“Shit..” Sheri whispered, her eyes growing wide with the masked man’s threat echoing up to them. “I don’t doubt for one fucking second that he’ll do it, either. He’s fucking crazy, maybe even crazier than you! So where is your great plan, Deadblood? Sure, plenty of stuff in here that we could conceivably fuck his day up with, but how the hell is that gonna help us if he torches the place?”
“Just trust me, all right? Have I steered you wrong yet?” Sheri glared hard at that, and before she could answer he shook his head. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. But seriously, calm down. Look up.”
Sheri bit her tongue despite her desire to lay into Deadblood over that comment and instead looked up. As much as she wanted to strangle him at the moment, she had to admit that this time he knew what he was talking about. Even in the darkness she could make out the sprinkler system the department store was equipped with, and she realized that while their mysterious attacker might not be bluffing about setting the store ablaze with them inside, his threat was not near as potent as she’d imagined.
“Even if he tries, it’s not like we would be totally fucked. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t know that too, and he is just trying to rattle us. Don’t let him. You’re gonna have to keep a cool head here, Sheri.” Deadblood said, trying to keep his voice even in an attempt to calm her down. She nodded, taking a deep breath and looking around the second floor for anything that caught her eye as useful.
Her eyes widened more as a sign across the building drew her attention.
‘Power Tools’
“Deadblood!” She hissed, pointing over in that direction. Deadblood looked over in that direction, the sign catching his attention as well. His eyes gleamed at the thought of exactly what might be over in that section.
“Some of it will likely have cords, but more than you might think is battery powered these days. It’s more than worth a shot, come on!” He replied, as they made their way over to the hardware department.
They were not disappointed in the slightest by the display before them. Deadblood had been absolutely correct in surmising that much of the stock was indeed battery powered and could be very useful. Of course the manufacturers had not foreseen exactly what their products were going to be used for when they’d brilliantly designed them in mind to be easily portable and easy to use, but that didn’t matter now.
Several circular saws gleaned in the dim light, catching Deadblood’s eye, as Sheri studied a row of portable edgers and hedge trimmers on display.
“All right, you two can hide all you want like the cowards you are! Deadblood, I expected as much from you, and she’s no different it seems! If neither one of you want to go out fighting and prefer to die like rats in a trap, so be it!” The man’s voice rang out from the direction of the escalators. He so far hadn’t carried out his threat of burning the building, and Sheri wondered if Deadblood had been right about that as well.
Picking up one of the saw blades, Deadblood held it carefully in his fingers, examining it. It wasn't the largest blade there, but it was plenty sharp. It could easily slice off his fingertips if it slipped. He thought about what else he could use it to cut through. One of the masked man's hands or maybe something more decimating like the top of his head. Grabbing several more of the blades, he continued looking through the various tools.
"You think you might be safe among all these shelves," the masked man then said, "but you're not! Nothing can protect you from me!"
The masked man was definitely getting closer. Deadblood and Sheri would have to hurry and gather all that they wanted to trying attacking the masked man with. They both stopped though when there was a sudden crashing sound nearby. They were guessing that the masked man had just knocked some shelves over, unsure if he thought he'd seen Deadblood and Sheri or if he was just trying to further intimidate them.
Grabbing a box of screws, Deadblood then whispered, "Come on, let's try to get around behind him."
Sheri looked around quickly before gathering up an armload of drywall saws, before following Deadblood out of the hardware aisle. They both looked and listened carefully for any further signs of the masked man. They couldn't even hear his footsteps, though they were sure he was trying to be quiet too, trying to look and listen for any sign of them too. The two quietly moved past other aisles, peeking down each one for their attacker.
They could hear more shelves in the distance clatter and topple over, and then again from the opposite direction. They quickly realized what was going on however, he was taking out shelves left and right, and could be anywhere, even on the other side of the store. Sheri couldn’t help but give a shove across the department store, sending a shelf of her own toppling, if only to make a point.
“Cut that out,” Deadblood whispered, glaring at her. “Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should.”
“Just wanted to let that fucker know he’s not the only one who can play that game.” Sheri replied quietly. Deadblood shot her an exasperated look.
“I’m pretty damn sure he’s well aware of what you can do. You made it pretty clear. And this isn’t a fucking game. Quit screwing around and focus if you want to make it out of here alive tonight.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about any of that.” Came that familiar voice frighteningly close, but still out of sight. “Neither one of you will be making it out of here alive, and while you both play very poorly, it is quite a game!”
