Ricochet Island

Chapter 10: Madness

"Ah!" I woke up with a start. The last thing I remembered was suffocating at the bottom of the sea. I definitely drowned. Yet here I was as, if nothing happened.

I knew I'd always wake up after being shot, but drowning was a different story altogether. I... died. I wasn't hit by some mysterious paralyzingly beam. I experienced a real death, but I was alive.

Alive... was I really? No eating, no sleeping. This body of mine didn't require any such necessities. It didn't have any bruises either, despite how violently Jack hit me. My body was completely reset.

"Ugh." I felt sick. This body of mine didn't belonged to a human. We were no longer living beings. Everybody here were just mannequins masquerading as humans.

A headache drilled my brain... assuming this skull of mine even had a brain. The urge to vomit swirled inside me. I wanted to spill out all my insides just to confirm they existed.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Nothing felt real anymore. Everything was insane! Nothing made sense! Why was I here!?! Why did I have to go through this shit!? I want out! Let me out!

I couldn't take it anymore. Everything was fucked up. I knew nothing about this place or why I was here. Aliens? Yeah, right. How nice it'd be if I could believe in such a childish theory.

No, the reality of this place was much more grim. It was an eternal prison of torture. It was purgatory at best and hell at worst. Could I really get out by winning this messed up game? I doubted even that.

My thoughts were in disarray. I couldn't think straight. The drilling headache was killing me. My mind was slipping toward insanity. Ben warned me about this before, but I didn't care anymore. If madness could liberate me from all this pain, then I'd welcome it with open arms.

BAM

I shot down an easy prey. To ensure the man was unconscious, I delivered an extra shot to his head. Then, I picked up a big rock and brought it over his head. And I smashed. Smashed. Smashed. Over and over, I smashed the man's skull with all my strength.

I wanted to know. I wanted to confirm. Please. Let these bodies have something normal in them!

Alas, nothing happened. No matter how much I struck the man's head, no blood poured out. Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Everything was a lie. Nothing was real anymore. I gave up.

It finally dawned on me why Ben brought up bullying, out of all the possible coping mechanisms. It's because hollow creatures like us had nothing. Our freedom, memories and even humanity - everything was taken from us. We were left only with violence. Brute, primitive violence. That's the only way to assert one's existence in this hell.

"P-Please! Let me go!"

BAM

"Why are you always after me!?"

BAM

They fled from me like cockroaches. I picked the weakest players, especially those who gave entertaining reactions. I hunted them. I murdered them. Each and every cycle, without fail.

"Ha. Haha." Their anger. They terror. Watching their panic relieved me. It fueled me with a sense of control. It proved I had the power to control things, even in this empty fake world.

"Ha. Haha." I stalked them. Chased them. Shot them. Like a broken record, I repeated the same actions without tiring.

Was I enjoying this? No idea. My brain shut down at some point. There was no need to think. Thinking only invited headaches. I allowed my instincts to guide me.