7-Day MCSM One Shot Challenges - 2020 Edition

Compound

Generated word of the day - Compound!
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It was a shocking contrast, everything changing from bitter cold to scorching heat.

Only moments ago, Jesse was shivering and trembling, her thin clothes offering little to no protection from the crisp winter air. Her lips had been a pale blue colour, snowflakes decorating her long dark hair, as she stood with her arms wrapped around herself and her teeth chattering.

Within a matter of seconds that had changed, the mere act of stepping through the portal changing everything around her completely. She had almost instantly stopped shivering, almost welcoming the sudden heat. The hot air wasn't pleasant for long though, and Jesse quickly felt herself starting to sweat. Suddenly the clothes she wore felt thick and heavy, despite not having been enough only minutes earlier. Her throat burned with the overwhelming amount of smoke in the air, almost making her feel dizzy.

Trying her best to ignore - or at least not show - how much she boiled beneath her overalls, Jesse had kept her head up and her expression determined. Her brown eyes were confident and alert, step full of life as she walked through the boiling netherrack tunnels with all the other miners.

The gladiator at the front chuckled whenever he looked back at the newcomer, wondering how long it was going to take to break her spirit. She was one of the smaller, scrawnier ones - it wouldn't take too long for the quartz mines to become too much for her.

As they walked out of the tunnel and into the vast open nether, Jesse looked around at the other miners around her. A few handfuls she recognised as competitors from when she competed in the games. Most of them however were strangers, people who had already been in the mines and didn't get another shot. There was at least a hundred of them all together.

Jesse shuddered, shaking her head to herself. The whole operation was twisted and sick. She wished that she could have freed everybody there, help them all find their ways back to their homes, to their families and friends.

The thought made Jesse's determined expression falter slightly, eyes saddening for a moment. More than anything else in the world, she wished she could go home. She had given up her freedom so the old builders would let Axel, Olivia, Petra, Lukas and Ivor go home. The gladiators had held her back as her friends were dragged back to the Portal Hallway.

At least Jesse knew they went home safely. Behind Hadrian and Mevia's backs, Otto had promised her that he would use the atlas to show her friends which portal was theirs. Jesse knew she could trust Otto, and that made her feel a little more at ease.

"Alright, listen up everybody!"

Jesse's head shot up, suddenly yanked back to reality. The gladiator had turned around to face them. Behind him were metal fences, sectioning off large portions of the Nether.

"Most of you know the drill." He said, looking pointedly at Jesse. "You'll be put into one of the groups, go in, get your number and pickaxe, and then you'll start mining within your group's respective area. At the end of your 12 hour shift you'll return to the village, where you'll be fed and spend the night at the miner's camp. The next morning, it all starts over again. Got it?"

Everybody nodded solemnly.

Jesse, being at the front of the whole mob, was one of the firsts to get her number and pickaxe. As she was shoved in through the first compound's gate with a couple others, Jesse spared a glance down at her number.

"308?" She mumbled below her breath, a chill rippling down her spine. "How many people are in here?"

"Get moving, get moving!" A gladiator bellowed, waving a giant sword at the group of miners. "Anybody who slacks off will have their rations cut!"