Minecraft- Custom Map Adventure- Planetary Confinment #5- “The Hole”

We “finally” get our grappling hook put together thought we don’t really get to use it much.

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Tears of a Shade (intro and chapter 1)

Hey its been a really long time since I last posted anything. I “spider-web” pretty well and to be honest it is quite annoying. But anyway. I started working on a story over a year ago and thought I might share the intro and first chapter of it. Please let me know what you think. Is it interesting? Does it leave you wanting to read more. Is it horrible..LOL. Thank you!!

Tears Of A Shade
By
Jeremy Finch

Today was my last day working at the Alarm, if I continue on this course may my death come soon and may it be by my own hand rather than that of a Guardsman. It was the look on her face, the way her tiny hand wrapped around my index finger; it was the way she cried as I pushed the small needle into her arm, her hand turning white as she gripped me tighter. I asked if the other doctors would leave the room so that I might be alone with the child.
Once they left I picked her off of the cold steel table and held her, held her as if she was my baby, my daughter that I had lost to some terrible disease. I felt as the air left her body, her hand lost its grip and fell lifeless at her side. I kissed her tiny lips and begged for forgiveness, not only from her but from the countless infants and children that shared the same fate all due to my hands.
I placed her onto the cart with the others and put her small thumb onto the metallic plate, scanning her fingerprint; her small face came onto the screen and underneath her picture I typed the word “returned”. I scanned my I.D. badge for the last time and threw it into the garbage as I left the Sleeping Room.
I don’t know what will come of me once I leave this place; I have no knowledge of the outside world or the creatures that inhabit it, maybe I will live and maybe I will die. But I know that if I stay here I have already died and I refuse to leave this world surrounded by the Community and its members; I who once laughed with them, ate with them, am now disgusted by them. They are no more human than the digital dog that waits for me to come home; they are a lifeless shell, a mere shade of what a human was made to be.
If I do survive I will then forfeit the very air in my lungs so that others might be saved. And to those that might have the courage to follow in my footsteps may the destruction of the community come swiftly and without mercy.

From the journal of Abraham Shifton, June 6, 2155.

Chapter One:

Approx. 100 years later…

I sat at the small circular table, a cup of Flips fresh hot chocolate in one hand and a rat cheese sandwich in the other. The greasy bits of the sandwich made it hard to swallow but the sweet sting of the chocolate helped to take it down.
“Better eat up Thomas, we gots to go picking tonight.”
I looked to my left at the burly man next to me. “How can you eat this?” I asked.
“You kiddin, how can you not.” He said ripping the greasy sandwich from my hand and shoving it down his throat.
I thought I heard the splat as the fat sandwich hit the bottom of his stomach and the urge to vomit struck me and I turned to my side to find relief but only a mouthful of chocolate came up, which I spat on the dirt floor. I heard a few people laugh, which included Brickett the man who had taken away my disgusting sandwich.
“Hey you shouldn’t be wasting food like that, we gonna need all the energy we can get.”
I wiped my mouth with my sleeve. My sleeve, like the rest of my clothes, used to be a glowing white, kept that way by the washers, whose only job was to make sure that the attire of the community members was without blemish. But now the brilliant white was hidden, hidden behind two months of filth and grime, the sleeves torn due to tunnel making and what Brickett referred to as “picking”.
There were few times when I thought back to my life in the community and each time I missed the cordiality of it all. The slow pace, how anything and everything that I wanted could be put in my hands with only a single word, unlike here, where you have to give some amount of sweat and blood just in order to sit at a table, if only to choke down a barely edible meal.
“Still getting used to having to chew?” Brickett scoffed.
I smirked, but he was right. My jaw did get sore very easy from the necessity of chewing. In the community, meal time consisted of individuals going to their home food cabinet and picking out small ingestible capsules, each specific to the type of food that you were in the mood for, drinks were given through aerosol cans called “carbonates”. What I wouldn’t give for an orange carbonate, but I was grateful that Flips hot chocolate was not all that bad.
“So ya remember about tonight befer bed time?” Brickett asked.
“Remember what?” I said slurping Flips concoction.
“Befer we go to sleep ya gotta tell us more stories of you and the shades.”
