"Helen! Sheila! Everyone!"

The trip took longer than expected, following Abigail's tracks back to where her group should've been located. As they were traveling to the destination, not only were they worried about the time passed but also of any wildlife acting differently than usual.

Han thought back to what Abigail had said about her friend, Helen, talking about the animals transforming into some kind of monster. It wasn't an issue of how difficult the encounter would be, but whether their numbers would dwindle before Abigail was able to reunite with her comrades.

As they rested, the group kept an eye out for any monsters nearby. They were trying not to pay attention to Abigail, who had been calling out to her friends for the past several minutes.

"How's it looking, Julia? Are there any signs of her companions?" Han stayed close to Abigail, making sure she didn't stray too far from the group. It wouldn't be good if the clue was killed when it could've been avoided.

On the screen of his helmet, Julia didn't look particularly confident as she sifted through the information. "I'm not sure. I do see evidence of a fight that looks relatively recent... The problem is there aren't signs of people escaping."

Swiveling his head to make sure Julia caught everything, Han also tried to keep an eye out. He listened to the microphones built into the suit, hoping to detect any movement or gasps of pain from the heightened hearing of the equipment.

His eyes looked at the opening of the cave, thinking back on how Abigail's group came down the stairs onto the new floor.

"Helen! Sheila! Please answer me! I got help!" Abigail continued her desperate plea, a sliver of fear invading her voice.

"Abigail...," Han walked closer to her.

When the girl turned to face Han, her face was scrunched up and tears coming down her face. "Are my friends dead?"

Han had his helmet remove itself so he could let her see his face. "Don't give up." Pointing a thumb at the cave, "How about we check where you guys came from? Is there a chance your group went up to a more defensive location?"

As though a switch had been flipped in her mind, Abigail brightened with hope. Not bothering to answer Han, she dashed towards the direction of the cave.

With the earpiece, Han continued to listen. It allowed him to keep in contact with Julia even with his helmet off. He listened to her sifting through the data, finding it amusing how she acted so humanesque in her mannerisms. She thought it was a great way to shorten the distance between them.

Ivy and Ruby looked up at seeing Han jogging behind Abigail, who was making a beeline towards the cave. Both had their helmets up while they searched for clues.

"Did something happen?" Ivy tilted her head in confusion.

Pointing at the cave, "Did anyone check the cave?" Han asked.

"Not yet. We wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything out here since Abigail's story made it seem like that floor was leading away from the entrance." Ivy shook her head.

Ruby nodded her head next to her friend. "I would think they would have tried going deeper into this level instead of going back. What if they met an enemy stronger than the one that caused Abigail to run away?"

Seeing Han talking with Ivy and Ruby, Jennifer came jogging towards them. "Are you guys talking about the cave? I think they might have gone into it."

All of them whipped their heads to look at Jennifer, who as startled by the reaction.

"Wait! Why do you think that?" Han tried to keep things calm and not get excited by the news from his sister.

Jennifer motioned a hand for them to follow as she jogged over to the cave.

Reaching the cave, Abigail was smart enough to not go up the stairs, though she kept yelling in hopes of getting a response.

When they reached the mouth of the cave, Jennifer pointed at some distinct tracks several feet into the cave. The tracks were deep enough to be hidden by the shadow cast by the artificial lights above them.

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"What do you think?" Han spoke to no one in particular.

There was a sound of paperwork falling over before Julia's voice was heard in the earpiece. "What do we have here? It looks a body was dragged towards the stairs."

"Based on the drag marks ending just before the stairs, I think it's a good indication that they went back where they thought it would be safer," Jennifer answered Han's question, not knowing he was directing the question to Julia.

Han turned to see the others, catching Jackie's attention, he waved a hand to indicate for all of them to come over. Off in the distance, Ji-Min and her group noticed the activity and were already heading towards them. Based on where they were, Han assumed that Ji-Min was trying to analyze the fight in hopes of finding any clues.

"I think we should head to the upper level and check. This place may have multiple entrances." Jennifer voice out her thoughts.

Facing his sister, he nodded his head in agreement. "I think that could be the case. There's still a lot we don't know about this place, and it's a good idea to explore. Just be careful. If this level is a hallway, it could mean we'll be more restricted."

"I'll take Ivy and Ruby with me and take along the girl. In case the hallway splits, we'll stay put. Don't need to get lost." Jennifer chuckled. Motioning to Ivy and Ruby, she made her way up the stairs. Abigail trailed behind at a safe distance.

Just as he lost sight of his sister, Jackie and several others reached him.

"I'm guessing we found a clue?" Jackie asked, before noticing the drag marks.

"At least we know there are likely injured people," Lacy didn't sound happy about the discovery.

Han noticed Lulu moving closer to the stairs as though focused on something.

"I don't think its someone injured. They're probably dead." Lulu shook her head at Lacy's guess.

Going over to where Lulu was standing, Han noticed a portion of the stairs was covered in dirt. "It makes sense since they came from a place simulating a natural environment."

"It's not dirt," Lulu interrupted his thoughts.

Looking at Lulu and then bending down to get a closer look, he smelled a slight scent of iron.

"Iron. That's blood." Jackie reached the same conclusion as he did.

"Must have dried during the time of the battle and long before we arrived." Lacy pondered, sounding as though it was a common thing she had seen before.

His eyes twitched over to them, while he was still bending down to look at the dirt. A corner of his mouth twitched into a grin before fading away.

"I'm getting the feeling they have more experience in combat than they came first arrived at The Facility." Julia pondered.

Han didn't verbally agree, but he did think it was an additional puzzle piece for learning what their intentions were when arriving that night. Becky told him they hadn't had any weapons that night, so either they were just unfortunate or some other intentional reason.

"At least now we know some of them are alive," Ji-Min's voice invaded the quiet of the cave.

Han nodded. "The question is how many."

"We should follow after Jennifer," His mother suggested. Obviously concerned.

"I agree," Venessa acted atypical of her usual self, Liz nodding, in agreement with her friend's suggestion.

Ji-Min didn't think the behavior of her team members was unusual as she looked up the stairs.

"Didn't expect you to suggest that," Jackie gently shook her head in amazement.

Venessa was quiet for a moment before speaking out. "If Abigail's friends came into this place and can die... I don't want them to suffer like we had to."

Liz slowly reached for her friend's hand and gave a comforting squeeze.

Jackie nodded at the sentiments of the girls before starting up the steps, followed by Lacy, Lulu, Jae-Hwa, Hina, and Amanda.

Han glanced at Harmoney, Grace, and his mother. In their eyes were a similar determination, as they remembered the hellish cave they barely escaped from.