Max led them toward the grassy biome. Cows grazed peacefully as the group made their way toward the desert. The desert temple was large and stood out in the distance.
“Can we stop in the temple for a minute?” Max asked the group. “I know we are on a tight schedule, but you never know what you might find in the temple.”
As they approached the temple, Henry paused. “I think we should inspect the temple. We are making pretty good time.”
Lucy looked at the map and confirmed, “We are making great time. And if we don’t spend too much time in the desert temple, we will make it to the swamp before sunset. We need time to craft a home.”
The group entered the desert temple.
“Ouch!” Henry grabbed his arm.
Lucy searched for the person who struck Henry, but there was nobody in sight. “They must have sprinted out of here.”
Max held his diamond sword tightly as he explored the temple. “We have to be careful.”
The others followed Max as they made their way toward the room where the treasure was stored. When they reached the room hidden in the lower chamber of the temple, they entered the dark room.
Lucy warned her friends, “Look, a skeleton!”
The bony beast shot an arrow at the gang and then set off a TNT explosion.
Kaboom!
The group sprinted from the explosion. Lucy looked around for her friends. She wanted to make sure they were fine and hadn’t respawned in Steve’s farmhouse, but she couldn’t see them. Her heart began to race as she called out, “Henry! Max! Steve!”
There was no reply.
“Ouch!” she cried as an arrow pierced her skin.
Lucy spotted a skeleton in the distance. She sprinted toward the hostile mob and struck the beast with her diamond sword.
“Where are my friends?” she cried out, but the skeleton had no response. With another blow from her sword, Lucy annihilated the skeleton.
She looked around the desert temple. As she reached the exit, she began to feel very sad. She missed her friends. Lucy wanted to sprint back to the village to see if they had respawned, but she knew she had to travel to the academy. She couldn’t be late. Lucy wanted the school to know that she took her role as a student very seriously. As Lucy made her way into the bright desert day, she realized that Max had the map, and she didn’t know which direction she had to travel.
Chapter 4
SURVIVAL IN THE SWAMP
Lucy looked around the desert. She was nervous.
“What am I going to do?” she said aloud. But there was nobody around to hear her words. Her heart raced.
“I need to focus,” she told herself. She stopped pacing and stood still. It was at that moment she remembered Max mentioning that they had to travel to the swamp next. Lucy calmed down and walked in that direction. As she entered the swampy biome, a bat flew close to her head, and Lucy shouted out in terror. She hated bats. She took a deep breath and walked further into the swamp. She couldn’t be scared. She had to survive. Lucy wanted to make it to school.
Lucy trekked along the murky waters of the swamp biome and kept an eye out for slimes and other hostile mobs. The sun was beginning to set, and Lucy was nervous. She needed to construct a house, but she didn’t want to build it in the swamp. It was too dangerous. She sprinted through the swamp, trying to get out of there before nightfall.
Her heart skipped a beat when a witch charged toward her, clutching a potion. Before Lucy could react, the witch splashed the potion on her. Lucy stood still. She couldn’t move. She cried, “Help!” But there was nobody to save her.
Lucy tried to muster up enough energy to battle the witch. She attempted to unearth a potion of strength or some milk from her inventory, but she couldn’t. She was too weak.
Lucy cried out again. “Help!”
The witch had another potion and cornered Lucy. As the witch splashed the second potion on Lucy, she saw an arrow fly toward the witch. She looked to see who had shot the arrow.
“Steve!” she called out. Lucy was shocked as she watched Steve sprint toward the witch and destroy the purple-robed mob with his diamond sword.
Then Max sprinted to Lucy’s side. “Are you okay?”
Henry was there, too. He handed Lucy some milk. “Take this. It will make you feel better.”
“Thanks.” Lucy took a sip and asked, “How did you get here?”
“We TPed,” said Henry.
Steve added, “We were destroyed and respawned in my farmhouse.”
Max said, “I knew that you’d probably head to the swamp, so we took a chance and TPed here to meet you.”
