Baby Zeke: The Diary of a Chicken Jockey: The Complete Minecraft Series, Books 1-9: An Unofficial Minecraft Book

by Dr. Block

  “Duh,” said Otis, “just create some more holes.”

  “But even if we made twenty holes,” I said, “the light will still be dim.”

  Bob clucked and then said, “Then sun goes up and over the world. It doesn’t stay directly above the world.”

  “What are you getting at?” said Otis.

  Bob scratched the ground before saying, “This hole goes straight up. The sun is not straight up right now.”

  I snapped my undead fingers as I realized what Bob meant. “So, we need a hole pointing at where the sun is now to get its full brightness.”

  “I think so,” said Bob as he bent over and pecked at the ground.

  “Let’s try it,” I said, grabbing my pickaxe. “Where do you think the sun is right now?”

  Harold pointed with his wing at a spot on the ceiling. “Over there, I think.”

  Zeb nodded. “I agree. It would be rising from that side of the world.”

  I quickly built a tower of cobblestone by jumping and dropping a stone after each jump. I was soon next to the ceiling. Then, I started to mine at an upward angle. It did not take long before I broke through the surface and was nearly blinded by the brightness of the sun.

  I took a quick peek outside the hole. I had gotten lucky because there were trees and shrubs nearby, so it seemed unlikely anyone would see the hole. Nevertheless, I tossed a couple of cobblestones onto the surface to better conceal the hole from any prying eyes. Then, I turned around and slid down the tunnel I had just mined.

  When I got back down to the ground, Harold and Bob were dancing in the beam of light.

  “Bob, you are a genius,” I said.

  “Sun, sun, sun, here it comes,” said Bob.

  “Correction,” I said. “A mad genius.”

  “This is extremely bright,” said Zeb. “I wonder if ….” Zeb slowly extended his arm and placed his hand into the beam of light. He kept it there for a moment until … it burst into flame!

  “Zeb, no!” I shouted.

  But, Zeb did not panic. He calmly took two steps to the side, bent down, and plunged his burning hand into the stream. The fire went out immediately.

  “Didn’t feel a thing,” said Zeb.

  “Dang, though,” said Otis, waving his hand in front of his nose. “Your burnt self smells nasty.”

  “Otis, you are a zombie pigman,” I said, trying to defend Zeb, even though he did smell horrid. “You don’t exactly smell like a bouquet of roses.”

  “At least if I catch on fire, I smell like bacon,” said Otis.

  “Whatever,” I said, my mouth suddenly watering.

  “So, it looks like I need to stay out of the direct light,” said Zeb, shaking water from his hand. “And, it looks like we need to dig a few more light tunnels if we want to have enough light to grow food down here.”

  “What do you think, Bob?” I asked. “Maybe five tunnels?”

  Bob looked up at the ceiling. He tilted his head from side to side and clucked a few times. It looked like he was thinking, but his eyes looked vacant and devoid of intelligence. It was spooky.

  “I’d say ten. Five on each side of the vertical tunnel Otis dug last night,” said Bob.

  “Okay then, let’s get started,” I said to Otis.

  “Bah, this is lame,” said Otis. “We need to fortify this place first, then worry about farming.”

  “Why don’t we do both at the same time?” suggested Zeb. “Zeke can dig the light tunnels and you can start with the fortifications. If I recall correctly, you have a way with TNT and caves.”

  “Yeah, that was a great trap I had for those griefers,” said Otis, smiling at the memory.

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. “Zeb, why don’t you help Otis? I don’t want you to catch on fire when I open a few more holes.”

  “Okay,” said Zeb.

  “Come on, old man,” said Otis. “Grab your pickaxe and let’s start mining.”

  Chapter 6

  I dug the rest of the tunnels in an hour. I did my best to place temporary camouflage around the holes where they broke the surface. I would need to go back up at night and make further improvements.

  After I dug the tunnels, I sat with Bob and Harold and watched how the light passed through the tunnels during the day. I noticed that the light was very bright through each tunnel for about an hour, and then it slowly dimmed.