“Not tonight Brick.” I knew that after an evening of picking I would be in no mood for idle chit chat concerning my days spent in the community. But I also knew that the words I spoke concerning my past held more weight to these people than they did to me. When I did speak, everyone listened, there were no whispers in the dark, no one ate and no one drank, they all just listened, listened as if my words were the difference between life and death for them. And maybe they were. As far as I knew the only person ever to leave the community besides myself was their founder, the late Abraham Shifton, an ex-doctor at the Alarm, a man highly esteemed amongst the Returns all the while a man deemed a traitor by the community; a man whose journal was regarded to be more precious than food or clean water.
“Why not?” Brickett whined.
It only took me a few short weeks after my arrival to understand that Brickett was a pretty simple minded man, he reminded me of a small child in many ways and if it wasn’t for his gargantuan size he could easily pass for one.
“I just don’t feel like it.” I said, not intending to offend him but as I saw Brick’s lower lip stick out I knew that I did. Brick, along with his younger brother Kingsley, were among the few Returns that actually treated me kindly. And making Brick pout didn’t sit very well with me.
“Alright, I’ll speak tonight.” I breathed.
Brickett than wrapped his massive right arm around my neck, an overbearing attempt of gratitude. “Thank you Thomas!”
“You’re welcome, but I can’t speak if I can’t breathe.” I tapped his forearm which was still snaked around my neck, signaling I needed more air.
“What are you gonna speak about?” He asked releasing his grip and went back to sipping his hot chocolate from a bent up, old carbonate can.
I scanned the dirt tunnels behind me, they branched out through the underground like an untouched river system, lit only by butter candles and the blue glow of the solern light sticks. The shaky tables that we sat at were used metal spools flipped right side up, objects gained from a night of picking years before my arrival. By the looks of them I knew that they once held the fabric that was used to make clothes for community members.
“I’m not sure, what do you want me to talk about?” I asked almost slurping the bottom out of my cup.
Brick thought a second and then replied. “I always wanted to know how they made the Copies.”
His answer surprised me, never in the few short months since my arrival had Brick ever asked me to talk about something as serious as Copies. Usually he wanted to know about the food or what community members did for fun.
“Why do you want to know that?” I asked.
“Well” he smashed the rest of my sandwich into his mouth, now speaking in unintelligible moans. “sumin- nee-ta-oh.”
“Excuse me?”
He swallowed hard. “Something I need to know.”
I offered a sheepish smile and knew that knowing how the process of copying worked was not only an interest of Brick’s but probably something the entire camp would want to know.
“We’ll see, ok?”
He smiled and brought his dishes along with mine to the washer, which was only a dug out hole in the wall opposite the side where we sat in the dining room, lined with a clear plastic bag to keep the water from seeping into the dirt and dark rock. Every Return was responsible for washing his or her own dishes, sometimes they would wash each other’s dishes as a sign of love and friendship so when Brick took mine, some of the other Returns saw it as a blatant disregard to the rules that were set in place when I arrived. No Return was to show me any special attention or any at all unless I was near death. An incidental occurrence of which I am sure Brick did not intend to produce.
My eyes found their glares and left them at once for the shiny surface of the table. Then I heard the siren, a loud almost car horn-like sound which came from small speakers placed throughout the tunnels. It was a signal to the people that were going to be involved in the activities tonight that they had five minutes to get ready and meet by the tunnel exit. The sound of shuffling feet and clanging tin dishes charged the air.
Brick gave me a slap on the shoulder “let’s go” I stood to my feet and followed him. We walked down the tunnel and made it to the center of Return camp, the supply room, a very large circle with a dozen tunnels leading off into different sections of the camp. Large grey metal cabinets lined the walls, blocking out any of the red dirt from view. Each had a label, medicine, snacks, cans and weapons. I have never seen the inside of the weapons cabinet nor did I want to. In the community the only weapons that were ever used were by the Guardsmen, a long silver rod with an illuminating blue center rod with one trigger down by the base, the shepherd’s crook but here the Returns called them scathes. I wondered if the cabinet held some of those but how would any of the Returns get them?
