The villagers just looked at me…Confused.
I walked outside to meet Alex.
“That wasn’t a dream, Zombie.” She said. “You really did fall off the mountain.”
“What? Then how come I’m still in one piece?”
“Steve didn’t tell you?” She said.
“Tell me what?”
“Well, whenever Steve dies, he just reappears in his bed in the villager’s house.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. He dies all the time. And bam! He just appears in his bed.”
“Can you do it?” I asked Alex.
“Sure can. Except I try not to do it too much. I mean, it takes so much work trying to collect all my stuff again.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, when you die, you leave all your stuff.” She said. “Then you’ve got to retrace your steps to go find your stuff again. And if you don’t get there quick enough, somebody else takes your stuff.”
Wow. I thought. This is awesome. So I can die, and then just appear in my bed? This is a dream come true!
“Hey, I want to try dying.” I said.
“Really? Now?” Alex said.
“Yeah, let’s do it right now. Maybe you can hit me over the head. Or you can throw me off a cliff again. Or you can…”
Next thing, I hear, “Thwip!”
“That’ll work too.” I said as I clutched at the arrow in my head.
Next thing I know, I’m waking up in my bed.
“HA! This is awesome!”
I ran downstairs, past the villagers and the confused look on their face, and outside to see Alex.
“That’s a really cool trick.” I said.
“Yeah. It really comes in handy during our Death Match PVP tournaments.” She said. “Which reminds me. We need to start practicing for that. It’s coming up real soon.”
“Oooohhh! Now I get it. Death Match, because if anyone dies they wake up in their…Oooohhh!”
“Yeah, well its coming up soon. And we want to make sure we win.” Alex said.
“What do you win?”
“You win the right to be the King of the Mountain.” She said. “Which usually means you get a lot of respect at school. Me and Steve have won it for the past two years, and this year we’re going to make it three.”
Wow. Alex is intense, I thought. Kind of a little bit too intense for me.
“So get some rest.” Alex said. “Tomorrow we start training.”
Sunday
Alex came to my house bright and early this morning.
I’m actually starting to like the daytime. Just not the morning. I like sleeping in the morning.
“Wake up, sleepy head.” Alex said. “It’s time to start training.”
I got up and met her outside.
“Come on.” She said.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I’m taking you on the road to victory.” She said with a creepy look on her face.
When we get to the other side of the mountain, I could not believe my eyes…
“Whoa…” I said.
Alex had set up the biggest obstacle course I have ever seen.
“When did you set this up?” I asked her.
“I did it all last night while you were sleeping. This is the rig me and Steve practice on. We call it…The Gauntlet!”
“Whoa…” I said.
“I’m going to teach you all of the secret moves me and Steve use to win the PVP Hunger Games Death Match Tournament.” Alex said.
“Gulp…” Was all I could say.
“So, are you ready?”
“Ready…” I squeaked out.
“Well first thing you need to know is that your best weapons are your bow, sword and flint and steel.” She said. “ You want to get your opponents before they even come close to you. With a bow you can shoot them from far away. With the flint and steel, you can set them on fire as they chase you. Then you can use your sword to finish them off.”
“Whoa…” I said.
“Make sure you have a golden apple or some cake to replenish your energy.” She said. “But most important of all…Are you paying attention?”
I guess she didn’t like me picking my nose and eating boogers while she was talking.
“The most important tip of all…The mother of all tips…The one thing that will make sure that you dominate the PVP Hunger Games Death Match every time is…”
RIIINNNGGG!
“Hold on, Zombie, my Mom is calling.” She said.
I just stood there looking at the enormous Gauntlet thing that was standing in front of me.
What have I gotten myself into? I thought. I bet you I’m going to get killed like the first minute this PVP thing starts.
Maybe I should just get killed on purpose, that way I’ll just be in my bed and wait until it’s all over.
But man, if I do that, Alex will be by herself. And I know Steve would never ditch her like that.
Also, if we don’t win, that means I would’ve ruined Steve’s social life.
Wow, talk about pressure.
“Zombie, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. The baby sitter can’t make it so my Mom says I have to go home and watch my little brother.” She said.
“Sure…” At this point, I’m not even listening to her. I’m just thinking about the epic fail this whole tournament is going to be.
“Don’t worry, Zombie. We got this. You’ll do great.”
I try to smile as she walks away, but all I could do is give a smirk.
Then I realized, I probably have that confused look on my face don’t I?
Monday
Today all the kids at school were talking about the upcoming PVP Hunger Games Death Match Tournament.
They even had posters all around the school to remind everybody.
I heard some kids talking about how everybody is picking teams to be a part of.
They said that you survive longer if you are part of a team.
