After some time, the noise inside the store started rising again.
People had been standing around for a while now, fear slowly turning into restlessness. Groups were forming, whispering to each other while glancing nervously toward the entrance where the mist still pressed against the glass.
Ollie watched them uneasily.
"They look like they're thinking about going outside," he said quietly, nodding toward the crowd.
Henry followed his gaze and shrugged slightly.
"Let them go."
Ollie blinked in surprise at the casual answer.
David, however, immediately frowned.
"I don't like that idea," he said. "We know what's out there. The moment those people step into the mist, those things will kill them."
Henry leaned back against a stack of supply boxes, his expression calm.
"Of course," he replied. "You're welcome to stop them if you want."
David stared at him.
"But this is America," Henry continued with a dry tone. "Nation of freedom. People here love saying I know my rights. Try telling them they're not allowed to leave and see how that goes."
He gestured toward the restless crowd.
"I'm willing to help the ones who decide to stay," he said. "But convincing every single person here isn't my job. I already warned them there's danger outside."
David still looked uneasy.
Henry folded his arms.
"If you want to try convincing them," he added, "go ahead."
David looked across the crowd and his eyes settled on Brent Norton.
Even though the two of them had never had a particularly good relationship, Brent was already talking to a group of people and clearly influencing them. If David wanted to stop anyone from walking out into the mist, that was the place to start.
He walked toward him.
"Brent," David said.
Brent turned, clearly surprised to see him approaching.
"What's up, David?"
David didn't waste time.
"You shouldn't go outside," he said seriously. "It's a bad idea."
Brent raised an eyebrow.
"And why exactly is that?"
David lowered his voice slightly but made sure the people around them could still hear.
"There's something in that mist," he said. "Something dangerous. We saw it at the back of the store."
Brent frowned slightly.
"What kind of something?"
David hesitated.
He knew how ridiculous it was going to sound the moment he said it.
"…Tentacles," David finally said. "Some kind of creature with tentacles."
Brent stared at him for a moment, then let out a short laugh that carried more irritation than amusement.
"Wow," he said. "You're doing this now? In a situation like this you're trying to pull one on me?"
His voice had already started to rise.
Ollie stepped forward quickly. "No, it's true. We saw it. Something came through the loading corridor—"
Brent cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand.
"Oh, come on. You're in on it too now?"
"I can't believe this," Brent said louder, turning so the nearby shoppers could hear him. "People are scared out of their minds and you guys think it's the perfect time to start talking about tentacle monsters?"
"It's true," David insisted. "Just listen to us for a second—"
"No, I don't," Brent snapped.
He straightened and deliberately raised his voice so the entire section of the store could hear him.
"What I see," he said, "is a bunch of people trapped in a grocery store while someone tells them there are monsters outside and that we should all stay put."
Several people nearby shifted uneasily, glancing between the two men.
"My car is parked right outside," Brent continued. "My wife is home alone, and I'm not sitting here waiting for some imaginary 'disaster response' story to turn into a real one."
He looked back at David.
"You're welcome to stay if that makes you feel safer."
Then he turned toward the front of the store and gestured toward the glass doors.
"So who here is coming with me?" Brent called out. "Who wants to get home to their families rather than sitting here waiting for God knows what?"
Five people slowly raised their hands.
Brent nodded once, satisfied.
"And you can't stop us," he added firmly. "I know my rights."
Henry, who had been standing a few steps away watching the argument unfold, finally spoke.
"Well, before that," he said calmly, "you can come look at something inside the store. If after seeing it you still want to leave, nobody here is going to stop you."
The people nearby turned toward him. The tension in the store shifted slightly as more eyes focused on the conversation.
Bud stepped forward, raising both hands in a calming gesture.
"Alright, alright," he said. "No need for everyone to start fighting in a situation like this."
He looked toward the back of the store.
"I'll go take a look," Bud added. "See what they're talking about."
Jim, the mechanic, stepped up beside him with a skeptical snort.
"Yeah, I want to see this too," he said. "Because right now it sounds like someone's making a mountain out of nothing."
Bud and Jim followed David and Ollie toward the back corridor.
Henry glanced at Brent.
"Oh, you're not coming?" he asked.
Brent folded his arms.
"No," he said flatly. "I'm not falling for whatever you've arranged back there."
Henry shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Who am I to stop a drowning man from jumping into the water?"
Brent's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Bud, Jim, David, and Ollie reached the narrow staff corridor behind the store.
Jim opened his mouth, clearly about to mock David again.
"What is the—"
The words died in his throat.
The corridor looked like something out of a nightmare. Thick severed tentacles—some longer than an adult man—lay scattered across the floor. Dark liquid oozed slowly from the cut ends, pooling along the tiles and dripping down the walls.
"Holy God…" Bud whispered.
He stepped closer and cautiously nudged one of the tentacles with a mop handle.
The moment the wood touched it, the thing twitched violently, curling around the handle for a split second before going limp again.
All four men instinctively stepped back.
"What the hell is that thing?" Jim asked, the mocking tone completely gone from his voice. His face had turned pale as he stared at the grotesque pieces covering the floor.
"That's the monster," David said. "And that's just a piece of it."
He gestured toward the mist still lingering deeper down the corridor.
"We don't know how many more of those things are out there," David continued. "And the one we saw was much bigger. One of those tentacles could grab a person and pull them away before they even had time to scream."
Bud slowly turned toward him.
"Then if anyone walks outside…"
Ollie finished the sentence quietly.
"They're dead."
*****
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