The Mummy PART 3 EXT. GALLOWS COURTYARD - DAY Hundreds of filthy PRISONERS stare down onto the gallows as the hangman's noose is draped over O'Connell's head and cinched tight around his neck. Evelyn follows the warden onto a balcony above the gallows. The prisoners all go dead quiet at the sight of her; like jackals staring at fresh meat. WARDEN No women allowed. EVELYN I am an English woman. This seems to confuse the Warden, he shrugs and sits down. O'Connell looks up as Evelyn plops down beside the Warden EVELYN I will give you one hundred pounds to spare his life. WARDEN I would pay one hundred pounds just to see him hang. EVELYN Two hundred pounds. WARDEN Proceed! EVELYN Three hundred pounds! O'Connell can hear every word, he looks hopeful. Other than Evelyn, you could hear a pin drop. The HANGMAN turns to him HANGMAN Any last requests, pig? O'CONNELL Yeah, I'd like ya to let me go The Hangman grabs the lever to the trapdoor. EVELYN FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS! The Warden sets his greasy, lecherous hand on Evelyn's leg. WARDEN And what else? Evelyn is revolted, she quickly shoves his hand away. -Insulted, the Warden angrily turns and gestures to the Hangman, who pulls the lever. The trapdoor DROPS AWAY. EVELYN NOOO! O'Connell DROPS through the hole. The rope pays-out. Then JERKS TAUGHT. O'Connell's body SNAPS at the end of the rope. But he's still alive, because-- WARDEN His neck did not break! Good! Now we watch him strangle to death. The prisoners go ape-shit, SCREAMING and SHOUTING in anger. The GUARDS look around, nervous. O'Connell struggles at the end of the rope, gagging. Evelyn is horrified, she quickly turns to the warden, leans forward and whispers in his ear. EVELYN He knows the location to Hamunaptra. The warden spins around and faces her WARDEN You lie. EVELYN I would never! At the end of the rope, O'Connell is choking and gagging and turning several shades of red. The Warden stares at Evelyn. WARDEN Are you saying this filthy godless son of a pig knows where to find The City Of The Dead? Truly? EVELYN Yes and if you cut him down, we will give you ten percent. WARDEN Fifty percent. EVELYN Twenty. WARDEN Forty. Evelyn hesitates, bites her lip. O'Connell's eyes bulge as he looks up at her, he can't believe this girl. O'CONNELL Give .... give him .... give him GLAAAA--! EVELYN Twenty-five percent, and not one single farthing more. The warden flashes a big green smile, then YELLS in Arabic A scimitar SLASHES the air. The rope is CUT. O'Connell CRASHES to the ground. Half dead. Rolls over. GAGGING. All of the prisoners BURST INTO CHEERS. O'Connell looks up at Evelyn. She smiles broadly and waves down at him. CURATOR'S OFFICE - NIGHT CANDLE LIGHT FLICKERS across the Curator's face. CURATOR She must die Standing in the shadows across from his desk are THREE MUMIA: blue tinted skin, hideous facial tattoos, --the works. One of the Mumia has a rusty metal HOOK for a hand. He shrugs. HOOK She is like all the others. She will die in the desert. CURATOR No! She has seen too much. She knows too much. The Curator leans across his desk, fear in his eyes. CURATOR Not only does she have a map, but she has the key. Spooks the hell out of the Mumia guys. HOOK The key!? She has the lost key!? CURATOR Yes. No one has ever had so much, been so close. We must stop her, or it will be the end of us all. HOOK Then we will kill her, we will kill her and all those with her. CURATOR And burn the map and retrieve the key. HOOK It will be done. But what of the American expedition? They leave tomorrow as well. CURATOR Forget the bumbling Americans, they will be like all the others. without the map to guide them, how can they possibly find Hamunaptra? EXT. GIZA PORT - DAY SMASH CUT TO: our old traitorous friend BENI, BENI It is three days down the Nile, then two days by camel, sahibs. WE CRANE BACK: to reveal Beni standing on the bow of a PASSENGER BARGE. Surrounded by DANIELS, HENDERSON and BURNS, DANIELS For all the money