"What's the matter, Han?"

Opening his eyes, he grimaced at what he had seen through Bella's eyes. Though it was a relief to know Bella's team was still alive, it was evident that their situation was a dire one.

"Han?" Jessica's voice sounded more urgent.

Jerkily looking at Jessica, he only just realized his sister was calling for him. She looked clearly worried about his behavior. Removing his helmet, "It's nothing, sis," Han gently shook his head. He grinned at her, an attempt to relieve some of her concerns.

Jessica's lips were pressed together. It was a typical look when she didn't believe his words. Having an abusive father made them both aware of the other's emotions, even more so for Jessica as the older sibling. Her eye's roamed his face, trying to uncover whatever he was hiding from her. Sighing, Jessica shook her head.

"Sis, I'm really okay." He reached out to grasp her hand. Her fingers reaching out to meet his hand and intertwining with his. "I was just thinking about what we should do about this situation."

Even though Jessica nodded her head at his explanation, it was apparent she didn't believe a word of it.

Continuing to hold his sister's hand, Han looked at Abigail's group. Each of them seemed to have differing personalities. Two of them were vastly different, the cautious one named Liam and the analytical one named Timothy. Between these extremes, the group was pretty well distributed in terms of personality.

"They remind me of your friend group back...," Jennifer's voice trailed off.

Han understood what Jennifer was saying, remembering his friends who he had lost contact with before everything went to hell. "Are you guys, okay? Claire, Alex, and Hannah... and everyone else... Could you guys forgive me for not going to your rescue that night?" His eyes trailed to where Ruby and Ivy was standing. Thought of his teammates on the football team going through his mind.

"I'm sure they're still okay," Jennifer comfortingly tightened her grip. "They're all intelligent people, especially Claire and Hannah. If there are any people who'd have been able to escape that night, I'm sure they would have with their parents' connections with the military."

Han didn't answer his sister's attempt to comfort him. Though he could look through his lost friends' eyes, to know if they were still alive. He was too much of a coward to do it. "I hope it's sufficient the consolation prize I sent them, whether it would be enough for them to survive if they were still alive." Brushing the depressing thoughts of his friends away, Han returned to the current problem dealing with locating Bella and her team.

"What the hell are you talking about, Timothy?!" Liam's high pitched voice echoed in the hallway.

Both Jennifer and Han looked at Abigail's group, seeing an argument bubbling out.

Removing his hand from his sister's, Han walked towards where Liam and Timothy were having a heated discussion.

Helen looked over to Han and Jennifer, when she noticed them approaching the conflict. Raising a hand to her hair and brushing some of it back behind her left ear, she went over to Han.

"What's happening?" Han asked the girl, hoping to gain some explanation for an argument during such a situation as they found themselves in.

Frowning, she pointed a thumb at the two guys. "Timothy wants to head into the hallway and try to find Bella's team. The problem is that Liam has convinced himself that they should either wait or go back to the previous level."

Han's eyebrows raised at this new information. "I thought all of you were in support of locating the rest of your group?"

"Liam is concerned that we'll get lost in the hallway and just wants to get out of this place." Helen sighed, "I think it's being in a dark hallway with only a couple of lights, the ones still working." Pointing at one of the girls. "Michelle is trying to convince Liam that all of us can't abandon Bella."

Tilting his head, "That doesn't explain the outburst."

"Yeah. It reached critical mass when Timothy hinted that Liam was a coward for thinking about saving his own skin." Helen shook her head.

Jennifer snorted, "That doesn't sound like a productive thing to do."

"No. It wasn't." Helen agreed. "It'll take some time to try and settle Liam down before we can do anything. I'm worried if we try and force him to come along with us, then it's just going to add more trouble than necessary." She raised her hands into the air as though frustrated about the boys' behavior.

--------------------

"Where did these things come from?!"

Bella jumped in time to avoid the giant centipede's attempt to constrict her body. She tossed aside her sword she had been using, the blade having cracked from overuse. Pulling out a war hammer from its holster on the back of her waist. "These things have such a thick exoskeleton!" She cursed in her mind, thankful that her current weapon had been dropped in a prior battle. They had also gained a pack with an ability to store more things than its apparent size.

Clicking noises were made by the insect as though frustrated at failing to capture its prey. Unraveling itself, the creature crawled up the wall.

"Damn these things! They make it, so you have to pay attention to all sides!" Bella cursed as she put more effort into her surroundings, not wanting to become like Li, who had been pulled up into the ceiling by some spider. "It's like they're coordinating with one another and trying to isolate us!" Gritting her teeth, she tried to stay close to the others in order to not fall prey to the overgrown insects.

The centipede pulled back and lunged at Bella.

Jumping back, Bella was able to avoid the thing's poisonous mandibles. "Got you!" She pulled back her hammer and slammed into the shell of the centipede, just behind its head. A satisfying crack was heard as it stumbled. The rest of its body fell from the ceiling as it squirmed in pain.

Quickly flipping the hammer to reveal the deadly spike on the other side, she aimed for the damage she created. "Die! You shit!" A purple ooze sprayed out as the spike penetrated through the shell.

A high-pitch screech came out of the centiped, sounding almost human.

Immediately pulling out her weapon, Bella didn't waste any time to use the hammer to smash the head of the monster. With methodic blows, it was as though she was a smith striking a glowing piece of metal.

It twitched with each blow, unable to escape. Seconds were needed before the head of the centipede was crushed and lay twitching on the floor.

Keeping her emotions in check, she quickly looked around before spotting Sin struggling with two spiders. Bella's eyes snapped towards an additional spider on the wall as Sin was being maneuvered towards her unknowing death.

Bella stopped herself from yelling out to Sin, afraid to distract the woman. Pulling out a dagger from her waist, she used all her strength to throw it at the spider, waiting to ambush the woman.