WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.200
<v Speaker 1>This episode may contain content that is not suitable for

2
00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:07.679
<v Speaker 1>all audiences. Listener discretion is advised, especially for those under

3
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:18.280
<v Speaker 1>the age of thirteen. Welcome to Endo the Night. I'm

4
00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:21.519
<v Speaker 1>Narri your guide on today's excursion down a twisted path.

5
00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.359
<v Speaker 1>Be careful not to get lost. Be it dark or light,

6
00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:29.239
<v Speaker 1>it's easy to lose your way. Are you ready, then

7
00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:39.520
<v Speaker 1>let's begin, Magashanna.

8
00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:07.120
<v Speaker 2>The room fell silent. Considering what happened to the Hasmat team,

9
00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.840
<v Speaker 2>I don't think anyone could have spoken. If it wasn't

10
00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:12.480
<v Speaker 2>for the twitch in the hand of the dead man,

11
00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.200
<v Speaker 2>it would appear as if nothing had happened at all.

12
00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:20.040
<v Speaker 2>And yet, one by one they collapsed onto the hewn

13
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:25.439
<v Speaker 2>stone floors, writhing there until death finally took them. I

14
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.519
<v Speaker 2>remember personally cleaning and sealing a few of those suits.

15
00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.519
<v Speaker 2>They were supposedly completely sealed, protective from threats ranging from

16
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.040
<v Speaker 2>viral agents to ionizing radiation, and we ourselves were locked

17
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:43.120
<v Speaker 2>in hermetically sealed by mechanical locks behind keycard access, which

18
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.680
<v Speaker 2>only made the truth of their debts all the more mystifying.

19
00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.359
<v Speaker 2>What could have both stirred the dead and killed my colleagues?

20
00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:56.400
<v Speaker 2>How to explain the convulsions, the desperate attempt to escape

21
00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.959
<v Speaker 2>the oozing, deep ruby red blood spilling from a thousand

22
00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:06.599
<v Speaker 2>microscopic pricks. I am ashamed to admit that when it happened,

23
00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.560
<v Speaker 2>I froze. We both did. But I was supposed to

24
00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.960
<v Speaker 2>be on shift for observations and recordings. I instead traded

25
00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.280
<v Speaker 2>the shift with Oscar, And now Oscar and Henry and

26
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.000
<v Speaker 2>lew and Garrett were all lying on the floor in

27
00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:27.360
<v Speaker 2>some god forsaken crypt with a corpse from a different millennium.

28
00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:30.439
<v Speaker 2>I may as well have joined them, for how paralyzed

29
00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:34.639
<v Speaker 2>I was. In the observation room, the old CRT monitors

30
00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:38.240
<v Speaker 2>were deathly silent, still depicting the gruesome scene in that

31
00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:43.560
<v Speaker 2>coldly sterile manner that only a machine can. Silent enough

32
00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:45.599
<v Speaker 2>that I could hear my breath quiver at the pounding

33
00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.439
<v Speaker 2>of my heart, Silent enough that I could hear my

34
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.520
<v Speaker 2>sole companion, doctor Keith, whispering her way through some prayer.

35
00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.280
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't recognize, silent enough that I could swear I

36
00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.520
<v Speaker 2>heard the blood trickling down the step towards the glass

37
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.319
<v Speaker 2>sarcophagus where the body lay. I always thought they were

38
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:09.080
<v Speaker 2>supposed to hum. I was a touch transfixed by the

39
00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.039
<v Speaker 2>flow of blood after a time. I blame it on

40
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.199
<v Speaker 2>the lack of stimulus at the time of writing, but

41
00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:18.520
<v Speaker 2>in the moment I cannot be certain. It filled the

42
00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.560
<v Speaker 2>grooves in the floor and trickled and dripped with all

43
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:25.719
<v Speaker 2>the urgency of fungal decay, torpidly making its way down

44
00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.599
<v Speaker 2>toward the sarcophagus, which sat in the center of the

45
00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:33.080
<v Speaker 2>burial chamber at its lowest point. At first I could

46
00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:37.599
<v Speaker 2>barely even watch, but as time passed, the disgust waned

47
00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:42.240
<v Speaker 2>and my morbid curiosity waxed. The mummy itself was an

48
00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.439
<v Speaker 2>undeniable oddity. From initial analysis, we were able to find

