Minecraft: The Outsider/2CHP

Chapter 11

Jeremy does a double take as Brant says that he’d never seen Jeremy in his life. Jeremy comes to a boil as he shouts that Brant is lying, but Brant’s parents step in and believe that Jeremy is falsely accusing him. Jeremy continues to insist that Brant is lying, but the other kids start favoring Brant, before Valda says that she thinks that Jeremy is telling the truth, but Brant’s father dismisses her case as "circumstantial evidence". Valda’s mother then says that zombies are attacking their home, but Brant’s father dismisses it as a prank before he and his parents walk off, leaving Jeremy with an expression of guilt on his face.

Chapter 12

The next day, Jeremy sets up the dinner table with a wool tablecloth that is used for special occasions, as Jeremy’s parents invited Valda and her parents over to their place for dinner. All of the people that were injured from the "Before Times" experience were healed in the local hospital the night before, as doctors pumped them with potions of Healing. The good thing was that it was the first Saturday of City Week, and even then, Jeremy hoped that he would’ve had a better chance of clearing his name if someone in his class stood up for him. The food for dinner consists of cooked cod, cooked salmon, vegetables, fruit, and pumpkin pie for dessert. After a bit of waiting, Valda arrives, but with her allay, pet llama, and her tamed wolf Scraps instead of her parents. Jeremy’s mom and dad greet her, with the latter suggesting to Valda to take her pets in the backyard, but Valda refuses and sits down at the dinner table as her pets crowd around her. The father brings up the hostile mobs, and Valda says that she got her first crossbow when she was five to take care of any hostile mobs that came close to her home. Tobias then asks her if she travels much, and she says that she does sometimes, pointing out her allay, with is named Ally, they she found near a pillager outpost while she was exploring it. Valda then says that she got Scraps when it was little, feeding it some bones because it was hungry. Her pet llama is named Lloyd, and she tamed it by riding on its back a few times. Valda then asks about the fish, and Jeremy’s mother sheepishly admits that she bought it at the store. Jeremy’s dad says that they order their fish from a fish farm, and Valda gives the fish to Scraps to eat, much to Jeremy’s parents disgust. Carter and Erin consider getting pets, but the mother insists they both have to take responsibility for themselves before taking care of an animal. Valda then hands her carrots to Ally, causing it to pick up the remaining carrots from everyone else’s dinner and return them to her. She then tosses the carrots in a trash can just before a loud noise is heard by everyone.

Chapter 13

Jeremy’s mom complains about the loud noise, recognizing it as a fox that Jeremy attempted to shoo away earlier. She insists that he take care of it for good, but Valda decides to do so instead, walking out the front door. A few minutes later, she returns with a fox attached to a lead and sweet berries in her other hand. Jeremy asks her as to how she tamed it, and she says that she gave the fox some sweet berries that she had picked earlier. Jeremy’s father tries to steer the conversation back to why they invited Valda in the first place, and she says that it was because she saved Jeremy from the baby zombie. Jeremy’s mother then brings out the pumpkin pie for dessert, and Valda asks her if she made it. She sheepishly admits once more that she bought it at the store, and Valda refuses to eat it, asking if they know where their food comes from. Jeremy’s father admits that the food came from a farm, and Valda questions him about whose farm it was, declaring that the food could already be rotten. Valda then goes on with a graphic story about eating rotten flesh, and the mother suggests for her to go into the den until her parents arrive.

Chapter 14

In the den, Valda sits back and tell Jeremy’s family stores of her adventures, describing how she and her family fend for themselves, and the hostile mobs she attacks at night, ranging from husks and phantoms to pillagers and spiders, even mentioning that she killed a skeleton horseman with her own horse. Valda then lists off the animals she has as pets, including a horse, a car, a parrot, and a mooshroom, to name a few. Jeremy’s dad wonders if living outside The City is dangerous, and Valda says that it isn’t as long as nobody does anything stupid, and as long as they practice and bring good weapons to fend them off. Tobias asks if any hostile mobs appear in her home, and Valda says that it is a rare occurrence, but she hasn’t seen a creeper in years thanks to her cat. Erin asks Valda about what she does for fun, noting that she’d miss all her friends if she went outside The City, and Valda says that she wouldn’t trade her life for anything, adding that she knows how to take care of herself. Just then, Valda’s parents show up, apologizing about not showing up for dinner. Jeremy’s mom asks if the meeting at City Hall went well, and Valda’s dad said that it didn’t go great, as they are still trying to get to the right people for help. After discussing a bit about Valda’s love for animals and being fine living outside The City, Valda’s mom says that zombies are stealing their resources, with her dad adding that the zombies are chopping down trees and mining out the minerals in the caves. Jeremy’s mom asks them if their community thinks that people here can help, and Valda’s mom agrees, but some people in her community believe The City is an urban legend. The two groups of parents then talk privately with each other for a bit, before calling Jeremy and Valda into the room. Jeremy’s mom and dad then explain to him that he’ll be living with Valda and her family for a week.

