The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 41

Marcus's feet were beginning to ache. It had been about three hours since they left Fort Deepslate and the journey was already starting to wear on him and the men. Nobody had gotten any sleep last night and all Marcus wanted to do was lay down and rest his eyes. However, he couldn't get that sight out of his head.

The knights reorganized quickly after the mobs had died off or ran back into the forest. Their first order of business was to gather up as much food as they could before leaving. They only gave themselves about thirty minutes before they left. Most of the provisions had been destroyed in the explosion and they only managed to wrangle up about a day worth of food.

As Marcus inspected their inventory, he couldn't help but feel he was being watched. At first, he ignored it, but the feeling didn't go away and it felt as if it was coming from the forest. He turned, expecting to possibly see a zombie who was hiding under a tree, but instead, he saw glowing eyes.

Marcus almost screamed, thinking it was Herobrine, but these eyes were different. They were purple and stood much taller than a person. It was still dark in the forest so he couldn't see the body. He squinted his eyes hard and after a moment he could make out the figure hiding behind a tree. It was tall and slender. It stood about three blocks high. The eyes continued to stare at him, almost as if it could see into his soul. He soon realized why the body was so hard to see, it was all black. It blended in perfectly with the dark, early morning forest.

Marcus turned to see if anyone else was looking, but nobody was. When he turned back, it was gone.

Why did that thing disappear? Marcus thought. When I told the others about it, they didn't believe me. They told me I was hallucinating from the lack of sleep. And honestly, maybe I was.

As they traveled through the southern forest, all Marcus could do was imagine that creature behind every tree. What if it wasn't a hallucination? What if it's a new monster? But if that was the case, why didn't it attack us last night? I just hope it wasn't real, I'm tired of all these new horrors of Herobrine.

"One of the knights collapsed!" A voice yelled from behind Marcus.

Shit, are we under attack? Already? Marcus thought as he ran to the back where the knight had collapsed. Notch and Franz ran with him. They found the knight collapsed with his head being supported by another knight.

"What happened?" Marcus asked the knight.

"I don't know, he just suddenly fell over," The knight answered.

Suddenly, Thomas yelled out from behind Marcus, "That's Anthony!" Marcus turned around to see Thomas being supported by Zacharius. "He's the guy that saved us last night."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Marcus asked.

Thomas shook his head, "I'm not sure…wait…he was bitten by one of those zombies. Could that be what's wrong?"

"Bitten?" Marcus said, "He was bitten, and nobody told me." Marcus stared daggers at Thomas. Marcus suddenly had a flashback to the villager girl in Morzen. He remembered her being devoured by a turned carrier slave and coming back to life to attack him.

"I didn't know their bites were poisonous, I'm sorry," Thomas defended.

Marcus suddenly realized that not everybody was aware of how the zombie virus spread. They had only shown up about a week ago.

"Their bites are how they turn other people into zombies," Marcus explained, "They bite you and you come back. I saw it happen to a girl in Morzen."

"Is there any cure?" Franz asked.

"No, I don't think so," Marcus answered, "Where was he bitten?"

"He was bitten on his right hand," Thomas answered.

Marcus bent down to examine Anthony's hand. As he reached for his hand, he could hear the labored breathing. Anthony's hand was moist with sweat, Marcus almost dropped it. On close examination, he saw that parts of Anthony's hand were beginning to turn green.

"Shit," Marcus whispered.

"Yeah, I'm in a world of shit right now sir," Anthony laughed which then turned to a cough.

Sir? Why is he calling me sir? Marcus thought.

"You're okay soldier," Marcus said while turning to Notch, "Do you think you can stop this?"

Notch was surprised by the question. He paused before saying, "I'm not sure, I've never tried to heal someone before."

"You're a God, aren't you?" Franz interjected, "Can't you wave your hand and make him better?"

Notch stuttered, "W…I…Yes I am, but most of my power was removed. I don't know if I can reverse the virus."

"Can you try at least?" Franz asked.

Notch knelt down to Anthony and grabbed his hand. I can do this. Notch thought. Surely I can cure him. Notch held Anthony's hand tight, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate. Think about healing this man. Think about him rising from the ground, good as new. Images of Anthony jumping up began to appear in his head. A tingly sensation could be felt in Notch's palms. Am I doing it? Am I really doing it?

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck Notch's hands. The vision of Anthony transformed into him rapidly deteriorating into a zombie. He was now a green husk of his former self. Then, the zombie looked directly at Notch and charged. No, no, no, no, no. I failed these people already. I can't fail again. The zombie got closer and closer. The sunken black eyes stared directly into Notch and it opened his mouth to bite him.

Notch opened his eyes and jerked his hands away from Anthony who was still laying on the ground. He found himself being stared at by the others. Their faces showed nothing but disappointment.

"I…I'm sorry, but I can't heal this man." Notch got up and walked away towards the front of the group.

I'm worthless. Notch thought. I'm just as useless as I've been for the past twelve-hundred years.

"Don't worry Anthony, we'll find a town. They'll have a doctor who can help you," Marcus reassured.

The closest town was called Coy, and it was another two-hour trek away. Marcus had a group of four knights support and watch Anthony as they continued their journey south.