22. Trail of Destruction

It was quite obvious that irresponsible, unruly teenagers lived at Mount Ormond as Evan approached the main cabin. He'd never really left the MacMillan estate much before all the chaos started, although killers were all allowed on each other's turf, especially considering a good few of them didn't even have their own turf to begin with.

He was venturing out now, though, and the first stop on his road trip was Ormond. As he suspected, the little idiots were hanging out in the lobby of the resort, smashing cans against their heads and trying to make beat noises with their mouths. He marched in purposefully, quietly, and the four Legion members didn't even notice the killer's arrival.

Approaching the leader, Frank, Evan reached out without hesitation, grabbed the boy by his neck, and lifted him off the ground. Frank wheezed and went for a weapon, but Evan had learned his lesson. His free hand snatched the switchblade from Frank's pocket and tossed it over his shoulder before reaching and grabbing his mask, ripping it off. "Good, I can see the fear in your eyes," he growled as Frank tried to contort his mouth to make words, all while gasping for air. "I should have done this a long time ago, boy."

Before the other three even really knew enough to react properly, Evan had used his free hand to turn the teen's head like a deadbolt, snapping his scrawny neck in the process. As Frank's body dropped to the floor with a hard thud, the other three froze in place and stared at him. Waiting. Frightened. Wary. Evan spoke up, his voice threatening. "Are the three of you going to continue working for the Entity? Or have you decided you want to keep your lives…?"

The other male and the girl in the hoodie raised their hands in surrender. The girl in the leather jacket looked like she considered fighting, or just being nasty, but eventually she dropped the knife she'd brandished and backed away. She and the other male scampered off, but the girl in the hoodie hesitantly approached, shuffling and clearing her throat behind her mask. "C-Could… c-could you uhm… h-help me?"

His eyes narrowed and he stared down at her through the holes in his mask.

"I… I-I want to find Jake."

Evan stiffened. Jake, the boy who got on his nerves, whose words couldn't seem to ever make their way out of his head. "Yeah, that's how love usually is." Jake had asked him why he'd saved Meg from the Legion at the time, then proceeded to assume it was love, the foolish boy.

But what else could it be?

"And how would I know where he is?"

The girl flinched under his stare, nervously wrapping a lock of pink hair around her finger. "U-Uhm… y-you're closer to the survivors than any of the killers… I thought you might uhm… I-I… I-I'm sorry!"

"I can't help you." Evan's voice was flat. The girl flinched again before nodding somewhat meekly and turning to follow her friends out. As she walked away, Evan spoke up after her: "if you see him… tell him that the others need to be eliminated. To gather killer allies and wipe them out."

She paused, glancing back. "The… others?"

"The Entity's servants."

"That's not it, is it?"

"Shit."

Quentin frowned deeply as Cheryl tried, once again, to summon the Entity. Things certainly happened around the blonde, and she definitely wielded some sort of unexplainable power, but all she'd managed to do so far was open up a small portal, on the other side of which was another realm: the Yamaoka Estate, it looked like. It wasn't even large enough to fit through, and the Entity was nowhere to be seen… and neither was Meg. "I believe we need to think a little harder about this," Quentin said, moving to sit cross-legged next to his friend and focusing on the spot on the ground Cheryl had managed to open up. It was closed now, just dirt and grass. As the gears in his brain turned, he continued, "didn't you say that the reason you have a connection to the Entity is because you… have a magical being inside you?"

"It's hard to explain, and if I told you all the details I'd sound like a lunatic." Cheryl smiled ruefully. "But it's definitely something to do with where I came from."

"Silent Hill."

"Yeah. There's something about that place… normal rules don't apply there."

"A piece of that place came with you when you and the Executioner showed up here, didn't it?" Seeing the pointed look on Quentin's face as he spoke, Cheryl's eyes lit up. She really was a smart girl.

"The map."

"I don't know for certain if we'll find answers there, or anything to help us," Quentin said, rubbing his chin and getting to his feet resolutely, "but it's worth a shot, right?"

