Chapter 6: The Hunt Begins

Jack and Michael adventure out to get some food, while Ami watches the house with...amusing results.

(Picture found on Pinterest)

        Jack woke up, staring at a wooden ceiling. It took a minute before his mind registered where he was. Right, he told himself. Home. Or, Michael's home, anyway. He supposed that it was his home now. He heaved a sigh, pressing his arm against his eyes and blocked out the light. He wondered if he would ever see his own room again. Then again, he could hardly recall what it looked like in the first place. Did he have an ocean bedspread or a space one? Were there stars on his ceiling? What was in his closet? A Boogeyman? His body stiffened. He was a stranger to himself.

        Jack lifted his arm and stared at the wooden ceiling. The oak planks creaked and seemed to lean down from above. He recalled that there was some sort of structure atop of them. Why Michael would build something huge on the roof of where they slept was concerning, but Jack thought he should at least give Michael some credit. The roof hadn't completely fallen in yet. He stared at the roof for a good, long moment, then quickly knocking on the wall next to him. Just to be safe. 

He lifted himself into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The rough tapping of footsteps neared and Jack knew there was only one set of feet those clunky horse trots could belong to.

        "Hey, I was just going to wake you up. Uh, you might want to get ready; we need to get going soon if we plan on eating tonight." Michael patted a rhythm on the wall before continuing. "Breakfast is in five." He left with his thundering feet. Jack revisited a memory that reminded him that Michael had at least a couple chests filled with food to last them months. He sighed and stretched, rolling off the bed and standing.

        Scratching his hip, he opened his chest alongside the wall labeled 'Jack' (Michael insisted they each had their own) and took out his regular supplies. Strapped to his waist was his iron sword, which had a couple chips, and in his inventory a sturdy iron pickax that gleamed in the morning light, and, of course, one of several cakes he kept stashed inside. For emergencies he tucked away a steel ax. It wasn't the greatest assortment, but it was miles better than what Ami stocked up on. The purpose of 64 signs would knowingly continue to evade him for months on end. Jack cracked his neck and strut down the hallway with a mighty yawn overtaking him.

---

        However, upon walking into the kitchen, an unexpected slab of meat hit him squarely in the face, followed by an easily distinguishable laugh that came from the table. Ami slapped her stub against the table, laughing maniacally.

        "I didn't think...that would actually work," she snorted. Jack cocked a grin and shrugged, nibbling on the end of the meat, the juice of the steak squeezing into his taste buds. "Steak for breakfast? We're really letting ourselves go." The steak fell, now dangling from his mouth like a dog's. Ami went into another fit of giggles, wiping her eyes, while Michael bustled in from the kitchen with a large stack of steaks that reached far above his stature. Surely, they were destined to come crashing down to the floor, but they remained impossibly rigid. 

        "Stash!" Michael wheezed, disappearing into the chest room across from the kitchen. Jack got the hint. 

        "But, anyway, while you guys are out hunting, I'll be counting supplies and generally just chilling out." Ami guzzled a glass of a pastel liquid, letting out a refreshing 'Ahh!' as she finished. 

        "Why do you get to relax with your purple lemonade?" Jack rested his chin on his stub. 

        "Okay, first off it's not lemonade, it's a potion for defense. Or something." Ami puzzled. 

        "Or something," Jack repeated, eyebrow raised. 

        "Well, I'll be safe and you guys can get squashed by pigs."

        "I appreciate the concern." Jack finished off the last bite of his juicy steak just as Michael walked back into their midst, dusting off his hands and wiping them on his pants. 

        "Bleh," he shook the remaining steak juices off. "Ready to go?" 

        "You bet." Jack grinned, getting to his feet and cracking his neck.    

      Well, they were going to head out until Michael felt it necessary to bring Ami up to speed of how everything in the chests worked.

       "So don't put the meat in with the vegetables, or ores with stone, or-" 

        "Michael! I got it! Just go, I think I'm competent enough to organize some chests." Ami exasperated. 

        "Okay, but are you sure-" 

        "I freaking got it. Now go and kill some things, or whatever." She pushed Michael towards the door. 

        "Stay safe." Jack smiled. Ami smirked. "Safe and sound like a bug in a rug."

        It wasn't very reassuring. 

---

        And so, Jack and Michael set off to restore the food supply. Or, more accurately, inflate it far past reason. Jack took one look behind him at the house, which was already fading from view. He know he shouldn't be worried, but couldn't help but feel as such. What if a creeper blew a hole into the wall? Or one of those skeletons sneaked up on Ami as she was poured over a chest, blinded to the drawn bow behind her? As if sensing his thoughts, Michael put a stub on Jack's shoulder. 

