Chapter 2: Time to Sleep
They had arrived at the North Gates.
The Gates were four sets of enormous doors, one for each cardinal direction. The walls that protected Big Oak City were just as large, and both things were effective against mobs. They weren't very decorated, from the inside. They were just enormous slabs of iron that protected the city.
Big Oak City.
Martyn looked back at the city he had lived in for 16 years. Now he was going to spend a full year of his life outside the city. That suddenly seemed like a long time, to him.
"Martyn!" Steve called out. The other three had already walked up to the doors. "Let's go!"
Martyn nodded and jogged back up to his mentor and his new mates. Sonja was a girl only a few inches shorter than him, putting her at roughy 5'6". She had bright green eyes and brown hair that reached waist, if it wasn't tucked into her fox-designed hoodie. She wore blue jeans like Martyn and leaned close in to Tucker.
Tucker was as tall as Martyn, a good 5'9". He had black, scraggly hair and hard, blue eyes. Again, he wore blue jeans, but his shirt was black with a blue and white jacket over it. He also had a hat with a bright green 'T' on it, probably a gift.
Steve nodded, seeing them assembled. "Alright," he said, turning back to the doors. He took a deep breath and yelled, "ALEX! WE'RE HEADING OUT! OPEN THE DAMN GATES!"
Martyn heard some yelling up at the top at the wall, and the Gates began to open. Well, kinda. They opened a gap roughly 5 blocks wide. "Let's go," Steve said, and Martyn took his first step into the outside world. The first thing he noticed was the rocks.
Rocks everywhere. Barely any dirt in sight, and no vegetation whatsoever. There were small fires in places and charred corpses of what seemed to be once monsters. Steve scowled, not at the sight of the landscape, but the corpse.
"Damn mods..." he muttered. Tucker and Sonja gave no indication of hearing what he said, but Martyn did. "Steve?" he asked as they trekked the wastelands. The sun was slowly setting to their left. "What are mods?"
He sighed and hefted his backpack. "I'll tell you once we make it to the safe house," Steve replied. "Let's just try and make it before dark."
Steve picked up pace, his trainees doing as well. After roughly an hour of walking, water breaks, and some complaining from Sonja, they finally arrived at a large lodge. It was two stories large, with stone walls and a wood frame. Steve has them line up in front of the door, which was made of metal. To the right of it was a button that matched the color of the wall it was on.
"When I say 'Go', I want you to press the button. When you do, the door will open for a short amount of time. Get in and don't let it close on you. Go!" Steve instructed.
Tucker pressed the button and the door immediately swung open. Tucker hurried inside and the door swung closed a few seconds later, with a loud CLANG.
"Now you, Sonja," he told the green-eyed girl. "Go!"
Sonja pressed the door button and hesitated a moment before rushing in. That hesitation cost her, and the door swung shut and closed on her jacket. "Um..." she trailed off.
Steve sighed and pressed the button again, allowing Sonja to pull her jacket in. "Ready, Martyn?" Steve asked his tree-loving student. He found out about the tree thing when Martyn hugged the first tree he saw when coming out of the wastelands.
Martyn nodded and pressed the button. He didn't run, but rather walked in speedily, and managed to get inside without any problems. Lastly, Steve pushed the button and walked in.
"Great," he said. "Now, living quarters. We are only staying here for a few nights, so you won't get much. Upstairs, there are four beds, each with a chest. Pick one out and that'll be your bed for the time we're here. And make sure to sleep in the bed, not on the floor or something.
"Any questions?" he asked.
"Where's the bathroom?" Sonja asked.
Steve pointed to the metal door.
"I'll...I'll hold it," she said.
"Good. I'll explain more in the morning!" he concluded. He started walking towards another room, presumably his, before deciding against it, apparently. He turned directions and walked over to the windows and closed the blinds. "Oh, yeah," Steve said. "No matter what happens, do NOT leave the house tonight, or look outside. Understood?"
We all nodded hurriedly. I could practically see the bold & underline of that "NOT".
