Category: One Among the Dead

Day 240:

I went as far north as I could in a half day and then came back.

First, north is mostly swampy areas and big bay-like areas. I suspect the whole area north of me is a giant bay, but lacking a boat, did not manage to explore very well.

(Why do I not have a boat? Because the zombies can swim. And if I’m caught out in the middle of the night climbing a tree is a safer option than being in a boat.)

Second, I saw about 20 cows, 1 punk-ass child zombie that pelted me with eggs, another gazillion duckens, 5 fish, and a pig I might go back for tomorrow.

No horses.

Day 239:

Before making any rash decisions like “I should use my entire supply of iron ore to experiment with my own rail system” I decided I’d start by looking for horses. I walked as far in the distance I call “east” as I could in half a day, then walked back.

I found 7 giraffe corgis, 17 zombies, 2 very angry skeletons with a full set of arrows, some funny glowing boots, lots of gold armor, and something in the neighborhood of 72 ducken. (I think they’re breeding in my caverns.)

No horses.

Tomorrow I try north, though north is mostly water.

Day 238:

Have I mentioned I’m something like fifteen floors underground at this point?

If I haven’t, surely my knees have.

I know that the amount of time it will take me to make a rail system is ridiculous. I’m only one person, trying to stay alive in a hostile environment.

But not carrying things sounds so appealing right now and I still don’t have any new horses.

Day 237:

So if I carefully carve a long trench in a length of solid granite (since I certainly have enough of it) and then fill it with iron ore, I might be able to make a rail. And then if I douse it with cold water, that should be enough to shrink it to pull it out of the granite.

And then I just have to do it a couple dozen times over the course of a few weeks to actually make enough rails to move anything.

And then I need to do the same thing for curved pieces, or develop something strong enough to curve straight pieces, all while not snapping them, with the knowledge that my iron is still weak enough that I go through 20 iron pickaxes in the amount of time it would’ve taken me to wear out the battery in one laser cutter if The Company was here running this mission.

I’m thinking going back to digging is my best bet. This bucket of lava can just sit here for now. It’s got to cool down eventually, right?

Day 235:

The bucket worked.

Believe you me, filling a bucket with lava was no easy trick. First I had to find a lava fall, then I had to find a part of the lava fall that wasn’t flowing like water because that’s a bit more than I wanted to deal with, then I had to figure out how to divert some of it without melting the bucket. I mean, it’s really hard to tell where to apply lava to prevent bucket failure.

Strangely, a glass spoon worked best.

(Don’t ask when I made the glass spoon, just know that occasionally a person gets tired of getting splinters when they’re not good at making wooden spoons.)

So yes, lava in a bucket is just fine. It makes the bucket REALLY FREAKING HOT, but other than that small detail, and the fact that it doesn’t make any damn sense, it’s pretty handle.