We were all hiding inside the hole, waiting to see what was about to happen. At first, it was completely silent. Nothing was happening, and it seemed like another one of General Bart’s pranks.
“I told you guys, he was tricking us, again. I swear I’m biting his hand after this one.” Tom said.
“Guys, what the heck is going on? Why did you all jump over me? What happened out there?” Paul was still confused.
“Sorry Paul, General Bart told us all to hide, and he seemed deeply anxious. We had nowhere to run, so we dove right into the hole.” Nora explained.
“General Bart told you to hide? Does it mean…”
“Yeah, we don’t know what it means.” Tom replied. “It could be anything; wild Hoglins, more Magma Cubes, or just a prank again!”
“Calm down. Let’s wait down here for a little longer, and then I’ll go out to check what is going on.” I replied.
“Good idea. Stay here, everyone.” Paul replied.
We waited for a few more minutes. The hole wasn’t too deep, but the sound of lava flowing around the river was more than enough to cancel out all the noise from the outside. It was almost impossible to hear anything from above the ground.
“Well, it has been a few minutes by now… I think.” I replied.
“Okay, I believe it might be safe. You can take a peek now, Morgan.” Paul told me.
I was at the top, right over Tom, and I only had to reach up to peek out of the hole. At first, I did not see anything. General Bart, the 15th infantry, no one was there. There weren’t any signs of monsters, either.
“Guys… I think it’s clear. There is nothing out there. I cannot see anyone.” I replied.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Paul asked me. “This is strange. Where is General Bart and the others?”
“I have no idea. I cannot see anyone.” I replied.
“Okay, I guess we can come out of the hole.” Paul replied.
I was the first to jump out. I helped Tom and Nora climb out as well. Paul was the last one to climb out with the Copper block in hand, covered in the black tarp. He placed the block on the ground.
“Alright, we got the Copper and we are ready to move out. But where are they now?” Paul wondered.
“I bet they are playing hide and seek with us.” Tom said. “I knew it. General Bart was in it for the joke.”
“Wait… I think I can hear something. Did you guys hear that?” I asked them.
“No. Not a thing.” Nora replied.
“Me either. Are you sure you aren’t hearing something else?” Paul asked.
“No… Wait. I think I can hear it…”
It was a faint sound, but I could hear some voices. They were far away, and they sounded hysterical.
“Where is the noise coming from?” Paul asked.
I pointed to the left, and we saw someone running from that direction. It was General Bart! He was running alone, coming towards us.
“General Bart, what happened? What are you doing?” I asked him.
General Bart started waving both of his arms frantically, while running in our direction.
“Hide… Hide!” He screamed, almost running out of breath.
“What is wrong? What are you running from?” Tom asked.
The ground started shaking. An earthquake? Soon, we saw a stampede of wild Hoglins coming after General Bart.
“The wild Hoglins are back, and they seem angrier and bigger this time!” I said.
“Hide!” General Bart was approaching us, but where could we all hide?
“Paul, you need to dig a deeper hole! It’s the only place where we can all hide!” I said.
“You are right. Let me get to it!” Paul jumped in, pickaxe in hand, and started mining out the Netherrack, going even deeper. In the meantime, I asked Tom and Nora to help me with something.
“Quick, help me put the Copper Block on my back! If we leave it out here, the Hoglins are going to stomp it!”
“Help me pick it up here, Nora!” Tom asked.
“Okay!” Nora replied.
They managed to put the Copper block on my back. Paul was almost done, but we had no time to lose.
“Tom, Nora, get in! I’ll help General Bart!” I replied.
“Okay, see you down there!” Tom said, jumping in first. Nora went right after him. Paul had already finished digging. General Bart was 20 meters away now, and the feral radioactive Hoglins were catching up to him. General Bart was almost running out of breath, and he was visibly tired. “Keep up General, almost there! Come with me, we’ll jump into this hole!”
General Bart did not have any energy left, and he staggered his final steps before finally succumbing into the hole. I jumped right in, and Paul closed the entrance with Netherrack blocks. Soon, we could hear the massive stampede over our heads. With a mere second to spare, we escaped the wild Hoglin pack!
“Now that was a close call if I ever saw one,” Tom said.
“Well done, guys. We made it!” Nora said.
“What about General Bart? Is he alright?” I asked.
“He fainted, but he is fine. I think he collapsed due to tiredness. He should be back in a few minutes; we need to let him rest for a bit.” Paul replied.
“I wonder where the remaining soldiers of the 15th infantry are right now. I hope they are in a safe spot.” I replied.
“We can only hope for the time being. Once General Bart wakes up, we’ll know more from him.” Paul replied.
General Bart fainted after escaping from the wild Hoglin pack, and the 15th infantry was missing! Where had they gone?
