The friends held their breath as they backed away from the heavy door of the meat locker, listening to the muffled, furious roars from within. For a brief, precious moment, there was silence in the supermarket—a silence broken only by the occasional drip of something wet hitting the floor, the remains of shattered shelves, and their own ragged breathing.
“Is he… is he really trapped?” Maya whispered, glancing anxiously at Lex.
Lex nodded, though her grip on her airsoft rifle remained tense. "For now, yes. But that door won’t hold him forever. We need to get out of here before he breaks loose."
Sophie looked at the two survivors they’d rescued, their faces pale and haunted. “Are you both okay to move?”
The woman nodded, though her hands were shaking. “Thank you… we thought we were done for.”
Damien gave her a quick nod. “We’re getting you out. Just stick close, okay?”
They started toward the exit, the group moving as one, each step cautious as they navigated around the debris-strewn floor. Lex kept glancing back at the meat locker, half-expecting to see the door bulge under the Butcher’s strength. Every sound felt amplified in the silence, and each of them was keenly aware of how little time they had.
But just as they neared the exit, a deafening bang echoed through the supermarket, followed by another. Then, with a final, brutal slam, the meat locker door flew open, crashing against the wall as the Butcher burst free, his face twisted in rage.
“YOU THINK YOU CAN TRAP ME?” he roared, his voice a monstrous bellow that reverberated through the aisles. "I’ll butcher every last one of you!"
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The friends froze, dread filling them as they watched the Butcher step out from the locker, his cleaver raised high, his eyes burning with a fury that could only mean one thing: he wouldn’t stop until he had them all.
“Run!” Lex shouted, waving the others toward the exit. “Go, now!”
They bolted, weaving through the aisles as the Butcher stormed after them, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground beneath them. Damien fired a burst of pellets over his shoulder, aiming for the Butcher’s face, but the Psycho barely flinched, his massive form charging through the hail of pellets as if they were nothing more than raindrops.
“We need to slow him down!” Brandon shouted, glancing around desperately for anything they could use. His eyes landed on a row of cleaning supplies, and he grabbed a bottle of bleach, hurling it at the Butcher’s face. The liquid splattered across the Psycho’s skin, and he let out a furious growl, momentarily blinded.
“Nice one!” Damien said, grabbing another bottle and throwing it. “Everyone, grab whatever you can find!”
They raided the shelves as they ran, grabbing cleaning bottles, canned goods, anything that could be thrown at the advancing Butcher. The floor grew slick with spilled liquids and broken glass, making the Butcher’s steps heavy and unsteady, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.
“Isn’t there anything stronger?” Maya gasped, barely dodging a swing of the Butcher’s cleaver. “We need something that can actually hurt him!”
“There might be something in the hardware section,” Lex replied, her mind racing. “Let’s head that way!”
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They sprinted toward the far side of the supermarket, where a small section of hardware supplies lined the shelves. The Butcher’s roar echoed behind them, closer than ever, and they could feel his murderous gaze on their backs.
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As they reached the hardware aisle, Lex spotted a stack of small propane canisters and grabbed one, her mind forming a desperate plan. “Damien, take this!” she said, tossing a canister to him. “We’re going to use these to set a trap.”
“You think we can blow him up?” Damien asked, catching the canister with wide eyes.
“If we can keep him close enough, yes,” Lex replied, her voice filled with urgency. “We’re out of options. Everyone else, find something to ignite it with!”
They split up, each of them grabbing tools, metal pipes, and anything sharp enough to improvise as a weapon. Maya found a lighter near a section of camping supplies, and she handed it to Lex, her hands trembling. “This… this has to work.”
“It will,” Lex said, her jaw set. “Because we don’t have another choice.”
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They arranged the propane canisters in the center of the aisle, setting up their makeshift trap. As the Butcher closed in, Lex took a deep breath, raising her airsoft rifle and aiming directly at his face.
“Over here, you freak!” she shouted, firing a final burst of pellets to get his attention.
The Butcher’s gaze locked onto her, and his lips curled into a snarl. “I’m going to enjoy watching you bleed,” he growled, raising his cleaver as he stomped toward her, unaware of the canisters stacked behind him.
“Now, Maya!” Lex shouted.
Maya flicked the lighter, her fingers shaking as she tossed it toward the propane canisters. The flame caught, sparking into a fiery blaze that lit up the aisle. The Butcher’s eyes widened as he realized he was standing in the center of an explosive trap, but it was too late.
With a deafening boom, the propane ignited, sending a shockwave through the supermarket. The Butcher was engulfed in flames, his roar of agony echoing through the aisles as he stumbled, his cleaver dropping to the ground as he thrashed against the blaze.
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The group shielded their faces, the heat from the explosion searing their skin as they crouched behind the shelves. When the flames finally died down, they peered over the wreckage, their eyes scanning the charred remains of the aisle.
The Butcher lay on the ground, his flesh burned and smoking, but he was still moving, his fingers twitching as he let out a low, guttural growl. “You… little… rats…” he rasped, his voice weak but filled with malice.
“He’s… he’s still alive?” Sophie whispered, her voice barely more than a breath. “How is that even possible?”
Lex’s face hardened. "He’s not getting up again." She raised her airsoft rifle, aiming directly at his face, but her gun clicked, out of pellets.
Brandon grabbed a length of metal pipe he’d picked up earlier, gripping it tightly as he stepped forward. "Then we finish this the old-fashioned way."
Together, the group surrounded the Butcher, each of them wielding makeshift weapons as they prepared for one final assault. The Butcher tried to rise, his burned form struggling to lift itself, but the friends moved as one, striking him down with a fury born of desperation and survival.
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As they stood over his body, breathing hard, the reality of their victory began to sink in. They had defeated the Butcher but it had come at a cost. The supermarket was a wreck, their supplies were nearly depleted, and the two survivors they had rescued looked as if they were on the verge of breaking.
“Is… is it over?” the woman asked, her voice trembling as she looked at the group. “Are we safe?”
Lex nodded, though the exhaustion in her eyes was clear. “For now, yes. But we need to get out of here before anything else finds us.”
The friends exchanged weary glances, each of them carrying the weight of what they had just been through. The Butcher’s twisted grin and mocking laughter lingered in their minds, a reminder of how close they had come to death.
“Let’s go,” Lex said, her voice barely above a whisper. “We’ve been in here long enough.”
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They left the supermarket, their footsteps heavy as they moved toward a quieter section of the mall to regroup. The two survivors walked with them in silence, their faces haunted by the horrors they had endured.
As they reached a deserted hallway, Maya sank to the floor, her hands shaking as the reality of their ordeal finally hit her. “I thought… I thought we were done for back there.”
Damien put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We made it out. That’s what matters.”
“Barely,” Sophie murmured, glancing over at the two survivors. “And we couldn’t save everyone…”
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The group sat together in silence, each of them processing the trauma of their encounter with the Butcher. They had come face-to-face with one of the mall’s most dangerous Psychos and survived—but the emotional toll was beginning to show. As they tended to their wounds and tried to catch their breath, they knew that the worst might still be yet to come.