And if you’re not part of a team, then you usually get killed within the first few minutes of the game.
Wow, I’m glad I’m with Alex, I thought.
I ran into Eli at school, and I asked him if he was part of any teams.
“Naw, kids like me usually get killed in the first few minutes of the game.” He said. “But, I sure wish that I could be on a winning team for once.”
“Why don’t you join my team?” I asked Eli.
Eli was really psyched about that idea.
So was I.
Alex, not so much…
Tuesday
Me and Eli met Alex after school to start our training.
Alex pulled me to the side and started telling how really mad she was for inviting Eli to be part of our team.
“Zombie, how are we going to win if we have to drag Eli with us everywhere?” She said.
“Well, he’s never been part of a winning team, and I thought it would be great for him to feel like a winner for once.” I said.
I think Alex understood that I wasn’t just talking about Eli. But it would be a win for all of the kids in school that feel like losers.
“I guess it’s alright.” She said. “But this means that we have to train even harder.”
“Sure.” I said with hesitation.
“I’m just glad we have our secret weapon.” She said.
“What’s the secret weapon?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” She said. “First we need to focus on training. Remember, first we walk, then we run…”
The only thing I was thinking about running from is this PVP Tournament, I thought.
“Alex, I heard the kids at school talking about getting together in teams.” I said. “But, I thought there is only one winner at the end of the game.”
“Yeah, what they do is get together in teams to defeat all of the other players. Once they do that, then they either turn on each other, or they sacrifice themselves and let one of their teammates
win.”
“Whoa.” I said.
“And, were up against some tough teams this year too.” She said. “The two toughest teams are the Jocks, who are the strongest, and the Nerds who are the smartest. All the rest of the teams get annihilated in the first day of the Tournament. By the second day, there are only two teams left. Hopefully it will be us, and one of those other teams.”
“And that’s when we use our secret weapon.” She said.
“What secret weapon?!!” I said frantically.
“You’ll see.” She said…You’ll see.
Wednesday
Eli and I met with Alex after school again today so that we could train for the PVP Tournament.
She made us run through the Gauntlet over and over and over.
It was really tough.
But I really felt bad for Eli. I don’t think he’s ever run a day in his life.
Alex was turning really red. Redder than I’ve ever seen her before.
Whatever she ate must be really messing with her now.
I noticed she turned the most red when Eli ran the Gauntlet.
Maybe being around little fat kids makes her queasy.
Well, we stopped training when the sun started setting.
I walked Eli home…Actually I carried him home because he couldn’t really walk anymore.
When I got home I called Steve to see what he was up to.
“I’m just practicing my dance moves for the big Dance Party this Saturday.” He said.
“Are you guys really going to have a dance party? I asked.
“We sure are.” He said. “All the guys are getting ready too. I taught them some moves that I think will make them really shine.”
Whoa.
“Yeah. Skelee is going to do the Robot, and Slimey is practicing his Square Dancing.” He said
“What about Creepy?” I said.
“I think Creepy said he’s gonna do some break dancing.” Steve said.
I don’t know how I felt about that....
“Hey, Steve. I found out that the full moon is on Saturday.” I said. “So we need to be in the middle of the Swamp Biome by then. Then we can find the Swamp Witch so she can turn us back to normal.”
“Yeah, I can head out after the Dance Party and meet you over there.” Steve said.
“Sounds great.” I said.
“How’s it going preparing for the PVP Tournament?” Steve asked.
“It’s going great! We just picked up another teammate. His name is Eli. He’s actually your neighbor.”
“You mean the little fat kid that lives next door? Doesn’t he always get killed in the first few minutes of the tournament?”
“Yeah, but he’s really determined to win this year.” I said.
“OK, cool. Don’t forget to use our secret weapon for winning the tournament.” He said.
“What secret weapon?”
“Oh, it’s really good.” Steve said. “It’s what really helped us dominate all of the other teams the past few years. As long as you use the secret weapon, you can’t lose.”
“Well. What is it?!!!”
“Out of all the things you do, no matter what the situation, and no matter who you’re up against, you just have to, absolutely, make sure you…”
Click…
Oh Man, my phone died! Uuuurrrgghhh! Why does this keep happening?!!
Man, the same thing happened to me when I was in the SHA-WUR this morning!
I just have to make sure that the first thing I do tomorrow is ask Alex about the secret weapon Steve was talking about.
Otherwise we’re dead…
Thursday
Today I didn’t see Alex all day at school.
Me and Eli met up at the Gauntlet after school, but Alex wasn’t there either.
I tried calling her on my cellphone, but for some reason she didn’t answer.
But, then I noticed that I had a message on my phone.