        "She'll be fine, " he assured. "I hope so, anyway. She's more a danger to herself, you know." Jack gave a nod and a weak smile, quickening his pace to keep up as the house finally faded into the dust. He furrowed his brow, thoughts racing through his head. She'll be fine. That was one of the biggest cliche's he knew of. Well, that and "It couldn't get any worse." Hopefully those words were never uttered from his lips. Or anyone around him. Jack made a mental note to knock on wood once they got back home.

        He knew that it was almost impossible Ami would run into any trouble. She was in the house, after all. Maybe it was just the world they were in. Monsters, unreal sights, a fatal loss of physics. Well, that's what Ami had told him on their first night together. He had yet to see any loss of physics, however. Besides the block factor of the world, nothing huge and giant seemed to be floating in the air. 

        "Stop," Michael held out his arm, catching Jack off-guard. 

        "What?" Jack rubbed his ribs. Michael gestured ahead, to where a herd of sheep were grazing. "Ready? We charge on three." 

Jack blinked in confusion. "What happened to planning everything out?"

        "THREE!" Michael shouted, running blindly at the sheep, completely out of character. Jack simply stared as he ran right up to the sheep, who stared cross-eyed at him and remained stationary, and swiftly slashed at it with his sword. Instantly, the sheep fell over and disappeared in a small cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated into nothing but a block of white wool and meat. Michael nonchalantly grabbed the supplies, glancing back at Jack.    

        "Coming?" he grinned, twirling his sword in his stub. Shrugging, and vaguely realizing why Michael didn't want Ami to come along, Jack joined the party, slashing at a black sheep that didn't make an effort to resist. 

---

        Soon, Jack and Michael had their pockets full of mutton, steak, pork, and a couple chickens. The sun was starting to set, and Jack felt his eyes starting to droop. His stomach growled at the thought of the food that awaited them back at home. 

        "So," Michael started. "What do you think?" 

        "About what?" Jack laughed. "The way everything explodes after they die or the fact that none of them tried to defend themselves?" Michael guffawed. "Not exactly what I meant," he scratched his head, frowning. "This world. Though I guess it was a little harsh of me to expect you to read my mind."

        Jack averted his eyes to the ground. "Well," he said. "It's...different. Excluding the entire everything-is-a-block thing and the monsters that could probably kill us, it seems fairly peaceful here." 

        "Guess so," Michael sighed. "I've played a game like this before. In the real world. It could be a little far-fetched, but...I honestly think this is an exact replica of it, just with us as the players." 

Jack stared at Michael. "That came out of left field."

Michael laughed again. "See why I wanted it to just be us? One person at a time, I think. Let me explain. The game is called Minecraft. Essentially, it's just like this. Monsters come out in the night, everything dies in a poofy cloud...it's a perfect replica. I'm almost wondering if we are in a game. 

        "Can you prove it?" Jack questioned. Michael snorted. "No. Of course not. I'm mainly theorizing here, but I do think I have substantial evidence." 

Jack motioned for him to go on. Michael cleared his throat. "I've been here long enough to do some experiments. To test things, as it were. I've tried everything to test how this world works, multiple times at that. Every single time the result is the same. Every time. Like it's all just a code. Input to output, if A happens, proceed to B. The world - reality - doesn't do that. Do you have any memories of before this?"

Jack scratched his head. "The bookstore. My soccer team, but I can't remember faces."

"But you remember how the world works. Ie, if I drop a rock, it will fall to the ground."

"Of course," Jack said. "Is it really that different here?" Michael's eyes clouded over. 

"It depends. If I release a stone from my inventory, it falls and twirls in a miniature form of itself. I can pick it up without having to break it again. But, if I place it on top of another stone and break the bottom stone, it stays where it is. Furthermore, if I leave the miniature stone for long enough it will inexplicably disappear. Blocks of stone don't normally do that, do they?"

"I guess not," Jack puzzled. "But...how do you know it's a game?"

"What other option is there?" Michael stopped, standing before Jack. Jack stared at the ground. Suddenly, a light switch clicked on in his brain. "Alternate reality," he breathed. 

"What?"

"How do we know this isn't an alternate reality?" Jack repeated. Michael's face slowly drooped. "I...I don't know," he croaked. "Which do you think is more likely? 