we're paying you, something better god-damned well be under that sand. WE KEEP CRANING BACK: as Henderson slaps Daniels on the back. HENDERSON "Hamunaptra," Daniels, that's all ya gotta keep sayin, to yourself, "Hamunaptra." Now we see all of GIZA PORT: Team of explorers swarm the docks. Across the Nile, the PYRAMIDS spike the sky. Evelyn and Jonathan walk along the boardwalk besieged by HAWKERS selling everything from toy tombs to King Tut action figures. EVELYN Do you really think he'll show up? JONATHAN Undoubtedly, I know the breed, he may be a cowboy, but his word is his word. EVELYN Personally, I think he's filthy, rude and a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit. O'CONNELL (o.s.) Anyone I know? They both turn. O'Connell walks up; shaved, showered, spit and polished, with a new haircut and clothes. He looks more dashing and handsome than ever. Evelyn is suitably impressed. EVELYN Oh .... um,...hello. Jonathan grabs O'Connell's arm and shakes his hand. JONATHAN Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh, O'Connell? O'Connell quickly checks his pockets. O'CONNELL Yeah, sure, smashing. He finds his wallet and relaxes. DIRECTLY ABOVE HIM: on the bow of the barge, Burns wipes his bifocals and turns to Beni. BURNS You're sure Hamunaptra is out there? BENI Along with the scorched bones of my entire garrison, sahib. And that's when Beni spots O'Connell. Beni shakes his head, as if seeing a mirage, then starts backing away from the men. BENI A thousand pardons, my good sahibs but there is much work to be done. Beni quickly scurries off, vanishing down into the hold. BACK DOWN WITH: Evelyn, recovering, she clears her throat. EVELYN Mister O'Connell, can you look me in the eye, and guarantee me this is not some sort of flimflam? Because if it is, I'm warning you-- --O'Connell steps up close to Evelyn, invading her space looks her straight in the eye. Evelyn doesn't back away. O'CONNELL All I can tell you, miss, is that my Colonel found that map in an ancient fortress, and the whole damn garrison believed in it so much, that without orders, we marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. Like I told ya, all I saw was sand. Everybody else was wiped-out by Tuareg warriors. I'll take your bags. O'Connell takes her bags and heads up the gangplank and onto THE SAME PASSENGER BARGE THAT BENI AND THE AMERICANS ARE ON. Evelyn's eyes follow him, a bit wistfully. Jonathan sees it. JONATHAN Yes, yes, you're right, filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel, nothing to like there at all. Evelyn gives him a look. Jonathan just grins. And that's when the warden suddenly brushes past, tipping his raggedy hat. WARDEN A bright good morning to all. EVELYN What are you doing here? WARDEN I have come to protect my investment, thank you very much. And up the plank he goes. Evelyn and Jonathan share a look. WE GO WIDE AGAIN: as the barge pulls out and heads down the Nile. WE TILT UP: to the SUN, which then DISSOLVES into-- EXT. RIVER NILE - NIGHT --The MOON, shining down on the desert. The THREE VICIOUS MUMIA quietly glide a narrow skiff out onto the river. The one with the hook sits in the middle of the skiff, the other two row, heading for the PASSENGER BARGE coming their way. EXT. THE BAR AT THE BOW - NIGHT Jonathan and the three Americans are playing poker. O'Connell comes out a door carrying a GUNNY-SACK. JONATHAN Sit down, O'Connell, sit down, we could use another good player. O'CONNELL I only gamble with my life, never my money. DANIELS Never? What if I were to wager five hundred dollars says we get to Hamunaptra before you? O'Connell returns Daniel's cocky look. O'CONNELL Yer on. Burns slips on his dirty bifocals. BURNS What makes you so confident, sir? O'CONNELL What makes you? Henderson spits a wad of chew into a spittoon. HENDERSON We got us a man who's actually been there O'Connell's poker face drops, perplexed. Same with Jonathan JONATHAN I say, what a coincidence, why-- --O'Connell 'accidentally' hits