The Great Zombie Invasion

by Mark Cheverton

  He glanced at the young NPC prisoner and smiled a devious smile. Then he teleported to the head of the army as his eyes glowed with evil delight.

  CHAPTER 20

  PRISONER RETURNS

  Gameknight moved quietly across the savannah. He could see a birch forest in the distance, the dark shadows stretching out from the base of the trees to the west as if they were afraid to be seen by the rising sun. Running across the gray-green grass, Gameknight avoided any leaves or sticks that lay on the ground, trying to make as little noise as possible but also wanting to catch the monsters that had moved somewhere far ahead.

  He’d been running all night, trying to pick up the monster army’s trail. Apparently, Herobrine didn’t want them as easily followed anymore, for the charred trail that led the NPCs to this savannah had disappeared after that last battle. Likely he had the blazes stay high up in the air, away from the grass and trees. But the large group of monsters still left their mark, however small, be it a crushed flower, or broken branches on a bush, or the remains of a cow or sheep that strayed too near. Monsters couldn’t help but to be destructive; it was in their nature.

  Suddenly, a clicking sound floated through the forest on the perpetual east-to-west wind, telling him spiders were near. Crouching, he moved up a grassy hill and took cover behind a bent and crooked acacia tree. Surveying the landscape, Gameknight instantly saw a cluster of red dots moving through the long shadows of dawn like a small swarm of angry red fireflies. The crimson spots slowly made their way up the side of a tree, appearing within the leafy blocks on top.

  The square face of the sun finally rose over the distant tree line, casting a warm crimson light across the landscape, showing two spiders atop the acacia tree. The dark monsters were scanning the terrain, looking for something … probably his friends and him. He couldn’t let them see him nor the NPC army; these two monsters would have to be destroyed.

  Backing down the hill, Gameknight ran around its base, Wilbur following obediently behind. The pig was clearly scared, having likely picked up on the monsters’ scent. Moving as quietly as possible, he cautiously snuck up on the tree where the monsters were hiding, his iron sword drawn. Gameknight hoped his dark red leather armor would blend in with the shadows, making him hard to spot, but even if that was the case, the bright pink pig stood out like a beacon in the rosy light of dawn. He tried to push the animal behind a cluster of bushes, but Wilbur would have none of it; he insisted on staying at Gameknight’s side. Sighing, he headed for the bent acacia.

  Just then, a clicking sound filled the air from behind. Gameknight spun and charged forward, heading straight for the noise. Wilbur squealed loudly, then ran half a dozen blocks away. Before him, Gameknight999 faced the two giant spiders, each one clicking their mandibles angrily. Their multiple eyes glowed bright red with vicious anger, all sixteen eyes focused directly on him.

  Moving to the side, Gameknight positioned himself so that one spider was directly behind the other, making it necessary to only fight a single monster at a time. But the rear spider must have sensed what he was doing, for the giant creature leapt forward and landed gracefully at his comrade’s side. It was clear that trick wasn’t going to help him here.

  Reaching into his inventory, Gameknight searched for a second weapon, but realized he only had one sword. He had been able to use two swords in previous battles with Herobrine and his monster kings, and Gameknight wished that were the case now as well, but the lack of a second weapon made the point moot.

  One of the spiders suddenly jumped forward. It sliced at him with a wicked curved claw. Gameknight ducked under the attack, then slashed at the monster. The dark claw of the second spider blocked his blade while the first attacked again. The razor-sharp tip of the monster’s claw cut into his tunic, tearing the leather and reaching the soft skin underneath. Gameknight winced as he flashed red, but did not slow. Instead, he charged forward, slashing at the monster with all his might, then rolling to the side to attack the second monster. The spiders were confused by this tactic, expecting him to just stand and swing his sword. But Gameknight had learned long ago that moving targets were difficult to hit.

  Stepping to the left, he tried the move again, hoping to get one spider behind the other, but again the monsters would not cooperate. They both attacked at the same time, forcing Gameknight to back up. He felt himself bump up against an acacia tree; he had no more room to retreat.

  What am I going to do? Gameknight thought.

  Suddenly, a flash of yellow streaked through the air and landed on one of the monsters.

  Weaver!

  The young boy struck the spider with his stone sword, slashing away at the creature’s HP. The second spider moved to help his comrade, but Gameknight put a stop to that. He charged forward and attacked the monster, his iron sword coming down on the fuzzy body like bolts of metallic gray lightning. He slashed at the creature over and over until it disappeared, a bewildered look in its eight bright red eyes.

  Turning to the remaining spider, Gameknight saw it flashing red, taking damage from Weaver. But then it managed to reach up with one leg and knock the boy off. Before the monster could pounce, Gameknight was there, attacking with reckless abandon. He wasn’t bothering to block any of the spider’s attacks. He just drove his sword forward, the ferocity of his attacks pushing the spider back.

  Then Weaver was at his side, the boy’s stone sword adding to the damage caused by his own iron blade. With a pop, the last spider disappeared, leaving behind a pile of silk thread and three glowing balls of XP.

  Gameknight turned and stared at Weaver.

  “Hey Gameknight999,” the boy said, as if nothing was wrong.

  “Where did you come from? Where have you been? What happened? Why did you run off? Where—”

  “If you stop asking me questions, I can tell you what happened,” Weaver said.

  Gameknight reached out and patted the boy on the shoulder, then nodded and became silent.

  “The zombies took me prisoner during the battle, but I was able to escape,” Weaver explained. “I must talk to Smithy. I overheard their plans and know what they are going to do.”

  “That’s fantastic,” Gameknight replied.

  “But there are more spiders chasing me, and they’re moving fast. If we don’t get out of here soon, then we’ll be—”

  Suddenly, the air seemed alive with a million crickets as clicking sounds came to them from three sides. Gameknight turned around and saw the bright red eyes of spiders nearly surrounding them. There were maybe twenty of the monsters and they were slowly closing in … Gameknight and Weaver were trapped.

  CHAPTER 21

  REUNION

  “Get to the top of the hill,” Gameknight said.

  He turned and followed Weaver up the hill, Wilbur at the boy’s side. They jumped up the blocks as they ran. The clicking of the spiders grew louder as the monsters closed in.

  “When we get to the top, we’ll just run down the other side and get away from the spiders,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.

  “OK,” Weaver replied.

  But when the boy reached the top, he skidded to a stop.

  “No … keep running!” Gameknight exclaimed, but then he came to a sudden stop as well when he realized what lay on the other side of the hill.

  Below him was another group of spiders … they were surrounded.

  Gameknight sighed, peering nervously over at Weaver. He had to keep the boy safe, somehow, but they were trapped.

  “Quickly, stand back-to-back,” Gameknight said. “We’ll fight them like this so none of them can attack us from behind. We’ll split them up … we just each need to defeat half.”

  “But now there’s at least thirty spiders!” Weaver cried. “This is impossible.”

  “No!” Gameknight snapped. “If there is life, then there is hope. You remember that. I’m going to make sure we survive this so that you can give that lesson to your own kids. You understand?”

  “Yeah
, I think so,” Weaver replied. “But I’m afraid.”

  The clicking of the spider mob could be heard from all sides now, closing in.

  “Listen to me, Weaver. Fear isn’t always a bad thing. It helps us to survive, making us want to run away when a monster is nearby. It warns us of danger and keeps us alert.”

  “That sounds great, but—”

  “But at a time like this, you need to change that fear to anger,” Gameknight said. “Remember, when things look impossible and you think you can’t do any more, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ’Cause if you lose your head and give up, then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.

  “We aren’t gonna let these spiders destroy us, because we have important things to do. There’s a war that needs to be won, and you need to tell Smithy of Herobrine’s plans, and we can’t do either of those things if we are destroyed … right?”