"You're damn right it is." Cheryl stood up alongside him. Her lips curled into a slight frown as she stared at her hands. "All the times we went back to Midwich here, and I never even thought…"

Quentin placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile. "Don't blame yourself. None of us would have ever guessed any of this was possible. And hell - if it hadn't been for Meg… maybe it wouldn't have been."

Cheryl seemed mollified. "The question now is how we're gonna get there. Isn't this stuff kinda… randomized?"

Quentin thought for a moment. Then: "well… you managed to make a little portal, right? I saw the Yamaoka Estate on the other side. Maybe if you keep trying, we can pull up Midwich."

"Anyone ever told you how smart you are?" Cheryl gave him a little grin and set to work. Quentin smiled sheepishly, but on the inside, he was concerned. If this didn't work…

Well, they had no choice. It had to work.

After that time the Trapper dropped from the sky right next to the campfire, Jake Park never thought he'd see another killer there. So when Susie from the Legion encroached the campsite, twiddling her fingers nervously, every survivor currently present froze in their spot and looked at her warily. She'd always been kind of a wuss even in trials, but after making a weird connection with her and even talking to her a little, Jake knew by now that she was harmless.

Then again, Meg thought the Trapper was harmless, and look where that trust got her.

Jake's eyes narrowed on the girl, then on the red string that stretched between them. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.

She visibly flinched. "I-I, uhm… well, I wanted to find you."

Susie's voice was so soft that if it hadn't been for the total silence at the campfire, he wouldn't have been able to hear her. Somehow her answer made Jake's heart palpitate and he sucked in a breath before standing up. "Well, you found me." A pause. His lips curled into a scowl. "Your charismatic leader tell you to come take us out?"

"Frank is… he's dead."

A shockwave rippled through the survivors. A killer? Dead? Like… dead dead?

Laurie spoke up, gaping. "How?"

Susie hesitated. Jake stepped forward, dark eyes roaming the girl's form; her feet pointed inward awkwardly and her shoulders were hunched, her whole body turned inward as if she could disappear if she curled up enough. She was scared of something. Or someone. He wasn't sure what possessed him to do it, but he approached Susie and ripped the mask off her face, tossing it to the ground and stomping on it. She squeaked in protest and covered her face with a hand, but didn't have time to get a word in edgewise because Jake was fixing her with a sharp look and giving her some harsh truths.

"If Frank is dead, then you no longer have a leader. The Legion no longer exists. You can't hide behind others forever, Susie. Eventually you've gotta learn that the only person you can really depend on is yourself." He watched her contorting expression, his mouth set into a thin line. "So who are you, under that mask? Are you someone who waits? Or someone who fights?"

Susie's puffy blue eyes, reddened from crying, shifted downwards. Jake analyzed her features; she had a face that, contorted a certain way, would make her look like a psycho. He'd seen Susie kill viciously a few times, so viciously he was sure that there was a maniacal grin on her face while it happened, but that was always under the direct influence of Frank. Without that douchenozzle around, she seemed like… well, a normal girl.

Kinda.

Jake sighed. Laurie cut in once more, standing up. "Let's get back to brass tacks here. That Legion moron is dead. You didn't say he 'died.' You said he was killed. Right?" At Susie's nod, Laurie folded her arms over her chest, her expression disturbed. "By who?"

"The… The Trapper."

Another wave of silence rippled over the campfire. The survivors all looked at one another but said nothing as the news washed over them. Jake was especially perturbed. He'd known that the Trapper betrayed them - and Meg - by siding with the others who still faithfully served the Entity. He'd even let the Clown brutally murder Nea right in front of him. Someone that cold-hearted couldn't have possibly turned back, right? Frank must've gotten in his way or pissed him off - but Jake couldn't imagine Frank doing anything against the Entity. So what was the story here? What pieces of the puzzle were they missing?

As he opened his mouth to speak, Susie piped up, looking directly at Jake. "He, uhm, asked me to tell you something." His lips pursed into a thin line, but he allowed her to continue. "H-He said… 'the others need to be wiped out.' Or something."

Jake's brows furrowed. "Others?"

Susie thought back for a moment before answering. "Oh, right… the Entity's servants. He… well, I think he switched sides. Uhm, again."

Jake exchanged looks with Laurie, who'd come up to stand next to him. "And what makes you think that?" she demanded shrewdly. The evidence that he was once again on the survivor's team was already overwhelming, but Jake had a hard time believing it too. Why the sudden change of heart?

Before Susie could answer, several survivors dropped in and got to their feet, wiping the dirt off their pants as their wounds slowly closed up. Upon seeing the former Legion member, they all tensed up and stepped back, only for Jake to wave their concerns away. "She came here to find us," he explained. "Frank is dead."

Horror dawned on their faces. "A killer? Killed?" Nea questioned. "You know how ridiculous that sounds?"

"I-It's true," Susie chimed in, wringing her hands together anxiously. "I saw it… and the Trapper did it… he asked Joey, Julie and I if we wanted to serve the Entity… or keep our lives."

Jake exchanged looks with Laurie once more, his expression grim, almost resentful. It seemed that the Trapper really had switched his loyalties… but Jake didn't want to believe it. He had a grudge against Evan MacMillan. The killer had hurt one of his closest friends and betrayed the small, shaky trust Jake himself placed in him. He didn't want to believe the Trapper was on their side - because then he couldn't harbor that resentment anymore. Nea spoke up as she approached the group along with Dwight and Kate. "So the Trapper is an enemy of the Entity now…? That fucking bastard… he lets the Clown molest me, THEN he decides he's on our side? If he betrayed us once, he'll do it again - I say he can shove a stick up his ass. We shouldn't listen to anything he says."

Jake turned away, mulling over everything. Pushing aside his own personal feelings about the Trapper and his allegiances, Jake had to look at the facts: and the fact was, Evan had killed Frank, and was presumably going to kill more. He was paving the way for the rest of them - removing the obstacles so they could attack the Entity directly… and maybe get out of here once and for all. When he turned back to the others, they stopped murmuring amongst themselves and focused on him. "Whatever our own feelings are," he began, looking between them all, "we know several things as fact. One: killers can be killed. Two: the Trapper has gotten rid of one of our enemies. And Three: we need to help take out the others in any way we can so that we can buy time for Cheryl and Quentin to do their thing and summon the Entity. When they do… no one will be able to stand in our way."

"Who's on the hit list?" Laurie asked.

"The Clown, definitely," Nea replied. "Probably the Doctor, too. For a while there it seemed like he was just content to revel in the chaos, but I think now that things are coming to a head, he's realizing he doesn't wanna leave."

"Yeah, he went from zapping people to sacrificing again," Jake said with a nod. "Krueger?"

Susie scrunched her nose; though she seemed hesitant to jump in the conversation, she still managed to say, "he's… he's been trying to screw with all of us. Even Frank was getting annoyed with him. I-I don't think he's faithful to the Entity… I-I think he's just…"

"... enjoying the freedom to fuck with everyone," Laurie finished, receiving a nod from Susie.

Jake looked over in Laurie's direction. "What about your guy?"

Laurie grit her teeth, a look of disgust on her face. "That son of a bitch is loyal to no one."

"Is he a threat?"

"He's probably the biggest fucking threat here."

Considering all the facts carefully, Jake scratched at his chin and then glanced up at Susie. "Did the Trapper seem like he was going to keep killing?"

She shook her head. "He definitely didn't look like he planned on stopping at Frank…"

"So he's gonna help us take out the others." Jake continued to ponder. "How do we divide the work?"

"No offense to that giant bastard," Nea chipped in, "but I don't think even he can take on the Shape alone. Meg told me about the time he saved her from Michael… he almost didn't walk away from that fight. If there's anyone on the list the Trapper can't handle… it's that soulless devil."