49
00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.879
<v Speaker 2>preserved blood vessels and organs from the X ray, but

50
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.919
<v Speaker 2>also blood. Fresh blood. We were able to determine the

51
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.719
<v Speaker 2>man entombed here had ab positive blood, judging from the

52
00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.080
<v Speaker 2>small sample we had extra from him. His hair was

53
00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.560
<v Speaker 2>still oily, and even his eyelashes and beard hairs were

54
00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.280
<v Speaker 2>still in place. If it weren't for the discoloration of

55
00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.680
<v Speaker 2>his skin from the mummification process, I could swear he

56
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:14.639
<v Speaker 2>could get up out of his crypt and tell us

57
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.839
<v Speaker 2>exactly what we were looking for. Even his pose felt

58
00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:22.680
<v Speaker 2>too lifelike to be completely sure he was dead. Rather

59
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.920
<v Speaker 2>than the crossed arms of Egyptian mummies, he was laying

60
00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.399
<v Speaker 2>on his back, hands by his side, as if he

61
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.079
<v Speaker 2>had simply drifted off to sleep, save the one that

62
00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.480
<v Speaker 2>had inexplicably twitched upward from the wrist. The plaque at

63
00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:44.279
<v Speaker 2>his feet read in that old Cunei form, behold Lugo Magashana,

64
00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.920
<v Speaker 2>king of Kiag, and devote yourself. The only disruption on

65
00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.120
<v Speaker 2>his form was that hand that had suddenly twitched up.

66
00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:59.560
<v Speaker 2>Lugo Magashana was an enigmatic figure. There were scant few

67
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.279
<v Speaker 2>references to him from other Mesopotamian states, and those who

68
00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:07.240
<v Speaker 2>did refer to him did so in forbidding tones. From

69
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.639
<v Speaker 2>what we knew within the research team, he was a

70
00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.079
<v Speaker 2>tyrant and superstitious even for his time in the temple

71
00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.360
<v Speaker 2>capital of Kireg, he led his priests in occult rituals,

72
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.519
<v Speaker 2>though the supposed purpose of these rituals was lost to time.

73
00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:23.120
<v Speaker 2>We do know, however, that everything he did was in

74
00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:27.279
<v Speaker 2>service to his patron deity al Wepthis, while other Sumerian

75
00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:32.560
<v Speaker 2>gods like Marduke or Seamish or Inana were very well documented,

76
00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.399
<v Speaker 2>Al Wepthis seemed to have been struck from any sort

77
00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:40.519
<v Speaker 2>of record. We dreaded learning what these rituals may have entailed,

78
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.439
<v Speaker 2>and considering the responses from the neighbors of Kireg, we

79
00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.279
<v Speaker 2>were right to do so. The city of Kireg was

80
00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.800
<v Speaker 2>completely lost to time as well, so attaining first person

81
00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:54.639
<v Speaker 2>perspectives of the rituals proved to be rather difficult. Other

82
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.759
<v Speaker 2>cities only ever seemed to mention Kireg suddenly disappearing in

83
00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.920
<v Speaker 2>the middle of the night, spinning tallis about the hand

84
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.399
<v Speaker 2>of Alwepthi's stretching down and taking Kirag into the heavens.

85
00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:07.839
<v Speaker 2>If it weren't for a few scant artifacts found where

86
00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:10.319
<v Speaker 2>Kireg was said to be, it would have been written

87
00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:14.680
<v Speaker 2>off as a fairy tale. There was one larger tablet recovered,

88
00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.439
<v Speaker 2>but unfortunately it was lost during the Iraqi invasion of

89
00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.839
<v Speaker 2>the Gaza Strip in the early nineties. Our patron, doctor

90
00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:25.079
<v Speaker 2>Jordan Emerick, had a researcher studying the tablet in secret,

91
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:30.199
<v Speaker 2>and unfortunately he passed during the invasion. Whatever secrets he

92
00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.160
<v Speaker 2>learned were lost to time, and the city remained a

93
00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.040
<v Speaker 2>strange reminder of a more superstitious time even stranger, however,

94
00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:42.199
<v Speaker 2>were the jars kept here with him. Mesopotamian burial traditions

95
00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.319
<v Speaker 2>hardly included mummification. Grave goods would have been expected with

96
00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.959
<v Speaker 2>someone of his kingly status, But the jars were an anomaly.