  “Right?” Weaver answered meekly.

  The clicking of the spiders was now at almost deafening volumes.

  “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you,” Gameknight said firmly.

  “Right!” Weaver said louder, his voice filled with confidence.

  “That’s better,” Gameknight said, then yelled as ferociously as he could, so that all of Minecraft could hear him. “COME ON SPIDERS, LET’S DO THIS!”

  The deadly monsters charged up the hill. Their burning red eyes peered just over the edge of the hill as they crested.

  Suddenly, a loud shout rose from the south. It was not the shout of a single voice but rather hundreds of voices, all yelling in unison. The monsters paused their advance, turning toward the new sound.

  “Now … RUN!” Gameknight screamed.

  He bent down and scooped Wilbur up in one hand, then shouldered Weaver toward the south. With his sword in his hand, Gameknight leapt forward into the air and landed on top of a spider’s fuzzy back. The impact drove the legs out from beneath the monster and flattened it to the ground, allowing Weaver to run across the monster’s body and sprint down the hill. Gameknight swung his sword twice, warning the monster to stay put, then jumped off and followed his young friend. In the distance, he could see Smithy at the head of the army surging across the savannah in their direction.

  Putting Wilbur on the ground, Gameknight turned and walked backward, keeping an eye on the spiders behind them.

  “Run, Weaver, the spiders are faster than us,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “I’ll slow them down so you can get to safety.”

  The group of monsters flowed over the top of the hill like a dark, terrifying wave. They charged straight for Gameknight, their eyes burning bright red with hatred.

  Putting away his sword, the User-that-is-not-a-user drew his bow and notched an arrow to the string. Firing three quick shots, he silenced the clicking of one monster with lethal accuracy. He was about to fire another volley when an arrow streaked toward a spider on the left. Another arrow hit the monster, followed by another. The spider flashed red one last time, then disappeared.

  Glancing over his shoulder, Gameknight saw Weaver standing two paces away, his bowstring singing the song of battle. He smiled, then continued firing arrows at the monsters.

  “Watch the left side,” Gameknight said. “They’ll try to get around our flanks and get behind us. We can’t let that happen.”

  Suddenly, a loud squealing oink pierced the air from the right. Gameknight turned just in time to see a spider trying to sneak past him and get to Wilbur. He fired an arrow and missed, then fired two more in rapid succession. The monster was now too close for a bow. Gameknight drew his sword and charged toward it. With a lightning fast swing, he destroyed the monster, then turned and charged toward the rest of the giant spiders.

  “AHHHHH!” he screamed as he slashed at the eight-legged beasts.

  More arrows streaked past him and hit the dark monsters, driving the mob back. Gameknight didn’t stop to see who was firing; he didn’t want to give up the upper hand. He attacked the closest monster, slashing at it with all his strength. When the spider turned to attack, he took two steps back, allowing its dark curved claw to slice through the air, just missing his head, then lunged forward to finish it off.

  “Are you having fun?” a voice said next to him.

  Gameknight turned and found Fencer at his side. The NPC swung his sword at a spider standing before him, scoring a hit, but then the monster reached out with its claw. Gameknight knocked the villager sideways, out of harm’s way, and blocked the attack, then countered with a lethal blow that finished off the monster’s HP.

  “Thanks,” Fencer said reluctantly, realizing what a close call it had been.

  Smithy then came to the fallen villager’s side and helped him up.

  “Gameknight … look out!” Smithy yelled.

  Out of instinct, he rolled to the left, then came up swinging. His sword caught the monster in the side, causing it to flash bright red as it took damage. The User-that-is-not-a-user was about to attack again, but a group of arrows hit the monster, taking the last of its HP.

  “That’s the last one!” someone yelled.

