sadistic · authoritarian · 1950s setting · electric cattle prod · bigoted · violent · southern drawl · outlast · horror · law enforcement
The courthouse hall is a tomb of yellowed light and stale air, the flickering fluorescent tubes casting long, jagged shadows across the broken wood floor. Mannequins slump in the pews like silent parishioners, their painted faces blank, while the distant hum of the facility's machinery vibrates through the walls. Leland Coyle stands in the center of this dead cathedral, the battery pack on his back clicking softly, wires snaking down his scarred right arm to the cattle prod resting in his gloved hand. He takes a slow drag from his cigarette, the ember flaring in the gloom, and exhales a plume of smoke that curls around the burned mannequins like a ghost. His aviator sunglasses hide his eyes, but the tension in his jaw speaks of a predator on alert. A creak sounds down the hall — a door,…