  “The inconsistency of the light bothers me, guys,” I said. “I’m not sure how well things will grow if the light keeps changing like this.”

  “I agree,” clucked Harold. “There needs to be a way to even out the light.”

  “Any ideas, Bob?” I asked. In response, Bob just clucked and pecked the ground.

  I was about to leave to see what Zeb and Otis were doing when I noticed something. The light from one of the tunnels was hitting my iron sword, which I had leaned against the wall earlier so it wouldn’t be in the way while I was digging the tunnels. The light was reflecting from the sword and shining brightly onto the wall across the cavern.

  I tapped Harold on the wing and pointed at the reflection. “Check it out.”

  Harold looked at it for a moment. “So,” he said, “the light is just reflect … ing. Whoa! That’s it!”

  “Yeah,” I said excitedly, “we just need to build some metal reflectors to spread the light around. It will be awesome.”

  “We are going to need a lot of iron to make reflective panels,” said Harold.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I guess it is time to join Zeb and Otis and start mining for iron ore. What are you and Bob going to do?”

  “We can watch the light and scratch the ground to mark its path,” said Harold. “It can help us place the reflectors later.”

  “Great idea,” I said, walking over to my sword and putting it back into my inventory. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  ***

  It did not take long to catch up with Otis and Zeb. They were slowly and methodically mining from the main cavern near the entrance.

  “How’s it going?” I said, as I approached them.

  “Pretty well,” said Zeb. “We have already found some iron ore and coal.”

  “Good,” I said. “We are going to need lots of iron to make reflectors.”

  “Huh?” grunted Otis. I explained the plan to spread the light around to make it more even and encourage the growth of plants.

  “Gosh,” said Otis. “That is really clever.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Bob thought of it, right?” said Otis, laughing.

  “Actually, I did,” I said.

  “Whatever,” said Otis. “Look. The first thing we need to do is turn some of that iron ore into iron pickaxes. That’s the only way we can mine redstone and diamond ore. We need those for traps and strong defenses.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” I said.

  “Of course it does,” said Otis. “Come on. Get moving with that pickaxe. We need to find as much stuff as we can to fortify this place. Players are bound to discover it eventually, and we need to be ready to defend ourselves when they do.”

  We mined for hours. My little baby zombie shoulders ached with the effort. I was glad to stop for the day and return to the entrance chamber and eat some of the remaining raw cow meat for dinner. It was a few days old, so it had a delicious tangy flavor.

  Only Bob and Harold had any energy for after-dinner conversation. Otis told them to keep the first watch, and the rest of us went to sleep.

  Chapter 7

  The next week passed without incident. We all worked very hard at our tasks.

  Harold, Bob and I smelted iron ore into square panels. Then, we rubbed them with sand to polish them into shiny, reflective mirrors. It took a while to determine their best placement in our farming caverns, but soon the room was bright for several hours per day.

  At night, Zeb and I went outside and gathered dirt blocks to use for soil in the farm. After a few nights, we had enough soil to grow a small crop.

&nbs
p; Another night, we stole some carrots and potatoes from a local farmer as well as some wheat and planted it. We also made sure there was a large patch of grass for a cow to graze.

  Otis and Zeb kept at mining, looking for ore to make traps and fortifications. Otis had built a strong wall just inside the entrance to the cave.

  “We can take cover behind this if any players invade the cave,” he explained. “I made it thick enough to withstand a nearby TNT blast. We just need to make some TNT for our traps.”

  “Aren’t we going to have to kill creepers to get gunpowder?” asked Bob.

  “Hmmm,” pondered Otis. “I guess you are right. Maybe we can steal some from a player or a villager.”

  “Maybe we can come up with an easier trap,” I said. “Like, a trap door that opens into a really deep pit.”

  “An abyss,” said Harold.

  “A player could survive that, but he couldn’t survive TNT,” said Otis.