97
00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.000
<v Speaker 2>Standing there against the wall, spaced out evenly, were large

98
00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.399
<v Speaker 2>jars standing up to about my waist, and each of

99
00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.160
<v Speaker 2>the jars was filled with fresh human blood, also type

100
00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.600
<v Speaker 2>to be ABE positive. It was a true mystery how

101
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:09.079
<v Speaker 2>the blood, at the very least hadn't coagulated. Perhaps there

102
00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:11.720
<v Speaker 2>had been waiting the secrets of preservation that could keep

103
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.480
<v Speaker 2>this nearly five thousand year old blood so fluid and

104
00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:18.079
<v Speaker 2>fresh that a new medical breakthrough was merely lying dormant,

105
00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.040
<v Speaker 2>waiting to be discovered under the greenery just off the

106
00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.079
<v Speaker 2>banks of the Euphrates. My mind briefly entertained the thought

107
00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.959
<v Speaker 2>of that blood being freshly taken from some poor, unfortunate

108
00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.439
<v Speaker 2>soul who wandered in before us somehow, but that was

109
00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:35.800
<v Speaker 2>quickly pushed away in favor of reason. The entrance had

110
00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.879
<v Speaker 2>been sealed when we found it, the doors wrapped tight

111
00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.680
<v Speaker 2>in some kind of animal sinew. Whoever last left this

112
00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.079
<v Speaker 2>tomb had intended it to stay closed, and for nearly

113
00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:50.839
<v Speaker 2>five thousand years, the world had agreed. While I was

114
00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.079
<v Speaker 2>left to my thought, doctor Key spoke to me. What

115
00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:57.720
<v Speaker 2>do we do now, Robert? She said, The sudden call

116
00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.920
<v Speaker 2>nearly split me out of my skin. What happened in there?

117
00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.040
<v Speaker 2>We can't go in, I started. We need to make

118
00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:10.199
<v Speaker 2>a call and get reinforced, resupplied. Her eyes widened incredulously.

119
00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.560
<v Speaker 2>We can't just wait and hear Her voice was vehement,

120
00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:17.279
<v Speaker 2>but her body was barely able to hold upright between

121
00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:20.360
<v Speaker 2>the weakness and her knees. I knew she was coming

122
00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.360
<v Speaker 2>down off the shock just as much as I was.

123
00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:27.360
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't blame her as opposed to what Ruth do

124
00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.519
<v Speaker 2>We just go in there and die too? At least

125
00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.440
<v Speaker 2>we'd be doing something other than just waiting to be saved.

126
00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.720
<v Speaker 2>Doctor Emerick is not going to waste all this funding.

127
00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm just going to send him a message and tell

128
00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.919
<v Speaker 2>him what happened. It won't take any time at all.

129
00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.080
<v Speaker 2>Doctor Emerick is in America. What can he possibly do

130
00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.039
<v Speaker 2>to help us? I couldn't answer her. We were alone

131
00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:56.919
<v Speaker 2>down here, no help, no hope. We sat in silent rumination.

132
00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:00.840
<v Speaker 2>I looked out to the bodies slowly draining on them.

133
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.679
<v Speaker 2>We had to get to them somehow. There was still

134
00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:07.840
<v Speaker 2>a spare hazmat suit, But what good would that do?

135
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.600
<v Speaker 2>I kept thinking and thinking and thinking, watching the blood

136
00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.120
<v Speaker 2>still inexorably flow down to the center of the chamber.

137
00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:23.480
<v Speaker 2>I watched it and started considering the ramifications. In most situations,

138
00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.360
<v Speaker 2>the blood surely would have stopped by now, it would

139
00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.080
<v Speaker 2>have found a natural settling point and started pooling. But

140
00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.759
<v Speaker 2>there was something else at work. Clearly, each of the

141
00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.240
<v Speaker 2>three men had a stream of blood pulling away from

142
00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:42.600
<v Speaker 2>them and towards the glass sarcophagus. I was transfixed, distracted

143
00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.879
<v Speaker 2>for the moment. In consideration of the physics involved. It

144
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.159
<v Speaker 2>seemed to me that the blood ought to have simply

145
00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.360
<v Speaker 2>pooled around the bodies, or merely filled some grooves and

146
00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:55.919
<v Speaker 2>likewise settle. And yet here it flowed downward and downward

147
00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:59.600
<v Speaker 2>on the old corpse. I looked back over the mummy,

148
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.600
<v Speaker 2>and what I saw chilled my very soul. The hand

149
00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:09.039
<v Speaker 2>had moved again, where it had simply lifted and remained

150
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:13.120
<v Speaker 2>pronate before. The hand was now supine, two fingers raised,

151
00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:17.559
<v Speaker 2>palmed towards the ceiling. I turned back to doctor Key,

152
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.360
<v Speaker 2>and my face must have said it all, for she

153
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.679
<v Speaker 2>simply joined me and observed the hand. We went back

154
00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.840
<v Speaker 2>over the monitors and watched the video back, fast forwarding

155
00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.360
<v Speaker 2>from the time of the killings. What I saw there

156
00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:35.559
<v Speaker 2>in that recording I simply could not explain. At a

157
00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.480
<v Speaker 2>glacial pace, the hand that had twitched had, over the

158
00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:46.120
<v Speaker 2>course of an hour, slowly rotated into that position. As

159
00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.639
<v Speaker 2>inexplicable as the initial movement was. My mind boggled further

160
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:55.519
<v Speaker 2>at this development. Perhaps the inexplicable preservation of the body

161
00:10:55.639 --> 00:11:00.240
<v Speaker 2>was to blame. Yes, that had to be it, of

162
00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:05.360
<v Speaker 2>suspended water via osmosis. Surely the body itself hadn't moved.

163
00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:08.639
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

164
00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.960
<v Speaker 2>Doctor Key, however, was even more determined to leave now.

165
00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.840
<v Speaker 2>She started suiting up in another hazmat suit, muttering the

166
00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:20.600
<v Speaker 2>same prayer from before as she worked. I couldn't blame her.

167
00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:24.519
<v Speaker 2>There was a rational explanation, surely, but fear was getting

168
00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.200
<v Speaker 2>the better of us. I couldn't let her leave. Of course,

169
00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:31.440
<v Speaker 2>there was some unknown menace out there still, perhaps some

170
00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.879
<v Speaker 2>kind of trap we simply hadn't seen until now. I

171
00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:39.240
<v Speaker 2>grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close. Ruth, you can't leave,

172
00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.240
<v Speaker 2>I said. We have no idea what's going on out there.

173
00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.960
<v Speaker 2>You're going to get yourself killed. She tore my hand

174
00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.320
<v Speaker 2>off her. Better I die trying for freedom than curled

175
00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.240
<v Speaker 2>up in here waiting, she continued, donning her suit. You

176
00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.080
<v Speaker 2>can stay down here all you like, but I'm getting

177
00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:03.159
<v Speaker 2>the hell out of here. You aren't thinking right, I shouted,

178
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.039
<v Speaker 2>blocking the exit. You've got your whole life ahead of you.

179
00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:09.759
<v Speaker 2>We're waiting for help to come to us. First. Doctor

180
00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:14.240
<v Speaker 2>Emeric will save us. Don't throw your life away. Ruth

181
00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.200
<v Speaker 2>was clearly more determined than I was. However, She pulled

182
00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.240
<v Speaker 2>me away from the door, but I held her tight,

183
00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:22.799
<v Speaker 2>her back against my chest. We struggled and fought with

184
00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.759
<v Speaker 2>each other for a moment before she overpowered me. She

185
00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:29.279
<v Speaker 2>slammed my head against the wall. My whole world spun

186
00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.840
<v Speaker 2>around me, and my eyes filled with stars. I collapsed

187
00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.279
<v Speaker 2>to the floor, dazed and bewildered. When I was finally

188
00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:39.200
<v Speaker 2>able to gather myself, she was already outside and on

189
00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:43.120
<v Speaker 2>the radio. Robert, I promise I'm going to come back

190
00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:45.960
<v Speaker 2>for you, she said, her breath ragged from the fight,

191
00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:49.279
<v Speaker 2>but right now. I have to get out of here.

192
00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.039
<v Speaker 2>I tried to get back out there with her, has

193
00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:55.679
<v Speaker 2>map be damned, but she blocked the door from the outside.

194
00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.200
<v Speaker 2>I slammed my fist on the door and screamed her name.

