Chapter 3

Madness

Storm clouds were forming above Happy Tree Town. Their dark menacing color was mixed in with the loud crackles of lightning that flashed across the sky, lighting up the entire area. As the sounds of thunder roared across the sky, rain poured heavily across the land, flooding the streets with water. Mixed with all of this was the screams of pain, agony and horror. The shouts of death were louder than the lightning itself, and could be heard throughout the town. Even the Stranger could hear these poor souls screaming in pain as he hid inside the dumpster. It was the only place safe enough for him to hide from the dangers outside. But the metal walls he hid behind could not block out the sounds of pain. He was more scared of the deaths people were facing than what the storm could do to the town. It sadden him greatly.

Suddenly, there was an absence of screams. The Stranger could only hear the thuds of rain hitting the top of the dumpster, and could no longer make out the sounds of pain emitting from the people. He sat up slowly and bowed his head.

"One-one thousand. Two-one thousand. Three-one thousand…."

The Stranger began counting the seconds after the last scream was made. He talked to himself for about thirty minutes to make sure the danger was gone. It was.

The Stranger stretched his body around, getting his muscles to easily move around after hiding in his dirty home for hours. After a short break of stretching, he slowly opened the metal lid and peered through the small window of visibility between the top of the lid and the dumpster. He looked back and forth to make sure his home was free of any obstacles that could hurt him. Seeing it was clear, he pushed the lid and opened the top of the dumpster completely, having the rain pour onto his body and revealing his form.

His body was a horrible sight to bear. His grey fur was covered in garbage and dry blood, and was completely matted and uncombed. His face was baggy and had an emotionless look. His body was thin, nearly able to pick out the bones of his rib cage. He had the look of death across his entire body. A look he would obtained when surviving in this world for two months.

After taking a few short breaths and letting the rain water wash some of the dirt and blood from his body, the Stranger vaulted over the dumpster and landed on a muddy puddle below it. He leaned back over into the dumpster to pull out a tattered dark-blue backpack, completely empty. After placing the backpack over his shoulders, he closed the lid of the dumpster to make sure it would not be flooded with water when he came back. Looking both ways down the alley, he went right towards the sidewalk before taking a left to reach his planned destination.

After walking for a few short minutes, he reached to a small plaza, which had a variety of stores to shop from. Originally, it looked beautiful, featuring an ornate water fountain in the center and a nicely paved stone pattern across the ground. Now, it was filled with the stench of death as dead bodies laid across the area. The Stranger looked at every lifeless body in the plaza, and it always surprised him how they could have possibly died. There was a purple mole who somehow had gotten his cane to be shoved through his left eye socket. There was a blue anteater who had his tongue stuck around a pole and had his entire organs ripped from his body. And there also was a pink beaver who was smashed by a fallen lamppost. All of these deaths were so strange that many of them defied the laws of physics and even life itself. But the Stranger could not care too much for their deaths. They died and will wake up the next morning forgetting the endeavor, so there was no need to complain. Besides, he had to look after himself, and had to survive through his own means of living.

What he began to do was something he was initially disgusted by. Something that made him feel like an awful monster that deserved to die due to such a dirty act of survival. He walked over towards the body of the pink beaver, his organs smashed across the area as he lied dead underneath the lamppost. He sat down on one knee and observed his body. And then, he began to loot through his fur pockets.

This is what the Stranger was doing for the two months after that dreadful day of learning what kind of world he now inhabits. Every night, when every person was dead, he walked out of his safehouse that was a dumpster and searched the dead for anything he could use to survive. Food, clothes, money, tools, anything that he could use to support himself. He became a grave robber, a thief that stole from the dead. And he did not regret any of it.

As he looted the body (which was beginning to appear unsuccessful as nothing of importance was showing up), he looked over to the white fountain in the center of the plaza. As he stared at its beautiful design, he began to recall his first and only attempt of trying to help people. The only day he tried to make a difference to be selfless and help others.

