Twisted Joke

Joji got out of a taxi just by her apartment complex. He had gotten Amy's address from the manager, who was hesitant at first but soon realized he couldn't reach her as well.

Joji stopped in his tracks, his face went pale, no! Thought as he saw the flashing red lights of an ambulance. They were people watching, down from the top floors, the paramedics were hauling someone down.

He could hear a siren screeching, and an eerie feeling engulfed his heart; he began to panic, and then he felt a vibration in his pocket; he jerked up and realized it was his phone.

It was Bass calling, he answered while watching for the paramedic.

"Joji! Joji!"

"Yeah"

"Have you heard the news, the game men, it's killing people, is it true, is it true, tell me, men"

"I don't know, it's on the news, it's been on the news all day, trying to see if Amy is okay, it's all my fault men, i told her to get the game i don't know if she got it"

"Joe, my little brother, he was in the game now but his safe"

"That's good"

"But they saying everyone has to go back in"

"What?"

The paramedic hauled someone down the stairs on a stretcher. Joji looked but he couldn't see the patient clearly through the crowd.

"Bass I'm gonna have to call you back." He ends the call without waiting for a reply and runs off to join the crowd.

He shoved, twisted, and turned as he made his way through the crowd. His height gave him a good advantage and he saw them.

Two patients both male and female, they both had the BALcity VR goggles on. The woman's face was turned from his view, but he breathed a little sigh of relief as he saw her black hair, and that assured him a bit that Amy was still alive.

He looked around, he looked through the top floors of the complex, scanning from left to right, but he didn't spot her.

He asked someone about her, but they didn't know anything. He asked another,, but they broke out in grief, and he let them be. He asked an old man, who pointed directly to the top floor.

"She helps me out with groceries sometimes; I haven't seen her today, though; I could tell from your shirt you're a coworker; shouldn't she be at work?"

"No, she wasn't, I gotta go check on her"

"Go on, go away from this madness; so many gather to grieve, so many don't; watching death like a picture show" The man spoke with a quietly boiling rage. Joji thanked him and went on his way.

He ran up the flight of stairs and ran straight to where the man had pointed; he was breathing heavily, and he couldn't wait till he caught his breath, so he knocked on the door; he waited for about four heavy exhales, then knocked again.

He waited again, four exhales but now he was catching his breath, so four exhales was a lot longer. He looked to his left, then his right, and then he knocked again, but still, no response. He tried calling her, but her phone was off.

Then he noticed three notifications from his phone, one from the game Primal, saying he must log in by ten o'clock or else, and another saying from Primal saying a friend needs his help, this one caught his eyes a lot more but even more so did the third notification for a message from Amy, he quickly clicked on it.

One message was a series of numbers that looked like coordinates or serial numbers in a shopping item. The second message said simply, "Join me"

He tapped on the number, and it led him to, and it led him to a website from the game Primal; his eyes widened in fear, she was in the game, he thought.

,

He quickly knocked again, "Amy!" He screamed. "Are you in there? Amy wakes up, it's not real! Amy!"

But there was no answer; his head swayed from side to side, and he couldn't figure out what to do. He looked at the coordinates and thought, I have to go find her, I have to go back in.

He felt the terror of the monsters he had encountered, but a new courage steeled his heart; he was determined to bring her back safely, so he turned and walked away with a fire in his eyes.

Click!,

He turned around back to Amy's door; it slowly opened, the light seeped into the room, and he saw a slender white leg come out of the door. Then her head poked out; she looked around and saw him, his eyes lit up.

"Joji!?" She said; he ran up to her and, without thinking, he hugged her. She was stunned and couldn't understand his sudden show of affection.

"Thank god you're alright, I was so worried"

"Worried? Worried about what?"

"The game of course, didn't you hear?"

"It's a bit on the hard side but I can handle it," she chuckled.

Amy, this is serious; people are dying; she saw the look in his eyes, they were watery, and she wondered if they were for her.

"I don't understand what you mean?"

"The game is killing people."

"Killing people?"

"Yes, in real life"

"You've been reading too many fantasy novels, Joji."

"I'm serious here; you could have died, " he began to cry a bit, and she touched his arm, and she finally heard the sirens.

"What's going on down there? Is someone hurt?"

Joji remembered; he pulled her closer to the edge of the hall so the ambulance was in view and she could see the patients; the black goggles and the neon lights flashed on them like a twisted joke; why make a dead man look like he's having fun.

Amy gasped, she covered her mouth as the reality of what might have happened to her sunk in, and her eyes filled with tears and terror, she fell onto her knee, and Joji went down to console her

"I spent the night running from raptors, Joji, I enjoyed it all while my life was at stake," then she laughed, "It's funny how you live your best when you think you can't die"