Susie's eyes widened. "I-If we're going to handle him… how?"

Jake's lips quirked into a small, cynical grin. "We?"

Susie's face flushed with heat. "S-Shut up," she mumbled. "But seriously… h-how? How do you kill the Boogeyman?"

Everyone looked at Laurie, whose expression was hard. "You don't." Her eyes flashed. "You only contain him."

His father had been screaming in his ear relentlessly. Evan knew it was the Entity's attempt at coercing him, influencing him, manipulating him. It was a desperate attempt to retain control. He should have been pleased; that meant that the Entity truly was weakened.

But he was only annoyed. Angered.

He supposed that was a good thing; his rage was real, and it made the force of his fists all the more dangerous. But how could he ever escape his past if it was constantly in his ear, yelling for him to kill? "They're all maggots. True power comes in sacrificing them. The others have understood strength. They serve. Are you a worthless little maggot? Are you weak?"

The more Archie MacMillan's voice raged on, the more Evan MacMillan knew he no longer wanted to be here. He no longer wanted to be the Trapper. He no longer wanted to murder. He wanted justice. Justice for the innocents who were brought here, justice for the innocents he'd killed, justice for the innocents his father had tormented…

… justice for his mother.

If he was going to discard the mantle of the Trapper for good, Evan would need to become him one more time. He had a few pests to take care of… then perhaps… perhaps he could have a new start.

Maybe even one with Meg at his side.

As he approached the doors of Léry's Memorial Institute, Evan's instinct was to kick them in and take the entire ward - and its crackpot doctor - by storm. But knowing Herman Carter and his intelligence, Evan was certain he'd have to use tact rather than brute force. Carefully opening the doors and sliding his massive body inside the building, Evan shifted around to make sure the bear traps on his belt didn't clang against each other. He had to be quiet, he had to be smart, and he had to be quick. Having sacrificed many survivors on his map over multiple occasions, he knew the place well, maybe almost as well as Herman himself did, and he knew the best places to set traps.

More importantly, he knew where the cameras were.

Herman kept a constant and close eye on his terrain and Evan knew he'd be watching the security cameras near constantly - always eager for a new participant for his experiments. And if Evan was caught and subdued, he'd be in for torture far worse than anything the Entity could conjure up.

Towering over seven feet tall had Evan at a disadvantage for being sneaky, but he was a hunter by nature and had spent many years silently stalking his prey - animal and human. So he set about the hospital, sneaking behind counters and slipping through doorways to avoid being detected by the cameras, setting traps in specific places and even painting his own special toxin on them. And all the while, he had a particular mantra rolling through his head on repeat: "kill the scum. Kill the undeserving."

Strangely enough, he heard it in his mother's voice, not his father's.

Evan knew the only way to beat Herman, especially on his own turf, was to outsmart him - beating him bloody would do nothing…

… because the Doctor was the only killer who couldn't feel pain.

The worst part was it wasn't even the Entity's doing. Herman Carter had experimented and mutilated himself so much that he could no longer feel agony. Evan, as monstrous as he was, couldn't imagine marring himself in such a way. Still, no matter how evil and imposing the Doctor was, Evan had no doubt in his mind that he would die a vicious, brutal death. Today.

After setting all his traps he found himself near one of the entrances again, and this time he made his way into Lery's with no reservations, standing tall and strong with heavy footsteps. He wanted the Doctor to see him.

A voice came over the hospital's crackling intercom, dainty and giggling. "What a surprise to see you here, Evan boy.~ is there a reason you are muddying up the halls of my domain?"

Evan opened his mouth to speak - and found it immensely difficult to formulate words. He grit his teeth as realization set in: what the Entity giveth, the Entity can taketh away.

"I came… to talk," he finally managed.

"I see the Entity took away your eloquence once more." Herman faked a sigh. "Well then; let's step into my office, shall we~?"

