Trouble in Zombie-town Read online

  Books by Mark Cheverton

  The Gameknight999 Series

  Invasion of the Overworld

  Battle for the Nether

  Confronting the Dragon

  The Mystery of Herobrine Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Trouble in Zombie-town

  The Jungle Temple Oracle (forthcoming)

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore (forthcoming)

  The Algae Voices of Azule Series

  Algae Voices of Azule

  Finding Home

  Finding the Lost

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2015 by Mark Cheverton

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Owen Corrigan

  Cover artwork by JiaSen (jiasen.deviantart.com)

  Technical consultant - Gameknight999

  Print ISBN: 978-1-63450-094-4

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-095-1

  Printed in the United States of America

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to thank my family for their continued support on this adventure. Without their help, the early morning writing sessions at 4 AM would have been difficult to sustain. I’d also like to thank Dr. Christie Tanner and Dr. Jenifer Smitkin for their advice and insight into the challenges and struggles that kids deal with today. In addition, I would like to thank the greatest agent in the world, Holly Root. Without her help, these books would likely have not come to fruition. I would also like to thank my editor, Cory, and the great people at Skyhorse Publishing. They have been fantastic to work with, and their energy and excitement about these books has been motivating and keeps me writing into the wee hours of the night. Lastly, I would like to thank all the people that are reading my books and sending me the warm and thoughtful messages through email and social media. I appreciate all your support and will strive to keep the books coming!

  WHAT IS MINECRAFT?

  Minecraft is an incredibly creative game that can be played either online with people from all over the world, or just played with friends, or played alone. It’s a sandbox game that gives the user the ability to build amazing structures out of textured cubes with various materials to choose from: stone, dirt, sand, sandstone . . . Normal rules of physics don’t apply because it’s possible to build structures that defy gravity or have no visible means of support. Below is part of Gameknight’s Tardis that he built on his own server.

  Kids and adults have embraced the creative potential of Minecraft by building incredible structures in the blocky universe. A popular topic recently has been to build replicas of entire cities. Players have created copies of London, Manhattan, Stockholm, and the country of Denmark. In addition, Minecraft fanatics have also built imaginary cities from their favorite TV shows like King’s Landing and Winterfell from Game of Thrones, and Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings. However, the big daddy of city builds is probably Titan City: a construction done by one player that used 4.5 billion blocks . . . wow!

  In addition to cities, players have built famous structures within the game. The Taj Mahal is a personal favorite, but I also like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Empire State Building. For the Trekkies out there, a replica of the USS Enterprise was built (not the original ) as well as the Millennium Falcon and the Death Star from my favorite movie. In fact, the time lapse video of the building of the Death Star is truly amazing. There are also a number of marriage proposals that have been built within Minecraft. I don’t know how many were successful, but many of the videos have hundreds of thousands of views . . . I hope she said yes, or that could be brutal. After all, what goes on the Internet stays there . . . like they say in The Sandlot . . . “FOR . . . EV . . . ER!”

  The creative aspect of the game is remarkable, but the way that I like to play the game is in Survival mode. In this setting, users are dropped into a blocky world with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Knowing that night is fast approaching, users must gather resources: wood, stone, iron, etc., in order to craft tools and weapons so that they can protect themselves when the monsters come; nighttime is monster time.

  To find resources, the player must create mines, digging deep into the flesh of Minecraft in hopes of finding coal and iron, both necessities in order to make the metal weapons and armor that are essential to survival. As they dig, the users will encounter caverns, lava-filled chambers, and possibly the rare abandoned mine or dungeon, where treasures wait to be discovered; but passageways and chambers are patrolled by monsters (zombies, skeletons, and spiders) waiting to snare the unwary.

  With recent additions to the game (the rabbits are my favorite), many new features are now available. New block types were added to create a more lush and detailed texture for the digital world, but of special interest is the addition of the Ocean Monument and the Guardians. Only the stoutest of warriors will try to defeat the Elder Guardian in survival mode without cheating . . . I’m not sure I could do it but maybe Gameknight999 could. An interesting addition to version 1.8 was the statement at the end of the list on the log-in screen . . . Herobrine was removed . . . or was he???

  Though the land is filled with monsters, the user is not alone. Vast servers exist where hundreds of users play the game, all sharing space and resources along with other creatures in Minecraft. Villages dot the surface of the game, with NPCs (non-player characters) populating these small cities. The villagers scurry about the village doing whatever villagers do, with chests of treasure, sometimes great, sometimes insignificant, hidden within their dwellings. By talking with these NPCs, it’s possible for users to trade items to get rare gems or materials for potions, as well as obtain the occasional bow or sword.