There were ten of us going tonight, Flip the cook, myself and Brick along with Bricks brother Kingsley, Sarah and Susan Jennings the health care advisors, Hector the unspoken leader of the Returns as well as his girlfriend Allure; both of which couldn’t stand the sight of me, Old Caster; a skinny straw of a man who came along more for moral support and encouragement then to do any kind of manual labor and lastly the weapons instructor and small children’s teacher Ecclester Fireson, Ecclest for short. Out of all the eyes of the Returns it was only hers that would directly meet mine; every time we passed I would catch her staring, not with contempt or hatred but with a deep sadness that I didn’t understand.
“Alright!” Hector called “Listen up.” His voice boomed around us, no question that it carried throughout the rest of the tunnels. As he spoke he flexed his muscles, rubbing the black marking on his left shoulder of a chain, something I was told was a tattoo, “We’re going up in the next few minutes and our main objective is to find more electronics. As you all know Old Caster…” Hector motioned to the wrinkled man. “…needs some things for an IV system he rigged to transfer fluids to the sick plus our radio is out so he needs some parts, so Castor if you would?” Hector motioned for Caster to come to the front.
Caster smiled and made his way through the small group to the front “basically” his voice was gruff “what I need to get that thing to work is some old batteries, double AA’s.”
“Old!” A voice bellowed, I looked and saw that the voice belonged to Allure, the apple of Hectors eye but the sliver in everyone else’s. Hector was over bearing and at times, I would say, nothing short of cruel but he held the respect of the camp and people listened to him. While Allure, his girlfriend since probably the beginning of time, used her boyfriend’s position as a stepping stool to raise herself above the others, was cruel at all times. “Don’t you mean ancient, we haven’t even seen any of those for years.”
“Now they are rare, that I do know,” Caster replied “but the Shades throw away things without even thinking about it. If we rummage long enough I know that we can find at least…a few”.
There was a commotion stirring through the group. “How many is a few?” Hector asked.
“I will need at least eight.”
People mocked and laughed at the impossibility of finding so many batteries. I laughed to myself for another reason, why would they go searching for useless batteries when they could easily find something far more practical. The community had long harnessed the power of solar and natural energy and used those to fuel the community and its buildings, batteries were completely obsolete.
“Well I know I’m not wasting my time.” Allure said scoffing Caster, folding her arms across her chest. Some nodded in agreement while others coaxed each other into believing that the job was not impossible.
Caster raised his eyebrows at Allure’s statement. “Well” he huffed “I’d like to hear a better idea from you then miss.” Allure stood there smugly, arms still crossed and not saying a word.
“I have an idea.” The four words came from my throat almost as if they were a reflex to his question. The Jennings sisters, Sarah and Susan, gave me an unexpected shove towards Caster and the front of the group. I looked back at them from over my shoulder; Sarah’s eyes pleaded me to step forward. I heard a laugh “C’mon what is he going to offer, he’s a Shade.” I didn’t have to look to know that it was Allure.
“Get up dere Thomas. C’mon.” Brick took my hand and pulled me to the front of the group. I stood there next to Old Caster feeling the fire of their gaze burn a hole through the center of my chest.
“Do you know where we can find those batteries?”
I looked at Caster, his eyes were bright blue and full of love and wisdom, strangely I felt comfortable with this man. “There are none.” I breathed.
A monotone groan swept through the crowd. “Told ya, filthy shade can’t do any good around here.” Allure said pointing a bony finger in my direction.
“Are you sure?” Caster asked, ignoring Allure’s prejudice.
“I’m sure.”
Caster let out a breath of defeat, put one hand onto his forehead and the other rubbing the back of his neck. “But I know where we can find something better.” I whispered to him.
His eyes lit up. “What? How?”
“Why should we listen to him?” This time it was Hector.
“Cuz he lived there before.” Brick said responding in my defense. “Did you ever live there Hector?” Hector offered no response. Brick shot me a smile. Despite that ninety-nine percent of the Returns hated the fact that I even existed let alone that I lived with them, it was nice to know I had someone in my corner.
“Tell me.” Caster insisted.
“Natural power” I stated. “The community is fueled by it, there are no batteries needed. Instead machines do the work and give us or them the energy that is needed.” I felt the need to separate myself from the community that I once belonged to.
“How could we do that though? Are these machines found close enough for us to pick em’? The old man asked intrigued by my words.
I eyed the crowd of eight in front of us; all eyes were wide and waiting for my words, not an unusual occurrence when I was asked to speak about my knowledge of the community. “No, they are in holding crates outside each building that saves the broken ones.”