When the static cut off, Evan set through the hospital, taking a clear path through his own traps but making sure to avoid stepping directly in them. Finally he approached Herman's 'office;' the middle room of the ward with various torture machines, tons of monitors, and a large grate on the floor with what looked to be a massive heated engine underneath. Evan had never quite figured out what it was, but judging from the gust of heat that always lifted the legs of his trousers every time he hunted on this map, it was some sort of generator that powered the entire hospital.

And it was dangerous.

As he entered the room, he saw the tall figure of the Doctor looming on the other side of the circular center, staring at him with electric white eyes and a persistent grin that tugged and tore at his mouth. "Right on time!" He chirped, clapping his hands together. "Punctuality is so important for medical professionals and their patients."

Evan's hands clenched into fists. Herman's eerie eyes shifted downwards slightly. "No weapon? I didn't think even you were mentally stunted enough to threaten me with nothing but your bare hands.~ Is this going to be a fight after all, Evan boy? Are you going to try to do to me what you did to Jed?" Herman tilted his head, still grinning. "Why? Because daddy told you to?"

Evan stiffened. How did he know about his father? Sensing Evan's unease, Herman giggled. "You don't think everyone knows about your daddy issues, Evan boy? It's pathetic how clueless you are. Even more pathetic is the fact that you think one good deed will absolve you of all your sins. You've been very naughty. Monstrous, even.~ You think you're going to get a fresh start after all this? Oh no. No no no.~ You're always going to be a monster, Evan boy, but maybe some shock therapy will help with some of your issues."

Silence reigned. As much as Evan wanted to cross the room and bash Herman's head into the wall, he had to be smart. Patient. The Doctor was intelligent, perceptive, and tricky. But he was also exceedingly impatient. If Evan could provoke him into action…

"What's wrong, Evan boy? Nothing to say? Entity got your tongue?" Herman's fingers drummed against the top of the machine next to him, his brows drawing in. Despite the ever-present grin, Herman was agitated and that was just the way Evan wanted it. "Well, say something, you dusty buffoon."

"You… talk… too much."

Herman's eyes flashed and the look Evan was met with sent a small twinge down his spine. Herman Carter was a depraved, sick monster of a man. To think he had a connection with any of the survivors was ridiculous… but it was true. Poor girl that was connected to him probably had no clue what to do about it or why it was even there. Many of the other blossoming red strings had changed the dynamics between killers and survivors… he and Meg were a prime example. But Evan truly felt there was no saving Herman Carter.

So destroying him was the only option, and Evan was content to deliver.

"If you're tired of talking, Evan boy… then come and get me," the Doctor replied, voice lowering into a growl.

Trials had stopped altogether. The Entity's control was crumbling so much that survivors and killers were beginning to run rampant through all the realms with no oversight. This would have been considered a good thing if not for one terrible side effect.

Killers weren't the only ones that could be killed.

Jake Park wasn't sure if this was intentional or not, but the Fog had become a giant fucking free-for-all. Some of the killers honored their word and left the survivors alone - after all, without the survivors' plan, they would be stuck here too - but some saw it as a chance to kill to their heart's desire.

Jake was looking directly at the result of this tragedy: Zarina Kassir's body, lying not too far from the campfire. She had gone to sleep and never woke up - and four slashes darkening her shirt with blood told everyone who'd done this. All the survivors were deathly quiet as Bill Overbeck came and gently lifted her body into his arms, placing her carefully in a small grave he'd dug. Several of the others moved to help him shovel dirt back into the hole.

"Do you think… i-is she really dead…?" Claudette finally whispered, gripping at the hem of her shirt; she rarely ever cried - Claudette sometimes had difficulty showing the right emotions in different situations - but Jake knew her well enough to know she was hurting. The most impacted by Zarina's death, however, was Laurie. During all this chaos the two had become quite close, close enough for a red string to appear between them. Laurie choked back her tears as she watched the soil slowly cover Zarina's body.