“You guys truly saved me.” Lucy was grateful for her friends.
Henry looked up at the sky. “It’s going to be night soon. We should start building a house.”
They sprinted out of the swamp, but before they could enter the grassy biome, Henry stopped. “Does anybody hear that sound?”
Boing! Boing! Boing!
“Oh no!” Lucy called out. “It sounds like slimes.”
A group of slimes bounced toward them. Lucy tried not to fall into the swampy water as she struck one of the slimes with her diamond sword. The slime broke into smaller slimes. Henry, Steve, and Max battled the smaller slimes.
“I think we destroyed them all,” Lucy called out, but as they made their way to the grassy biome, they heard more slimes bouncing toward them.
“There are more!” Henry cried.
The group tirelessly battled the remaining slimes as the sun set. It was dark now, and they were vulnerable.
“We have to get out of here!” Henry struck another slime with his sword. The gang battled the last slime, and they sprinted out of the swamp.
Lucy pointed out a spot in the grassy biome. “We can build our house here.”
“Good idea!” Henry said. He picked out wooden planks from his inventory and started to lay the foundation for the house.
Lucy was happy with their progress. They were building a lot faster than she had imagined. When they were about to place the door on the house, Max shouted, “Look over there!”
A group of vacant-eyed zombies were walking toward them. Henry placed the door on the house and went inside to craft beds while his friends battled the undead mob that lurked outside of the house.
Lucy walked in the door. Max and Henry followed behind her. She looked over at the beds. “Thanks for crafting these for us.”
Lucy had no energy left. She crawled into a bed and pulled the wool covers over her tired body. She fell asleep and dreamt about her first day of school. She was very excited to start at the academy.
The morning sun shone through the window. Lucy got out of bed and informed the others that she would hunt for a chicken. She was a skilled hunter and always gathered food for her friends. When Lucy returned from her hunt, she offered her friends some chicken and apples. As they feasted on breakfast, they talked about the journey.
Henry took his final bite and asked, “Should we go?”
The others followed Henry, and together, they trekked toward Minecrafters Academy. They traveled through the grassy biome and reached the mountainous biome. They climbed up a steep mountain and stopped at the peak.
Lucy pointed into the distance. “Look! You can see Minecrafters Academy from here.”
The gang gathered next to Lucy. The majestic school stood out in the grassy landscape. Large trees surrounded the brick buildings, and there was a small pond on the campus. Lucy was excited. She couldn’t believe she was staring at her new home. She hoped the other students at the academy were nice, and that she would be able to learn a lot while she was there.
Lucy climbed down the mountain with her friends. With each step, they were closer to Minecrafters Academy’s campus. Lucy’s stomach began to bother her. She was having first-day jitters.
“Are you excited, Lucy?” Henry asked.
“Yes, but I’m nervous,” she confessed.
“That’s normal,” Max reassured Lucy
. “Once you’re there, you’ll feel fine.”
“Yes, you’re going to love school,” added Steve.
Lucy hoped her friends were right.
The group walked through the grassy biome and were steps from the Minecrafters Academy campus when they heard a familiar voice call out to them.
Chapter 5
FIRST DAY
Lucy turned around when she heard her name.
“Adam!” She couldn’t believe her old friend was here.
“What are you doing here?” asked Steve. Adam was his old neighbor and a potion expert.
“I’m going to Minecrafters Academy,” Adam replied.
“Me too!” Lucy was thrilled to know another student.
“That’s great,” Adam told her, “but we have to sprint. We’re going to be late. Orientation starts in a couple of hours.”
She knew Adam was right and they had to sprint over to the school, but she didn’t want to sprint. She wanted to take her time, because she didn’t want to leave Henry, Max, and Steve. She knew once school started it would be a very long time before she saw any of them. Also, Lucy was nervous for the orientation. Although the letter from the academy explained that orientation was a great place to meet other students and find out what they would be learning at the school, she didn’t want to go. She wondered if the other students would like her. She wanted to tell Steve and the others that she wanted to go back to his wheat farm or on a treasure hunt with Max and Henry. She didn’t want to change her entire life.