"50-50," Jack shrugged. Michael rolled his eyes and walked ahead of him. "Fair point," he said. "But say that we are in a game. If it's anything like the game I remember, it's...concerning."

"Living in a video game will do that," Jack smirked to himself. Michael ignored him and continued, "I just hope we aren't in Hardcore mode."

        "Hardcore mode," Jack stated, looking at him.

        "Hardcore mode." Michael began walking again, a little more brisk than before. "Think of it like Mario. Please tell me you know about Mario."

        "Who doesn't know about Mario?" Jack chuckled, keeping pace.

        "Well, Mario can have unlimited lives, right? All the continues, one-man's -"

        "One-man's?" Jack raised an eyebrow. Michael sighed deeply. "For Christ's sake, Jack! Extra lives! 1-Ups, whatever you want to call them. The point is that endless lives is what 'survival mode' would be. But hardcore means that you only get one shot. Just one. You're climbing a mountain and suddenly your foot slips - kersplat - that's it." He motioned wildly with his hands. He continued on quietly. "You can't come back to the same world; you leave everyone you know, everything that once was you is just...lost." He had stopped walking again.

        "Michael?" Jack nudged him. "You okay?"

        "I..." He cleared his throat. "Fine. Let's just say I have enough evidence to suggest we're in hardcore mode, if we're even in a game in the first place." Jack went silent. He gave Michael a reassuring pat on the back. Michael had seemed to ignore this, staring blankly ahead.

        "Hey, we can walk a bit longer if you want." Jack offered.

        "What." Michael pointed ahead. "the absolute frick - is that?" Jack hesitated before slowly turning his head, a strangely familiar feeling of dread rising through his gut. Amazingly, an incredible column of lava surrounded by a thin glass encasing seemed to be erupting from the middle of the house. The wood had yet to catch on fire, which Jack could only assume was miraculously lucky. He took a long breath before looking at Michael, whom had taken on a look between that of severe depression and nearing psycopathy.

        "I'll really do it this time," Michael said with a shaky laugh. "I'll kill her."

---

        "Ami, you had one goddam job." Michael stressed, glaring at an Ami that seemed rather proud of herself. 

        "You know, it was seriously dark in here." Ami pondered. Michael looked at her desperately. She went on, "When I was counting all of the stuff I happened to notice some stone and a bit of lava and some convenient glass. Then I got this crazy idea! And I gotta say, it is very bright in here now." Jack gazed at the bright column of fire, held away from them by a simple glass covering. The wooden ceiling was thankfully protected by an outline of stone, which prevented the house from actually burning down. Er, for now, at least.

        "Idiot!" Michael violently hit his head against the wall. "How did this ever come across as a good idea?!"

        "I don't see what the problem is." Ami shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I did this place a favour."

Michael groaned and rubbed his temples. "Just...take it down, please, and I can forget this ever happened." A devilish grin spread on Ami's face. She tapped her chin mischievously. "Oh, I would, Michael, don't get me wrong. But, if I did that the lava would surely spill through the house...we'd lose the house, maybe even our lives if we got caught up in it."

        "Just use a bucket."

        "And chance that I might fall in or accidentally spill? Oh, Michael, that's just so dangerous." Michael glared at her with a pale expression. "You -"

        "Me." Ami smiled, batting her eyelashes. Michael looked at Jack. "Come on, man. You're siding on this with me, right?" Jack could barely stifle a laugh. 

Michael sank to the floor and groaned. "You're so on her side." Something seemed to have died within him. Eventually, Michael let out a heavy sigh and said, "Fine. You're lucky that I'm too tired to care anymore at this point. Just don't plan any more...constructions."

        "Done!" Ami bounced happily. "With that settled, I think it's time for food!" 

        "You cooked?" Jack suspiciously raised an eyebrow.

        "Technically I baked," Ami said. "A cake." She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Jack grinned and ruffled her hair. "I'm down. You should show me that constellation you were talking about. The, uh, one that kind of looks like a T-Rex?"

        "Aquarius?" Ami breathed a laugh. 

        "Yeah, that one."

        "First off, it's not a T-Rex..." Her words faded into the air as the sun neared the edge of the hillside. Michael remained where he was, as though a demon had infested his mind. Jack and Ami talked, ate and nudged slices of cake towards Michael, who was still in his dead state, and stared up at the starry skies as the night went on; time passed seamlessly between the two.

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(And that's another chapter done. I'm really enjoying how these rewrites are turning out - foreshadowing is my best friend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )