11

Storytime with Rick

I tell the man sitting in the chair (Who is still tied up, might I add. Since, once again, I'm a paranoid fuck) to start from the beginning. 

"Well," he says, "That hell hole of a town got to me... really bad. So bad that I just said 'screw it' and bought the Happy Pill." I look at him confused and said, "Oh, yeah. That's the drug that the people took to make them extremely ignorant. They call it the Happy Pill because of how it makes you smile constantly." He was silent for a moment before saying, "Anyways... I bought the pill... and I took it. For some reason, I had a horrible reaction to it and I started to go insane. You would think that that's the normal reaction, but it's the opposite, actually. Since the Pill makes you ignorant, you're always 'calm' and 'collected'. So, my reaction was quite alarming to the doctors. I didn't smile all the time like the rest of them, and I got mad easier than I did before. Actually, one of the doctors didn't like that I wasn't 'happy' like they were... To be quite honest, I felt depressed. I don't know why though... Anywho, you have to go in for a check-up once every week to the Doctor's Office so they can see how you're doing, and at one one of my appointments one of the bastards knocked me out!" 

I looked at him, shocked and surprised. 

"Yeah, I know!" He said, "Some time later, I woke up in the so-called 'hospital' to the sight of the crazy psychopath doctor who knocked me out, which was lovely. Not. Then, when he noticed I was awake, he said that if I can't be happy, then I'll be permanently sad. I didn't understand what he meant by that. He pulled out some sort of walkie-talkie then, and said something I couldn't quite make out. A few seconds after he put the walkie-talkie back in his pocket, two tall, muscular men walked into the room, grabbed my arms and held me down so I couldn't move! The 'doctor' then grabbed the tools you typically use to stitch someone's skin back together, and stitched my lips downward so it looked like I was frowning! This was when I understood what he meant by me having a 'permanent frown.' I had trouble speaking for an entire year and a half, including the time until tonight, and it was hard to eat and drink. I fled the city after they let me go, and ended up sleeping on the side of the road on the sidewalk for a while. Life kept getting worse and worse for me... I desperately wanted to go back for revenge, but if I went back, I would probably be killed for leaving. Not to mention the head of the police force is basically the reincarnation of Deadshot. I'd get killed on sight. So that's why I never went back... And then you guys found me, and shot me, but somehow we're cool now, and you removed the stitches so that's good for me..."

I just sighed, saying, "Wow."

That was a lot to take in... God, I couldn't even imagine what he had been through before, but I didn't know it was that... horrifying... I can't even comprehend the fact that someone would do that to another human being... 

Why is this world so messed up now? What did I miss? How long was I sleeping in that field for the world to go to shit?

I just stood there in a trance, probably looking like an idiot. But I didn't care. The entire story the man just told freaked me out. It scares the piss outta me to know that we aren't that far from the same people who tortured this man... I didn't want what happened to him to happen to any of us... Then it just made me mad to think about the fact that those crazy, psychotic, unqualified doctors think that they can just do that to people! Like, what the hell is wrong with them?! 

I continued to stand there in silence, my thoughts overwhelming my brain, controlling my mouth and my ability to speak. Finally the man broke the silence and said, "Wait, there's something else you should know..."

I snapped back to my senses and look up at him, giving him a confused look. 

"Well, I'm not quite sure what it was, but I saw some sort of creature. It looked... I don't know, human? Like, it had arms and legs and a face, but it was crawling on all fours like some kind of rabid animal... It scared the hell outta me. I saw it as I was leaving the city at night." He paused for a moment before saying, "Th-this suit is from them! They made me wear it! They tortured me!" His voice starts becoming a shout, startling all of us. He gets even louder and starts yelling, "Stay away from the town!"