Book Three: Part 2 Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
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Название: Book Three: Part 2 Herobrine’s Message
Автор: Sean Wolfe Fay
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Детская проза
isbn: 9780008173593
isbn:
Everyone watched with bated breath. What was this? Was it some sort of military operation? Was it an accidental TNT detonation? Had the Noctem Alliance finally found them?
Then, one by one, players emerged from the opening, standing on the ledge, and the Mechanist’s heart lifted.
He recognized the tattered army uniform and scraggly beard of the navy officer Commander Crunch and the dirty white robes and full red lips of Cassandrix. Kat’s orange shirt, pink shorts and blonde hair were still radiantly bright despite their heavy wear and tear, and Rex’s head poked out joyfully beside her. Charlie hobbled up next to her, his leg clearly damaged but still in one piece.
And then, from amid a group of people that the Mechanist could see standing behind the four players, another stepped to the front of the pack. His turquoise shirt was stained, his navy trousers were torn, there were scratches and bruises pock-marking his face, but it was still completely undeniable as to who this player was.
“People of Elementia!” Stan2012 announced to the stunned mass of hundreds of players. “We … are … back!”
And with that, Stan pumped his fist into the air in a triumphant gesture as, all at once, the entire population of the cave burst into applause. The Mechanist could only stare, tears of joy in his eyes, as he took in the wonderful, wonderful truth that his friends were home alive.
Ben and Bob rushed out of the door and stood beside the Mechanist.
“What’s going on out here?” Ben demanded, astonished by the aura of amazing joy that was now echoing throughout the cave.
The Mechanist said nothing. He simply turned back around and pointed up at the hole in the wall. As soon as the two brothers realized who they were looking at, they erupted into hoots and cheers, hugging each other and jumping around, totally elated.
And there, far up on the ledge, as his friends broke down in tears at the fact that they were finally home, and they hugged each other, and danced, and shouted their love down into the crowd, Stan didn’t move. He simply stood still, his fist still raised into the air like a beacon of victory, and looked down into the faces of his people, his heart filled with joy such as he had never known before.
Within minutes, he knew that he would have to meet up with the Mechanist and the three police chiefs. He knew that he would have to reveal the tragic news of DZ’s death. He knew that he would have to lead his people. He knew that he would have to plan an attack. He knew that time was of the essence. He knew that the fate of the game of Minecraft may very well be resting on his shoulders.
But Stan still allowed himself, just for a minute, to live in the moment. He had worked so long and hard to return, and he had sacrificed and lost so much, that never, in a million years, could this moment be ruined.
The holding room was nothing but a giant cube, constructed of cobblestone blocks and taking up a sizable space within the Noctem Capitol Building. Torches lit the perimeter of the room, making it light enough to see and prevent other mobs from spawning. Cutting through the solid wall of cobblestone on the upper half of one wall was a row of glass, through which any curious onlookers could see what the two Zombies were doing.
These two Zombies did not resemble typical Zombies. Rather than the square head reminiscent of a player, they had elongated heads, with bloodshot red eyes and giant, droopy green noses hanging down off their faces. These Zombies, one fully grown and the other half the size of the first, had once been two villagers.
They were once mother and son, named Mella and Stull, and they had lived happily together in their village, which was now long gone. Not that they knew it, though. Besides their names, Mella and Stull had no memory of their previous lives. Oh, it was there, hidden somewhere deep within the layers of instinct and bloodlust that had overtaken their already primitive reasoning upon being bitten by a Zombie.
The two of them lumbered around aimlessly. For the past month, this had been their life. They had spent the majority of their time ambling around this room. Occasionally, they had been pulled out by the players who had put them there to serve as a communication bridge between the players and the mobs, and they had soon after been rewarded by unconscious players, who they would devour with pleasure.
It had been quite some time since they had been utilized, however. The Noctem Alliance’s mobs had been of great use on the battlefield, but now that the fighting was all but over, they served little to no purpose besides controlling the Withers. In fact, Lord Tenebris had made it clear that no tamed mobs were to be allowed into Element City. Only players who had been members of the Noctem Alliance would be allowed to live freely within the walls. Not that the villagers knew this, though. The only thing they knew was that at some point, the iron door on the ground would open again, and it would be time to feast.
Sure enough, the door did eventually scrape open, and Mella and Stull glanced at it. Through the frame marched a player, a bronze skin showing under his black armour, followed by another black-clad player with a thunderbolt across his red face, and around twenty players in soldier uniforms. The Zombies were beside themselves in anticipation. They had never seen so many players in one place before.
“Are you sure about this?” the lightning-faced player asked, turning to face G.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” said G, sounding annoyed as he gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m just following what General Tess told me.”
“Yeah, but I heard something totally different,” the player replied, sounding confused. “She told me to bring these players to the firing squad, not the Zombie chamber. And it makes more sense to do it that way. I mean, there are way too many players here for the Zombies to eat all of them at once.”
“Look, Zingster,” G retorted, looking Corporal Zingster directly in the face. “I just came down from talking to Tess, and she told me that she wants me to knock out these players and let the Zombies have them.”
“But—”
“But nothing!” G spat at him. “As of today, I outrank you, Corporal, so you’ll do what I say!”
Corporal Zingster stared at G for a moment.
“Yes, sir, Captain MasterBronze,” the Corporal replied, giving a respectful salute before backing out of the room, the door closing behind him.
Wasting no time, G started rummaging through his inventory. He knew that it would only be a little while before Corporal Zingster discovered that he wasn’t really a captain like he had said. G hated that he’d had to lie to Zingster like that; it was just another complication to be thrown into the plan, but he knew that it was the only way to ensure that Zingster obeyed him without question. In any case, it didn’t matter now. If this plan worked out, he would most likely never see Zingster or Tess again until they met on the battlefield.
“Take these!” G said, as the horde of captive soldiers, who had been looking on in terrified silence, now stared at him in surprise. From his inventory, he threw dozens of pickaxes into the crowd, which he had looted from СКАЧАТЬ