Lex pressed herself against the wall, her heart hammering as her friends crouched close by. Somewhere in the shadows of the food court, the Slasher a hulking, Hive Mind-controlled zombie variant moved, its bladed arms dragging along the floor, filling the silence with a slow, ominous scrape. This was no ordinary Psycho; it was a deadly creature built to kill, designed by the Hive Mind with ruthless precision, and guided by its calculating will.

Their earlier skirmishes had been tough, but this was something else entirely. Lex could practically feel the Hive Mind’s awareness pressing down on them, a dark, insidious presence lurking just outside her field of vision, amplifying her fear. Her makeshift weapon—a long metal pole sharpened into a crude spear—felt almost useless. They needed more than brute force if they had any hope of surviving.

She glanced at her friends, each clutching their scavenged weapons. Damien gripped his double-edged blade, made from serrated knives he’d taped together; Maya held a heavy ice cream scooper she’d filed into a sharper point; Sophie had a thick frying pan, and Brandon had fashioned a torch from a broken mop handle wrapped in cloth and soaked with alcohol. Each of them wore a mix of terror and grim determination, knowing the odds were against them but ready to fight regardless.

“Whatever you do, stay unpredictable,” Lex whispered. “It’s not just reacting. It’s connected to the Hive Mind. We have to keep it guessing.”

Her friends nodded, their grips tightening on their weapons.

Then, a sudden, sinister laugh echoed from across the food court. Lex’s stomach twisted as the Taxidermist emerged from the shadows, his twisted smile even more unnerving than usual as his gaze landed on the Slasher. His eyes gleamed with a warped fascination, like he’d found the prize he’d been hunting.

“Oh, now this is something special,” he sneered, inching closer to the creature. “I thought I’d seen the worst of what this mall had to offer, but you… you’re a true masterpiece.”

Lex’s blood went cold as she watched the Taxidermist approach the Slasher with reckless confidence, his hand extending as if to touch the creature. He seemed entirely oblivious to the danger, transfixed by the creature’s lethal beauty.

The Slasher’s head cocked, its eyes narrowing as it registered the intruder. For a heartbeat, everything was still. Then, in a horrifying flash of movement, it struck. A bladed arm whipped forward, slicing clean through the Taxidermist’s chest. His eyes went wide, his mouth opening in a wordless scream as blood pooled from his mouth. With brutal efficiency, the Slasher lifted him off the ground and impaled him on its arm, giving him a single, contemptuous shake before tossing him aside like a ragdoll.

The Taxidermist crumpled against a table, his once-proud smirk replaced with a lifeless stare. For a moment, the group watched in stunned silence, horrified and yet oddly relieved that one Psycho had just met a poetic end at the hands of another.

But the Slasher didn’t stop. Its gaze shifted, landing on Lex and her friends, the cold gleam of the Hive Mind’s awareness intensifying in its eyes.

Lex didn’t wait. “Scatter! Stick to the plan!” she hissed, signaling for her friends to move.

Maya and Brandon broke left, ducking behind the Cold Stone counter, while Lex, Damien, and Sophie took cover behind an overturned table in the Olive Garden section. The Slasher’s head swiveled back and forth, watching them with an eerie patience, as if savoring the thrill of the hunt. Lex’s heart sank. This creature wasn’t just fast or strong—it was smart, capable of adapting to their tactics.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Damien leaned close to Lex, his voice barely a breath. “If it’s connected to the Hive Mind, how are we supposed to trick it?”

Lex’s mind raced, recalling everything she’d read in the control room files about the Hive Mind. “We need a distraction. Something big enough to make it slip, even for a second.”

Before she could elaborate, Damien took off, waving his arms to draw the creature’s attention. “Over here, you freak!”

The Slasher’s head snapped in his direction, and it lunged, bladed arms slicing through the air with deadly precision. Damien rolled beneath a table, narrowly dodging the attack as the Slasher’s blade cleaved straight through the wood, sending splinters flying. He scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the Popeyes, the Slasher hot on his heels.

Lex motioned to the others, urging them to follow as she led them around the other side of the food court, inching closer to the fountain. The plan was to lure the Slasher toward the fountain’s cracked edge, hoping they could use the slippery tile to their advantage.

But just as they positioned themselves, the Slasher halted, its head turning back toward Lex’s group with chilling precision. She cursed under her breath. The Hive Mind had caught on to their plan.

“Keep it busy!” Lex shouted. They needed to keep pressing forward, to force it into a vulnerable position.

Brandon pulled out his lighter, flicking it to life. “Time for Plan B,” he muttered, igniting his makeshift torch. He hurled it at the Slasher, flames licking up the creature’s decayed skin as it staggered, momentarily disoriented by the sudden burst of fire.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Maya grabbed a stack of metal trays and hurled them at the creature, the clang of metal against its back throwing it further off balance.

“Hit it from all sides!” Lex ordered, her voice urgent.

They attacked in unison, each of them charging forward to strike. Lex swung a heavy tray at the creature’s legs, Sophie smashed her skillet against its torso, and Damien plunged his double-edged blade into its shoulder. Their strikes barely slowed the creature, but with each hit, they forced it to reposition, drawing it inch by inch toward the fountain’s edge.

The Slasher lashed out, one of its bladed arms slicing dangerously close to Sophie, who stumbled back, her frying pan slipping from her grasp. The creature locked onto her, its blade raised, ready to strike.

“Not so fast!” Damien shouted, lunging forward and slicing at the creature’s arm. The blade barely nicked its flesh, but the distraction was enough to pull its focus from Sophie.

“Keep pushing it!” Lex yelled, desperation edging into her voice.

The Slasher backed up toward the fountain, but it remained steady, its gaze darting between them with eerie calm, as if calculating its next move. Lex’s stomach twisted—this was no ordinary zombie. The Hive Mind was fully aware of their tactics, guiding the Slasher’s every action.

In a final, desperate attempt to throw it off balance, Brandon lit another Molotov and hurled it at the creature’s feet. Flames erupted, casting wild shadows as the Slasher staggered, its foot slipping on the wet tile near the fountain.

“Now! Push it over!” Lex screamed.

They charged, ramming into the creature’s side with all their strength. The Slasher tottered on the edge, its blade arms flailing as it fought for balance. But finally, with a sickening lurch, it tumbled backward, crashing into the fountain. Water splashed up as it landed, its massive form writhing as it struggled to right itself.

Brandon lit another makeshift Molotov and hurled it into the fountain. Flames roared to life, consuming the Slasher in a fiery blaze. Its screams echoed through the food court, a guttural, otherworldly sound as the flames began to consume its body. But even as it burned, the creature thrashed, refusing to die.

The flames flickered out, and the Slasher lay still—injured, but not defeated.

Lex’s heart sank as the creature slowly began to rise, charred but very much alive, its blade arms dragging as it pulled itself from the fountain.

“This… isn’t over,” Lex muttered, her eyes wide with horror. They hadn’t beaten it. They’d only managed to wound it. The Slasher was still coming for them, its Hive Mind-driven rage stronger than ever.

The team regrouped, breathing heavily, as they realized that this would be a fight to the end. They’d have to dig deeper, fight smarter if they wanted any hope of survival.

And as the Slasher advanced once more, blade arms raised, Lex steeled herself for the battle yet to come.