It was day one of knowing the truth of the world. Hiding inside the dirty dumpster after running from the scene of murder he caused at the café, the Stranger woke up quickly. He was still scared and shocked by what the voice had told him. In twenty-four hours, everyone will have died in some horrific fashion, and they had no idea that their lives are forced to live this way. He may not know any of these people, but he could not just let these people die because they were forced to. So, after quickly rubbing his eyes to wake himself up, he opened the lid of the dumpster and reveal sunlight to his body. He had to cover his eyes since he hid in the dark for so long, but he had to fight it. He jumped out of the dumpster, and looked down both directions of the alley. Seeing to his right was a sidewalk, which he went to instantly, and took a left to see where it would take him. Sprinting for a short few minutes, the sidewalk led him to a small plaza filled with small stores. He noticed instantly that the plaza was filled with at least a dozen different people, both unique and generic in appearance. There was definitely enough people here to tell them the truth.

The Stranger looked around for a perfect spot to get their attention. He could pick out a white fountain in the center of the plaza, and believed it would be a good place to make his announcement. He made a short jog through the crowd and quickly reached the fountain, and climbed on top of the bottom ledge, balancing himself so he would not fall. He turned around sharply, seeing that no one had noticed him yet. He had to get their attention, so he took a deep breath and cried out to the people.

"EVERYONE, LISTEN!"

The Stranger yelled at the top of his lungs, grabbing the attention of every person in the plaza. He was instantly greeted with a couple of gasps and screams, seeing that the person yelling was covered in blood and garbage. He looked like an insane serial killer that has woken up from his slumber and was ready to strike.

The Stranger had completely forgotten about his appearance, but he ignored it instantly. It did not matter what his body looked like. What was important was that he got the word out so people could save themselves from the impending danger. He raised his arms in the air and began to speak.

"Everyone, I need all of you to listen to me right now! What I am about to say will be the difference between life and death to every one of us here right now."

As the Stranger said this sentence, every Tree Friend in the plaza gasped and stared in shock. The difference between life and death? What was happening? Can we trust what this person is saying?

"People, everything you see right now, from this town, this entire world, and even you yourself right now, is nothing but a lie, a sham, a creation in a virtual reality. Everything here is not real!"

The shock on people faces now turned into confusion. Everything is a lie? We are a lie? What is this insane person trying to point out, and what gives him the right to call us a lie? All these questions started to make the Tree Friends a little irritated instead of scared.

"All of this we see, all the things that happen and will ever happen, is done by a crazy mad scientist that runs everything. He controls and creates everything we see."

Now he's saying that the world is being run by some random person? That this world is like some game being played by someone, and we are just random people being played? This is just plain madness.

"And, at the end of the day, every person in this world is going to die!"

This sentence finally broke the attention of the Tree Friends. The world is a lie? A crazy mad man is controlling everything? And now he is telling all of us that we are going to die in the next twenty-four hours? This guy is insane!

"I know all of this, I know this truth, because he spoke to me, the voice, the guy who controls this world, he told me!" The Stranger said this as he pointing in the air with his right hand, shaking a little as he spoke.

That was the last thing the people were going to sit and listen to. Everything this person is telling us is from some voice in his head? Well they were not going to take his insane accusations and lies anymore. The Tree Friends began to stand up and walk towards the Stranger, gathering together in a small mob. As they grouped up, they began to argue in their gibberish language towards the Stranger, irritated by his speech. They slowly walked towards the Stranger's position, who knew that these Tree Friends were not taking his advice.

"I'm telling the truth here! Please listen to me! I am trying to save-"

The Stranger's sentence was interrupted as he was suddenly hit by a rock to the chest. The rock hit him center mass and bruised him slightly. He held his hand across his chest as the rock caused a small sense of pain to his body. He looked up to notice the yellow bunny teaming up with a pink beaver, and had a slingshot in his hand. He was gathering small stones nearby to use as ammunition, and the Stranger was the target.

