Minecraft: The Outsider/1CHP
Chapter 1
Jeremy feels like he isn’t noticed, as he has to fight for attention from his parents as his other brothers and sisters always come first. He lives in a place that is just called "The City", which is so big that it didn’t need any other name. At school, he feels much worse, feeling like he is stuck at the bottom rung, and is pretty sure that the other kids don’t even know his name. Jeremy heads into potions class, which is ironic because the students there aren’t even allowed to make potions. It is also hard for Jeremy to pay attention as today is the last day of school before a week-long break known as "City Week". He attempts to memorize how to make a potion of Invisibility for a test in that period before he notices that the teacher isn’t there as the other students file into class, including Brant, who is said to be the coolest kid in the school, and Brant’s parents are the richest people in the city that run the Redstone Company, which basically keeps The City running today. Brant then says to the other students that he has a new pet, and eventually says, after some guesses from the other students, that it is a pet zombie.
Chapter 2
The classroom bursts into a mixture of cries and squeals. A girl says that her parents said that there aren’t any more zombies, and a boy says that zombies were from the "Before Times", with the narrator mentioning to the reader that it was before The City was made, as the hostile mobs now only show up in books and scary stories instead of existing out in the open. Jeremy sometimes wished that he was in the Before Times, but it was just for fun, as he felt safer living in The City. Brant asks the other students how they know that there aren’t any zombies, adding if they have ever been out of The City, making the classroom fall silent. Although the narrator says that people are free to leave The City if they want to, they never do. Brant then says that he has been outside The City, and that there are zombies all over at night, adding that one night, he fought off some zombies with a torch and kept one as his pet. He then says that he’ll prove it and asks the others to come by his mansion after school just as the teacher walks in and hands out the potions test.
After school, Jeremy and the other kids follow Brant to his mansion as the whole city is bustling in preparation for the City Week party happening that very evening. A majority of the people in The City adore the "Before Times experience", which is an arena that was dug underneath the mansion that is set up as if the person was living in the Overworld before The City was made. People would be dressed up like zombies for scares, or dolls of zombies would be made. Jeremy wondered if Brant’s pet zombie was really just a doll, but he figured that Brant wouldn’t be acting how he is if it was indeed a doll. Brant takes the kids down a long hallway to his room, saying to the others to promise not to tell anyone, as he won’t be able to keep the pet zombie if the adults find out. The others respond in agreement, and Brant opens his bedroom door. Someone huffs that there isn’t a zombie, but gurgling is soon heard. The kids then head into Brant’s room, followed by Brant shutting the door, pulling the curtains closed, and turning off the lights, leaving only the light of a torch in his room. Brant then heads toward the door in the back of his room as everyone else follows him. Brant then opens the door, revealing a baby zombie that Brant had named "Scraps".
Chapter 3
A few kids scream at the sight of Scraps, but Brant tells them to shush, adding that Scraps can’t reach them thanks to Brant putting up a fence in the doorway. Jeremy’s breath hitched in his throat as he realizes what he is experiencing is real. Brant continues to talk about Scraps, asking the other kids if they like its collar, adding that he is also trying to teach it some tricks. Just then, Brant’s mom knocks on the door, and Brant shoves Scraps back into the small room and closes the door. Opening the door to his room, his mom surveys the room and says that it is almost dinner time, adding that the kids can come back after for the party. The other kids then prepare to leave before Brant says that someone should stay here to babysit Scraps. Jeremy raises his hand and says that he’ll do it as the other kids turn and look at him with worry and amusement. Brant then says to Jerry to come by after dinner to help. On his way home, Jeremy tries to convince himself that what he is doing is a good plan as he has second thoughts about the job. A girl then bumps into him, and she doesn’t even apologize. The girl, named Valda, is scolded by her dad to watch where she is going. Valda then says to Jeremy to watch where he is going before Jeremy’s anger flares, saying that he was walking here first. Something then growls at Jeremy, followed by a voice shouting for Scraps, making Jeremy realize that the pet zombie is loose.
