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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.
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