  “But, a TNT blast would destroy this cave,” said Zeb. “At least a deep pit would give us a chance to survive a player attack and still keep everything we’ve worked for.”

  “Fine,” said Otis, crossing his arms in front of him. “But, you dig the pit.”

  “I’ll dig it,” said Zeb. “Zeke, why don’t you help Otis with the mining for a few nights. I’m getting sick of his stories.”

  “Hey,” said Otis.

  I laughed. “No problem, Zeb.”

  “Come on,” said Otis. “Grab your pickaxe and let’s get going.”

  “What should Bob and I do?” asked Harold.

  “Why don’t you guys water the plants and the grass on the farm?” I said. “We need the grass to be growing as well as possible before we bring in any cows. They eat lots of grass.”

  “Will do,” said Harold.

  I waved goodbye to Harold, Bob and Zeb, and followed Otis down into the mine.

  Chapter 8

  Otis and Zeb had made good progress. They had located lots of iron ore and were beginning to discover more rare ores, including diamond.

  “I hope we find some more diamond ore soon,” I said. “I’d like to make a diamond sword like yours.”

  “Yeah, we’d be pretty dominant if we both had diamond swords and diamond armor,” said Otis.

  As we descended into the mine, we passed two tunnels, one on either side of the main tunnel. Otis explained that these were escape tunnels. Each went all the way to the side of the mountain. Otis and Zeb had broken through the side, and then sealed the exit with one layer of blocks. They left a pickaxe near each exit. That way, if a player ever invaded, we could flee down either tunnel and break through the wall and get away.

  After a surprisingly long walk, we finally arrived at the end of the mine.

  “You start over there,” said Otis. “I’ll take this area.”

  Mining is strange. At first, moving your arm in such a repetitive motion is dull and boring. But, soon you fall into a rhythm and it becomes an automatic movement. Your mind wanders to other things, and it is like you are not mining at all. The ore just falls from the earth, and you gather it as necessary.

  “If your inventory gets too full, be sure to put the excess in those chests back there,” said Otis, motioning behind. “I built them for storage. Just be sure not to mix the ores.”

  “Got it,” I said.

  As I mined, I gathered lots of iron, a few pieces of gold and redstone, and even three blocks of diamond ore. When my inventory got full, I took a break and emptied it into the storage boxes.

  Wow, I thought as I looked inside the boxes. Otis and Zeb sure have found a lot of stuff.

  “Otis, there is a lot of ore here. What are you going to make with it?”

  Otis shrugged. “I was thinking we could make some minecarts and tracks to help move some of the ore to the main chamber. That would make crafting easier.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” I said. “What else?”

  “Other than diamond swords and armor? Who knows?” said Otis. “I just want to have enough in storage to make whatever we need.”

  “Guess that makes sense,” I said, returning to the wall and striking the stone with my pickaxe.

  After I had mined two more blocks, something unexpected happened. A warm, molten liquid began oozing rapidly through the wall.

  “Otis!” I shouted. “I hit lava.”

  “Netherrack,” cursed Otis, rushing to my side. “Patch it with stone, quickly!”

  We both started tossing cobblestones as quickly as we could over the opening. Luckily, we were able to stop the flow of lava without much damage.

  “Whoa,” I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “That was close.”

  “Yeah,” said Otis. “Let’s put a sign there to warn everyone of the danger.”

  I quickly crafted a sign and wrote a warning: LAVA BEHIND ROCKS.

  “Come on,” said Otis. “Let’s move to the other side.”

  I grabbed my pickaxe and was about to follow Otis when I noticed something shiny on the ground where the lava had flowed just moments ago.

  “Otis,” I said pointing. “What the heck is that?”

  Chapter 9

  It was a very small golden pyramid. Very shiny and smooth.

  I had never seen anything so small that was not the shape of a cube. It was as if it were a shape that did not belong in the world. I’m not much of an artist, but it looked like this:

  Otis came over and stared at the mysterious object. Then, he got down on his hands and knees for a closer look. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

  “I’ve never heard of anything like it,” I said.

