"How can you stand there?" Lucas asked, his emotions flaring. "I thought you were going to do something?"

"I am," Carol replied coldly as she walked toward the hole the monster had disappeared into.

Lucas hurried after her.

"Is this why you didn’t react?" he asked. "So you could follow it and locate its hideout?"

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation.

Lucas stared at her, shock and horror written across his face. She was even colder than he had imagined.

"What?" Carol glanced back at him. "Do you think you could’ve saved her with that thing’s hand around her neck?"

"We could have at least tried."

"Tried?" She let out a short laugh. "What exactly were you going to do? Tell it to put her down?"

Her expression hardened.

"A monster like that can snap a person’s neck in less than a second. If it wanted her dead, there was nothing we could’ve done. In situations like that, you observe and think before acting. You don’t charge in because you think you’re some kind of superhero."

She grabbed him by the shoulder and began descending into the hole.

Once again, Lucas was reminded that the logic needed to survive in this new world was completely different from the one he knew.

Before the apocalypse, he had never been the type to involve himself in other people’s problems.

Which made it even stranger that he now felt responsible for the people around him.

’Maybe I’m going through a phase’ he thought with a sigh.

Before long, they arrived in a small cavern deep underground.

It resembled the one from before, but this time dozens of human bodies hung from the ceiling, wrapped tightly in layers of white webbing.

Lucas froze.

"What the..."

"Shhh."

Carol raised a finger to her lips.

Following her gaze, Lucas spotted the monster carefully wrapping Elena’s body before lifting it toward the ceiling.

But this wasn’t the same monster they had followed.

This one was larger.

Its black carapace was streaked with gray patterns that ran across its body like cracks in stone. Its upper body resembled a woman, grotesquely fused to a massive spider abdomen, and its presence alone felt suffocating.

A notification appeared before their eyes.

[Defend Yourself From the Queen Spider]

"I guess we found the boss," Carol whispered.

They remained hidden behind a large rock.

Then the Queen Spider’s head slowly turned.

Its eyes locked directly onto them.

A chill ran down Lucas’s spine.

"Fuck."

Carol grabbed his arm and spun around.

"Run!"

They had barely taken a single step when a thick strand of web shot through the air.

BOOM

The projectile smashed through their cover as if it were made of paper.

Stone exploded around them.

Lucas was hurled backward, tumbling across the ground.

Pain erupted through his body.

It felt like half his bones had shattered.

Still, he forced himself back to his feet.

Carol, meanwhile, barely touched the ground.

She levitated into the air and unleashed a barrage of nearly invisible projectiles.

The attacks slammed into the Queen Spider’s raised arm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But the moment they struck, they shattered apart.

Not even a scratch remained on the monster’s black armor.

"The hide’s too tough," Carol clicked her tongue. "Lucas, get to Elena. With her help, I might actually be able to bring that thing down."

"How exactly do you expect me to do that?" Lucas asked.

He looked up.

Elena was suspended high above them, wrapped in layers of web thick enough to support her weight. Standing beside her was the Queen Spider.

The monster immediately responded with a barrage of web shots.

Carol darted through the air, narrowly avoiding each one before retaliating with another volley of invisible projectiles aimed at its face.

"I’ll keep it distracted," she shouted. "Just think of something!"

The attack struck directly.

The Queen Spider’s head jerked slightly, then it let out an irritated grunt.

The reaction was no different from a person swatting away a mosquito.

No real damage had been done.

"But wouldn’t it make more sense if you rescued her?" Lucas yelled back.

A strand of web suddenly shot toward him.

His mind went blank.

It was moving so fast that he was certain death had finally caught up to him.

But at the last moment, Carol appeared in front of him.

BAM!

She raised her hands and the web hit a momentarily materialized shield.

"Lucas!" she snapped. "If you don’t start moving, we’re both going to die!"

There was no exaggeration in her voice. Only the grim certainty of someone stating a fact.

’How can you say that after promising to keep me safe?’ Lucas thought bitterly.

Suddenly—

BOOM!

The cavern wall exploded behind him.

The Burrowing Spider burst out from the rock.

Carol’s eyes widened.

The surprise attack forced her to tumble through the air.

Before she could recover, dozens of web strands shot toward her from every direction.

She twisted desperately, but was too slow.

The webs struck her chest and limbs before pinning her against the wall.

"Damn it..."

Carol gritted her teeth.

’I lost’

For a brief moment, she thought of Lucas.

There was no way he had survived that.

Not with a monster appearing directly behind him.

Then the dust settled.

And her eyes widened.

Lucas was still standing.

Completely unharmed, with the Burrowing Spider standing beside him.

"What..." Carol whispered.

Lucas slowly lowered his arms.

His heart was still hammering as he saw the monster.

Then recognition struck him.

’It’s the same one’

The monster he had controlled earlier.

’It’s still following my order’

A shrill screech echoed through the cavern.

The Queen Spider was staring at the Burrowing Spider.

Lucas couldn’t understand the sounds she was making, but somehow the meaning felt obvious. She was giving it commands.

The Burrowing Spider turned toward her.

Then glanced back at Lucas.

It remained motionless.

The Queen screeched again.

Louder this time.

More aggressive.

Still nothing.

Genuine anger appeared on the Queen Spider’s face.

With a furious shriek, she lunged forward herself.

Using the opening, Carol ripped herself free from the webbing.

’Why wasn’t the Burrowing Spider attacking?’

It made no sense but as of right now it didn’t matter too much.

He was alive and that gave her some relief.

She shot toward the ceiling.

Toward Elena.

Because if they were going to survive, they needed her awake.