Connelly had always thought of herself as an independent woman. She'd never relied on a man for anything. That's what she had thought anyway. On her own now, she realized that her self-image was slightly askew. Robert and Willard had become so much a part of her life that she'd come to depend on them for certain things. She realized now that their support, their encouragement, had been one of the contributing factors in keeping her anxiety at bay over the years…but now…now they were both gone. No one would tell her to get up. No one would encourage her to press on.

It was then that she realized the guys depended on her for just as much. Strength. Leadership. Determination.

"Get up," she said loudly to herself. "Get up, now."

After standing, Connelly rolled her neck on her shoulders and set her face into an expression of raw determination. It was Robert and Willard who needed her now. Anxiety be damned. She'd function through the tears and closed throat. She'd ignore the paranoid images that assaulted her mind. Never, in all her years of battling anxiety, had one of Connelly's anxious premonitions come to pass.

She focused on that thought as she prepared to set out. She'd head in one direction until finding a wall, then would follow the perimeter until she found the switchback trail. It might take some time, but she had no other options. Her light alone did little to pierce the darkness of the cavern and the tall stones blocked her view.

Connelly turned in the direction she thought, for no real reason, the switch back trail was located. As her light cut through the blackness, three objects filled her vision: the stone path, the obelisks, and a tall, tentacled alien, standing calmly in front of her. For the first time in all her life, her feeling of doom had been right. If only she'd listened to her inner voice and run again. If only…

Raising the ice pick over her head, Connelly prepared to attack the beast. In the time it took Connelly to poise the ice pick over her head, the creature leapt onto the side of one of the tall stones, gripping on to it with thick toes, and launched a tentacle towards Connelly. The appendage shot towards her head like a spear. Just before connecting, the tip of the long arm spread open like a beaked jaw, revealing a sticky, froth covered surface. The light from her headlamp was blocked out as the alien clamped onto her facemask.