I played it back and it was Alex leaving me a message.
I put it on speaker so that me and Eli could hear it together.
“Hey Zombie, it’s me Alex.
Well, I’ve got some bad news. It seems that my little brother caught the chicken pox, and now I have it too.
My Mom took me to the Doctor, and after checking me, he told my Mom that I have to stay out of school for the next few weeks. The Doctor says that I’m contagious and doesn’t want me to give it to everybody at school.
So, I’m really sorry, but this means I’m going to have to miss the PVP Tournament.
But don’t worry. Just remember what I’m about to tell you, and you and Eli will do just fine.
The single, most important thing you need to remember to win the tournament, no matter what situation you are in, and no matter who you’re up against – the most important thing you need to do is…”
Click…
Uuuurrrggghhh! It happened again! This phone is such a pain!
“Eli, can I use your phone to call Alex?”
“I don’t have a cellphone.” He said.
Oh, Man. Now we have no way of calling Alex or Steve, and the Tournament is tomorrow!
“So, what are we going to do?” Eli asked.
“I don’t know, Eli...”
At that moment I had to decide if I was going to quit, and let Steve, Alex and Eli down, or if I was going to stick it out and fight.
All I knew was that whatever I decided, it was going to determine the kind of person, Zombie or human, that I was going to be for the rest of my middle school life.
Man, this is just too much pressure for a twelve year old Zombie to handle…
Friday
Well, today I’m either going to have a big victory, or I’m going to wake up in my bed in utter shame.
I tried calling Eli in the morning to give him a pep talk, but my cellphone was totally dead.
Eli told me it was probably all of those calls that I made while I was in the SHA-WUR.
I just think Steve gave me a really bad phone.
So I finished getting ready and went to school to face my destiny.
At school they picked us in up in buses and took us to the field where we were going to have the tournament.
This is my last journal entry until I arrive at the battle field.
Will I make it till tomorrow? I don’t know.
But I decided that I would give it my best. If not for me, then for Steve and Alex and my new friend Eli.
And whether I win or lose, live or die, I will at least know that I was courageous enough to face whatever challenges my twelve year old life dished out to me.
Bring it!
Friday Night Entry
I can’t believe we survived the first day of the tournament!
I was sure that we would be annihilated in the first few minutes.
But there we were, with all of the other kids, waiting for the horn to blow.
Once it did, me and Eli ran as hard as we could to the first chest of items.
Lucky for us, there was a sword and a bow and arrow inside.
So, instead of collecting items, we just attacked every person that we saw.
Which was kind of hard because our eyes were closed most of the time.
Before I knew it, we collected so much supplies from the people we attacked that we had all of the supplies we needed to last throughout the game.
The Jocks were fiercely annihilating most of the other teams.
The Nerds were blowing up all of the main people they thought would be important in helping the other teams to win. Without leaders, all of the other kids scattered, which made it easy to pick them off.
Then Eli came up with the best idea ever.
“Hey Steve.” He said. “Since we have so many supplies, why don’t we just hide out until all of the other teams destroy each other. Then we can just come out and be ready for tomorrow.”
It was the smartest thing I ever heard.
So me and Eli just camped out on top of a rea
lly tall tree and we just waited till all of the other teams destroyed each other.
Every now and then someone would try to climb our tree, but Eli would just shoot them down with his bow and arrow.
At the end of the night, they announced all of the people that were left in the tournament. And the only ones left were me and Eli and two of the members of the Jock’s team.
We did it!
Now all we have to do is to get through tomorrow…
Saturday Morning
I don’t know how we did it, but we made it through to today.
Eli asked me a really strange question last night, and I was thinking about it all night.
“Hey Steve.” He said. “If we’re the last ones, doesn’t that mean one of us has to die if the other person is going to win?”
“I guess so.” I said. “I just never expected us to make it this far.”
“Yeah. I guess so too.” He said.
If we do win, I thought, I’m probably going to let Eli win. I know that’s what Steve would do.
Alex, not so much…
So, we’re going to climb down the tree now.
Who knows what’s waiting for us down there.
But no matter what happens, at least I’ll have a really good story to tell all my friends back home.
Saturday Night
Here I am, lying in my bed, just thinking about all that happened today.
I still can’t believe the way things turned out.
Who would’ve thought that after getting down from that tree, that things could’ve gone the way they did?
It’s almost like the Jocks knew what we were going to do before we did it.
Minecraft: Diary of a Minecraft Zombie Book 4: Zombie Swap (An Unofficial Minecraft Book) (Minecraft, Minecraft Books, Minecraft Books for Kids, Minecraft Diary, Minecraft Handbook, Herobrine) Page 4