A Fault in the Code

Chapter 5

As I reach the exit of the cave, I feel liquid running down my skin in several places. Did I step in a puddle while I was in there? I look down at myself. It's not water.

It's blood.

I remember suddenly that I was just attacked by an army of zombies, skeletons, and tall things with purple eyes. But I don't seem to hurt as much as I would have expected. I seem to be in really bad condition, so I find a small pond and clean off my wounds.

I find a herd of sheep and it reminds me that I need to find some way to sleep. I know I will regret doing this, but I walk over to the sheep and kill two of them. From these two sheep, I am able to get three blocks of wool. I set out my workbench and build myself a bed with the wool and some of my wood. Somehow I am able to fit it in my backpack.

Deciding that I won't be entering another cave for a while, I start to walk around to try to find a nice spot to build my next temporary dirt house. I find a nice flat spot with bright green grass with a few red flowers growing here and there. On one side of the plain is a forest of oak, and on the other side is the mountain I just exited and the pond I just cleaned myself in. There are also some grazing cows about half a mile away. This is a beautiful spot, one which I might not find another of. I consider living here permanently, but then I think that this isn't really the time for considering permanant changes. Its only my second day here and I've already got tons of scratches and cuts, my stomach's growling like an animal so much I feel like it's about to grow claws and scratch its way out of me, and those monsters are probably gonna pour out of that cave opening as soon as a single trace of the sun going down shows.

So instead of thinking about living here permanently, I build up my dirt house and put my bed in the corner. I put my workbench in another corner and take out some of the stone I gathered. It sits in front of me, and I stare at it. I can't think straight. My hunger is overcoming me. I remember my mother told me when I was younger that a person can live without food for a couple weeks, but I am starting to doubt that. But for all I know, I could have been under that tree unconcious for longer than I thought I was.

I close my eyes and try to reach far in the back of my brain for what I am trying to figure out. Ah. Got it. I'm trying to build a furnace or something that can cook my raw pork for me. Speaking of which, it's probably rotten by now. I reach in my backpack and pull out the big hunka meat, and it's still in perfectly good condition. I wonder how that works.

I play around with the stone for a while, trying different combinations between the 9 crafting spots on the workbench and the pieces of cobble I have. Then an idea pops in my head, and I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I'll just arrange the cobble in a square without the middle piece. I do just that, and poof! Suddenly a furnace sits on the table, waiting for me to put some fuel and food in it to cook.

Fuel.

I forgot about fuel.

I frantically search my backpack for something I can use, dreading my decision to skip those coal ores I found back in the cave. My stomach fills with a sense of relief when I realize I can just use wood. I insert the wood into the little opening at the bottom of the furnace, and without needing to do anything to it at all, the wood starts burning. I wonder how that works. Then I put my pork chop into the top slit in the furnace and wait. After a while, the pork slides out of the furnace all by itself, but this time it's cooked.

I wasn't a real fan of meat back at home; I really hated animal cruelty and how they slaughtered innocent animals just to eat them. So I became a vegetarian. But boy, I have never been so happy to see a big ol' chunk of cooked meat in my hands before. I practically devour the whole thing, and strangely, after eating it, I can start to feel my wounds from the cave instantly heal. Many, many strange things go on here. It's hard to believe this is even real.

I see a tint of orange in the sky as the first trace of twilight is painted across the sky. I better get some sleep. I got absolutely zero last night, so I need to make up for it. Badly. All day my eyes have been droopy and my head's been cloudy. I lay down on my bed and close my eyes. But somehow I'm having trouble sleeping. It must be that man I keep seeing.

And that's when I hear it.

"Rocky."