Minecraft: The Marvelous Adventures of Steve: The Invasion Trilogy

Cave-in

He helped Sam up on one foot. They limped inside, stumbling a few times.

"The garden water pools I made are cool enough to bring the swelling down. Only takes a few minutes."

Steve helped Sam get to the single block of water. The wheat cushioned his bottom like carpet. He dipped his foot into the water. He exhaled at the quick change in his ankle. The pain was going away.

"Just for a few minutes," Steve said.

"Thanks."

Sam welcomed a short break from working, but he had anxious energy when he wasn't. He observed their work so far. It was coming along quickly. It helped to have someone else around that knew how to build. The wall was looking just like he pictured. It was nice and strong. This just might work, he thought.

His foot stopped hurting completely after only a few minutes like Steve said. He got up and went to the back of the house. Using the old iron pickax, he mined out the back doorway. When that was finished, he went back to the front to find Steve finishing the fourth row. He climbed down the ladder and wiped the sweat collecting on his eyebrows.

"Good work," Sam said.

"Yeah. See? Much faster than just one person. How about the top?"

"Two blocks wide," Sam said. "Every other block has a half slab to duck down and hide behind. It makes shooting arrows easier with less of a chance to get hit."

"Cool. What holds the platform in place?"

"Fence posts. Place them under the platform onto the wall for every three blocks. Do you have any wood?"

"I collected some yesterday, but I'm not sure if there's enough. Here, take my ax."

Steve handed Sam his iron ax.

"There should be plenty of trees," Steve said. "I plant them just over there."

Steve pointed to the small forest he had made.

"I'll be back, then," Sam said.

Steve went inside and crafted as many wooden fences as he could. There wasn't much. He was glad someone else was chopping trees for him. He was even more glad to be building something with someone else instead of on his own. It was more fun that way.

Sam splashed some of the cool water on his face. He looked at the ax Steve gave him. It was sturdy, probably recently forged. He threw it over his shoulder and walked to the forest. By instinct, he chopped down trees that didn't have any apples on them. For every tree he chopped down, he placed a sapling to grow in its place again. It was a common practice to prevent deforestation in the world. If they had to chop down apple-bearing trees, then situations would get dire.

He saw some spots where Steve forgot to replant yesterday. He started filling them in when he suddenly had an idea. He ran back to Steve with the oak wood and told him his idea. He could already see it in his visual blueprints.

"We surround the base with trees but from a distance. The trees will grow close enough together to make it hard for the mobs to get through. We can pick them off easily that way."

"Hey, that's a great idea," Steve said. "Do we have enough saplings?"

"I just checked. There's stacks on stacks of saplings in the chest."

"Then let's do it. You've got them? Start planting. I'll keep up with the fences."

"Here's some wood," Sam said. "Holler at me if you need more."

Sam gave Steve more supplies and began planting his trees. He had a visual of how he wanted them to grow, weaving a path between each one. The mobs won't know they are man-made because they grow naturally in the wild. The creepers won't try to explode them like they did at the village. Sam had a moment of memory with an audible, distant scream that he tried to push away.