Chapter 15

Valda immediately objects to the idea of Jeremy living with her, saying that he wouldn’t last a whole day outside The City, and Valda’s mom says that she’ll be teaching him more about her lifestyle, adding that he did save her life the other day, much to the surprise of Jeremy’s parents, but they still decide to let him live with Valda anyway, and he packs up a chest to take with him, thinking to himself that he should have never said anything to Brant, which in turn would keep Jeremy in the same life before this moment. The next morning, Jeremy and his parents and Valda and her parents head to the gates of The City, and the parents hope that the two will be best friends by the end of the week. Jeremy’s mom says that she’ll be working more oh her investigation for the newspaper, and soon, Jeremy’s parents leave. As Valda and her parents prepare to leave with Jeremy, a man from City Hall shouts at them as he runs up to them, saying that he needs to speak with Valda’s parents when he reaches them. Valda’s mom asks if City Hall believes them now about their zombie problem, and the man says that they have been getting some information, but would need to ask them some more questions. Valda’s parents then decide to stay in The City for a bit longer to talk to the people at City Hall, letting Valda know that she would still need to take Jeremy home with her. Valda begs with her parents not to, but they stand their ground, adding that she should update their neighbor’s about what is going on. Valda’s parents and the man then leave for City Hall, as Valda says to Jeremy that they’ll be on their own as she gives him a smirk.

Chapter 16

Jeremy says flat out that he doesn’t want to go outside The City with Valda, adding that it’s dangerous out there for him and her. Valda asks Jeremy if he knows about how dangerous it is if he had never been, adding that her home is less than a day’s walk away, knowing they’d reach it before dark. She adds that it’s more dangerous in The City during the day, noting the minecarts, and Jeremy scoffs that it’s those that don’t pay attention that could get killed by them. He then turns to leave, and Valda teases him about being miserable at home and not doing anything to change it. Jeremy turns back to her and snaps, saying that he did try to change it, and it got him into this mess. Valda then fires back, saying to Jeremy that he doesn’t want to step out of The City because he is scared, adding that the people in The City are cowards. She then says to Jeremy that he could prove Brant wrong if she and Jeremy come back with an actual zombie to put in Brant’s room, and he silently shakes his head in disapproval. Jeremy eventually gives in and decides to go with Valda. The gatekeeper presses a button, which opens the gate like a door. Jeremy takes a deep breath and steps through, gasping as he sees the world around him.

Chapter 17

Jeremy finally realizes that the Overworld is beautiful instead of terrifying like what he learned from reading about the Before Times, blinking and squinting to adjust the sunlight hitting his eyes. The sky is an expanse of blue with jagged white clouds, the grass is green and dotted with flowers, and Jeremy is struck by the sheer number of trees. He also notices water off in the distance, and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. Jeremy then sits down to take it all in for a bit, and he then starts to follow Valda to her house. However, he keeps getting distracted by every little thing he sees, like a cow or a chicken. The two eventually come to the top of a hill, and Jeremy gasps in horror at what he sees.

Chapter 18

Jeremy asks Valda as to what happened, and Valda explains that it’s the same stuff that’s been happening at her home, with zombies chopping down the trees and mining out the ores. Jeremy wonders if they could plant new things, and Valda says that they can’t plant on stone, adding that they need to get to the source of the problem if the zombies keep destroying the landscape. Jeremy considers getting some people from The City to help before he notices an oak tree with a beehive off in the distance, as if the zombies missed it, and jogs toward it. Jeremy then considers going back to get some flowers, but Valda says that the flowers won’t do any good, as the people in Valda’s community replant things with seeds. She adds that the bees in the beehive make honey from pollinating flowers, and if the flowers get taken away, it hurts the whole environment, adding that her community replants trees from the saplings that drop so the environment is not disturbed. Jeremy feels angry at the zombies for what they had done as he looks closely at the beehive, reaching out for it.

Chapter 19

Valda exclaims to Jeremy to not touch the hive, saying that it’ll make the bees angry at them and attack them. Jeremy thinks that the hive should be brought back to The City, but Valda quickly sets up a campfire to calm the bees and holds out some flowers, making the bees crowd around her, spawning a baby bee in the process. Jeremy, Valda, Ally, and the bees continue walking, with Jeremy asking about when the zombies started taking resources, and Valda says that they started doing so over the past year, watching them from her bedroom window. She then told the others, who didn’t believe her, so she had them stay up to watch outside for them, but they didn’t come, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that her neighbors started seeing the zombies taking resources as well. Jeremy considers having her mom look into it due to her background as an investigative reporter, but quickly tosses the thought to the side because of her not believing him regarding the zombie. Jeremy then runs off to the side, thinking he sees something, but Valda says for him to stop doing that as they are falling behind. Jeremy then quickens his pace so they both can make it to Valda’s house before dark. Valda then takes some salmon out of her chest and starts eating it noisily, offering some to Jeremy, and he takes a nibble to taste test before shoving the rest of it into his mouth. Valda then gives Scraps and her pet fox some cod, and Lloyd some hay, before exclaiming that she is all out of food. Jeremy then spots some scraggly trees in the distance, with Valda noting that only some stuff is missing from here on out. Jeremy thinks back to having all of the resources he needed in The City, realizing that the mobs out here are dealing with nothing to fend for themselves. Jeremy then asks Valda as to how much longer it’ll take to get to her home, and she says that it’ll be around an hour, noting that the sun will set in less than an hour. She adds that because of him running around and being distracted by animals, that they would be attacked by hostile mobs.

Chapter 20

Jeremy takes off running, hoping that it wasn’t too late for him to reach Valda’s home before the sun dips below the horizon, but he soon notices that Valda isn’t running, and she says that she isn’t because she would be exhausted. She then gives him a stone sword to fend off hostile mobs just as the sun sets below the horizon, and the moon rises above the horizon. There were no hostile mobs in sight, but they soon approach a tree, stepping on opposite sides. Jeremy notices a skeleton adorned with gold armor, and the skeleton sees him, raising its bow.