195
00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.879
<v Speaker 2>I begged and pleaded with her not to go, but

196
00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.320
<v Speaker 2>I could hear her footsteps growing softer. I turned back

197
00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.480
<v Speaker 2>around to the window to watch her progress. She moved

198
00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.120
<v Speaker 2>slow and deliberately, still wary of whatever danger rested here

199
00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.519
<v Speaker 2>in the crypt. Step by step, inch by inch, she

200
00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.000
<v Speaker 2>made her way toward the channel leading upwards and outwards

201
00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.159
<v Speaker 2>to the surface. I listened to her breath grow ever

202
00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:24.960
<v Speaker 2>louder and fearful as she continued. She was by the

203
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.879
<v Speaker 2>other bodies at this point, no worse for the experience.

204
00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:32.120
<v Speaker 2>I thought perhaps the danger had passed, that she had

205
00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:35.720
<v Speaker 2>a window of opportunity. That was until I caught some

206
00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.919
<v Speaker 2>motion out of the corner of my eye. The Mummy's

207
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.600
<v Speaker 2>head slowly turned towards me. I watched it turn in

208
00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:50.600
<v Speaker 2>real time, slowly and methodically. His face was indifferent, his

209
00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.639
<v Speaker 2>eyes now open. We stared at each other for what

210
00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.639
<v Speaker 2>felt like minutes but couldn't have been more than seconds,

211
00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:04.440
<v Speaker 2>and then the light exploded. Every bulb, every monitor, every

212
00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:09.080
<v Speaker 2>perceivable source of light all burst in an instant. Sparks

213
00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.399
<v Speaker 2>flew for a few seconds, giving the last moments of

214
00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.759
<v Speaker 2>light in what was assuredly the end of my life.

215
00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:18.279
<v Speaker 2>I heard Ruth scream through the glass. The radio feed

216
00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:22.120
<v Speaker 2>was completely silent. I dared not utter a sound, nor

217
00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.639
<v Speaker 2>make a single movement. Doctor Key as well, stopped from

218
00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:29.159
<v Speaker 2>the sounds of things, complete and total silence. For the

219
00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.039
<v Speaker 2>first time. I could remember, not even the sigh of ventilation.

220
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:37.679
<v Speaker 2>I could hear my heart pounding, my hands rubbing, I

221
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:41.840
<v Speaker 2>swear even my sweat beating on my forehead. My mind

222
00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.440
<v Speaker 2>raced with possibilities. The phenomenon surely came back, and now

223
00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.480
<v Speaker 2>Ruth was bleeding out on the floor. I had nothing,

224
00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.679
<v Speaker 2>not even the beginnings of a plan. I knew I

225
00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.639
<v Speaker 2>had to get out, But how I could tackle the

226
00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:58.519
<v Speaker 2>door and hopefully dislodge whatever Doctor Key had put in

227
00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:02.120
<v Speaker 2>place to lock the door? Would that even be possible?

228
00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:05.000
<v Speaker 2>Was I simply stuck here for the rest of my days,

229
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.720
<v Speaker 2>however limited they may be. I could feel the tears

230
00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:12.200
<v Speaker 2>beginning to well in my eyes, my throat closing, my

231
00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:20.039
<v Speaker 2>chest hollowing. Eventually However, the silence was broken. Robert said, Ruth,

232
00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:24.840
<v Speaker 2>I'm still here, Doctor, I responded, The relief nearly pulled

233
00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:28.080
<v Speaker 2>a laugh out of me. Thank God. Do you have

234
00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.759
<v Speaker 2>any idea what happened? It had to have been whatever

235
00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.240
<v Speaker 2>killed the others. I saw them, and then came a scraping.

236
00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.159
<v Speaker 2>The sound started, and I was unsure of what I

237
00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:42.559
<v Speaker 2>was hearing until the crash of broken glass destroyed the

238
00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.559
<v Speaker 2>new piece in the tomb. It had to have been

239
00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:48.600
<v Speaker 2>the sarcophagus. There was nothing else in there that could

240
00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:52.120
<v Speaker 2>have made such a sound. We both fell completely silent

241
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:57.840
<v Speaker 2>as a new sound emerged, a footstep singular. After a

242
00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.840
<v Speaker 2>few moments, another came. I could hear the panic in

243
00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.320
<v Speaker 2>doctor Key's breath over the radio. She was trying her

244
00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.840
<v Speaker 2>best to be silent, but the terror in her heart

245
00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.919
<v Speaker 2>and the anxiety in her head kept her breaths trembling

246
00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:11.559
<v Speaker 2>and frail.