“Saves?” Allure sneered. “I thought that the only thing your people knew how to do was throw things away.”
“Usually” I started “but the solern machines are too valuable to throw away so once they are labeled as broken they are repaired and replaced.”
“Too bad your people can’t treat human beings the same way; you throw them away like nothing.”
“Allure,” Caster snapped “that’s enough!”
“C’mon Caster think about it” Hector piped in “he said the containers are by the buildings, which means we would have to go into the city. Have you forgotten who lives in the city, guardsmen maybe, the entire community? Or have you forgotten what they will do when they find you? Have you all forgotten little Cadence?” The small crowd hung their head as whatever memory of the person who belonged to that name flashed in their minds; Hectors tone was harsh and thick, loud enough to make sure everyone in the tunnel system could hear him.
A puzzled expression filled mine and Hector took note of it “You want to hear what your kind can do Shade?”
I offered no response, knowing Hector would continue whether I wanted to hear what he had to say or not.
“They killed her; they ripped her apart and placed what was left of her on a pole at the entrance to their city. Don’t you all remember?!” He shouted. “They didn’t even try to change her. I mean why wouldn’t you kill an autistic three year old…right?”
I stood there confused, “What does ‘autistic” mean?” I asked sheepishly.
Hector took a step towards me, and I instinctively took a step back, but the metal cabinet behind me blocked any attempt at cowardice.
Hector breathed the words slowly and dug his index finger into my chest at every word. “It means…she…was…special.” It means she wasn’t what you would consider perfect and if she wasn’t perfect then she held no value right, isn’t that right, you filthy Shade.” Hector eyes filled with tears as he spoke and I couldn’t take the heat from his glare so I moved my eyes to the red dirt floor. He turned around and faced the small group. “Nothing is worth going into the city again and none of us are dumb enough to go.”
He returned to his original place in the group.
“I go!” Brick answered. “If it help people, I go.” He then stepped to the front and stood next to me.
“I stand corrected.” Hector bellowed.
Brick shouted to the small crowd “Who else gonna come?”
“Brick” I turned to face him “If I go I need to go by myself, I know you want to help but if they find you they won’t try to change you, they will kill you and copy you.” Then out of nowhere the name snapped into my mind, Cadence! The name shot through me like fiery bolt of lightning, I knew that little girl or rather I knew a story about her. I remembered a story that I had once heard while sitting in my class, finishing up the prerequisites before starting training for my work at the Alarm; the story of a little girl, deranged with sickness, who was trying to break into the community to steal our medicine. She had been killed by the Guardsmen and placed outside the city gates as a sign to all those who would ever dare to try and take away from the well-being of the Community. I remembered sitting in class thinking “Good for her. She deserved it.” As I saw the pain that streaked across the faces of the Returns at the memory of her, I felt like the only death that was deserved was my own. And I wished that if I was allowed to go tonight, a Guardsman would find me and grant me that wish.
Brick only smiled “no one can copy Brick, too good looking.” This made the crowd laugh and the muffled laughter brought me back to reality. Brick always had a way of making anyone smile, even at the cruelest of times.
“Are you sure that these solar machines can be fixed? We don’t have the kind of technology that the community does. I hardly have any tools.” Caster noted.
“I am sure. They are not really broken anyway just not in perfect eye condition, I am sure that most of them will work just fine already.” As I spoke I thought of the stupidity and obsession that the community held for the idea of perfection, the obsession that I once held. If something worked it didn’t matter if it wasn’t perfectly pleasing to the eye, the tiniest scratch would cause it to be thrown away. The solar machines that I spoke about, majority of them probably only had minor scratches and therefore unpleasing to the eye and therefore removed and replaced.
“Caster, you can’t be serious?” Hector chortled.
“Hector, just think, all that energy, energy that we can use to power anything, the IV’s, the radio, we are barely able to keep the solern lights going. This venture is something that I believe needs to happen.” Caster replied.
“And who else is gonna go on this venture? I am not gonna allow Brick to wonder off alone with a shade!” Hector hissed. “Are you old man?”
