Solitary [MCSM Fanfiction]

Chapter 9: JUSTICE

Petra never knew she'd hate digging and mapping simultaneously so much. The labor seemed even harder than mining stacks of iron for the other components she needed.

Above her were the wooden planks that made up the house's floor, intermittent footsteps right on her head causing her to shudder. It was then Maya's frequent giggle or Gill's abrupt exclamation that would hum down under the dirt where Petra was. She didn't know what they were saying, but she knew they were enjoying a snack somewhere in the kitchen, which meant the chests of riches weren't too far away from where she was now.

The hoppers she laid after her weren't noisy unless she'd accidentally hit one, but if the house went completely silent and someone was intentionally listening, she'd be busted.

All night, she was up, studying the layout of the bottom floor, how many blocks long and wide each room would be and where the corridors are, replicating it in her head underground. Most importantly, she took note of the five chests that were spread out randomly in the lounge. The only thing she was to do now was to hope the studying didn't go in vain. Otherwise, burrowing an entire network of useless tunnels would be her ultimate demise.

There wasn't a lot of time as much as Petra wanted this heist to be carried out perfectly so she only had time to carve out a two-by-two space, leaving her a small path to run back and forth next to the lines of hoppers.

She stopped.

Her chest was directly above her.

She quickly chopped down the plank and attached the hopper from her chest to the line she made, hearing the items drain out one by one. Then she noticed a problem.

There was a different light beaming its way to Petra: the light from the living room. The chest on top was smaller than the wooden plank she took out, meaning anyone from above could peer into what was below through the crack. She had to replace the plank as soon as she was finished.

When the sound stopped, Petra waited an extra three seconds to make sure all the contents were funneled out.

She replaced the plank with her already shaking hands and continued to mine in a new direction towards Gill's, then Maya's, then Lukas's and then-

Crap. Aiden's chest was practically full. The wait for everything to transfer from his was the most tedious.

To make matters worse, the mumbling from inside the house came back; they were louder than before. It was Lukas and Aiden, both sounding like they were at each other's throats again. Even though the hoppers were chugging down all of Aiden's winnings, they were less soundproof than the wood and she could make out a few incomplete sentences.

"-- tell her?"

"No, -- won't --. We -- our -- own split."

Petra didn't need to hear the blanks to work out that they were talking about telling her of the way they divided the winners' prize. It was cool with her; she no longer cared about their silent betrayal. On the contrary, she wished a thousand times more that the hoppers would vacuum everything out faster since the two boys were walking around the room in unpredictable patterns.

"You -- spend any -- ingot -- yet?"

" -- might -- in -- the hob."

The footsteps were no doubt approaching. Needles of dread began to embed themselves in her gut.

"It -- fine but -- double check -- have."

Why now? Why, oh why did Aiden have to be so possessive and check his precious chest every thirty seconds?

"The heck, hurry up!" Petra growled, tapping vigorously at the hopper, pulse racing like a feline.

"-- trade iron for some --," Aiden said, his voice even clearer now. Petra was sure that if there was no plank dividing them, Aiden was sure to crash on top of her.