Minecraft: Mob Squad/2CHP

Chapter 7: Chug
Switching to Chug’s POV, he mentions that he is wearing iron armor besides the leggings, which didn’t fit as his legs looked like tree trunks. However, he also says that Tok will be able to craft him a set of leggings once he gets more used to his crafting table. Chug then mentions to the reader about how in Cornucopia, each family had control of one resource, so they had to trade carefully for everything that they needed. Mal then decides to stop by a small hill, using the pickaxe to mine out a shelter. Tok sets up his crafting table and starts to make some torches, and Lenna is watching the horizon for anything suspicious. Not long after, Tok says that the torches are ready, so Chug decides to help Mal with placing them down. He is soon interrupted, however, when Lenna shouts at him as she notices that something is moving toward her, hiding beneath the tall grass. Grunting noises are heard, and Lenna draws back her arrow, while Chug raises his sword. Just then, the grass departs, revealing a creature that is "pink and chubby with a squashy nose and the appropriate number of eyes and feet". Chug pulls out a carrot from his pocket and offers it to the creature, who gobbles it down. Lenna jogs back to where Mal and Tok are for more information; she then returns with Mal and the book. Looking through the book reveals the creature to be a pig. They decide to keep it, so Chug lures the pig to a small pit that Mal dug out, tossing a carrot into it. The pig happily jumps toward it, and the pit is then surrounded with a fence. As the sun sets, Chug and company then hear a moan in the distance, making them head inside the shelter that was created. It consists of a 3x7 area with four beds and several torches. Lenna asks if anyone thinks that their parents will be mad that they left Cornucopia, and Mal says that they’ll more likely be worried. Chug says that his parents might think that he and Tok did something to the fields, but knowing that they are out to save Cornucopia, he hopes that they will understand why they left. Just then a hissing noise is heard outside, and Tok shouts that he forgot to bring his pet cat, Candor, inside.

Chapter 8: Tok
Switching to Tok’s POV, he bolts out the door to just beyond the torches, with Candor hissing at "four gooey, green people" heading toward them, which are revealed to be zombies. One of them has a helmet and sword. Chug bolts in with his sword at the ready, attacking one of them, who dies not long after. Candor then bolts back over to Tok, and the two quickly head inside so Candor can calm down. Tok then quickly heads back outside to survey the action; Lenna attacks the two zombies to the left with a bow and arrow, while Chug and Mal attack the zombie with the helmet and sword on the right. Eventually, the three remaining zombies are killed, but Chug collapses. Tok rushes over to him, grateful that he is still alive. Tok and Mal then drag Chug back into the shelter with Lenna keeping watch with her bow and arrow at the ready. Chug is placed on a bed and is given some mutton and a pie, who quickly eats them both. Mal, although relieved, says that it could’ve gone worse for everyone as she hands Tok a cookie. Lenna then says that she really likes it outside of Cornucopia, wondering why the Founders did what they did. Tok, realizing that Chug’s sword is still outside, rushes out of the shelter to retrieve it, along with some arrows, a potato, and the sword and helmet the dropped from the zombie. Quickly heading back in, he places Chug’s sword against a wall, who thanks him. Tok then wonders if Chug will turn into a zombie, but Mal sighs in relief after checking through the book. Eventually, everyone settles down in bed, but not before Tok rummages through Mal’s coat pockets (with permission, of course); he makes a small pile of his findings by the door of the shelter, hoping to use it to make an invention that make Chug "laugh until he breaks a rib".