  This game is an incredible platform for creative individuals that love to build and create, but they are not just limited to constructing buildings. With a feature called redstone, users can create electrical circuits within the game, using redstone circuits to power pistons and other devices so that complex machines can be created. People in the past have created music players, fully operational 8-bit computers, and sophisticated minigames within Minecraft, all powered by redstone (Cake Defense being my favorite).

  With the introduction of command blocks in version 1.4.2 and the recent inclusion of more advanced script functions like teleportation, programmers can create new types of minigames, Missile Wars being one of my favorites.

  The beauty and brilliance of Minecraft is that it’s not just a game, but it is an operating system that allows users to create their own games and express themselves in ways that were not available prior to Minecraft. It has empowered kids of every age and gender to create unique games, custom maps, and PvP (player vs. player) arenas. Minecraft is a game filled with exciting creativity, spine tingling battles, and terrifying creatures. It’s a blank canvas with unlimited possibilities.

  What can you create?

  Siblings are the best friends that you take for granted when you are young, and treasure when you are old.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE VILLAIN

  He materialized onto the lush green blocky landscape with a hateful sneer on his blocky face, his whole being filled with a destructive loathing for the natural beauty that surrounded him. Walking toward a nearby sheep, he grinned as the square fluffy creature bolted away across the blocky hill, a look of terror in its soft square eyes. An evil presence seemed to emanate from him like the heat from a burning house. Even blades of grass wanted to lean away from this sinister creature.

  “How can these Overworlders tolerate this place?” the dark creature hissed as he glared at his surroundings.

  In the distance, he could see a village, this one not fortified like many were these days. It was the normal collection of houses, each made from individual blocks, as all things were in Minecraft, formed from many cubes of wood. The squat structures were clustered around a central stone building that stretched high up into the air: the watchtower. Nearby, he could see the village well and a field of wheat growing in the distance. Lurking in the alleyways between the buildings, he could see the villagers going about their work, their boxy heads and long rectangular bodies almost blending in with the blocky homes.

  These foolish villagers
are oblivious to the danger they’re in, the sinister creature thought to himself. He would soon correct their mistake.

  Closing his glowing white eyes, he teleported away from the scenic view and materialized in a dark shadowy tunnel. Drawing in a full breath, he let out an abrasive guttural wail that echoed throughout the stone passages and rocky chambers, bouncing off lava pools and reflecting from towering waterfalls until it filled the underground world of Minecraft. In an instant, his call was greeted by the sorrowful wails of zombies.

  “I am coming, my children,” he yelled to the darkness. “Prepare a Gathering.”

  The wails changed from sounds of despair and sadness to those of surprise and fear. The dark stranger smiled; he could feel their fear . . . good.

  Moving silently through the dark passages, he descended through the tunnels, heading for that secret entrance that only the monsters of the night knew existed. Occasionally he saw giant spiders and creepers hiding in the shadows, hoping to avoid being seen, but none escaped his glowing eyes. He saw them all, their cowering forms veiled in darkness. Normally, these fearful creatures would have been destroyed, for their fear disgusted him, but he had far more important plans to worry about, and didn’t have time for these weaklings.

  A glow started to fill the tunnel ahead, the soft orange illumination of lava, warm inviting lava. The shadows behind stone pillars and deep crevasses began to grow dark and long as he neared the source of the light. As he turned a corner, he was greeted by a long flow of molten stone that spilled down from high above, forming a broad pool. Nearby, a waterfall gurgled its cool waters from a hole in the wall, the long blue stream flowing into the boiling pool. Where the opposites met, obsidian was formed, the black speckled blocks reflecting the light from the molten stone and casting beams of light throughout the chamber.

  This was it.

  The entrance to Zombie-town was always near the meeting of water and lava. Casting his glowing gaze across the jagged stone walls, he instantly saw the pattern that masked the secret door: a flat section of stone with a single block sticking out. Moving to the outlier, he placed his hand against the block and pressed. A click sounded, then the wall swung inward revealing a long dark tunnel. Stepping into the passage, the stranger turned and closed the stone door, then sprinted down the rocky corridor. As he ran, he could see the end of the path growing brighter, the walls changing from the stone grey to an inviting orange, like the coming of autumn. More lava: the stranger smiled an eerie smile. He loved lava . . . it always reminded him of home.

  When he reached the end of the tunnel, he stopped and looked at his surroundings. Before him stood a massive chamber that stretched upward maybe twenty blocks or more, and at least a hundred blocks across. All across the chamber floor were small homes built out of stone and dirt, each a different size and shape. The blocky structures seemed to be competing with each other, walls pushing against walls in a battle for space that seemed to create a patchwork of geometry that had a strange kind of chaotic beauty to it. Nothing matched, nothing was the same, and yet every Zombie-town looked like every other.

