One Bad Apple Page 5

  I don’t get it, I thought. First I mess up because my little brother. Now I mess up because of Rajit.

  Man, I can’t do anything right in this family!

  Maybe Blaze and the guys were right. Maybe parents are just a pain, and I need to get as far away from them as possible.

  I was so mad that after my first period class I cut class and hung out with Blaze and the guys for the rest of the day.

  School…

  Who needs it anyway?

  Tuesday

  “So, where is your homework, Zombie?” Ms. Bones asked me.

  I had a split second to decide what I was going to say.

  I could tell her the truth, and tell her I didn’t do it because I was goofing around with Blaze and the guys all day yesterday.

  But then I would get in trouble.

  I didn’t want to lie, because I remember all the trouble it got me in last time.

  “A wolf ate it,” Blaze blurted out.

  “Yeah, Ms. Bones. I saw it too,” Enderdude said.

  “His eyes were all bright red and he was growling,” Slimo said.

  “Scared me to death,” Creeps said.

  Then Ms. Bones looked at me, and asked me, “Is this true, Zombie?”

  “Uh huh,” was all that squeaked out of my mouth.

  “Then make sure you make up the homework tomorrow,” Ms. Bones said. “And try to stay away from those wolves, next time. They can be dangerous.”

  Wow, the guys came to my rescue. None of my other friends would ever do that.

  I looked over at Skelee, Creepy and Slimey and they just looked down like they were ashamed of what I did.

  Then I looked over at Blaze and the guys, and they all gave me a thumbs up.

  Hmmf! I don’t need Skelee, Slimey and Creepy, I thought.

  I’ve got some real friends now.

  Wednesday

  In the cafeteria today I overheard Blaze and the guys talking about something as I walked over to our table to eat my lunch.

  “Man, that’s going to be so boss!” Creeps said.

  “Blaze, if you do it you are the man!” Slimo said.

  “Yeah, Blaze. If you do that you’re going to be a legend, bro,” Enderdude said.

  “You guys are doing it too,” Blaze said. “Unless you guys are all chicken?”

  “No way, count us in!”

  It sounded like they were going to do something really cool… And I wanted to find out what, so I could get in on the action.

  “What are you guys talking about?” I asked them.

  “Blaze is crazy!” Creeps said.

  “Yeah, but crazy cool!” Slimo said.

  “What’s going on, Blaze?” I asked.

  “Well, you remember that day we went to the zoo?” Blaze asked me.

  “Yeah.”

  “And you remember the big 30 foot Wither that was behind the unbreakable glass cage?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you remember I told you that I was going to ride it one day?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, Friday, we’re doing it! Me and the guys are going to sneak in after the zoo is closed and ride the Wither!”

  “Whoa.”

  “And you’re coming too.”

  “What?”

  “Unless you’re chicken. You’re not chicken, are you Zack?”

  Blaze and all of the guys were staring at me to see what I was going to say. It felt like they could see right through me, and not because of the holes in my head.

  But I knew that if I chickened out, then I would go back to being the loser that I was, hanging out with my loser friends.

  “I’m in!” I said, before I could talk myself out of it.

  “Yeah! Zack, you’re cool, man!” all the guys said.

  “See I told you he wouldn’t chicken out,” Blaze said. “So hand over the money.”

  All the guys pulled out money and gave it to Blaze.

  “What’s the money for?” I asked them.

  “Well, all the guys bet that you were a real loser and would chicken out,” Blaze said. “But I knew you would do it cause you’re a real gangsta.”

  Wow, I knew it! Blaze is my friend. He really does believe in me.

  Man, it sure is good having a friend like Blaze who looks out for me like that.

  Wow. I’m so lucky.

  Thursday

  Oh man, I’m really scared about riding the Wither.

  You would think that I wouldn’t be scared since my uncle is a Wither.

  But my uncle is more like 1/3 Wither. He has sheep and rabbit in his blood so he’s actually kind of small and harmless.

  He still has three heads though, so he’s really great at parties.

  I started looking up some stuff online about the Wither that was at the Zoo.

  I found an interview with the Zoologist that was part of the team that captured the Wither.

  Reporter: Doctor please tell us a little about the Wither at the Minecraft Mob Zoo.

  Zoologist: The Wither at the Minecraft Mob Zoo is a rare breed of Wither that has not been seen since prehistoric times.

  Reporter: But where did it come from?

  Zoologist: We believe this Wither is from the Zurrasic period when giant mobs roamed the Minecraft Overworld.

  Reporter: Doctor, this is a big specimen. Do you expect it to get bigger?

  Zoologist: We believe that this Wither is only a baby, but we expect it to grow to over 100 feet in size in its lifetime.

  Reporter: So since it’s a baby, it’s safe then?

  Zoologist: Don’t get me wrong, just because it’s a baby doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. This Wither’s blast is exceptionally dangerous and has the ability to destroy large areas, including villages.

  In fact, this Wither destroyed 20 villages before we were able to subdue it, but only after the Zombie Military was called in to assist.