Claudette, though her eyes were mostly dry, went over to stand close to Laurie; close enough that their shoulders touched. The blonde leaned silently into her friend, stifling her cries. It was heart-wrenching to see Laurie this way - she was a tough, paranoid bitch who'd probably back-talked and rebelled against killers more than anyone else there - so to see her crumble was truly shocking. Zarina must've meant more to her than any of them had guessed.

Jake continued shoveling until the entire hole was filled, blinking furiously to make sure he didn't shed any tears of his own. The fact that any of them could die at any moment… it was a horrifying revelation, discovered in the worst way, and he frankly had no idea what they were gonna do now. They were supposed to take on Michael fucking Myers, and they could all easily be murdered - permanently - doing so.

A loud complaint from the edge of the campfire broke his concentration and he glanced over in the direction of the noise where he saw Yui shushing a griping Oni as she patched a wound on his arm. Not only could everyone die, their injuries didn't heal instantaneously like they did before. At one point Jake would have openly laughed at the idea of using the survivors' supplies to help a killer, especially one as angry and unstable as the Oni, but frankly, working together was their only hope.

Working together…

Jake approached the pair at the edge of the clearing and Yui abruptly held up a hand to stop him. The Oni shifted and grunted, and Jake felt a quiver in his spine when the beast lifted his head to stare. At Yui's gesture, he awkwardly moved a little closer. "This is gonna be crazy to even ask," he said, "but we need your help with something. Our entire mission depends on it."

The Oni's gaze was piercing. He could see the glowing red hues staring right at him through the holes in that infernal red mask, and Jake fought the urge to squirm uncomfortably. Not that long ago, this vicious beast had killed him and his friends over and over again. He had been nothing but mindless rage. Jake felt nauseated even considering trusting such a horrible creature. But the Oni wanted out of here just as badly as the rest of them… so at the very least, they had a common goal.

The Oni's voice interrupted his thought process. "Sou desu ka…?"

Yui finished up the bandage on his arm and tied it more tightly than necessary, causing her patient to roar in agitation. "He speaks English, not Japanese," she reprimanded, earning another sour grunt. Jake watched the exchange in shock. How had Yui become close enough to the Oni that she could tell him what to do and not die for it? Granted, there was a red string connecting them - that fact alone was extremely weird - but still. She'd somehow managed to gain his trust… so perhaps she was the best method for getting him to cooperate. Before Jake could address her, however, the Oni spoke again, startling him. He'd never get used to hearing the beast speak in a normal tone. "You want to remove obstacles," the Oni said wisely, "and you cannot do it alone."

"The Shape." Jake nodded, frowning. "He'll kill us if we try. We don't stand a chance."

"You do not."

"Then help us," Jake replied, trying to control his temper. This creature's ambivalence was annoying and time-consuming. They needed to get all of the Entity's servants out of the way as quickly as possible so that Cheryl and Quentin could work freely to create a portal. They needed to save Meg, then destroy the Entity so they could get the hell out of here, forever. "We can't do this without you. And if we don't stop him, we'll never get out of here. We still have that goal in common, right?"

The Oni stared. Yui sat beside him silently; Jake noticed that her hands lingered on his arm, as if they were comfortable there now. He wasn't sure what was going on between them, but he suspected that the red string had the same effect on them as it had had on most of the others; it was a connection. Fate, maybe. Jake had dismissed the string that had connected him to Susie - he was a loner, always had been, and thought he always would be - but maybe there was something to it… because when she had joined them at the campfire, there was a semi-sweet tightness in his chest that had refused to go away.

Finally the massive beast clambered to his feet, towering over them both. Jake had to tip his head back to look up at him, impatiently awaiting an answer. "Yes," he finally rumbled. "Take me to him."