The Stranger attempted to speak over the crowd, who were now beginning to get real close to the Stranger's position. "What are you doing?! I'm not lying or trying to hurt you! I'm-"

The Stranger was interrupted again with another rock, this time to his shoulder, getting ever so closely to his head. He stumbled a little, almost falling into the water of the fountain he stood on. He raised his hands in the air in a surrendering position. "Please, listen to me! I want to-"

This was the last time the Stranger could speak to the crowd, as a third and final rock hit the Stranger directly in the forehead. The hit caused a severe blow to his head, cutting it slightly and making him lose his balance, causing him to fall backwards straight into the water. The fall caused him to hit the back of his head to the solid bottom of the fountain, almost sending the Stranger into a state of unconsciousness. As the Stranger slowly raised himself back up, he felt his head and noticed he was bleeding, which came from a large gash now visible on his head. As he looked at the crowd, he could not hear their voices as nothing but the sound of white noise filled his hearing. His vision was slightly blurry and could not clearly make out the people talking to him. He brought himself up from the fountain, and crawled out onto the pavement, seeing how the crowd was still hovering over him. He got onto his legs and slowly walked away, protecting his head as the yellow rabbit and pink beaver continued to throw rocks. As he walked away, he noticed that one of the rocks missed him, and hit a lamppost behind him, causing it to ricochet and fly back towards the pink beaver, hitting him straight in the eye, causing it to gush out blood as he screamed and ran in circles. Anything else that could possibly happen would now happen because of that incident.

The Stranger made it back to his little home of a dumpster, and decided to collapse at the base of it instead of jumping in. His entire body was soaking wet from the fall into the fountain, which at least washed some of the dry blood and dirt off. As he sat down holding his head to cover the bleeding, he heard the voice of the mad man he heard yesterday.

What are you trying to do Stranger? What were you trying to accomplish just now?

"I was trying to help them to save themselves from the death you're about to bring on to them. I was trying to save them."

I thought I made it pretty clear that, unlike you, they have no self-awareness. This world is all they know. This is the only world they ever will know. Telling them that this world is a lie only makes you look like an insane person in their eyes, which is kind of interesting to watch you be one really.

"But they don't deserve to die! They should not have to live in a fucked up world like this!"

Stranger, you need to stop caring for these people. You're not like them. You can't save them. They have their own rules that they must follow, and you can't change that. Besides, you don't know anything about these people. You should stop caring for these people and start looking after yourself Stranger. You must survive on your own.

"But I'll be alone. I won't have anyone to be with. I won't have any goals to work for."

Ah, but you have me, Stranger. We still got some fun games to play, you and I. Trust me Stranger, it is best that you stay to yourself, and let them be on their own. There is no point in helping them Stranger, so you should just stay and look after yourself.

And that was what the Stranger did. After that failed attempt to save them, he had to accept what the mad man was saying. It was true, only he could accept what the mad man was saying. He was the only one with self-awareness of the world and the way it works. And since the people lack such an ability, telling them that their world is a lie would be an insane accusation in their eyes. They would never accept the Stranger's truth, and he had to accept it. From that moment onward, the Stranger stayed to himself, letting the world do its work, and he did his own.

After a quick search of the pink beaver's body, the Stranger could not find anything of use that would benefit him. "Son of a bitch, another useless body. Just a wallet with a couple of bucks. Damn." The Stranger slowly got up and looked down at the body, feeling slightly sorry for the poor soul. "Sorry man, wish there was something I could have done."

The Stranger looked over to notice a destroyed clothing store. There was a truck that crash through the front of the building, destroying the entire first section of the store. Most of the clothes would be destroyed, but there could be some that are still intact. He went over to the store and climbed through the broken glass window, walking over the rubble on the floor. He looked through the aisles slowly, looking for any perfectly intact clothes, but was beginning to look hopeless. The Stranger made one final attempt to find some good clothes by walking to the back section of the store and noticed a good looking brown leather jacket still hanging on a rack. He walked over to it and felt it with his right hand. It was clean and was his size. He took the jacket off its rack and put his arms through the sleeves. After tightening up the jacket, it felt nice and snug, and kept the Stranger warm. It looked fashionably looking too.

