Minecraft: Zombies!/6CHP

Chapter 31
It is nighttime as Ben and Bobbie reach the surface, with a mountain just ahead of them, and a large fortress carved into it. Johnny begins to growl in a specific direction and starts pulling on his lead, and it it only then that Ben and Bobbie notice a silhouette off in the distance. They attempt to talk to it as the draw closer, but soon notice that it was actually a jack o' lantern on top of a hay bale, with wood posts affixed as arms and legs. Ben warns that a trap is set up, but his warning comes a tad too late as he and Bobbie fall down into a bare room of stone below, only lit by a lantern. Just then, a zombie appears, but Johnny helps fend it off long enough for Bobbie to kill it without getting hit. She and Ben then notice a sloped exit, which apparently leads toward the giant cube housing hundreds of zombies. Ben then insists on getting out of here as he talks with Bobbie about cobwebs, mentioning that being in several of them at once is like slowly drifting downward. Ben then recalls when Logan made a trap that he easily fell for, which was a chasm of webs over a lava pit. Fortunately, Logan saved Ben at the last minute by placing down some dirt over the lava pit, which Ben says that it taught himself a lesson and made himself a better hero. Bobbie then interjects and says it was Ben who helped her become a better hero, and also says that Logan instead now seems like a terrible person to be around, much to Ben’s amusement. Bobbie then says to Ben that the story that he had said about cobwebs is why he is afraid of spiders, which he associates with cobwebs because the cobwebs trigger a flashback in him. Just then, Bobbie notices an arrow protruding from the wall, followed by a voice telling them not to move. The voice was of Hatchet, who asks them as to what they are doing in their trap, and soon darts her eyes on the rotten flesh, wondering if they had killed a zombie. Flip then interjects and says that "the boss" isn’t going to like that. Ben then asks as to what they want with zombies before pulling on Johnny’s lead and revealing him to Hatchet and Flip.

Chapter 32
Bobbie is appalled that Ben is using Johnny as a bargaining chip as the two are ushered to the fortress carved into the mountain by Hatchet and Flip. The boy that overlooks the fortress lets them into the courtyard, with Bobbie having a tight grip of Johnny’s lead. The boy then wonders as to why the zombie (referring to Johnny) is here instead of going through the tunnel, and Ben says that it is a "special zombie". Ben then asks the boy if he isn’t "the boss", and the boy says that "the boss" is on an observation balcony. Hatchet then gives the boy a small sack of loot. Bobbie and Ben then realize that these people, at the very least, might have some gold. The boy then points over to a nearby chest, and Hatchet and Flip place their respective weapons inside it. The two then motion to Bobbie and Ben to place their weapons inside the chest. Although they refuse at first, Ben then places them in the chest under the assumption that they are here as guests. As the boy goes through the chest, Hatchet and Flip lead Bobbie and Ben up a staircase to a stone hallway lined with doors, followed by leading down another staircase to a hallway which ended in an arched doorway. Hatchet and Flip then argue for a bit about who would fill "the boss" in regarding the two "guests", before Flip gives in and gestures Bobbie and Ben to enter. Going through the doorway, the two are now on the observation balcony, noticing "the boss" firing arrows at zombies in the giant cube. It is only when "the boss" recognizes Ben that Bobbie realizes that the supposed stranger that had engulfed the Heart Oak in Plaintown in flames was indeed Logan, as Ben asks him as to what is new.

Chapter 33
Bobbie becomes enraged at Logan for setting Plaintown on fire that she doesn’t notice her grip loosening on Johnny’s lead as Johnny lunges at Logan, who uses Ben as a sort of shield. Ben then gives the lead back to Bobbie as Logan wonders if they had actually trained a zombie. Bobbie then says that she tell him all about it while also saying that she and Ben have some questions to ask him. Logan then has the two join him for dinner in the dining hall. Ben is mad at Logan for him taking off with his stuff, and Logan says that the world is not made for people to team up as partners. Logan then has the two ask the first question. As Bobbie opens her mouth to speak, Ben blurts out and questions Logan as to what he did with his stuff. Logan then says that he had his squire, who is also named Ben (and later nicknamed "Ben Two"), gather it all up into a chest. The other Ben (now nicknamed "Ben One") heads over to the chest, suspicious that it is littered with traps, but once he realizes that it is all clear, he looks inside the chest and is delighted to have all of his belongings. Logan then asks Bobbie as to how she trained the "zombie boy", and she says that she treated Johnny "like a human being" with love, respect, and patience, something that Logan would lack in. Logan then starts asking questions about Plaintown, but Bobbie interjects and says that he should start answering questions. Logan then has the two come up to the roof of the fortress.

Chapter 34
Ben and Bobbie follow Logan to a platform that was atop the fortress and just below the pinnacle of the mountain. The latter was nearly vibrating with anger when Logan said a bit earlier that zombies can be controlled as to where they go with turtle eggs. Anyway, the platform atop the fortress has an obsidian throne nestled in the crags, and the sun is already rising to the east. Logan then says that he uses zombies as a tool for loot, noting that some emeralds and gold were missing from Ben’s chest, but also says that "Ben Two" could scourge up some emeralds for them. Ben then asks for eight gold ingots to call it even, but Logan says that he hasn’t explained his pitch yet. Enraged, Bobbie asks Logan if he had something to do with the zombie siege in Plaintown, and he confesses that he did, saying that it was a trial run, much to the anger of Bobbie. Logan then says to Ben that when they were first together, they had come across a village, hoping to find something that was worth trading for, but if that didn’t happen, then Logan converted the village into an iron farm via a zombie siege as a way to make the villagers work for him. Bobbie feels sick and starts to exclaim to Logan as to how he could do something morally wrong, but Ben interrupts her and says that it is brilliant, explaining to her that it is a clever way of doing things, much to Bobbie’s disappointment. Logan then adds that he is planning to expand his operations, saying that iron farms "are the wave of the future", and asks Ben if he can trust him. Ben then says that he can, but Logan interjects and says that he can’t be trusted as long as he is still with Bobbie, who finally notices that the "scepter" by the obsidian throne is a redstone torch. She begins to ask Ben about it, but he already aims an arrow at her, saying that he had gotten an offer that he couldn’t refuse. Bobbie then asks for Ben to stop what he is doing and to understand as to how cruel Logan is, but Ben says that this is sort of payback as she did shoot him with an arrow when they met the first time. Bobbie then practically begs for him to think about it, but he lets the arrow fly directly toward her just moments later. Bobbie is hit in the shoulder, dropping Johnny’s lead, and then falls off the platform toward the ocean below.