him in the ribs with the gunny-sack, shutting him up. Jonathan quickly covers. JONATHAN --whose deal is it? Is it my deal? I thought I just dealt? EXT. BARGE - NIGHT Evelyn sits on a table, staring out over the passing river. The gunny-sack DROPS onto the table, startling her. O'CONNELL Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya ELVELYN The only thing that scares me, Mister O'Connell, are your manners, O'CONNELL Still angry that I kissed ya, huh? EVELYN If you call that a kiss. O'Connell reaches into the gunny-sack and starts pulling out revolvers, pistols, hunting knives, a massive elephant gun, and a half dozen carefully wrapped sticks of dynamite. EVELYN Did I miss something? Are we going into battle? O'CONNELL The last time I was at that place everybody I was with died. This takes the smile off Evelyn's face. O'Connell starts dismantling and cleaning the guns. O'CONNELL There's something out there, you know, something under that sand. EVELYN Yes, I'm hoping to find a certain artifact, a book, actually, my brother thinks there's treasure. What do you think is out there? O'Connell looks into Evelyn's eyes. O'CONNELL Evil. The Tuaregs and the Bedouin believe that Hamunaptra is cursed, they call it, "the doorway to hell" EVELYN Ahmar is Ossirion. "Passageway to the underworld", actually. She gives him a know-it-all grin. EVELYN I don't believe in fairy tales and hokum, Mister 0'Connell, but I do believe that one of the most famous books in history is buried out there, The Book Of The Living It's what first interested me in Egypt as a child. It's why I came here, sort of a life's pursuit. O'CONNELL And the fact that they say it's made out of pure gold, makes no nevermind to you, right? Evelyn is surprised by his knowledge. EVELYN You know your history. O'CONNELL I know my treasure.- Evelyn gets up to go, then she hesitates, nervous, she turns back to O'Connell, and as matter-of-fact as possible says: EVELYN By the way, ...why did you kiss me? O'Connell, cleaning his guns, just shrugs his shoulders O'CONNELL I was about to be hanged, seemed like a good idea at the time. Evelyn's eyes widen, furious, she turns and storms off. O'Connell looks up, watching her leave, a bit perplexed O'CONNELL What? .... Wha'd I say? Then he hears someone SNICKERING under the table. He quickly reaches down, grabs that someone and lifts him up. It's Beni. BENI My very good friend! What a surprise O'CONNELL Why if it ain't my little buddy, Beni. I outta kill you. O'Connell sticks a knife under Beni's throat. Beni swallows hard, then tries to weasel his way out with a big grin. BENI You never were any good with the ladies, O'Connell. O'CONNELL So you're the one leading the Americans, I shoulda figured. So what's the scam? You get 'em out in the middle of the desert then leave 'em to rot? BENI Unfortunately no, these Americans are smart, they pay me only half now, half when I get them back to Cairo, so I must go all the way. O'Connell pulls the knife away. Beni relaxes, rubs his neck. BENI You never believed in Hamunaptra, O'Connell. Why are you going back? The devil himself lives out there. They look as they hear Evelyn YELP. A single CAMEL in the HORSE PADDOCK takes another bite at her. She YELPS again and backs away. O'Connell grins as Evelyn flees down the deck. O'CONNELL The girl saved my life, figured it was the least I could do, keep her out of trouble. BENI You always did have more balls than brains. O'Connell's eyes narrow at the insult, he looks back at Beni O'CONNELL Let's make us even, shall we? BENI Even? O'Connell grabs him and chucks him over the side of the barge. Beni SPLASHES into the river. O'Connell takes his gunny-sack and starts walking off down the deck. BENI(o.s) O'Connell! I am going to kill you for this! O'CONNELL Sounds familiar. And that's when he spots THREE SETS OF WET FOOTPRINTS, coming up over the railing from the river and heading down the deck. O'Connell quickly looks around, immediately on the alert. LastIndexNext