As the Stranger made the final adjustments to the jacket, he looked over to the wreck to notice the two raccoons from his first day into the town. They must have been the ones driving, and must have lost control of the truck and crashed into the store. They were far from alive, though, as their heads were pierced on hook hangers on the other side of the store, dangling off the ground. The Stranger slowly walked over and looked straight into their lifeless eyes. He felt sorry for the two of them, and noticed that one of the raccoons still had a nice hat. The Stranger took the hat off the green raccoon's head, dusted off the debris and blood, and placed it nicely on his head. It was a nice looking hat, and he always wanted a hat.

The Stranger, now satisfied of his findings, turned around to walk out the store. But before he made his exit out to the plaza once more, he turned around to look at the raccoons one more time.

"At least they died together."

The Stranger was now outside once more into the rain, his new brown coat keeping his fur dry. As he looked around at the other stores, his stomach made a loud growl, sending him to his knees. He has been starving to death for days, barely eating the minimal nutrition value to sustain life. Seeing that there was no food stands, he made a new plan to check out the grocery store, which should have plenty of food still left over. Getting back up onto his feet, the Stranger began his walk once more onto the street, and took a short journey towards the store. As he walked, he had another bad memory of the events during his time in this world. This time, he can recall when the world was changing him for the worse.

It was a bright, sunny summer afternoon. On the side of the grocery store, the Stranger was hiding behind a corner. He was jittery, looking quickly back and forth as if he were hiding from something. He was taking fast breaths, having a scared and creepy look on his face. He grabbed onto his stomach as it continued to growl. He needed food and he needed it now. He had no money to purchase his own food, so he had to resort to other means of obtaining food.

He suddenly heard the doors of the grocery store slide open, and looked over to see who was coming out. It was a pink beaver, pushing a cart filled with a wide assortment of food. It was enough to feed the Stranger for a week's time if rationed carefully. And the situation was perfect too, since no one else was in the vicinity.

The Stranger jumped out of the corner, and ran straight up to the pink beaver. The beaver, unaware of the Stranger's presence, was shaken when the Stranger grabbed him and pulled him to his face.

"Don't do anything stupid now, asshole! Just give me your cart and I'll be on my way."

The pink beaver was somehow braver than usual. Instead of walking off, he pushed the Stranger back, and prepared a stance to fight back.

"Okay you little fucker. You want to go? Let's go!"

The Stranger lunged forward and grabbed the pink beaver once more, and slung his right fist into the beaver's face. The beaver fell straight into the ground, his face bleeding from the blow. The Stranger bended over and picked up the beaver, about to hit him again before the beaver kicked him in the knee, pushing the Stranger back a short distance. After getting his balance back, the Stranger did one more grab onto the pink beaver, and threw him onto the cart, making it roll forward onto the road with the pink beaver laying in it.

The Stranger stood still on the sidewalk as he saw the pink beaver get run over by an incoming truck, destroying the beaver's body and the food.

What a beautiful kill! A short little duel before pushing him down the street. Love it!

"Fuck off, man. All I wanted was some food, not to kill him. Great."

The Stranger turned around sharply to notice a white lamb exiting the store and carrying a plastic bag filled with food. The lamb stood still in fear as the Stranger stared at her. Seeing that the food looked fresh, the Stranger grabbed the bag and pushed the lamb away, sending her down onto the pavement. The Stranger quickly searched the bag to see a couple cans of food, which should support him for about three days, and a random pickle, which he quickly threw out.

"Hate pickles. I hate them so much. They taste like crap and feel like they want to kill you. You can have that to eat."

The Stranger then began a fast sprint away from the store, to hide from the scene and enjoy is prize.

The Stranger stood in front of the grocery store, recalling the events. It was that day were he knew that this world was turning him into something else. He used to be a good person in his original world. But here, he was a thief, a looter, a murderer. This world made him a monster, and he knew it. But he had no choice. This was the lifestyle he had to accept if he wanted to live. And he hated living, at least in this world.