We were stuck in a hole while a wild pack of radioactive Hoglins roamed the ground above us. There was no way out, and we had to wait for General Bart’s to gain consciousness before making it out of the area.
“Come on now General Bart, wake up already. It’s been over 15 minutes now.” Tom complained, trying to wake him up. But General Bart was out, and nothing we did could wake him.
“I suppose we have nothing better to do other than wait.” I said.
“Can’t we dig out of this place with Paul’s pickaxe?” Nora wondered.
“We can’t. This hole was built right in the middle of the lava river. If I dig out to any side, lava will flow into the hole, and well… you know the rest.”
“Not only that, but it’s not regular lava! It’s radioactive lava.” I replied. “We might have retrieved the Copper Block already, but the radiation is still there. I have a feeling this place will have to be quarantined for a long, long time.”
“Once we get rid of the radioactive creatures then we can also enclose this area and make sure no one gets closer.” Paul replied.
“Wait. What did you say? Get rid of the Hoglins? How are we supposed to do that? We are stuck in this hole with a general that has passed out and we don’t know where the rest of his army is. We cannot fight the Hoglins by ourselves.”
“But we cannot let them freely roam in the wild, either. These are radioactive creatures we are talking about. We have to do something. Besides, we are partially to blame for this. We shouldn’t have dropped the block into lava.”
“Yeah, but what’s done is done. We cannot change the past either. We also cannot risk ourselves and get destroyed by the Hoglins. Or even worse, what if we get infected? We cannot respawn freely like you humans.” Tom replied.
“It’s not like I don’t care about this. Remember those two miners who touched the radioactive block? They are still at the hospital. Do you know what that means?”
“I don’t know what you are trying to get.” Tom said.
“Those two workers are bond to a hospital bed. They cannot leave because they are radioactive. They cannot simply respawn again in the Overworld because the radiation prevents them from respawning. In other words, the radiation effect is as dangerous to us humans as it is to other creatures.”
“I had not thought about that.” I replied.
“General Bart’s infantry was lucky because they were defeated before the Magma Cube could infect them with radiation. I guess their armor also helped them, but we don’t have the same luck. We don’t have the same equipment, or the sheer force to take down the Hoglins. We must think of something else. Otherwise, we will be stuck in this hole forever.”
The wild Hoglin stampede went on above us. It seemed like it would go on forever.
“Let’s pretend for a moment that we stood a chance against those monsters. How can we win? How are we supposed to partake in this battle? We don’t stand a chance with the way we are right now.” Tom asked.
“Maybe if we built more traps we could win.” I said.
“Those wild Hoglins are much smarter than the Magma Cubes. Remember how the Hoglins evaded the hole and went around it instead?” Paul reminded me.
“Good call. They did notice the hole, and they stopped themselves from falling in it. I wonder if the radiation actually made them smarter? Hoglins are not exactly known for their intelligence.”
“You are correct, Morgan. Hoglins are not the smartest creatures in the Nether, but it seems that the radioactive variation has gained them intelligence and other humanlike capabilities, like the ability to work as a group to achieve a greater goal.”
“That’s actually scary!” Tom said. “So, are you telling me those pesky Hoglins can form groups and attack us together?”
“Yes. But maybe they can do more. We don’t know what we are dealing with, and that’s why we need to counterattack somehow. We can’t just hope that they go away.” Paul replied.
General Bart slowly opened his eyes, looking around him before trying to get up on his feet. He could not do so.
“What the heck just happened now? Where am I?” General Bart asked.
“Calm down, chap. You are hurt.” Paul replied. “Take it easy now, we are safe. We’re in a hole hiding from the wild Hoglins.”
“Yes general, take your time. You must recover slowly, otherwise you’re going to faint again.” I replied.
“Ouch… my head. My head hurts so much.” He complained. “It feels like I hit a rock or something.”
“It must have been your fall. You fainted before jumping into the hole, that could be it.” Paul replied.
“I cannot believe this. I was beaten by some silly Hoglins. The folks back at Albeja are going to laugh at me for losing a battle against some pigs! I’ll make those Hoglins pay for this. They will pay for their stupidity.”
“But tell us General Bart, what even happened out there? We were inside the hole, and we did not see anything. What went down? Where are the soldiers of the 15th infantry?” I asked him.
“They are all gone. De-spawned in the blink of an eye, must be in Albeja by now, along with the other soldiers.” General Bart replied.
“Oh, no… are you telling me that…?”
“Yes. All 50 men and women perished in battle and respawned again in Albeja. They lost all their equipment, armor, and weapons in the process. The wild Hoglins defeated the remaining 30. Now, we have no one to help us. It’s us against those beasts.” General Bart replied.
I did not want to believe him, but there was nothing I could do. The 15th infantry had been defeated. We had two humans and three Striders against a pack of over a hundred wild radioactive Hoglins. How were we supposed to leave this place in one piece?