  Reporter: How are you able to keep it so calm at the Zoo?

  Zoologist: Most of the time we keep it lightly sedated through the use of soothing music in its cage. As long as nothing disturbs it from the very peaceful habitat we’ve created for it, it is relatively safe.

  But if it were to be agitated, it could very well break through its cage and destroy the entire town.

  “What are you reading, Zombie?” Rajit said as he walked in on me.

  “Nothing!” I said as I closed my laptop.

  “Were you looking at information about Withers?” Rajit asked. “Wild Withers are common where I am from. They are known to bring much destruction.”

  I really didn’t want to hear that.

  “I had an uncle that tried to ride a Wither once,” Rajit said. “He thought that if he could ride a Wither, he would become the greatest mob in my village.”

  “What happened to him?” I asked.

  “Well, I don’t think he thought it through,” he said with a sad look on his face. “You see, Shulkers don’t have hands so…”

  “Well, me and the guys are going to ride one tomorrow. And we’re going to become legends!”

  “Where are you going to ride a Wither?” Rajit asked.

  “They have one at the Zoo. We’re going to sneak in after it closes.”

  “Please don’t do it, Zombie. It is much too dangerous!”

  “Well, the guys I roll with eat danger for breakfast,” I said.

  “I cannot let you do this, Zombie!” Rajit said. “I must tell your mother and father.”

  “If you tell, my friends and I are going to mess you up. And that shell of yours is not going to protect you from us either.”

  As I walked away, I looked back and saw that Rajit had hid i
n his shell.

  What a chicken, I thought.

  As for me, tomorrow I’m gonna be a legend!

  Friday

  Me and the guys put bubble gum in the back door lock at the Zoo, so that we can get in after all of the Zoo keepers and security guards left.

  “Is it open?” Blaze asked me.

  “Yup. Easy money,” I said.

  As we all walked into the Zoo, we went over to the Wither exhibit. We got to the Wither cage and there it was sleeping in its glass cage.

  I looked over at Creeps, Slimo and Enderdude, and they all looked really scared.

  “Are we really going to ride the Wither?” Slimo asked. “I read on the zombienet that they’re really dangerous.”

  “Yeah, I heard that this one destroyed like 20 villages before they captured it,” Creeps said.

  “Oh man, I think I’m going to be sick,” Enderdude said.

  “You guys aren’t going to chicken out on me, are you?” Blaze asked.

  But the guys just stayed quiet and looked at the ground.

  “I’m ready!” I told Blaze.

  “That’s my man!” Blaze said. “Zack, I knew I could count on you.”

  All the other guys looked really ashamed as they looked at each other. Then, suddenly, they all ran away.

  “Where are you guys going?!!” Blaze yelled after them.

  Then Blaze started yelling curse words and going off in a rant.

  “Those guys are just like those chickens that left me at my old school. I had to burn down the school all by myself.”

  Wha..? Did he just say what I think he said?

  Then Blaze found the wall switch and turned on the lights.

  The Wither was still sleeping…that is until Blaze turned off the soft music.

  All of a sudden…

  HUGGHHHRROOWWWWLLLL!!!!

  Suddenly the Wither started shaking and making loud noises.

  “C’MON YOU DUMB MOB!!!!” Blaze yelled at the cage.

  And the more Blaze taunted the Wither, the more agitated it got.

  “Hey Blaze! Uh… You sure you should be doing that?” I asked him.

  “WHAT’S THE MATTER, LOSER?!!! YOU CHICKEN?!!! YOU GONNA RUN AWAY TOO?!!!

  Whoa. Something’s gotten into Blaze.

  “Uh… Blaze… You sure you thought this through?” I asked him. “I mean, you don’t have any hands and…”

  “SHUT UP, YOU @#$%?&!” Blaze said. “I KNOW WHAT I’M DOIN’!”

  Wow, something was definitely wrong with Blaze. It was like he had a death wish or something.

  Blaze just kept taunting the Wither until finally…

  BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!!

  The Wither shot multiple blasts at the cage.

  “HAHAHAHA! YOU CAN’T TOUCH ME! HAHAHAHA!”

  BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!!

  “HAHAHAHA!”

  BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!!

  “HAHAHAHA!”

  BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!!... CRIK.

  Oh boy.

  KAAABOOOOOOOOMMMM!

  All of a sudden, the Wither blew the glass cage apart.

  He was out!

  I ducked under one of the tables as I heard the Wither chasing Blaze around.

  HUGGHHHRROOWWWWLLLL!!!!

  “MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!” was all I heard.

  BOOOMMMM!!! BOOOMMMM!!!

  “AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

  BOOOMMMM!!!

  Then silence.

  Oh man. The Wither killed Blaze!

  But then I realized… I was next!

  HUGGHHHRROOWWWWLLLL!!!!

  BOOOMMMM!!!

  Suddenly the table that I was hiding under was blown away.

  And then I looked up, and there it was, the giant 30 foot Wither hovering over me.

