Video Games

Chapter Twenty One

The six of us all sit in Tynoco’s house, waiting to be collected for the penultimate game. We know that this is ending today. Tears flow and splash against furniture, fabric, the skin of others. Whatever we play today will definitely take its toll on us; we’ll probably play two games consecutively and the purpose of yesterday was to tire us out. These last few hours are going to be the most painful experience the survivor will have to endure. Who even wants to survive?

The only reason we’re all still trying is because we need to get home, we need to see those who loved us before we were summoned here, on this lonely island. Tynoco and Baiyou sit either side of me, both weeping; I cry too. Ithai sits by Tynoco; Chryso sits next to Baiyou; Oguro sits opposite me and completes the six-person circle we’ve formed. Not a single person manages to stay strong; we all weep and look at each other with fear in our eyes; we all cry for help, but we all know that help is anywhere but here.

“Get into the hovercraft.” It’s so blunt, so rude. As the six of us emerge from the house, teary-eyed and suicidal, we all climb the rungs of the ladder and fill the seats. Tynoco holds my hand; I wince as he exhales loudly. As we all buckle up, I feel the recklessness of the driving; I slam against the wall, as does Ithai, who sits against the wall like I do. Baiyou keeps his eyes closed, trying to block out the fact that five people are going to die today. No one wants to die. Chryso and Oguro look at each other and try not to sob; they’ve developed a good friendship since arriving.

As the hovercraft lands, I know that this isn’t going to be a fun game. All I see are obstacle courses and dummies of other humans and modes of transport, none of which are effective for driving down a busy main road; there are wheelchairs and bicycles and pogo sticks and segways. This wrecking ball flies across the course, taking the head off of one of the dummies; I almost scream as I picture one of our bodies facing the same doomed fate as that poor dummy.

We’re asked to move from our seats; we barely budge. The fidgeting that occurs would usually irritate me, but for now, I just sit and let everyone flail like fish in their seats. Guards are asked to come and remove us; I bounce up from my seat as if it’s red hot. No guard will be pushing me around; this could be my final moment for all I know and I’m not going to be manipulated like a doll in my last moments. I’m not going to allow anyone to manipulate me if I can help it. There’s always something that they can do to manipulate me, like knock me out and force me into position. They did that when they brought us to this island.

As we step onto the first track, I see that pogo sticks are the only method of transport that we’ll be using. By the looks of it, they all have foot straps so that we can’t just eject ourselves and cheat or anything. As we get a hold of a pogo stick each, I can see that it’s been made slightly easier for real life; the mines aren’t present in this one. No instructions are given, we’re just told to go. So I go; I bend my knees as I wobble backwards and forwards, hoping to jump over the little stump that barely comes up to my shins.

I make it over and immediately bend my knees so that I can gain momentum for the next jump that comes up to my knees. As I let myself fly, I think of the first time I ever used a pogo stick. It belonged to some girl in my street, a very rich girl. Everyone else was playing with her stuff; I had been inside for the majority of the time, but then one kid came and knocked on my front door, inviting me out to play. If I recall correctly, it took me multiple times to gain my balance; I remember falling all over the place as I attempted to bunny hop.

Others struggle to make it over the little jumps; I line up my stick and launch myself over the thigh height bar. In the game that this is based off of – Happy Wheels – they often flip through the air and land perfectly. That or they break their necks and die. This is one of the games that have played in the past for hours on end, but never really acquired skills for. Then again, does Happy Wheels actually require skills or is it all based on luck? There aren’t strategies for most maps; if there was, I’d probably enjoy it more.