“I’ll go.” Caster said not even taking time to think about it. I looked at the old man to my left and saw a strength that I didn’t notice before, maybe it was hidden by the wrinkles or by the dirt corroding his skin due to years of life in the tunnels. But this man, this strength was something that strangely yearned to follow. The old man turned to me and did something I would have never imagined. He put his arm on my shoulder and winked at me with his left eye. His leathery face bunched together and every old line became visible as he smiled at me.
I stared back in utter bewilderment. What did he mean by that; a wink and a smile?
“I don’t mean to be rude and I don’t doubt you.” Sarah Jennings spoke up.
From what I had observed so far, the Jennings sisters were usually the quite ones, even more so than me. With the lack of medicine and sterilized equipment needed to perform surgeries, the Jennings sisters usually had more than their fair share of work in keeping the Returns in a somewhat healthy condition. “But how can you make it to the city, it must be 2 or 3 miles and you have hard times getting around in the tunnels?”
Caster smiled at the young woman “True,” he laughed “these knees are all but broken but they have one more journey in them.”
A silence fell over the small group as the realization that one of the elders, one of the most trusted Returns was willing not only to go on a journey with me, a shade, but possibly face the shepherds crook and therefore a certain death, Caster was far too old for the community to even think about copying.
A few moments of stillness slipped by and it could not have felt any more uncomfortable, Hector would not take his eyes off me but the silence was then shattered, shattered by a woman’s voice and two words.
“I’ll go.” She called and all turned to see Ecclest Fireson raise her hand and step forward. “I’ll go with them; you know that you won’t make it.” She said wrapping her thin but muscular arms around Caster. He then whispered something in her ear and I took note of the tension that all but froze her body. Still holding Caster she looked at me from the corner of her eye and a solitary tear escaped, which she quickly wiped away.
She let him go. “I’ll be fine and besides I got this big oaf to keep me safe.” She patted Brick on his cheek. It was hard to notice, since the color of Bricks skin was almost the same shade as midnight but I could see a pink hue slowly spread across his face.
“Okay then.” Caster said. “The rest of you head back to whatever it was you were doin, group pickin is cancelled for tonight.”
The small group began to shuffle out of the meeting area. “But Cas…” Hector started to protest but Caster simply held up a hand to him and Hector backed down and followed the rest back into the dining area.
We then spent the next few minutes going over details, I told them what to expect when we entered the city, how to not touch anything that looked blue. “Anything that is blue has the ability to scan your fingerprints and immediately alert the guardsman if an imperfection is found”. Bricks eyes widened and it looked like Ecclest was about to be sick.
As we were about to leave, the Jennings sisters came back and gave Brick and Ecclest a brief hug and kiss while I stood awkwardly by myself. Caster, who had stayed to hear our game plan, was the only one to wish me luck and thanked me for going, I told him it was the very least I could do. They had taken me in when I deserved to die a death at the hands of the guardsmen.
We then started to file out towards the exit of the tunnel with Ecclest in the lead when Hector came running up behind us, his shoulder throwing me into the hard dirt wall. “Here, you might need this.” He said handing something to Ecclest; it must have been some kind of weapon but the formation was foreign to me, as were most objects that were characterized as weaponry. It had a large silver ball on one end, about the size of a fist and on the end a long chain which was attached to a leather strap. I didn’t know what it was but I knew anything put into the hands of Ecclester Fireson, the weapons instructor, would easily be turned into an instrument of death.
We reached the exit, a giant corroded steel circle with bolted locks all around it except for a small section on the right side where the hinge was located. Ecclest began popping the locks one at a time. By the time she had reached the last one I felt the need to say something.
“Have you two ever seen a guardsman up close?”
“Nope” Brick answered.
I waited for Ecclest to give an answer but none was given. “Ecclester, have you ever seen one?”
She looked back at me with the same sadness that always engulfed her eyes when she saw me. “Only once,” She whispered. “…but you should probably tell Brick what they look like.”
Brick looked back at me and I started to explain to him the characteristics of a guardsman. “Their body is made out just like a man, two arms and two legs.”
“And that’s as close as they get to being a man.” Ecclest added now inching the giant steel circle open. The cool night air seeped in through the crack and the smell of fruit and cinnamon began to fill my lungs making tickling the inside of my nose. Sweet smells always filled the air; aromas were dispensed automatically into the air by sprayers attached to the tops of all the buildings and brought close to Return camp by the current of the wind.