247
00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:13.840
<v Speaker 1>The footsteps continued.

248
00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:16.399
<v Speaker 2>I was having a hard time tracking where they were

249
00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:21.039
<v Speaker 2>headed until I heard the curious sound of moving fluid. Ruth,

250
00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:24.559
<v Speaker 2>what the hell is going on out there? I whispered

251
00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:28.559
<v Speaker 2>as quietly as I could into the receiver. The mummy

252
00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.559
<v Speaker 2>is moving, Doctor.

253
00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:35.279
<v Speaker 1>Key said, doing her level best to stay calm. The

254
00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.360
<v Speaker 1>fucking mummy is alive and moving.

255
00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:44.399
<v Speaker 2>Robert, what what do you mean? The mummy is alive?

256
00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.480
<v Speaker 2>I nearly shouted, but I caught my voice before it

257
00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:48.360
<v Speaker 2>could get too loud.

258
00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:53.240
<v Speaker 1>The mummy is alive and it's doing something with the blood.

259
00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:58.399
<v Speaker 2>She was breathless and still. She stood there silently before

260
00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:02.440
<v Speaker 2>attempting to speak. I'm coming back to you, don't you

261
00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:06.759
<v Speaker 2>fucking dare? I responded, Stay still and try not to

262
00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.759
<v Speaker 2>make any noise. You are in serious danger. She ignored me.

263
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.519
<v Speaker 2>I heard her footsteps start up. I tried to find

264
00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:18.880
<v Speaker 2>some corner to hide in. Slowly she made her way

265
00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.279
<v Speaker 2>over to the door, and slowly I heard whatever she

266
00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:24.200
<v Speaker 2>had put in front of the door move, calling out

267
00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.480
<v Speaker 2>in a distant stone on stone scrape. Was it one

268
00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:30.720
<v Speaker 2>of the jars? I could hardly believe.

269
00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:32.119
<v Speaker 1>What she had done.

270
00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.640
<v Speaker 2>I kept in my little corner, praying for safety. When

271
00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:39.119
<v Speaker 2>I heard the footsteps start again, I had to act fast.

272
00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.599
<v Speaker 2>I kept quiet, inching to the radio. Before I could

273
00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:47.880
<v Speaker 2>speak to her. Move Ruth, I shouted in silence, she

274
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.359
<v Speaker 2>fucking here's you. She didn't respond verbally, She just started

275
00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:56.400
<v Speaker 2>moving to Her footsteps were as silent as she could

276
00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.039
<v Speaker 2>make them, but the mummies were loud enough.

277
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:04.200
<v Speaker 1>To track Ta ta tag tag.

278
00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:09.440
<v Speaker 2>Slowly and inexorably, making its way to me. I heard

279
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.440
<v Speaker 2>the crackling of his joints stirring again. After who knows

280
00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:16.079
<v Speaker 2>how long I hid back in my corner. What else

281
00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:20.319
<v Speaker 2>could I have done. I kept deathly still, waiting for

282
00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:21.400
<v Speaker 2>the inevitable end.

283
00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:27.160
<v Speaker 1>Tag ta tah tab.

284
00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:32.920
<v Speaker 2>Closer and closer. Still. My eyes flooded with tears, and

285
00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.680
<v Speaker 2>my breath came out in a whimper. I was going

286
00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:38.960
<v Speaker 2>to die. I knew it. I could see the handle

287
00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.200
<v Speaker 2>till the door start shaking. The clasp came undone, and

288
00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.759
<v Speaker 2>it was slowly opening. It was my fate to die

289
00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.799
<v Speaker 2>along with the others. Ruth, however, had a different idea.