Jake dismissed himself and went to gather the others for their new mission. He doubted even the Oni would be able to really handle Myers by himself, but he wasn't going to tell the prideful beast that. No; instead, he pulled Nea aside while Yui told the others the game plan. "This shit is crazy," she muttered when Jake told her what he wanted her to do. But there was a light in her eyes when he mentioned the Wraith. She'd always had a strange relationship with the silent predator, even before everything went to hell in a handbasket, but the red string that appeared between them had shifted the dynamic even more. She nodded, running a hand over her forehead and adjusting her beanie. "Philip will help. I know he will. Finding him is the hard part, not getting him to fight."

Jake smiled wryly at her. "I don't think you'll have much trouble."

Evan knew Herman's techniques. He knew he wasn't going to attack first. The Doctor's strategy was to enrage his opponent, make them slip up, then swoop in. Trickery, deception, and mind games. And he knew even he wouldn't get Herman to lose his temper enough to attack first.

So he moved in, running straight for the grinning menace with nothing but his fists for weapons; but as he raced across the grates in the middle of the treatment theater, Herman's fingers twitched and suddenly the floor was out from under him. The only thing that kept his legs from being completely mangled by the turning gears of the generator underneath was Evan's hand catching hold of all the computer monitors above him; he dangled above the humming machine, feeling the massive heat from it searing the skin of his legs and feet even through his boots. Herman took the opportunity to swing at him; Evan crossed the monitors like the old monkey bars he'd climbed as a child at school, but the spikes of the Doctor's bat still met his side, the spikes on it biting into his skin. Blood soaked his overalls and he faltered, one hand losing grip. Pain bloomed up his side, but Evan simply grit his teeth - until that same bat came in contact with his head, cracking his mask and sending it flying.

For the first time in quite a while, he was bare-faced. Brief panic surged through Evan and he swung on the monitors, landing on the floor on the other side of the open grate. He heard Herman cackling in delight as he clambered to his feet, wiping the blood from his temple and trying to gather his wits about him. He didn't need the mask anymore. He was not the Trapper… he was Evan. The mask was an old relic of a bygone era.

Still, he caught his gaze lingering on the chipped bone mask lying abandoned on the floor several feet away. He stared a moment too long. He needed to -

WHACK.

Pain split his skull and Evan felt blood running into his eyes, obscuring his vision. He hastily wiped his face, stumbled out of the treatment theater, and tried to remember where the hell he was going all while his brain went into overdrive. "Cat still got your tongue, Evan boy~?" the Doctor giggled from behind him, giving chase. "Or maybe you're too stunned to respond? Your poor little brain must be rolling around in that big empty head of yours right now after a smack like that. You know, I think I might save you the trouble of talking and simply fry your brain like an egg.~"

An entire lifetime of hunting had instilled in Evan a sort of innate remembrance of his domain and the locations of his traps. Because he'd spent so long studying all the realms of this miserable place, that knowledge extended everywhere. He barely even needed to see to know where he was going; his feet moved of their own accord on the path he had mapped out earlier, and the Doctor was following along behind him right on track. In the midst of his giggles, Herman began shooting out bolts of electricity along the floor, and they traveled up Evan's legs like millions of fire ants, grilling his already tender skin. He stumbled, he even tripped in a doorway and had to catch himself, but he kept going.

And he was grateful that the Doctor was most certainly the type of killer to play with his food… otherwise this plan would have failed.

Four zaps later, Evan felt like screaming. Not only did he feel the ants crawling all the way up his body, he felt them in his head. Gnawing and biting and marching along, clicking over his skull and burrowing into the soft tissue of his brain. Get them out. Get them OUT. "GET… THEM… OUT!" he heard himself screaming, as if from far away. The pain felt like it'd never end. He was almost certain he was going to lose his sanity.

Until the CLAP of a trap seemed to slowly bring him to his senses. Evan halted in his tracks, trying to ignore the ants still swarming inside him, and slowly turned to see that his plan had worked.

