The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 39
All Marcus could hear was ringing. Above him, bodies flew through the air like exotic dancers. And the gaping hole in the corpse wall was beginning to let the mobs trickle in.
"Are you okay!" Notch screamed while dragging Marcus to his feet. He didn't answer, his eyes were glued to the hole.
No. Marcus thought. Not after all that. They can't get in, they ca-
"Marcus!" A voice called from behind that snapped Marcus to his senses. It was Franz. He jumped from atop the hut and was now on the ground with them. "Marcus! Are you okay? Is anything broken?" Franz asked.
"N-no, I don't think so," Marcus felt weak. When the creeper exploded, a flying helmet hit him directly in the face. He was dizzy, but starting to come to.
"The wall has been breached!" Notch yelled. Already, a zombie had gotten through and began to devour one of the knights who landed unfortunately close to the breach. He screamed in agony and called out for his mother. "I can fend them off, here take him," Notch handed Marcus over to Franz. He pulled out a second golden sword with the same purplish glow as the first and sprinted to the breach.
The knight was already dead by the time Notch arrived. The other knights were starting to rise and take a stand. The archers were desperately trying to kill as many mobs as they could, but Franz knew they'd run out of arrows soon.
Marcus coughed and tried to stand on his feet, "I'm okay brother, I need you back up that hut to defend us. I'm good to fi-," Marcus began to fall over again, but was caught by Franz. His head was spinning, he wasn't sure what was up or down.
"I'm taking you inside the hut," said Franz sternly. As Marcus was being dragged to hut, he could see Notch and the other knights fighting. Or more accurately, Notch fighting while the other knights watched.
Notch had practically turned into a golden tornado. He was slashing mobs so quickly, Marcus didn't even have time to register what mobs he was killing. Every mob he killed burst into flames like a grand show. He was an expert swordsman. Easily rivaling the most renowned swordsmen in the empire's one-thousand year history. As Notch killed more mobs, he noticed their bodies were starting to pile up in the breach. The other knights stood there in awe just as they'd done when Notch killed the spider. They were so distracted once again that another creeper managed to sneak up on them.
BOOM!
Another breach was made a few blocks left of the original. Just like clockwork, the mobs began to trickle in. More mobs were also starting to crawl over the top. The knights were starting to panic, not sure what to do. They began to individually run up the corpse wall to face the mobs. One knight ran all the way to the top and a spider immediately pounced on him. Marcus saw the spider rip out his throat and he tumbled over the top towards the rest of the mobs. It was chaos. Marcus continued to be dragged to the hut. As he was dragged, his memory went back to when the mutant zombie had attacked them on horseback. He remembered Franz trying to get him out of danger. He also remembered everyone in their squad and in Xavier Squad.
I can't let that happen again. He thought.
Marcus tore away from his brother. Franz tried to grab him again, but he pushed him off. His head was beginning to return to normal and he almost pulled his sword on Franz. He restrained himself, he knew he was just trying to protect him, but these knights needed a leader.
"Attention!" Marcus yelled and the knights turned to face him, "I need half of the knights to focus on killing the mobs in the second breach! If we kill as many mobs as he can, we can fill the breach with their own corpses! Notch, continue on the first breach!" Marcus had seen Notch already starting to fill the first breach with mobs. "I need the other half to scale the wall together! Archer, return to your rhythm from before, prioritize creepers and spiders! Try to keep as many of them off the wall as you can!"
"Yes sir!" Everyone said in unison.
"Franz," Marcus said, turning to his brother, "Get back up there and keep those archers in rhythm."
Franz paused for a moment before saying, "Yes sir."
Everyone enacted the plan perfectly. The knights in the second breaches struggled for a bit, but they managed to dwindle the mobs down to create a decent barricade without suffering any more casualties. Notch continued to slice up mobs like there was no tomorrow. Their charred bodies weren't as effective as a barricade, but Notch was too quick and skilled for it to matter. The archers fought valiantly until the last arrow. Once they were out, they joined the team on top of the wall and assisted. Marcus gained back his strength and joined in the fighting atop the corpse wall.
It was difficult without archer support, but they managed to fend off the mobs. Soon, the new barricades could effectively keep out the mobs. This allowed Notch and the other knights to join them atop the wall. Together, they fought for hours without any more casualties. Any creepers that showed, Notch dealt with them quickly. It seemed as if they'd survive the night.
…
Thomas still cursed his broken leg. He wanted nothing more than to go out and fight. After seeing the two breaches, he sent the knights inside the hut to go help. The only protection they had left was Zacharius. He chewed out Thomas for not letting him go out and fight, but he was needed as he was the only southerner from Redwater.
Thomas's eyes began to feel heavier every minute. All around him, the injured slept like babies. It was almost like there wasn't a battle going on outside. He fought to stay awake, but the day was long and dreadful. He'd survived the attack on Fort Deepslate, General Ausmin, and it seemed they'd make it through the night. Slowly, Thomas drifted off to sleep.
He awoke to the sound of furniture being knocked over. He looked up and suddenly a zombie fell right on top of him.
"Oh shit!" Thomas screamed. He grabbed the monster on both sides of the head, carefully trying not to be bitten. He looked around and saw Zacharius rising up from his sleep. His eyes were panicked and the rest of the injured started to scream.
Thomas continued to resist the zombie. It gnashed its disgusting rotting teeth at him. It was so close, he could smell its rancid breath. He felt a mixture of fear and disgust. He wasn't sure if he'd soil himself or throw up.
Luckily, Zacharius ran over and kicked the monster off of him. It landed against a wall, but was immediately up and moving again. Zacharius stepped in between him and the zombie and braced for the attack. However, Thomas could tell he was shaking. The sword practically vibrated in his hands. Zacharius wasn't a carrier slave for the Miter Knights, so this might've been the first time he'd faced the mobs head on.
The zombie lunged and Zacharius plunged the sword deep into its stomach. It did nothing. The zombie continued to charge with the sword lodged inside it. Zacharius kept his grip on the sword to keep the zombie at bay. Slowly, the zombie started pushing him toward the other wall.
As the zombie stepped over Thomas, he tripped it. The zombie fell down, but it grabbed Zacharius's foot, causing him to fall over as well. It quickly crawled atop Zacharius. He tried to fight off the zombie, but he was an old man. Thomas realized everything he'd said about running out and fighting had been all talk. He was just a weak old man who didn't know what he was doing.
Thomas used his good leg to pounce on the zombie and rip it off Zacharius. They'd tumbled over another injured patient and soon, Thomas found himself right back where he was before. The zombie was on top of him and Thomas was trying to push it off. Saliva began to cake Thomas's face as the zombie came closer.
I'll kill this thing! Thomas thought. None of the other injured are going to help me. It's kill or be killed!
Thomas was about to punch the zombie when suddenly a hand grabbed its face and yanked it off of him. Unfortunately, whoever helped him wasn't thinking and grabbed the zombie by its mouth. The zombie bit down and a few drops of blood landed on Thomas's face before the zombie was yanked off. It was thrown into a table and quickly finished off with a stab to the head.
Thomas was about to thank the person that saved him when he saw it was a knight. At first, he figured Marcus had come to save him, but to his surprise, it was someone else he knew. Someone who ratted them out to the General. It was Anthony.