Chapter 5

The killer swung his cleaver. But this time, Subaru dodged.
Subaru: "Ha! Too slow, you son of a bitch!"
Subaru stood his ground, and even in the face of death, he was brimming with confidence. He felt as if everything was going to be okay, even in this dire situation.
Subaru: "Alright, Emilia, start running. Go find the others. I'll hold this guy off for as long as I-"

The killer interrupted Subaru by swinging again, and he just barely managed to dodge it this time.
Subaru: "Alright, Emilia, run!"

Without another word, Emilia did as he said and ran away from the killer.

Subaru: Alright, bastard, now it's just you and me. Show me what you've got!"

The killer had his cleaver ready. He walked toward Subaru, swinging his cleaver again and again, but Subaru swiftly dodged each swing with ease.
Subaru: "Working out sure does pay off! My agility and reflexes are a lot better!"

This time, he decided to run away from the killer. He had to find a way to evade him for the time being and meet up with the others, wherever they were. Since he knew he was buying the others time, they could've repaired a generator by now.
Subaru ran and ran, but also looked carefully at the ground as he ran, because he still had to be wary of the bear traps.

Subaru looked around. There had to be something around here that could help him avoid the killer. He thought a little bit, and then remembered what Meg had told him. He grabbed the flashlight from his pocket. Subaru looked backed here and now to see how much distance was between him and the killer. At the moment, the killer was right on his tail.
Subaru was surprised at how quick the killer caught up to him. As he kept running, Subaru noticed something that he hadn't yet. Pallets. And these pallets looked like they could be pulled down.
Subaru smiled at this new discovery. He could definitely use these pallets to escape from the killer. He looked for more pallets, and then when he found one, he stopped running.

Subaru took a moment to catch his breath. He looked back from where he was standing, and sure enough, the killer was there. He was on his way. He had to plan this perfectly. In order to make a grand escape.

Subaru led the killer to the pallet, and the killer swung his cleaver. Subaru dodged, and at the same time, pulled down the pallet right on him. The impact of the pallet stunned the killer, and on top of that, Subaru shined his flashlight right into the killer's eyes.
Bullesye. Subaru got him good. And while the killer was still stunned, Subaru took this as an opportunity to escape. And escape he did. After a few moments, he ran until he could no longer see the killer.
He was really relieved that he escaped, and he was also really relieved that there were ways to counter the killer. He knew for a fact there was no way to face him in a one-on-one fight, even with all the confidence he had, he knew there was no way he could win.
Subaru was aware of his weakness, and the level of strength that the killer showed. During the past loops, Subaru noticed how much of a monster this man truly was. He didn't even seem human.

Subaru found a tree to sit under so he could calm down and think. He had run a pretty long distance, and he couldn't sense the killer's presence at all.
Alright, let's think for a moment. We might actually make it out alive this time. There's a lot of different ways to evade the killer, as I've just done. What advantages do we have at the moment? Well, for starters, we have four people. Me, Emilia, Dwight, and Meg. And there's four of us and only one killer. That means that we can split up easily and the killer can only go for one of us at a time. Which is good. The more spread out we are, the more generators we can complete. Number two, we have these items. For example, the flashlight. The flashlight can be used to look around in the darkness and help spot out bear traps, which we should obviously avoid. They can also be used to blind the killer for a few seconds, so we can make a quick escape.
On top of that, that's not the only item that we have in our possession. Emilia found a medkit earlier, which will be super, super helpful if one of us does get injured, in fact. Hmm.. What else.. Oh, right! The pallets. I just discovered these pallets a little bit ago. We can drop these and stun the killer for a few seconds, and on top of that, a flashlight blind! That'll give us a good chunk of time to make an escape. And that's exactly what I did just now. Well, those are pretty good advantages.. But what about our disadvantages?

Well for starters, we have no way to fight this killer offensively, like in a fight. His power is too immense, and I don't think any of us are any match for his strength. That's where he has the advantage. If even one of us gets caught, he's gonna mess us up...
Subaru thought about his previous deaths by the hands of the killer. It sent chills up his spine.
I don't want to die…
Subaru let out an exasperated sigh and thought a little bit more.

Another disadvantage are these damn bear traps. The killer could've placed these suckers anywhere, so that means we have to be super cautious. I don't mind being cautious, but it's gonna take a lot longer to get out of here at that pace. Well, they always say better safe than sorry right? But still, it can also be really difficult to spot one of those, which is why we have to be super alert.
It's also really dark and dense here. The flashlight helps a bit, but sometimes maneuvering around can be difficult. I've already done this a few times, so I'm quite used to it. But I don't know about the others… Well, I guess that's it. I really should get back to the others.
Subaru slowly stood up and brushed himself off. At that very moment, he heard a "pop" sound.
What was that?
Subaru thought about what that sound could've been. The worst case scenario, it could be the killer, but he really hoped it wasn't.

Subaru: "Oh! It was probably a generator! That means that they must've repaired one already! We're off to a good start! Alright, what should I do now?"
He did some more thinking.
Alright, my initial idea was to go look for the others, but actually, that's not the best idea, after all. Believe me, I love cooperating with others, however.. If we split up, we can get these generators done easier. I also have faith in my friends. And.. if something really does go wrong, I'll rush over to help them! I now know the advantages and disadvantages, and with this knowledge I'm sure we can win!
Subaru let out a smirk. It was a smug smirk that showed just how confident he was now. And with that, he went off in search of a generator.
Dwight.. Meg.. Emilia… I promise. I promise we're going to make it out of here this time. You can count on me!