Lucy was so caught up in her thoughts, she wasn’t even thinking about where she was going, which is why she was shocked when Steve said, “Look, we are at the gates of Minecrafters Academy.”
Henry paused. “Wow, I can’t believe we made it. I never thought I’d know anyone who got to attend this academy. And now two of my friends are going there.”
Lucy took a deep breath. She wanted to be calm as she made her way through the gates and into her new life as a student at the academy.
“Welcome,” said a well-dressed man in a suit. He had black hair and a very nice smile. “I work at Minecrafters Academy, I’m here to help all of the new students find their way around the school. If you have any problems when you’re at school, let me know. My name is Stefan Berton. What’s your name?” Stefan looked at the clipboard with all of the new student’s names.
“I’m Lucy,” she stuttered and stared at Stefan’s clipboard.
Stefan scanned the clipboard. “Yes, Lucy. I see your name. Welcome to your new home.”
Lucy’s heart sunk when she heard Stefan utter those words.
She asked, “Can I have a few minutes to say good-bye to my friends?”
“Of course.” Stefan smiled reassuringly at Lucy. “You’re going to like it here, Lucy. I know the first day can be hard for a lot of people.”
Adam stood behind Lucy. It appeared the first day wasn’t going to be hard for him. He was so excited to start classes. He introduced himself to Stefan and, before Steve and the gang could say good-bye, he sprinted toward his new dorm room.
Lucy stood next to her friends. “Thank you for taking this journey to Minecrafters Academy with me. It really meant a lot to me. I am truly going to miss you guys a lot.”
Steve said, “We are going to miss you, too. But this is a great opportunity for you. You’ll learn so many new things. We can’t wait for you to come back to the wheat farm and teach us.”
Henry added, “You’re going to do so well. And I’m sure you’ll make a lot of new friends. By tomorrow, you’ll feel like this is a new home.”
Lucy hoped he was right. “Let’s just make this a quick good-bye. I don’t want to cry.”
Steve, Henry, and Max said good-bye. Lucy turned around and saw them walking off toward the large mountain. Stefan called out to her, “Lucy, are you okay?”
“Yes,” she replied, but she felt as if she was lying. She wasn’t okay. She just didn’t want to be a problem. She wanted the school to think she was taking her education very seriously.
Lucy walked toward her new dorm room. The dorms at the school were made of cobblestone. Lucy’s dorm was called Northside. She walked into the Northside dorm and climbed three flights of stairs to her new home. She slowly opened the door to her dorm room. There were three beds with blue wool blankets, a table, and space for her crafting table and anvil.
Her two roommates were already in the room. They were decorating the room with emeralds from their inventories.
Lucy introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you, Lucy. I’m Jane.” Jane wore a red shirt and jeans and had flaming red hair.
“I’m Phoebe,” said a girl who wore a purple jumpsuit and had silver hair.
“It’s so nice to meet both of you. Do you think we should head over to the orientation?” Lucy asked her new roommates.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” replied Phoebe.
Jane looked at the information the academy had sent them. “Are we supposed to bring anything?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Lucy looked at the information packet, but she couldn’t read it because, just then, the lights went out.
“What happened?” Phoebe asked nervously.
“I can’t see anything,” said Jane. She took a torch from her inventory and placed it on the wall.
The torch provided a little bit of light in the room, and Lucy spotted a spider crawling across the floor.
“A spider!” she called out.
Phoebe grabbed her diamond sword and lunged at the spider. With one strike, the spider was destroyed.
“Watch out!” Phoebe shouted.
Lucy turned around and looked at the door. Two zombies lumbered through the door. Lucy and Jane leapt at the zombies and struck them with their powerful diamond swords.
“Great job,” said Phoebe. Then she asked, “Should we leave the room?”
