The friends stumbled into the food court, their breaths ragged, their faces etched with exhaustion. The wide-open space was a stark contrast to the dark, narrow corridors they’d just escaped. Overturned tables and abandoned trays of half-eaten meals littered the area, frozen in time from the outbreak. The air was thick with the stale smell of decay, mixed with the faint, sour scent of long-spoiled food.

Lex scanned the area, her shoulders tense. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the distant hum of broken machinery and the occasional creak of metal. For a moment, she let herself believe they were alone, but she knew better than to trust that feeling.

“We’ll take a few minutes here,” she whispered, barely loud enough for the group to hear. “Get some food, get your strength back. But stay alert.”

They nodded, their expressions weary but determined. Damien moved off to a deserted sandwich counter, while Maya headed toward an overturned cart where a few scattered bottles of water lay forgotten. Sophie and Brandon sifted through an abandoned snack bar, gathering anything that looked even remotely edible.

Lex kept herself near the entrance, watching over them, her senses sharpened by the unease that had settled deep in her gut. The mall was a labyrinth of horrors, and the control room files had confirmed it—each encounter was calculated, each Psycho a test designed to push them to their breaking points. She wasn’t naive enough to think they’d be safe here.

Damien returned with a few cans of food, tossing one to Brandon. “Not exactly gourmet, but better than starving.”

Brandon cracked a weak smile, popping open the can and taking a hesitant bite. The taste was bland and metallic, but it was food. Right now, that was enough.

Maya joined them, setting down her find—two slightly crushed granola bars and three bottles of water. “It’s not much, but it’ll keep us going.”

They ate in silence, each of them lost in thought. Every chew, every swallow felt like a struggle, as if the weight of everything they’d been through was pressing down on them all at once. Sophie took a swig from a water bottle, her gaze drifting over the empty tables and shattered trays.

“This place… it used to be so normal,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. “People used to come here to eat, to laugh… Now it’s just…”

“A graveyard,” Maya finished softly, her eyes downcast.

The food court felt hollow, a twisted reminder of what they’d lost. In the distance, a flickering light cast eerie shadows across the abandoned tables, stretching and shifting as if something was moving in the darkness.

Lex cleared her throat, trying to break the heavy silence. “Let’s stay focused. We’ve made it this far. We can make it further if we stay smart.”

But even as she spoke, her own words felt hollow. Her instincts screamed that they were being watched, that something monstrous was lurking just beyond the edge of the light, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

As they finished eating, the silence was broken by a faint, metallic scraping sound—a grating, rhythmic noise that echoed through the empty space, chilling them to the bone. It was coming from somewhere beyond the food court, in the shadowed corridors that led deeper into the mall.

Brandon looked up, his eyes wide. “What… what is that?”

Lex held up a hand, signaling for them to stay quiet. Her heart pounded in her chest as she strained to listen. The noise was getting louder, a slow, deliberate scrape, like metal dragging across tile.

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Damien swallowed, his grip tightening around the makeshift club he’d fashioned from a metal pipe. “Whatever it is… it sounds big.”

Sophie’s face paled, her gaze darting toward the shadows. “Do you think… it could be the Slasher?”

A heavy silence fell over them. They hadn’t gotten a clear look at the creature before—they’d only glimpsed its hulking form, its bladed arms gleaming in the dim light as it tore through obstacles with terrifying ease. But something about the way it moved, the deliberate scrape of metal, felt unmistakably familiar.

Lex took a deep breath, steadying herself. “We don’t know what it is yet, but we can’t afford to find out the hard way. We need to move.”

They packed up quickly, each of them on edge as they gathered their makeshift weapons and supplies. The scraping sound grew louder, closer, echoing from somewhere beyond the food court. It was almost as if the creature knew they were here, that it could sense their fear.

Lex motioned for them to follow her, leading them toward a narrow hallway at the edge of the food court. They moved quietly, hugging the walls as they slipped between overturned tables and discarded trays. But just as they reached the hallway, a loud crash echoed from behind them, freezing them in their tracks.

Slowly, they turned, their breaths caught in their throats as they watched the shadow at the far end of the food court shift and swell. The scraping sound grew sharper, more pronounced, until the Slasher’s massive form emerged from the shadows, its blade-like arms dragging across the tile, leaving deep gouges in the floor.

The creature was a nightmarish vision, its rotting flesh stretched over bulging muscles, and its eyes glowed with a cold, inhuman intelligence. It scanned the area with a predator’s gaze, its head swiveling as if searching for the faintest sign of movement.

Maya stifled a gasp, her hand over her mouth. “How… how are we supposed to fight that?”

Lex clenched her jaw, her mind racing. They couldn’t face the Slasher in open combat; it was too powerful, too relentless. They’d barely survived their encounter with the Butcher, and this creature looked even deadlier.

“Stay low,” she whispered. “And don’t make a sound.”

They crept along the wall, their steps slow and measured, each movement carefully calculated to avoid drawing attention. But as they neared the hallway, the Slasher’s head snapped in their direction, its eyes locking onto them with a chilling intensity.

The creature let out a low, guttural growl, its blade-arms slicing through the air with a sickening hiss. It took a step toward them, its gaze fixed, its movements slow but purposeful.

Lex’s heart pounded as she motioned for the others to move faster. They slipped into the narrow corridor, the Slasher’s footsteps echoing behind them, each one sending a tremor through the floor.

Brandon glanced back, his face pale. “It’s following us. It knows we’re here.”

“Keep moving,” Lex hissed, trying to keep the panic from her voice. “Don’t look back.”

They weaved through the twisting corridors, each turn bringing them further into the mall’s darkened depths. The Slasher’s footsteps grew louder, the creature’s relentless pace never slowing. It was as if it was toying with them, letting them run just far enough to think they could escape before closing in again.

As they rounded a corner, they stumbled into a small, dimly lit storage room. Lex quickly shut the door, pressing her back against it as she caught her breath. The others did the same, their faces pale and slick with sweat.

For a moment, they stood in silence, listening to the heavy footsteps fade as the Slasher moved past their hiding spot, its blade-arms scraping against the walls. They held their breaths, waiting, hoping it wouldn’t notice them.

After what felt like an eternity, the sound of the footsteps grew fainter, until finally, there was only silence.

Damien let out a shaky breath. “That… that was too close.”

Lex nodded, her face tense. “It knows we’re here. And it’s not going to stop until it finds us.”

Sophie leaned against the wall, her eyes filled with a mix of fear and determination. “We need to come up with a plan. We can’t keep running forever.”

Lex looked at each of them, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a strategy. The Slasher was powerful, relentless, and nearly indestructible. But it wasn’t invincible. If they could use the environment to their advantage, maybe—just maybe—they could find a way to slow it down.

“We’ll have to fight smart,” she said, her voice steady. “Use whatever we can find. Set traps, use the shadows. We’ve survived this far. We can survive this.”

The others nodded, their fear tempered by a newfound resolve. They knew the odds were against them, but they’d faced impossible challenges before. This would be their hardest test yet—but they were ready.

As they slipped out of the storage room, their footsteps quiet and purposeful, they knew they were stepping into a fight that could end them all. But they also knew that they had no choice. If they were going to survive, they’d have to face the Slasher head-on.

And this time, they wouldn’t run.

End