  A large clearing could be seen positioned at the center of the chamber, the encroaching buildings kept away by some kind of mystical force. That was his destination. Taking the blocky steps two at a time, the dark stranger ran down to the cavern floor then sprinted through the maze of narrow streets, turning this way and that in a confused serpentine path that wended its way through the town. At some points, he found the walkway blocked by the corners of houses. Drawing his diamond pick, he quickly smashed through the blocks, leaving the damage behind as he streaked for the clearing.

  In minutes, he’d traversed the floor of the cavern and reached the edge of the clearing. Near the edge of the open square, strange green sparks seemed to shoot up into an air like the fireworks for some kind of alien celebration. Zombies stood around these sparkling fountains, just standing beneath them, bathing in their flow, their dark eyes closed in blissful contentment. The stranger knew that these were the HP fountains that zombies depended on for life. They did not eat ‘brains’ as the foolish users thought; that was a silly myth. Zombies fed by standing within the emerald flow of the HP fountains, the green sparks restoring their health and sating their hunger. He knew that if a zombie spent too much time away from a zombie-town, then they would die. As a result, they were forced to always stay nearby, shackled to their underground existence forever.

  Zooming past these zombies, the stranger headed for the stone dais that stood at the center of the clearing. Pushing through the crowd of monsters, he saw zombies of every size and age, large, small, the young and the old. He also saw zombie-pigmen and the occasional blaze, likely visiting from the Nether by using the secret portals that connected them. When he reached the steps leading up to the raised platform, he let out another abrasive guttural wail. This drew everyone’s attention.

  Slowly, he walked up the steps. Another zombie was on the stage, this creature muscular and strong; he was likely the leader of the community . . . but not for long. The stranger moved to the zombie’s side and glared up at him with his glowing eyes.

  “What is your name?” the dark stranger asked.

  “This zombie is called Va-Lok,” he said in a scratchy animal-like voice, pointing to himself with a stubby green finger. “Va-Lok is the leader of this town.”

  “Not anymore.”

  The stranger attacked the zombie with a flurry of punches, raining damage down on the zombie. The creature tried to fight back, but his attacker was able to disappear just as the zombie claws were about to touch his skin. The stranger would then reappear behind Va-Lok and attack his exposed back, bringing him to the brink of death. This lasted for only a minute, the stranger attacking, disappearing, reappearing, attacking again . . . over and over. Va-Lok didn’t stand a chance. When only the smallest trickle of health remained, the stranger shoved the zombie off the stage, causing him to fall to the ground. Landing hard, the damage from the fall erased the last of his XP. The creature disappeared, leaving behind pieces of zombie flesh and three glowing balls of XP. They drifted to those nearest the victim.

  All eyes then shifted to the stranger.

  “I have defeated your leader in combat and now claim this town as my own. This was done as it has always been done, the strong eliminating the weak, as it is written in your laws. You are all my subjects and will do as I command.”

  “What orders are given to the zombies of this town?” said one of the nearest zombies.

  “What is your name?”

  “This zombie is called Ta-Zin,” he said as he stepped forward, a look of uncertainty and fear on his decaying face.

  “Ta-Zin, you are now one of my generals. You will lead this town in battle,” the stranger said in a loud voice that echoed off the walls of the chamber, making it sound as if there were a hundred of him. “You are to attack the Overworlders and continue to attack until the User-that-is-not-a-user comes before me on his knees.” He paused to let his command sink in, then continued. “The first war which was to set us free failed. The idiotic leaders, Erebus and Malacoda, failed me, and their punishment was death. Now I will lead the Last Battle and show the pathetic NPCs of the Overworld what fear really is.”

  The zombies started to murmur to each other, their rotting heads nodding up and down, toothy smiles showing on green, boxy faces.

  “We will attack the villagers until the User-that-is-not-a-user comes before me and kneels, begging for the lives of these pitiful NPCs. And when he is near death, when the last bit of his health is about to evaporate, his courage will shatter, and this Gameknight999 will take the Gateway of Light back to the physical world to escape his death. And when he does that, I will ride the Gateway with him into the physical world where I will be free to cause havoc and punish mankind for my imprisonment within Minecraft. Then and only then will I be able to free the monsters of the night.”

  The zombies shouted out a guttural cheer that sounded more like a growl than an exclamation, but then grew silent as Ta-Zin stepped forward. The zombie turned to look at the crowd of monsters behind him, bringing all their cold dead eyes to him, then gazed up at the stranger.