290
00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:55.440
<v Speaker 2>From across the room, there came a crash. It seemed

291
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.319
<v Speaker 2>like Ruth had broken one of the jars. The door

292
00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:03.240
<v Speaker 2>stopped and the footsteps started. She had saved me. I

293
00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.039
<v Speaker 2>had to act fast. I crept out of the corner

294
00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.839
<v Speaker 2>and over to the now open door. Slowly, silently, I

295
00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.839
<v Speaker 2>slinked out and made my way for the exit. I

296
00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:15.039
<v Speaker 2>had to feel my way out. There was still no

297
00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:19.119
<v Speaker 2>light and only the sound of the Mummy's footsteps. I

298
00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:23.519
<v Speaker 2>couldn't tell where Ruth was. I hoped against hope that

299
00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:25.559
<v Speaker 2>this would be enough of an opportunity for the both

300
00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:30.319
<v Speaker 2>of us. At last, I found the stairs, but how

301
00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:33.680
<v Speaker 2>to alert Ruth. I felt around the ground for something,

302
00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:37.440
<v Speaker 2>some loose stone I could throw. When my hand ran

303
00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:43.039
<v Speaker 2>against something soft and rubbery, I froze. I was dead.

304
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.359
<v Speaker 2>I could hear the soft crackle of movement right next

305
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.359
<v Speaker 2>to me, one hand on my back, another on my head,

306
00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:55.920
<v Speaker 2>then both beneath my arms, lifting me. At the very

307
00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.759
<v Speaker 2>least my death would buy Ruth some time. Silently sobbed

308
00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:04.440
<v Speaker 2>as the end came. As I heard a hiss emerge

309
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:04.920
<v Speaker 2>next to me.

310
00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:06.640
<v Speaker 1>Shit.

311
00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:11.319
<v Speaker 2>Ruth hissed. I could hardly contain my elation that it

312
00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:17.000
<v Speaker 2>was her salvation. Be client Robert. We have to get

313
00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.920
<v Speaker 2>the door open all at once, I remembered. The door

314
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:24.200
<v Speaker 2>kept everything sealed tight. We merely had to swipe a

315
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.680
<v Speaker 2>key card to get out. I fumbled for mine, grasping

316
00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:30.640
<v Speaker 2>it in hand, and groped around for the scanner. The

317
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.720
<v Speaker 2>mummy had stopped moving for the time being. I could

318
00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:37.160
<v Speaker 2>almost see him watching us, feeling for our presence in

319
00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.200
<v Speaker 2>the inky black tomb. Were we to become the contents

320
00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.839
<v Speaker 2>of even more jars. I couldn't afford to think about that.

321
00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.160
<v Speaker 2>I had to find that goddamn scanner and get us

322
00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:51.599
<v Speaker 2>out of here. And at last I had found it.

323
00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:56.480
<v Speaker 2>I scanned my key card, finally free, the door unlocked

324
00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.279
<v Speaker 2>with a beep and a hiss. The door slowly opened.

325
00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.000
<v Speaker 2>My heart sank.

326
00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.880
<v Speaker 1>Ta ta ta ta.

327
00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:13.359
<v Speaker 2>I nearly screamed. I pushed against the slowly sliding doors.

328
00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:17.279
<v Speaker 2>Ruth joined me. We fought against the mechanism in desperate

329
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.640
<v Speaker 2>hopes of opening the door just a little faster.

330
00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.240
<v Speaker 1>Ta ta ta ta.

331
00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:28.759
<v Speaker 2>The mummy grew closer and closer.

332
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.200
<v Speaker 1>Tah tah tah tah.

333
00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.720
<v Speaker 2>Finally the door was open enough for me to slide through. Ruth, however,

334
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.960
<v Speaker 2>could not, her hazmat suit was too bulky to fit through.

335
00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.880
<v Speaker 2>I felt her push me through the opening. I screamed

336
00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:49.119
<v Speaker 2>and reached for her. I clawed back. There was no

337
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.559
<v Speaker 2>way I was leaving her behind, but then I felt

338
00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.079
<v Speaker 2>her suddenly leave. She was torn back into the darkness

339
00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:01.480
<v Speaker 2>by incontrovertible force. I reached and prodded, desperately, trying to

340
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:07.119
<v Speaker 2>find any remaining sign of Ruth's presence. The doors continued opening, slowly,

341
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.839
<v Speaker 2>letting more moonlight into the scene, and there I saw

342
00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:16.640
<v Speaker 2>the Mummy holding Ruth, his eyes locked with mine. An ancient,

343
00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:20.480
<v Speaker 2>mystifying terror beset me, like I was looking directly into

344
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:24.599
<v Speaker 2>the mouth of some slavery, ravenous beast. I saw his

345
00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.079
<v Speaker 2>mouth torn into her neck. Her blood was oozing out

346
00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:33.240
<v Speaker 2>from her wounds, Her head twisted impossibly backwards. The visor

347
00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:35.920
<v Speaker 2>of her hazmat suit had been removed, and I could

348
00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.440
<v Speaker 2>see her lip quivering and her eyes slowly rolling backwards

349
00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.160
<v Speaker 2>into her head. Her body twitched and quaked, like the

350
00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.880
<v Speaker 2>leg of a dying spider, jerking and spasming, while her

351
00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.720
<v Speaker 2>blood spilled on the ground. I scarcely remember what happened next.

