Yuri Petukhov — “Slaughter”
The story is set in the distant future. The world has survived catastrophes and degeneration. Humanity has split into two parts: ordinary people live in a relatively prosperous zone, while beyond it lies the Under-Dome — a reservation for mutants, freaks, and degenerates who emerged as a result of experiments, radiation, and the moral decay of society.
For the “normal” people, mutants are not considered individuals but dangerous biological material. Real hunts are organized against them — brutal and bloody, turned into entertainment and a way of self-assertion. These hunts are the very “slaughter,” where killing becomes normal and an integral part of culture.
The main characters — participants in these raids — gradually come to realize that the boundary between human and monster is blurred. Many mutants display emotions, fear, and a desire to live, while the hunters, on the contrary, increasingly lose their humanity, turning into soulless executioners.
In the end, the novel shows that the true monsters are not the mutants, but the people themselves, who for the sake of comfort and pleasure have abandoned morality. “Slaughter” is a warning about what cruelty, the cult of power, and indifference to another life can lead to.