"I'm telling you, blare it on the news, everyone need to be informed that he escaped, I don't care about you or anyone losing face because of this, he has already killed again and he will do it again, do you have any idea how far he could have gotten? He didn't just walk away, he took both the keys of the prison doors and his car keys after hanging him!" Hagger yelled out without stop.
It hadn't even been an hour since Than had escaped, Arthur jumped into his own car, not after taking a look at his back seat, by all evidence, Than was already far but Arthur what he was made of.
The police officier had already told everyone that could hear him of what his idea of where he could be right now, Arthur knew that the first thing Than would want to do his change out from the bright orange clothes he was wearing, despite his size, going unnoticed was his forte.
There were a few areas where such things could be found but Arthur had one particular place in mind, he quickly drove off, hoping to be able to stop any more deaths.
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"Hey mommy, mommy! Look" a small child pointed at a weirdly dressed man.
The mother, who was putting his seatbelt on, didn't see anyone once she turned to look at what he could be pointing.
Assuming that he had simply entered one of the stores situated around, all on the side of the road, small stores that sold whatever at ridiculously small prices with the only problem being that even that price was too much with what they had.
"What did I tell you? Don't point at people, it's not polite and you don't know how they could react" she told her child.
Than Wilkerson, stood still after entering a small clothing store, the only person inside, the cashier was too busy not paying attention to see him before the door slammed behind him.
The bald man looked up from his phone, was about to open his mouth to say hello to the customer that had just entered and was walking toward him.
Before he could do that or acknowledge the very telling attire he was wearing, Than leaned forward grabbing him by the head and immediately slamming his head onto the counter, once, twice and thrice, letting go as he saw him twitch and a small puddle of blood forming.
He slightly turned his head to the cash register, took hold of it, ripping it from its spot and using it to beat the cashier's skull in, the sound of coins falling to the ground and the few banknotes flying all around.
Staring at the spashes of blood and bits of brains for a few seconds, Than dropped the register to the floor and moved further into the store.
Taking a few articles before arriving before a holliday themed section, he tilted his head in an almost mechanical way, it was late january after all, Halloween was nowhere close by, the same was true for the Christmas area situated right next to it.
The escaped death row convict looked down at a mask, adding it to the items he had taken.
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Arthur had his suspicions quickly confirmed as he saw the car Than had stolen, parked in front of this small clothing store, parked perfectly well and not hidden at all, it was the only car here, which was natural, there wasn't even anywhere to refill some gas around here and a single place that sold food, one had to be desperate to shop here or have to stop for a moment.
Arthur called in to signal this, not getting out of his car as he approached the one Than had used, there didn't seem to be anyone inside, he drove to the middle point of all the stores and yelled out for the employees inside but no one responded.
Doing this, he realised that the employees had to have gotten there somehow but only Than's car was visible.
'Damnit'
"How long will it take you all to get there?" he asked on the radio and the answer wasn't satisfying enough.
'Just like always, all by myself' he thought dejectedly, fearing that Wilkerson was already gone but also that he may be lying in wait inside one of these stores.
Hagger bore little belief that any of the people inside were alive, even has he pushed on the horn and yelled like a maniac, not even a movement was to be seen inside.
It had always been like this with Than for some reason, no one seemed to be able to count on any help when he was involved, it was either you had what it took to survive or perished.
Arthur made his way inside of the clothing store, certain that The Slasher had visited this store, before even finding the gruesome sight that had been left right at the entrance.
The bald cashier's face was unrecognisable as belonging to a person, bloodied and caved in, he had been seated up in his chair, propped in a way as if he was still attending to his job, the broken cash register laying on his knees, all of the money inside had been shoved into his mouth and two coins lodged in place of his eyes.
Continuing his search, having been desensitised to such things already.
The store was quickly searched in its entirety, the orange clothes worn by Than laying on the ground, he had had a change of wardrobe and Arthur's subsequent searches of the other stores revealed that he must have changed cars too, dumping every other in the forested surroundings for some obscure reasons.
It was a given, but no souls had been spared at all, Arthur had been too late and by the sounds of it, as he could hear nothing about an escaped prisoner, the press hadn't been told about Than's survival and subsequent escape.
He didn't linger and drove off once more, this time, heading toward Olive Grove.