352
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:55.759
<v Speaker 2>My mind was not my own. All I can remember

353
00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:59.599
<v Speaker 2>was howling and screaming into the night, tears streaming down

354
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.039
<v Speaker 2>my face. At some point I must have made my

355
00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:05.960
<v Speaker 2>way to town and got picked up by the police.

356
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.519
<v Speaker 2>Some of the more superstitious of the officers claimed I

357
00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:11.240
<v Speaker 2>had been possessed by a gin, but most of them

358
00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:14.920
<v Speaker 2>merely accepted that I was having some sort of mental breakdown.

359
00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.119
<v Speaker 2>I attempted to explain what happened to me, but the

360
00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.119
<v Speaker 2>words simply wouldn't come out. Even if they did, I

361
00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:26.519
<v Speaker 2>don't know that they would be so readily accepted in time.

362
00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:28.960
<v Speaker 2>I simply gave them a line about being attacked in

363
00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:32.200
<v Speaker 2>the desert by bandits, that all my friends had died

364
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.400
<v Speaker 2>and we were due to return to the United States.

365
00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:37.599
<v Speaker 2>They took some of my contact information and sent me

366
00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:40.240
<v Speaker 2>on my way to the embassy in Baghdad, where I

367
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.319
<v Speaker 2>was taken home. I attempted to get back in touch

368
00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:46.079
<v Speaker 2>with doctor Emmerick. I had figured he'd want to know

369
00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:49.359
<v Speaker 2>what happened on the expedition and in the tomb, but

370
00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:52.279
<v Speaker 2>I was never able to reach him. His phone number

371
00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:56.079
<v Speaker 2>was disconnected and his email address merely bounced everything back.

372
00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:59.799
<v Speaker 2>I even went so far as to contact his university,

373
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:04.440
<v Speaker 2>mar Elias University of Arizona. I was met with a

374
00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:08.519
<v Speaker 2>most chilling revelation. They had no idea who he was.

375
00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:12.480
<v Speaker 2>I attempted to find my communicates with him, only to

376
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.880
<v Speaker 2>find they had all been removed while I was in Iraq.

377
00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:20.440
<v Speaker 2>My mind folded inward on the revelation. The only conclusion

378
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.559
<v Speaker 2>that I could come to was that he somehow knew

379
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.640
<v Speaker 2>this would happen that Lugo Magashana would somehow rise from

380
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:33.319
<v Speaker 2>his crypt to taste blood once again. The only question

381
00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:36.319
<v Speaker 2>I had left then was why go through all the

382
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:40.400
<v Speaker 2>effort just to feed him? What was the purpose behind

383
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.559
<v Speaker 2>this senseless slaughter? I fear I do not know, and

384
00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.480
<v Speaker 2>I fear that this may only be the beginning of

385
00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:50.359
<v Speaker 2>things to come.

386
00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:59.440
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for joining me for this episode of the

387
00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:04.079
<v Speaker 1>Endo the Night Anthology podcast. Narrated by Nari Quak, theme

388
00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:08.359
<v Speaker 1>music by Nico Rodriguez, all other original music, sound design

389
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.480
<v Speaker 1>and editing by Omenhawk Studios. You can find our links

390
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.799
<v Speaker 1>in the show notes. Into the Night is on your

391
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:17.319
<v Speaker 1>favorite podcatcher, so make sure to like, subscribe and leave

392
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.240
<v Speaker 1>a five star review to help other excursionists to join us.

393
00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.839
<v Speaker 1>I'll see you next time, and remember, whether in the

394
00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.200
<v Speaker 1>shadows or in the daylight, all twisted paths lead you

395
00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.559
<v Speaker 1>into the night. Into the Night Anthology is a creative

396
00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:31.920
<v Speaker 1>typo entertainment production.