Chapter 9: Mal
Switching to Mal’s POV, she and company prepare to head toward the beacon once again. Mal also realizes that Tok isn’t in bed, so she heads outside to look for him. Surprisingly, she sees Tok putting a saddle on a pig. Chug follows Mal to find out what is going on, and Tok offers Chug to ride the pig, in which he reluctantly does so. Tok then gives Chug a carrot on a stick, and he happily rides the pig for a bit with it, saying to Tok that he is a genius for this. Everyone else packs everything and starts walking toward the beacon once more, soon coming across some mountains. Everyone is on the lookout for anything suspicious after what happened the night before, but Mal feels homesick, wondering as to how her parents will react to her disappearance, but she shrugs it off, focusing on what lies ahead. As Mal and company crest the biggest hill they’ve seen so far, they stop and have some lunch. Mal then notices "some kind of creature leaping up and down the little ledges", which is revealed to be a llama. She decides to go ahead and tame one, giving it some wheat and trying to sit on the wad of wool on its back. After four attempts, Mal successfully tames one, names it "Sugar", and hooks a lead around its neck. A few other llama follow, making a caravan of sorts. After lunch, Tok crafts some chests, which are then filled with everything in Mal and company’s pockets, and then placed onto the llamas. They continue toward the beacon. Eventually, the sun begins to set once again, so Mal starts to create a shelter just like the last one: 3x7 with beds and some torches. She also digs pens for the llamas and the pig (which is now called Thingy). As Mal continues to make the shelter, she reveals a hole in the ground and stumbles back a bit. She informs the others to come check it out. Chug then takes one of Tok’s torches, lights it, and lets it fall into the opening, resting just after a few meters. Suddenly, Mal and company hear a voice, believed to be a male, asking if someone is up there. Chugs says that there is, and the male asks for help.

Chapter 10: Lenna
Switching to Lenna’s POV, she explains to the reader that her parents had told her that she was born in the mine, but caused so much trouble down there as a toddler that they stopped taking her. Lenna also mentions that two sides of her are at war: exploring, and staying safe. Mal then asks Lenna as to what to do; she decides to ask the male about the situation. He says that a rockslide had occurred, causing him to lose his torch and then get cornered by a skeleton. Lenna then asks for Tok to give her some torches, for Mal to check and see if she has a ladder, and for Chug to bring her her bow and arrows. Lenna then unrolls the ladder until it hits the stone floor of the cave. She climbs down, and is then greeted with an arrow zipping by her face. Lenna throws a torch to distract the skeleton that shot it, and then shoots an arrow into its spine, causing it to collapse. Lenna then takes the ladder and climbs down a bit more. She notices a skeleton, so she rapidly fires four arrows at it before it could make a single shot, but the skeleton is able to fire an arrow at Lenna’s leg before it is killed. She wonders if there might be more, but the male that supposedly was down here doesn’t respond. Lenna is instead greeted by a "weird, squeaky, flying animal" that comes right for her, but she swats it away. She then places some more torches around the cave, eventually finding the area where the male was supposedly cornered. All that is left is a broken glass bottle and a puddle of magenta liquid. Lenna decides to taste it, quickly realizing that her leg no longer hurts. Mal asks if Lenna is okay, and she says that she is, but also asks for a piece of bread. Mal tosses one down, and Lenna dips it into the magenta liquid. Waking around the cave, Lenna also notices a set of rails that lead into darkness, making her believe that the male had used a minecart to escape. She then uses the ladder to climb back up to the floor of the shelter and offers the soaked bread to Chug, who quickly eats some. He jumps up and down in delight, happy that he isn’t hurting anymore.

Lenna believes that the magenta liquid was of a potion of regeneration; she also mentions the "flappy flying thing". Mal recalls that it was a bat. Lenna then suggests that she and company follow the rail to find out where the male is, but Mal disagrees, saying that he can’t be trusted because he never thanked Lenna for helping him. Tok then makes a trapdoor and places it over the hole. Mal then passes out some food for everyone, and they all eat in silence on their beds. Chug wonders as to who the male was, saying that he sounded like an adult. Tok thinks that the male is part of a group of people. Lenna then asks if anyone knows how to make armor, and Tok says that he does, but would need a lot of leather, iron, or gold to do so. Chug suggests that they kill some more zombies, but Mal disagrees, saying that no one should go outside at night. The four then drift off to sleep, but Lenna is still skeptical as to who was the male that was in the cave.