  Otis stood up. “Do you think it’s dangerous?”

  I shrugged. “I think it was inside the lava. I guess if it was going to explode, it would have done that already.”

  “I suppose,” said Otis, poking the pyramid with his pickaxe.

  “Careful,” I said, motioning with both my hands for him to be gentle with the object.

  “Seems harmless,” he said as he bent down and scooped it up with his hand.

  I moved in for a closer look. The pyramid was so small that it fit in the palm of Otis’s baby zombie pigman hand. It appeared to be perfectly smooth on all sides.

  “Maybe Zeb will know what it is?” I suggested.

  “Maybe,” said Otis, sounding unsure.

  “What’s that pyramid thingy?” said an unknown voice from behind us.

  I quickly grabbed my iron sword and turned around. Otis had pulled out his diamond sword. When we turned, poised for battle, we saw a single skeleton.

  “Where did you come from?” asked Otis, holding his sword in a threatening way.

  Judging by the skeleton’s expression, the question puzzled him. “Uh … from here, I guess,” he said.

  “But, there is no passage into this chamber except where we came from,” I said.

  “I must have just spawned,” he said, shrugging his bony shoulders.

  I looked at Otis. “Makes sense,” I said. Otis nodded.

  “So, you aren’t here to attack us?” asked Otis.

  The skeleton shook his head and said, “No. No. Why would I do that? I was just wondering what that little pyramid was.”

  Otis held up the small, shiny object. It reflected everything around it. “This? I have no idea,” said Otis. “We just found it.”

  “Let me hold it,” said the skeleton.

  Otis tucked the pyramid quickly into his inventory. “I think I want to show it to our friend Zeb before we start playing show-and-tell.”

  The skeleton looked very disappointed. “Okay,” he said, leaning back against the rock wall and kicking the dirt with his toe bones.

  “Say, skeleton, do you have a name?” I asked.

  The skeleton looked up. Again, he was puzzled. He put his hands to the sides of his skull and rubbed them in circles, trying to remember his name. “My name is …. My name is …. My name is He… Henry,” he said finally.


  “Nice to meet you, Henry. I am Zeke, and that’s Otis.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, too,” said the skeleton. “Um, can I hang out with you guys? At least, for a while?”

  I looked over at Otis. He shrugged noncommittally. “Sure,” I said. “You can meet our other friends. We’ve got food and everything.”

  “Skeletons don’t eat,” said Henry.

  “Really?” I said. “How do you have any energy to walk and talk and fight?”

  “Pure evil?” suggested Otis.

  “Shut up, dude,” I said.

  Henry looked back and forth at us. Yet another puzzling question for him. “I don’t know how we get our energy. If I meet another skeleton, I will ask him if he knows the answer to that question.”

  “Whatever,” said Otis. “Let’s get going.”

  Chapter 10

  Although the skeleton did not seem like much of a threat, Otis and I kept him in between us as we walked back to the main living chamber of our cave.

  “Wow,” said Henry, admiring the mining work we had done. “You guys have built a pretty awesome cave here.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  At that moment, we came to our escape passages. I pointed to them and said, “These lead to the outside in case there is any trouble.”

  “What does that sign say?” asked Henry.

  “What? A sign?” I said, surprised.

  “There,” said Henry, as he pointed to the sign.

  I pushed my torch into the passage and saw a sign where there had not been one before. It read: NO EXIT.

  “Otis, did you put that there?” I asked.

  “No, it was probably Zeb. He’s such a kook sometimes,” said Otis.

  I looked down the other passage. Another sign! It read: LASCIATE OGNI SPERANZA, VOI CH’ENTRATE!

  “What does that mean?” asked Henry.

  “I have no idea,” I said. “Probably just nonsense.” But, what did it mean? I agreed with Otis that Zeb might put a sign up, but it did not seem like Zeb to write gibberish on a sign. It freaked me out.