Herman had stepped directly into a trap. He hadn't even noticed until his foot wouldn't move to continue the chase, but he eventually looked down to see the damage. Slowly glancing back up at Evan, who was panting, clutching his side, and standing a couple of yards away, Herman's grin widened. "The Trapper. Setting his little traps. How adorable.~" He cocked his head, eyeing him. "Surely you aren't dumb enough to think I can feel any pain? Where do you think all of my experiments began, Evan boy? On myself."

The thought that the Doctor had spent hours mutilating his own body was horrifying, but Evan had seen (and committed) enough terrors to be relatively unfazed. As disturbing as it was, he could not lose track. He could not lose this mind game.

Because that was all it was. A mind game.

"If it's… so easy… then… get out of it."

Herman made a show of stopping to place his hands in the teeth of the trap, his eyes never leaving Evan. Blood ran down his fingers as the metal bit into his skin, but he made no sounds of pain as he began to pry it open.

Then his shoulders went stiff, and his brows drew in.

Evan wasn't sure any kill he'd ever made was as satisfying as watching Herman Carter's composure crumble. Once realization set in, the Doctor was hissing angrily and trying his best to move - but he couldn't, and that was exactly how Evan had planned it. The more the Doctor touched that trap, the quicker the poison would fill his bloodstream and the more paralyzed he became until he fell over on his side, the tumble causing his ankle to crunch in the teeth of the trap. "Poison," Herman said, white empty eyes staring up at his opponent. "But I… I've made myself immune to every poison known to man."

"I'll bet… The Fog… has a few… ingredients… you haven't..." Evan worked his jaw. Speaking was becoming increasingly difficult. "... tested."

Herman's eyes shifted slightly and though the paralysis muted his expression, Evan could tell he had come undone. Evan had done quite a bit of research on everyone in the Fog - in his own way. A Hunter studied his prey. Evan knew the Doctor's proclivities, even his history of self-mutilation (not that the sadist really kept it a secret), and he also knew that the Doctor wouldn't experiment on himself here in the Fog - not when there were so many survivors running around that he could torture. Herman was also extremely narcissistic with an inflated ego - his insistence that he could never lose to someone "less intelligent" than him bolstered his confidence - but Evan figured that the very moment he was outsmarted, Herman would fall apart at the seams.

And Evan was right.

"That's not possible," Herman growled, the ever-present grin on his face looking more like a grimace, now. "You're an imbecile. All you do is trap your victims like a coward so you can beat at them with your silly little cleaver!"

Evan took a step closer to Herman's body, which seemed to quiver despite being completely paralyzed from head to toe. "No… cleaver… today." Another step. And another. "It seems… killers… can die now. Let's… test… it."

"You think the Entity will let me die?" Herman's voice was still a growl, but there was a fright to it, a panicked edge that Evan had never heard before. "If you think it's going to let me go that easily, you're dumber than I thought!"

"Then… I'll kill you… again."

Evan stooped to pick up the Doctor's bat, testing the weight and balance in his hand. Taking another glance down at his victim, Evan considered for a moment. "Any… last… words?"

Herman stared. "You're hideous."

It was almost laughable. No pleas, not even any defiance. Perhaps he'd truly succeeded at driving Herman Carter insane. Funny how the tables turned. Evan tilted his head. "I can… help… with that." Setting the bat aside, he knelt down and thick, soot-covered fingers grabbed at the metal wiring used to hold the Doctor's eyes open and stretch his mouth into a grin.

Then he began to pull.

Evan shouldn't have expected to hear screaming - Herman had established that he was immune to pain - but frankly, the dead silence as he mutilated the other killer's face was even more grotesque than cries of pain. Because now he could hear every squelch, every tear and rip, every sickening crack and crunch as he used the metal to pry Herman's face apart. And when he stood back up, there was nothing recognizable left. Taking Herman's bat, Evan slammed it into his head a few times for good measure, and when the man's chest stopped rising and falling, Evan knew his work here was done.

If the survivors could do their job and get rid of the Shape, then Evan only had one target left before the Endgame:

Jeffrey Hawke.