Chapter 11: Chug
Switching to Chug’s POV, he wakes up as Mal heads outside to gather up her llamas. Chug fetches Thingy from his pit, and not long after, him and company head off for the beacon once again. Chug is hopeful that they’ll find out about the male in the cavern, while Mal is hopeful that the villagers will be nice to them. By late afternoon, Chug and company arrive at the beacon beside the village. Chug runs up to it, noticing that he is getting faster and stronger. Everyone else joins in for a bit, running around the beacon. Mal then heads back on the path to the village, with the others following close behind. She says that its already getting late, so they could either try to trade with some villagers now, or make a shelter now and check out the village in the morning. Just then, rain begins to fall, so they all agree to try trading. Chug and company walk up to the first building that they see, but are greeted by something described by Chug as a block of iron that "got really ugly and learned how to walk". Mal says to it that they are looking to trade, but it doesn’t respond. Chug then insults it, so it extended out its arm like it was going to attack him. Mal then intervenes and shouts politely at it that they are looking for a cartographer, causing it to walk away without incident. Mal and Chug then enter the nearest building and are greeted by a villager who simply says "Hmm" to everything. Mal pulls out her sack of emeralds, causing the villager to pull out a stack of books. Mal then acts like she is looking at a map, but the villager seems more interested in the books. Feeling a bit annoyed with the villager, Mal then pulls out a bundle of wheat. To her surprise, the villager trades it for an emerald. Mal and Chug then leave; the group then checks out two other buildings. One of the villagers makes arrows, while the other brews potions. They decide to trade one emerald with the latter for a potion of regeneration. The next building appears to be empty, so they decide to set it up as a shelter for the night. The llamas and Thingy are tied to a fence post outside. Lenna then asks if they’ll be able to find a map tomorrow. A "Graaaarh" sound is then heard from outside.

Chapter 12: Tok
Switching to Tok’s POV, he immediately realizes that the sound is of a zombie. Just then, the arms of the zombie reach through the wooden door. Chug stabs at it until it leaves, but another one is close behind. Tok wonder as to why the village doesn’t have any protective wall, but is interrupted by the "iron blocky guy" who ends up attacking and killing the zombies. Chug takes two of Tok’s torches and places them on either side of the door from the outside, looking out into the darkness. He notices that there are two "iron blocky guys" that are defending the village from the zombies. Mal insists to Chug that he should stay inside and let them do their jobs, which he reluctantly does so. As Mal, Lenna, and Tok read more of Nan’s books about the Overworld, Chug sits by the door with his sword between his legs. Eventually, everyone falls asleep. By morning, Mal and Tok prepare to trade with some other villagers, while Chug, Lenna, and Tok’s pet cat, Candor, stay behind at the building that had become their shelter. The first building is home to a blacksmith, but neither Mal or Tok seem interested in buying tools. The next one is home to a fletcher, in which Lenna would have her mouth drool over the bows and arrows. The third building is home to a librarian, which has the map that they are looking for. Mal ends up trading seven emeralds for it, and upon looking at it, is able to point out Cornucopia and its wall, the village they are currently in, and the woodland mansion, located on the other side of the mountains. Mal and Tok then return to the others with the map in hand, and the former mentions that they still have some emeralds left over to replenish some supplies, such as beetroots for food. Chug jokes that he sold one of the llamas for salmon, and Lenna joins in to say that she would make a beetroot and salmon casserole. Eventually, the group stack up on pies, arrows and meat, wave goodbye to the village, and begin to climb up the mountains. Chug is now decked out in a full set of armor with a sword in hand as well. Lenna drops back a bit to stare out at the Overworld. Mal wonders as to what’s up; Lenna says that she thinks someone is following them as she heard a branch crack and some leaves rustling. She then shouts to the thing to get out of hiding. Just then, a bush shivers, and something that is big and gray begins to step out, growling at the group. Without hesitation, Lenna fires an arrow at it.