The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 29
Thomas stared at the grimy deepslate wall. His once pale skin had become red from the sunburns. Everywhere hurt. His fellow carrier slaves felt the same. They didn't dare to talk to each other. There were knights everywhere in the fort, nearly the entire Holy Notch Army had made camp.
Thomas's mind filled with thoughts of being sent out to fight the pigmen he'd heard so much about. They hadn't been present at the battle of Zamafar, but from what he heard, it sounded like a scary story told around the campfire.
He envisioned the pigmen slaughtering them in droves. The knights abandoning them and leaving them to savagery of their unstoppable wrath. He was continually grateful they did not go to Zamafar. They would've been left behind for sure. As much as Thomas feared for his safety in the fort, he knew it was worse out there, so at least he could take solace in that.
BRRRROOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM! BRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!
The horn sent memories of Morzen flooding back into his mind. The horn that warned of an incoming attack. It had to be the pigmen, what else could it be. Suddenly a thought entered his mind. Was Marcus killed? Marcus had informed him of his mission before they left. If the pigmen are here, did they find they're base? Were they discovered by the pigmen? If they're not here, then they must have been killed. Feelings of grief ran through Thomas's body. Marcus had been the only one to show him kindness, and now, he was likely killed in gruesome fashion. Suddenly, he could hear footsteps.
…
Garrison Knight Captain Emil saw the beast from atop of the first wall, right above the gate. He gave the order to alert the fort the moment he spotted it. It sprinted at full speed towards the fort. Its large, lumbering arms swung both gracefully and idiotically. The beast ran almost like a child trying to snatch their favorite toy. However, the face of the beast had the same bloodlust as any other zombie he'd seen in the past five days. Either way, it was his responsibility as the keeper of the gate to stop this beast.
"Archers line up on the wall!" Capt. Emil ordered. A line of some of the most skilled archers in the Holy Notch Army gathered along the edge of the wall. He needed to take this thing down as quickly as possible. He estimated it would only take the beast a minute to reach the gate.
"Fire at will!" A barrage of arrows were sent flying at the beast. The arrows moved almost in slow motion, and apparently, that's how the beast perceived the arrows. It rolled to the side, causing the ground to shake under it. Some arrows managed to hit the side of the beast, but most missed and dug into the dirt. It had been just far enough away to avoid the arrows.
"Reload!" Capt. Emil ordered again, "Get ready for another volley!" The archers tried to reload their bows, but the sight of something so big rolling out of the way so fast had shook them. The idea of this giant zombie being graceful in its movement terrified the Garrison Archers. Once the archers were ready for another volley of arrows, they noticed that it was no longer charging at them, but rather, it was running to the side.
What the hell is it doing? Capt. Emil thought. It was charging mindlessly at us before. Could it be trying to find another entrance? This idea both humored and scared Capt. Emil. On one hand, the gate they currently stood above was the only entrance to the fort. But on the other hand, that meant it was intelligent enough to try to find another way in. Maybe it will try to scale the wall on the other side. Most of the Garrison Knights had gathered near the gate, this would leave many other areas unprotected.
Capt. Emil was just about to give the order to spread out along the wall, when he noticed the beast had ducked behind a tree. Most plant life had been cleared out near the gate to allow visibility in case of an attack. However, some trees were left to pretty the fort up for religious leaders and nobles to look at. It had always been one of Capt. Emil's gripes with the leadership of the fort. And now, this mutant zombie was ducking for cover.
This confirmed that the beast had some intelligence, but now it was stuck in that one spot. He began to have an idea of sending fire arrows at the tree to burn it down and then sending a large volley of arrows once it ran out. However, something was off about the tree. It appeared to be moving side to side like it was in the middle of a storm. Then, the tree started moving upward. The movements were becoming more and more violent, until Capt. Emil finally understood what was happening. The tree was yanked out of the ground by the mutant zombie and his charge continued.
"Open fire!" Capt. Emil yelled in a panic. The arrows soared downward to the beast, but they all made contact with the tree. Out of the hundred arrows that were sent, they may have been lucky to get one or two hits. Capt. Emil began to panic. With the tree blocking the arrows, their archers were worthless.
The traps! He thought. There are still some TNT traps out there. Most of the TNT traps had been used on the hordes of mobs that had been attacking constantly. Many bodies still lay around the fort, causing massive piles of corpses. This had prevented the Garrison Knights from resetting many of their traps, including their TNT traps. He had a plan.
"Archers reload your arrows!" Capt. Emil screamed. "We're going to activate all TNT traps in the southern sector! We'll blow off his legs and he'll drop the tree! Once that happens, I want every archer to fire at its head! Let's end this monster!"
The archers had a new boost in confidence. It was a solid plan that just might work. However, they'd only have one shot at it. They reloaded their arrows and prepared to fire. Capt. Emil ordered for the TNT traps to be ready to blow. Unfortunately, he'd have to wait until the mutant zombie was closer to the fort. Most of the TNT traps that had already been set off were further away, leaving only the closer traps to still be active. So he waited.
The mutant zombie continued to charge the fort. It wasn't going as fast as before due to the tree weighing it down and throwing it slightly off balance. However, it would still only take a few seconds for it to reach the gate. Each second felt like an eternity. The increasing volume of its thunderous footsteps sent chills down Emil's spine. Just a few more seconds. He thought as he raised his hand. The beast was so close now, he could practically smell its disgusting odor. Just a little bit closer. By now, it was at their doorstep. Just ten more seconds, it would reach the gate. It's time.
"Ignite!" Capt. Emil screamed while bringing his hand down. Near the gate, several trap doors opened up and a block of TNT came flying out of each of them. Just like the arrows, the TNT flew out of the holes in slow motion. He could see the TNT was ready to explode.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sounds of explosions were deafening. The sounds of explosions came from all over the front. Unfortrionaly, Capt. Emil did not account for the large amounts of dirt to be flown into the air, blocking their view of the mutant zombie. He felt like an idiot for not considering the cloud of dirt and dust that would come from so many TNT explosions in one area. However, even though he could no longer see the mutant zombie, he heard it fall with a mighty thud.
This was their only chance. But they couldn't see it. They didn't know if they had blown off the legs entirely or if they merely tripped it. Either way, they had to fire now, they couldn't give it a chance to recover.
Capt. Emil pointed to the area he believed he'd seen the beast fall and screamed, "Open fire!" Once again, the arrows soared downward. The dirt cloud danced around the arrows as it began to dissipate. Capt. Emil and the archers stared downward with intensity, trying to see if they'd made the kill.
At first, they heard nothing. Just the wind slowly blowing the dirt cloud away. It had blown enough away, Capt. Emil could make out a silhouette. However, it didn't appear to be a silhouette of the beast, but rather of a long, narrow object with bushes on one side. It was the silhouette of a tree. It was getting larger and more defined. He could start to see the bark and the leaves racing up toward him. It was almost like it right in front of his face. BOOM!
The tree crashed into the top of the gate. Several archers were sent flying off into the ground below. Debris from falling deepslate crushed the waiting knight below on the other side of the gate. The impact was so great, the surviving archers fell over, not understanding what had just happened. However, it didn't take long for them to realize. The mutant zombie had thrown the tree at them. It was alive.
The archers looked over the side, getting ready to fire at the beast again, but it was too late. BOOOOOOOOOOOM! The mutant zombie had charged and broken through the gate like it was made of paper. Pieces of the gate were sent flying out at the Garrison Knights stationed behind the first gate. Many were crushed. The survivors stared at the monster that had just broken into Fort Deepslate. It stood there, arrows still pierced into its side, staring at them.