The grocery store would not be a good place to obtain food tonight as the store was completely flooded. Turns out, someone must have activated the fire alarm and the sprinkler system flooded the store, drowning everyone inside and ruining all the food. Another tragic accident that should never have happened.

The Stranger felled to his knees once more as his stomach began to growl even louder. He will not survive long if he did not get food. He was willing to eat anything right now just to fill his stomach.

Boy, you sure are hungry.

"You think?"

Well I can't let my favorite new toy die on an empty stomach. I know a great place to get some food.

The Stranger slowly looked behind him to now notice a building on fire. He could not recall it being on fire before, but he believed it must be a sign that food exist there. He hated the mad man always talking to him, but if he was giving him free food, he had to take it.

The Stranger took the short journey over to the building, and stood outside as the flames engulfed the entire area. It was the café he was at the second day.

"Well this is no better. All the food inside is going to be completely burnt. Besides, I can't exactly walk through fire."

Well of course you won't find food there. But, there are other means of obtaining food. Some unconventional means.

A strange smell began to enter the Stranger's nose. It came from something beside him. He was scared to look, but he had to know what the smell was coming from. He began to wish he hadn't look, as the smell came from two dead bodies, burnt to a crisp. One was a large brown bear in a read bathrobe. In his hands was a little brown cub with a beanie hat. Both were burnt completely and charred in black. They were most certainly dead. And they both smelled delicious.

"No… No… Please don't…"

You want to survive right? Besides, I do believe you ate animals in your own world, so why should this be any different. If I were you, I'd go for the young cub. It's young and fresh, and the meat should be nice and tender. Go on Stranger, you need to survive, and they will be just fine.

Is this really happening? Was the Stranger really doing this? Was he desperate enough to survive in this awful world that he would eat the innocent people that inhabit it to live in it?

"But…They…They are still…"

Come on Stranger, they won't know any of this. They won't feel a thing and won't know you will have done this. You don't give two shits about these people in the first place anyway. You've made that quite apparent Stranger, so you might as well go with it.

The Stranger walked over to the two dead bodies, and knelled before them as the rain continued to fall. He stared at them, sobbing quietly as he thought of the action he was about to perform. He did not want to do this. This was not him. But what choice did he have. He slowly dropped his tattered backpack on the ground beside him, resting it nicely against him. As he reached to the silver zippers on the bag, his hands began to shake violently, and he started to hyperventilate, taking faster breaths each second as he prepared himself. He opened the bag, and reached inside to pull out a silver knife, clean and sharp, able to cut through the toughest of meat. He stared into the metallic reflection of the knife, looking at himself as he continued to shake and breathe violently, and his heartbeat beginning to pick up pace.

"I…I don't want to do this… I just…"

Do it Stranger. Show me that you are willing to do anything to survive in this world, no matter how dark it may seem. I want to see the real you.

The Stranger grasped the knife with both hands, shaking the knife and almost dropping it. He slowly brought the knife over to the two dead bodies, and observed the smaller cub. It was definitely fresh and would taste better. The Stranger placed the knife over the neck of the dead bear child, and took several deep breaths as he closed his eyes.

"One…Two…"

Before he made counted his last number before beginning the operation, he opened his eyes gently, and stared at the face of the child. As the Stranger stared at the dead child's face, he started to see something moving. He leaned in closer and started to hear the sounds of laughter, and was starting to make out the appearance of a person. Suddenly, the vision became clear. The person he was looking at was a child. And not just any child, but a human child. It was a young boy, playing in the middle of a field, having what appeared to be the time of his life. As the Stranger watched, he noticed that he himself was also there in the field with the young boy. And he too was a human. He looked around to see a blue sky and green grass. It looked peaceful.