“I’m not sure. There might be more hostile mobs lurking in the hallways.” Lucy was nervous. They hadn’t slept in their beds yet at the academy, which meant that if they were destroyed, they would respawn outside of the school. She feared being destroyed and having to travel back to the school alone.
“Oh no!” Jane called out.
“Ouch!” Lucy cried in pain.
Four bony skeletons walked into their dorm room and shot arrows at them. Two arrows struck Lucy.
“What are we going to do?” asked Lucy. Her energy was nearly depleted.
“Fight,” Jane replied.
Chapter 6
ORIENTATION
“One skeleton down,” Jane announced as she obliterated the first of the bony beasts.
“Three more to go,” Phoebe gasped, leaping at one of the skeletons.
“We can do it,” Lucy called to her new friends, and with another blow, she defeated a skeleton.
There were two skeletons left, but they were powerful. The beasts shot arrows at the gang. One of the arrows pierced Phoebe’s arm and she cried out in pain.
“I’m losing too much energy.” Phoebe sounded very nervous. Her voice shook as she explained, “I think if I’m hit one more time, I might be destroyed.”
Lucy didn’t have very much energy left, but she knew she had to finish the battle. She wanted to save her new friends. Lucy struck one of the skeletons, but it didn’t destroy the bony mob. Phoebe and Jane were in the middle of an intense battle with the other skeleton, but they didn’t seem to be winning. Lucy was worried. She didn’t want anyone being destroyed. Her heart was racing. She struck the skeleton again, but it was still fighting back. Another arrow struck her arm and Lucy knew she didn’t have any strength left. She looked over at Phoebe. Phoebe was underneath the table and drinking some milk. The table shielded her from the arrows.
“I’m also low on energy,” Lucy called out to Phoebe.
“I have some milk for you.” Phoebe dodged arrows as she tried to bring the milk over to Lucy.
It was impossible to bring milk to Lucy in the middle of the battle.
Phoebe put the milk back in her inventory and took out a diamond sword. She struck the skeleton and it was destroyed.
“Thank you!” Lucy was relieved.
“Here.” Phoebe handed the milk to Lucy.
Jane defeated the final skeleton and Lucy offered her some of Phoebe’s milk. As they drank the milk, their energy was restored.
“We did it!” Jane exclaimed after taking a sip of the milk.
“Yes!” Lucy was excited, but her heart beat rapidly when she saw a horde of zombies enter their room.
“It’s never ending!” Jane used her renewed strength to leap at the zombies and quickly destroyed a couple.
Phoebe and Lucy battled the zombies, but were relieved when the lights came back on and the zombies disappeared.
Lucy looked around the room and asked her friends, “Do you think that was a test?”
Phoebe was confused. “You mean, you think that attack was a part of our training?”
“I’m not sure. It just seems so random. I mean, we were heading to orientation and then the lights went out.” Lucy couldn’t make sense of the attack.
“You could be right,” Jane said as they walked out the door and to their orientation meeting. “Maybe they wanted to see who would survive. It could be a test.”
“If that’s true, it’s pretty awful,” remarked Phoebe. “I wouldn’t want to attend a school that invites you to be a student and then asks you to leave if you can’t survive a surprise attack on the very first day.”
Lucy agreed with Phoebe. She hoped they wouldn’t find out it was a test when they entered the orientation.
The trio entered a large room with wood-paneled walls. They stood by a wooden bench. The room was crowded with new students. Lucy saw Adam, and she looked around to see if she recognized anyone else in the crowd, but she didn’t.
Stefan stood at a podium. “Welcome, new students. I want to apologize for the power outage. We never lose lights in the middle of the day, and I hope it doesn’t happen again. Many of you told me that you were attacked by hostile mobs. My sincerest apologies. I would never want any new student injured or destroyed while at Minecrafters Academy. Yes, you might be destroyed while in a class as you learn new techniques, but you will respawn in your dorm room. But the attacks that took place today were unique. We have never experienced anything like this at Minecrafters Academy.”
Zombie Invasion Page 2