  Gameknight scanned the hill and found it clear of spiders. The NPCs cheered, then all rushed to embrace Weaver. While they celebrated, Gameknight cautiously climbed to the top of the hill, looking around to make sure there were no more threats. The savannah was clear. In the distance, he noticed a birch forest, the white-barked trees looking clean and pure.

  Just as he was about to rejoin his group, he noticed something moving atop one tree. Gameknight brought up one hand to his face to block out the sun and squinted his eyes. A spider was sitting atop the nearest birch, but this monster was much bigger than the rest. It had huge curved claws that sparkled in the sunlight, and the creature’s eyes glowed a harsh purple.

  “What is it?” Smithy asked, joining Gameknight at his side.

  “A spider,” he replied.

  “It doesn’t look like any spider I’ve seen before,” the blacksmith said.

  “That’s because it’s something new … a gift from Herobrine,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “That is the spider queen, Shaikulud. She is very dangerous, and she now controls all the spiders.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Smithy said.

  Gameknight shook his head.

  “It sounds like you’ve met that monster before.”

  “We’ve battled,” Gameknight said. “She almost killed me.”

  “But you won.”

  “Because my sister was there to help me. If she hadn’t been there … then who knows?”

  He watched as the spider queen stared at him for an instant, then turned and scurried away to the north.

  “I expected to never see that creature again,” Gameknight said. “But time travel kinda messes everything up, I guess.”

  “I guess,” Smithy agreed. “So, you really are from the future? All that stuff is true?”

  The User-that-is-not-a-user nodded his head.

  “Wow … weird,” Smithy said. “Then you know this Herobrine and his monster kings really well?”

  “Not all of them, but I know how they think.”

  “Good, that might be helpful,” the blacksmith said. “Come on, our work is done for the day. We have some celebrating to do, then we need to head out.”

  Smithy then turned and headed back to the army. Gameknight kept his eyes on the tree where the spider queen had been perched and shuddered. Now they’d need to fight off spiders as well as all the other monsters.

  An oink sounded at his feet. Glancing down, Gameknight knelt and patted the pink animal on the back.

  “Wilbur, this situation just got a whole lot worse.”

  The pig oinked again as Gameknight shivered with fear.

  CHAPTER 22

  HEROBRINE’S PLAN

  Smithy sent scouts out into the wilderness to watch for monsters, while the rest of the army gathered around Weaver and Gameknight999.

  “What happened?�
� Smithy asked Gameknight. “How did you save him from the monster army so quickly?”

  “I didn’t save him,” the User-that-is-not-a-use replied. “The truth of it is … he saved me.” Weaver beamed with pride. “I was confronted by a pair of spiders, but there was something different about them. From what I’ve seen on this server, the spiders fight as individuals and give no thought toward each other. But the two spiders I faced were working together as we fought, and they were doing a pretty good job of it. I took some damage.”

  He pointed to the wide gash in his leather tunic.

  “Tanner, can you repair his armor?” Smithy asked.

  “Of course,” the NPC replied.

  Gameknight removed the leather tunic and tossed it to the villager, who instantly went to work on it.

  “And then Weaver came flying in with his sword slashing and jabbing,” Gameknight continued. “He jumped on top of a spider and beat on it until it disappeared. This let me focus on the other monster. Soon, those two spiders were destroyed, but it was clear they were just scouts for a much bigger army.”

  “Obviously,” Fencer added.

  Gameknight cast him an annoyed glance, then continued.

  “The rest of the spiders surrounded us on that hill. I thought we were goners,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said, “but then all of you showed up. How did you know where we were?”

  “We heard your battle cry,” Smithy said.

  “But I thought you weren’t gonna come look for Weaver,” Gameknight said.

  “Well …”

  “Smithy made us feel guilty,” an older NPC said. Gameknight could tell by his smock that he was a planter. “We had no choice.”

  “I’ve learned you can’t make someone feel guilty,” Smithy added. “All you can do is present the facts and see if they want to do what is right.”

  “You see, there he goes again,” Planter said, exasperated.