Even though guardsmen and other community members would never come to the junkyard, besides the suicidal ones like me, Ecclest stepped out first and motioned for us with her hand to stay back and wait for her to return. With the sounds of crunching plastic and metal under her feet, Ecclest disappeared over a heap of disregarded already picked through, community goods.
“What next?” Brick prodded.
“Well” I started and was interrupted by the sight of the second moon slowly rising in the distant sky; a red circle engulfed by spotless white; it was like a lidless eye staring at us, as if the community itself was watching us. “They are bald…”
“Like me.” Brick smiled rubbing his shiny scalp.
“Yes just like you” and I felt the need to remind Brick that coming face to face with a guardsman was nothing to smile about. “Brick, please listen to me.”
Brick nodded.
“They are very tall with long silver spikes on the tips of their fingers, used to kill and also to take blood samples in order that a copy might be made, a shepherds crook is attached to their backs at all times.” I took note of the fear creeping onto Bricks face and thought it good. “Ecclest was right though, besides a few appendages there is nothing human about them. They are machines.” Bricks eyes widened. “Machines made to kill and copy, that’s it.” Brick then seemed to have lost interest, despite that I was getting to the climax of my description. He prodded dirt around on the ground, with his large finger making swirls and circles. “Brick you need to listen to me.”
“Okay, sorry.” He shook the dirt from his hands and once again gave me his full attention.
“They dress in long white robes and even though they have legs they don’t really need to use them.”
“How come?”
“Well their feet are made to hover and therefore can cover a large distance at great speed.” Brick nodded again. “Now Brick this is very important.” He inched closer to me and I could almost feel the heat of his breath on my face. “They are a watchdog; they’re like the Community’s alarm system. When their eyes come across a known Return or an unknown human, their eyes turn into glowing red lights and they scan you and get your information, their jaw opens to twice the average width and emits a screeching howl, a signal to the others that an imperfection has been found.”
Brick smiled. “I bet they can’t catch me. Brick too fast.” He said jokingly poking my chest.
“Brick it’s not a matter of speed, it is impossible to out run a Guardsman; they will not stop until they find you. Once their eyes scan you in, you become their obsession and they will not stop until they find you, kill you and take your blood back to the hospital.”
Brick then apologized for smiling having understood the seriousness of what I was trying to explain to him. But it was strange for me to explain to Brick what a guardsman was and to do it in such way that fear was the driving force. In the community guardsmen were a necessity of life and therefore highly respected. Every home had their own personal guardsman which followed them wherever they went.
We sat in silence for a few moments until Brick pulled something from a pocket in his ratty jeans. “Ya want some?” He asked. I looked down at the small brown morsel. “Where did you get that?”
“Flip gave it to me before I leave.”
He held the small brownie out to me, I tore off a piece and was about to put it in my mouth when an all too familiar and deadly howl filled the air.
“What’s that Thomas, is that them?” Brick asked scrambling from his kneeling position to his feet.
“Yes” I stood as well. My body flooded with heat and instantly began to sweat. “Wait here.” I said taking some cautious steps forward, weaving through the piles of trash, thinking it impossible for a guardsman to be this far out of city limits. I reached the large pile where only a few minutes ago Brick and I had seen Ecclest walk over; fearfully I inched up the decaying pile.
“Be careful!” Brick wailed and I put my finger to my lips. Brick put both hands over his mouth in response. I knew that if a guardsman had really come out this far, a yell from Brick would be all that was needed for them to find the entrance to the tunnels and I was not going to let that happen. My mind rushed to Ecclest.
My eyes leveled out over the top of the pile of debris and in the distance I saw the city. What looked like small glowing sticks only inches in height were actually giant skyscrapers and houses glowing from the light sensitive paint. Another howl echoed and I stood on top of the pile trying to find the source and then on the far left near the gate to enter the energy field which led to the city was a guardsman, his jaw open wide, eyes glowing red as it scanned in its victim.
I took off on a dead sprint towards the guardsman. It held Ecclest slightly above the ground, her limbs flailing trying to break its grip, its long silver spear-like fingers protruding from her back. As I got closer I could see a crimson pool forming at her feet. She was screaming and trying feverishly to knock away the hand of the ghost-like creature. I was within feet of reaching them when the Guardsman lifted its albino face to the sky and bellowed once more.