  HUGGHHHRROOWWWWLLLL!!!!

  This was it. This was the end.

  In that split second my 13 year old life flashed in front of my eyes.

  I remembered when I first met Skelee, Slimey and Creepy when we were kids.

  I remembered the day Steve saved me from being stepped on by an Iron Golem.

  I remembered when Mutant saved me from getting my head knocked off by a Dodgeball.

  I remembered when a gang of misfit mobs from Cabin Zero won the Moblympics at Creepaway Camp.

  I remembered when my cousin piggy, Steve and my little brother Wesley helped me find my way to my 100th Zombie Family reunion.

  And I remembered fighting the Zombie Apocalypse side by side with the best friends any Zombie could ever have.

  Wow, for a Zombie with a pea brain, I sure do remember a lot.

  But then everything became crystal clear.

  Steve and the guys would never have put me in danger like this.

  Steve and the guys wouldn’t care how cool I was, or what clothes I wore, or what I looked like.

  Steve and the guys would never leave me alone when I needed them the most.

  And they would be my friends no matter how much of a loser I thought I was.

  Man, I wish they were here… Sniff… Because then I could tell them how sorry I was, and how much they really mean to me.

  HUGGHHHRROOWWWWLLLL!!!!

  Then the Wither hurled a giant Wither skull blast at me.

  This was it.

  As the Wither skull came closer, I knew it was the end.

  So I closed my eyes, and surrendered to my fate.

  BOOOMMMM!!!

  Wait a minute?

  As I opened my eyes, I realized that I was floating!

  The Wither kept hurling Wither skulls at me but I was floating away and dodging each blast.

  Then I saw the Wither turn its head and roar.

  I looked over, and saw Rajit, Steve, Skelee, Slimey, Creepy, and my Mom and Dad all throwing things, and yelling at the Wither.

  Suddenly I floated over to where they were.

  “How did you guys do that?” I asked, amazed.

  “It wasn’t us, it was Rajit!”

  “Rajit, how did you do that?”

  “We Shulkers can do a lot of interesting things,” Rajit said. “We are a lot cooler than we look.”

  Suddenly the Wither started blasting us with Wither skulls.

  “EVERYBODY MOVE!” Steve yelled.

  We all dove out of the way as the Wither kept sending blast after blast after us.

  We ran into the closet as the Wither spent the rest of the time destroying the Wither exhibit room.

  “We need to put him back to sleep,” I said. “We need to get over to the control panel and turn on the music.”

  “That’s on the other side of the room,” Skelee said. “The Wither will pick us off one by one before we even get close.”

  “Someone needs to distract him,” Steve said. “I’ll go.”

  “Steve, you can’t,” I said. “The Wither’s too powerful. You can’t punch your way out of this one.”

  All of us were just staring at each other. We all knew that whoever was going to be the distraction would probably never be coming back.

  “Hey, where’s Rajit?” Dad asked.

  We all turned around, and the closet door was slightly open.

  “Oh no…”

  We ran out and there was the Wither, sending blast after blast at Rajit’s shell.

  “His shell can’t take damage for very long,” Dad said. “If we’re going to go, we need to go now.”

  “Let’s do this,” Steve said.

  Skelee pulled out an arrow and got his bow ready.

  Steve had a sword and a pickaxe in each hand.

 
Slimey blew himself up to twice his normal size. He also covered himself in Slime blocks to deflect any blast.

  Mom, Dad and I hid behind Slimey, so we could make a dash for the control panel.

  And Creepy just hissed… So we left him in the closet.

  “Let’s go!”

  We all ran out as Steve and Skelee ran toward Rajit’s side to distract the Wither.

  Slimey made a great shield for Mom, Dad and me, and we slowly made our way closer and closer to the control panel.

  But somehow…the Wither saw us.

  He shot a giant Wither skull at us that would’ve stopped us in our tracks.

  Slimey tried to protect us, but he was blasted out of the way and hit the ceiling like wet toilet paper.

  Then the Wither sent another skull blast at Mom, Dad and me.

  But suddenly, Rajit peeked out of his shell and shot what looked like giant spit balls at us.

  Then right before the Wither blast hit us, we all started floating!

  Steve and Skelee took the opportunity to make a final attack on the Wither and distract him again.

  It was just the time we needed for Rajit to float us to the control panel safely.

  “Quick, turn on the music!” I said.

  Dad hit the controls for the music right when the Wither was about to blow Steve and Skelee to smithereens.

  Suddenly, the Wither stopped in his tracks.

  “It’s working!” I said as the Wither started slowing down.

  Rajit shot some more giant spit balls at the Wither, and got control of him. He then started rocking the Wither back and forth like a baby.

  Slimey put out some Slime blocks on the ground, and Rajit put the drowsy Wither down on the Slime block bed.

  Next thing you know, it was fast asleep.

  “Aww, he looks so cute,” my Mom said.

  “Really Mom?” I asked.

  “Whew! That was close,” Skelee said.