's bring him back to my tent so that I can see what happened." I said.
Both Isaac and O'Connell helped bring the man to my tent as they place him on my treatment table.
"What happened to him?" I asked.
O'Connell responded saying, "I don't know, one moment we were brushing up some old artifacts and then we heard him scream and he was in pain, so much that I don't think he realized there was a wall and ran head on into it."
"Well that would explain the bruise and gash, but what caused him to be in pain?"
O'Connell shrugged and said, "Can't really tell ya."
Something is going on here, what with faces melting and now a man who was in so much pain he didn't see he was running into a wall. I need to know what caused this man's death first, before I can deem this as a mental breakdown.
"How well did you know this man?" I asked
"He was the warden when I was in Jail in Cairo, so not so much."
A warden? Now I'm suspicious. How convenient the warden of the jail died with a former prisoner of his. Something isn't adding up, should I be concerned about my mens safety with this former prisoner? I figured I can see if there was some blunt trauma to his skull by doing an autopsy on him, and if my suspicions are correct, O'Connell might have just killed this man. I had to play dumb and make sure I have some time to do this autopsy without acting suspicious.
"O'Connell, would you mind if I were to do an autopsy on your colleague? I would like to make sure there wasn't some sort of secondary problem that could have caused him to die like this. Would that be ok?"
O'Connell looked at me, as if he was trying to read me. Probably suspecting that I might find something I shouldn't.
"Have at it, I'm pretty sure his family would like to know how he died, if he even has family."
"Thank you. I'll let you know if I find anything Mr. O'Connell."
He paused to say, "Just call me Rick, ok" as he proceeded to walk out of the tent.
Isaac never left and asked, "What was that all about?"
"I don't think this was some sort of weird accident. I think there was foul play involved."
Isaac looked at me with wide eyes and looked at the corpse of the warden.
"Isaac, I need to see if Rick killed this man. I don't trust him and frankly, I would not like to be killed in the middle of the desert by him."
"Yeah, no kidding," he said.
I go to my supplies and grab my tools to perform an autopsy. I looked at Isaac and said, "I don't think you'll want to be here when I do this."
He looked at the corpse and said, "I've seen worse."