"Great!" Steve said happily, in his usual gruff way. "Get some sleep! We leave in the morning!"
He trotted off to another part of the lodge, probably his own bed. We all just stood there for a while, staring at anything we could: the house, each other, absolutely anything. Finally, Sonja broke the silence.
"So...let's get ready for bed?" she offered.
^\_/[•~•]\_/^
Only two of the four beds were currently being used that night. Sonja and Tucker decided to sleep together in a bed, leaving me to my own devices. I stared at the wooden ceiling, listening to the heavy snores of Steve and Tucker, thinking over my life choices.
Everything had happened so fast, too fast for me. I went from unsure kid, who wanted to be a ranger, to apprentice adventurer, traveling beyond the walls into the outside world. No one ever talked about Minecraftia outside the walls very much, almost to the point where it was taboo. No one knew, other than there were a few monsters that could be spotted in the distance. This was new to me.
'I'd better get some rest,' I thought. 'Big day tomorrow.'
At last, I closed my eyes, at let exhaust over take me.
Knock knock.
My eyes flew open and I sat up. Sonja and Tucker will still sleeping, and I could hear Steve's snoring from upstairs (he was quite loud). I looked around for the source of the noise.
Knock ting knock.
My head swiveled to the window, its blinds spdrawn shut. Narrowing my eyes, I stood up, silently wincing at the not-so-quiet creaking of he floorboards. I carefully tiptoed over to the window, waiting for one more sign.
Knock–
I pulled up the blinds and recoiled.
There, standing just an inch above eye-level, was a zombie. Similar to one in Blockbreak, but in horrifyingly sharper quality. Its skin was a bright rotting green, with dead, black muscle showing beneath what was peeling off. It had no hair or ears, but two bloodshot red eyes staring back at me. It was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that was ripped in places, and an aviator jacket in surprisingly good condition. Its jeans were torn to the point of being shorts, and it lacked shoes or socks. The zombie and I stared at each other for a few seconds. "Augh," the zombie moaned out.
"AAAAH!" I shouted, falling back on my ass.
I heard a flurry of bodies behind me, and turned around. Sonja was sitting up, sleepily glaring at me, while Tucker was groaning on the floor. "Go to sleep," Sonja demanded.
I pointed towards the window.
Sonja saw the zombie.
"Beugh," the zombie greeted.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Sonja screeched. I shoved my hands over my ears. Notch above, that girl could screech!
"What's going on out here!?" Steve yelled. I look towards him, just noticing his presence. 'How long had he been there?' I wondered. Evidently, not long, judging by how he didn't immediately notice the zombie. Steve's cold blue eyes scanned the room, until finally – finally – noticing the window and the undead creature.
"Oh," Steve said, letting a sigh of relief escape from his mouth, like a gas leaking out of a balloon, "I thought it was something serious." He walked over to the blinds and closed them before I swiftly turning back to us.
His relaxed posture quickly went ramrod straight as he glared at us. "I thought I told you three not to look outside!" he projected. "Who did it?" Tucker and Sonja immediately pointed at me, the kid with his ass on the floor. 'Traitors,' I thought. I spared them a glare and focused on the unhappy Steve in front of me.
"I couldn't sl-l-leep. I-I-I heard sounds coming from outside, and decided to ch-ch-check them out," I managed to stammer out. Steve glared at me for a few more seconds before loosening his posture a second time.
"Alright," he said, staring at the floor. "Can't blame you for being curious." Steve looked at the zombie, and then back to us. "I'll explain everything in the morning, alright? Now, get some sleep. Or at least, some rest." Steve commanded.
We nodded and Steve left us. Without looking at each other, Tucker & Sonja crawled into their bed and I crawled into mine. "G'nite," I called out softly, only to be met with silence.
I didn't fall asleep immediately. I stared at the wooden ceiling, and occasionally glancing towards the window, where I knew a zombie was about behind the blinds. For the first time, but what would not be the last, I wondered a phrase that would repeated many times forward:
'Maybe this was a bad idea.'