Chapter 4
It turns out, though, that Scraps is also the name of Valda’s tamed wolf. Jeremy takes a bit to let his heartbeat to return to normal as he realizes that it was a coincidence that Brant named his pet zombie Scraps, as that name is also popular for tamed wolves in The City. Valda’s mom then walks up to Jeremy and asks for directions to the leaders of The City, and after some hesitation, he gives her the directions. Valda and Jeremy then have a brief scuffle about accents, with Valda saying that Jeremy’s "accent" is grating her ears, while Jeremy shouts at her that she is the one with the accent. Valda then runs onto the minecart tracks, and Jeremy yells at her to watch out as a minecart hurtles toward them.
Chapter 5
Jeremy grabs Valda and pulls her away from the oncoming minecart in the nick of time, just as the minecart rushes by them. Valda leaps up and dusts herself off before asking Jeremy why he is annoying. This causes Jeremy to snap, explaining to her with so much anger about how he saved her life. Valda ignores him as Jeremy walks back home. Jeremy’s family consists of his mother and father, who are not named, Tobias, who is his older brother aged seventeen and is into music, Erin, his sister aged fifteen who is obsessed with foxes, Dalton, his younger brother aged seven who always asks if anyone wants to play a game with him, Carter, his youngest brother aged five who is into sports, and an unnamed baby girl. Jeremy’s mother works as an investigative reporter, while his dad works as an engineer at Redstone Company. The dad then says that he tested a new flying machine, but will need to get a sponsor for it as the company doesn’t have enough emeralds to make it, and then says that he needs to go to the office on Saturday. Jeremy’s mom then says that she needs him to watch the kids Saturday because of her work as an investigative reporter, and then asks Tobias if he would take his younger siblings to the party, and Tobias says that he has homework, followed by Erin saying the same thing. Jeremy’s mom and dad then decide to go to the party tonight as a break from their work, and Jeremy tries to get his mom’s attention about going to Brant’s house to pet sit, but she doesn’t listen to him.
Chapter 6
Later that evening, Jeremy arrives at Brant’s house, who explains to him that the maid for the house almost found Scraps, so he moved him to the basement for the time being. The two then head down to the basement, and Jeremy is shocked to see Scraps is not fenced in. Brant reassures him that he won’t be attacked as the basement is huge, reminding him to hit Scraps with a stick if he is provoked. Brant then leaves, saying that he’ll be back in a few hours. Jeremy pleads his worries to him, but Brant is unconvinced before finally closing the door to the basement. Jeremy then turns and eyes the zombie, feeling nervous as he only heard the gurgling of Scraps. Jeremy could soon hear the commotion upstairs of partygoers before he realizes that Scraps might be missing, as he hasn’t heard gurgling for nearly a minute. Jeremy starts looking for Scraps, even considering going upstairs to shout for Brant, but as he heads up the stairs, he hears the sound of Scraps coming toward him. It attacks Jeremy first, and Jeremy fights back with a torch, but he now realizes that Scraps now recognizes him as prey.
Chapter 7
Jeremy then yells once more about a zombie, but he could only hear people from the Before Times experience making pretend shrieks about the zombie. Jeremy then heads to the stairs once more before Scraps attacks him once more, making Jeremy hit a wall where a button is, inadvertently pressing it. As Jeremy gets his bearings, he realizes that Scraps is no longer interested in him, but soon notices a large rectangle in the wall that belongs to a door, making him realize that Scraps is heading into the Before Times experience.
Chapter 8
Jeremy races after Scraps, but the door closes before he could go through it. He then searches the room for the button once more, quickly finding it and going through the door. Jeremy then calls out to the others that a real zombie is in here, but the group dismiss it as a joke. Nonetheless, Jeremy continues deeper into the darkness of the room, being jolted at the sights of a zombie doll and someone in a zombie costume, before he finally hears someone scream in real horror.
Chapter 9
Jeremy bolts toward the screams, noticing a girl screaming that it is a real zombie. The other kids scream, including the group that dismissed it earlier. The others quickly rush to help the kids get away from Scraps, before Valda comes in and kills it with her diamond sword.
Chapter 10
With that, the party was effectively over as police officers, public officials, and even Brant’s parents came over, demanding to know what happened. Someone tells Brant’s parents to ask Jeremy about it as he followed the zombie, and Jeremy’s mom asks as to what is going on. Jeremy attempts to explain as the others argue about if zombies actually exist or not, before he finally spits out that it was Brant’s pet zombie, explaining that he told everyone in class it was his and that he offered Jeremy to pet sit him during the party. Brant then steps out of the crowd, calling Jeremy a liar.