The Stranger then looked over towards the boy, and noticed the boy was looking at him too. The Stranger could see the boy smiling, and waved to the Stranger. The Stranger smiled widely, and also gave a friendly wave to the young boy. He slowly walked towards the child, deciding it would be fun to play in a peaceful place like this. But the boy began to look scared. The smile on his face was gone and replaced with the look of terror. The Stranger stopped moving and had a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong? I am not going to hurt you, I'm a good guy."

The Stranger stopped speaking as he noticed the world around him began to change for the worse. As he looked around, he saw the sky turn blood red, and the field around him began to set ablaze with fire. The green grass before him turned into dark ash, and the fire began to move inwards towards the two innocent people. The Stranger then looked over to notice the child, and what he saw terrified him.

"Young boy, what's happening?! Are you okay?!"

The child the Stranger was staring at was now having scars appearing across his face. As the Stranger watched, the scars began to widen, and blood started to rush down across his entire face. The Stranger began to walk backwards as he noticed that the child's neck was suddenly having a gash moving around his entire throat, with blood spurting out as it continued to move. When the cut completely went around the child, the young boy's head rolled off, with the organs that attached the two parts coming out and spilling across the dark ground.

The Stranger began to freak out, looking around sharply as he saw the wall of fire moving closely towards him. He looked down to see the body of the child lit up in flames, and began to move towards the Stranger. Before the Stranger could be engulfed by the fire, he suddenly woke up back in Happy Tree Town, still kneeling on the ground in the rain. He shook his head, waking up from the terrible vision he had just received. But then he remembered what he was doing. As he looked back towards his hands, he noticed that the knife was slowly dug into the child's neck, slowly releasing blood.

The Stranger quickly jumped far away from the body, and threw the knife a great distance away from him. He stood up instantly and yelled loudly to the heavens, crying immensely while doing so.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

The Stranger spoke at a volume that could have been heard across the world, and fell to his knees, placing his hands over his face as he cried violently. What he had done was something he thought this world would never do to him, but it happened. He was not only a thief and a murderer, but was now a cannibal. He was the pure symbol of what a monster is. "What kind of sick fuck have I become?! What has this world done to me?!"

Oh Stranger, what are you doing? Your meal is about to get cold.

"Fuck you! I am not going to take any of your shit anymore! I'm done with you and this fucking world! Take me home right now you god damn asshole!"

Oh Stranger, but I don't want you to leave. You're to fun.

"Then fucking kill me! Kill me right now so I no longer have to remember any of this shit. Turn me into one of your little minions and use me for whatever sick experiments you choose! Just kill me!"

But Stranger, if I did that, this world would be boring again.

"How could it be fucking boring, huh?! I'd just be back and you can do this shit all over again! That's how you have this world set up."

While that is indeed true for the people that were already here, the same rule does not apply to you.

The Stranger looked up confused. "What do you mean it does not apply to me?"

Well, if you recall, you entered this world without me setting any traits or regulations on you, which is why you have self-awareness. Sadly, another thing that does not apply due to you not being properly placed into this world is the resurrection cycle. If you were to die in anyway, I can't save you.

The Stranger looked back down at his knees, and began to have terrible thoughts. "You mean, if I die, I won't have to live with this shit anymore? I'd be free from it all?"

Well, you would suffer a massive cardiac arrest and your actual body on the outside world would die, thus not actually leaving this world in a peaceful fashion, but yes, you would never come back here. But that's a terrible thought and I do not want to bring that upon you.

The Stranger stood up slowly, and looked forward. "If I die, I don't have to live here no more. I won't have to live the life of a monster and live through this shit anymore. I would be free." The Stranger looked around, and noticed a tall building in the distance. He counted the number of floors, which totaled twelve. It was perfect.

Oh Stranger, don't think like that. There still so much we have yet to have done, and the good stuff has not even been prepared.

The Stranger ignored the mad man's voice, picked up his backpack and walked back to his home. As he made it back to the dark alley, he opened the lid of the dumpster slowly, and stopped midway, sobbing softly as he started to realize what he was planning to do.

"I wish there was another way, but there just isn't. I'm sorry."

The Stranger jumped into the dumpster, closing the lid and hid himself from the world once more.