By this point, the remaining House Depository megastore employees had accepted that Shawn had gone completely feral, due to a combination of whatever had been in Sissy’s pills and general hypoglycemia. The priority was containing him and tying him down with nylon straps from the loading dock before he could bite anybody else.

Corralled by JJ on one side and Devin on the other, Shawn had retreated into the plumbing section, gibbering as he flitted between the imposing bathroom fixtures. Cartigainer ordered JJ and Devin to head in, either to catch their wayward coworker or at least to flush him out into a trap laid by the stockers.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” JJ said, her face red. “You want us to go into that porcelain jungle along with nothing but a polesaw without the saw? You saw what Shawn did to HD the Bear!”

Cartigainer looked over his shoulder at the teddy bear in a purple Home Depository apron, its head torn off and stuffing spilled from its torn belly like fresh offal. “We’re all in mourning for HD,” he said sadly, “but his sacrifice is in vain if we can’t catch Shawn. Now get in there.”

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