Chapter 35
Bobbie then opens her eyes, realizing that she is deep underwater. She decides to take in the sights for a moment, noticing seagrass, schools of colorful fish, and some sea pickles. At first, Bobbie considers swimming up to the surface, but begins to think that Logan and Ben would assume that she had died, so she swims to a sheer wall and starts mining forward, and then upward. Bobbie is soon out of the water and makes it to the surface by the late morning, and then decides to watch Logan’s fortress from a distance. She had noted that Ben had told her that battles were won with intelligence, so she decides to wait for the perfect moment. As dusk sets in, the gate opens, and Hatchet and Flip leave on their nightly errand to check on Logan’s traps and round up zombies. As soon as they are out of Bobbie’s sight, she makes her move and mines into the fortress from the far side of the mountain. She soon comes across a chest in an empty bedroom that had been booby-trapped, so she takes the TNT from beside the chest before collecting the contents inside the chest. After going through a few more bedrooms and disabling the trapped chests, Bobbie eventually finds Ben sleeping in one of the bedrooms and practically kicks him out of bed. Ben then breathes a sigh of relief, noting that he spent half the day looking for her, but she only wants to find out as to where Johnny is, shoving her sword under his chin. Ben then says that Johnny is safe and is in the giant cube with all of the other zombies, and reiterates that he only fights zombies when Bobbie is endangered by them. Ben then says that the redstone torch that Logan was holding was to activate a trapdoor that that was underneath their feet, which is why he short her as a way to avoid falling into the giant cube of zombies. Bobbie then feels lucky that she didn’t drown, and Ben says that it was because he short her with an arrow of water breathing, and because of that, he had earned Logan’s trust, and can now sabotage his entire plan. Ben also says that Logan had told him that he is done with this section of land, having wiped out every village within 50,000 blocks, and plans to head east toward a new section of land. The two decide to stop Logan by killing his horde of zombies by using TNT, but note that they will have to save Johnny before that could happen. Ben then shows Bobbie some arrows of invisibility, and the latter notes that they would have to brew some potions if they make it out alive.

Chapter 36
Bobbie was given five arrows of invisibility, meaning that she would have just five minutes to find Johnny and escape. She then drinks a potion of slow falling as she activates a redstone torch, allowing her to gently fall into the giant cube of zombies. At the last moment before Bobbie touches the ground, she pricks herself with an arrow of invisibility and starts looking for Johnny, but also comes across Avery and Briar among the horde, making her realize that the pits that were set up underneath the villages weren’t just used to bring zombies to the villages, but to take them away from the villages as well. By this point, one minute had already passed, so Bobbie almost immediately pricks herself with a new arrow.

Chapter 37
Bobbie then decides to thwart Ben’s plan and decides to save the zombies instead, blocking off two of the three rail tunnels leading to the giant cube with obsidian. Realizing that she couldn’t make it to the final tunnel in time under her current situation, she decides to not use her final arrow of invisibility and instead dons her iron armor to lure the zombies to her. However, this also makes Logan notice Bobbie, who strikes an arrow at her and wonders as to why she is still alive. Just then, a TNT minecart appears at the third tunnel and erupts, distracting the zombies and Logan. Bobbie tries to slip away, but is attacked by some of the zombies. Just then, an arrow is shot at Logan by Ben, who exclaims that he is doing the right thing while stating to Bobbie that what she is doing wasn’t part of the plan. She explains that some of the zombies are her friends, much to Ben’s amusement. Just then, another explosion is heard, and the fortress begins to tremble. Logan wonders as to where it came from, and Ben says that it was from his own bedroom. Enraged, Logan runs off, saying to Ben and Bobbie that they’ll both be sorry for what happened. Johnny then leaps from the horde and starts attacking Ben, but Bobbie helps calm him down. It isn’t long before the two decide to loop around to one of the tunnels that had been blocked off by obsidian. As Ben repairs the redstone mechanism to the giant cube, Bobbie crafts a couple of minecarts for the rails. As she places them down and puts Johnny in one of them, she confesses to Ben about leaving the emeralds behind, realizing that she can’t pay him. Ben then says that he knew about that because he saw her stash them in the chest, and he also confesses that he helped himself to them anyway even though he decided to stay in the end. Bobbie then shoves him into the minecart next to Johnny’s, saying that she can trust him with keeping Johnny safe. Ben insists on staying together to keep him safe, but Bobbie refuses, saying that Logan is going to take everyone that she cares about away from her, and noting that Johnny would have to stay far away as possible from Logan. With a flick of the torch, Bobbie activates the powered rail, sending the minecarts down the track. Ben shouts for her to stop, but it was too late. She shouts back at Ben, hopeful that he’ll find a cure and hopes that she’ll see them again soon. As Bobbie turns back her attention toward the zombies, she realizes that home is always in front of her and would do anything to save it.