Cathie awoke with her legs curled up underneath her, searing in pain from having been in the same position all night. Stretching her legs out and wincing as the blood rushed through them, sending pins and needles shooting up painfully, she noticed the pile of food at the front of the cage, by the door. It surprised her that the Yautja were able to move silently enough not to wake her. The next surprise came when she noticed that the food, while unpleasant looking, was recognizable; they must have had humans here a lot if they knew what to feed them. She looked over in Ali's cage and found her pacing back and forth along the front of her cage, like the caged lion at the zoo Cathie had visited when she was a child. To her left was Rick's empty cell.

"Where's Rick?" Cathie asked, shattering the silence.

"They took him a while ago," Ali answered.

"What does that mean?"

"To hunt him, I guess."

Ignoring the food, Cathie walked over to the bars between her cell and Ali's. She was still curious about her and hoped to learn a little more about her.

"I know you said before that you would only tell me about yourself if I told you about me. But there really is nothing to tell," Cathie started.

Ali stopped pacing and looked over at Cathie. "If you really want to know, ask me something."

"Where'd you come from and how'd you get like this?"

Ali looked away.

"Please?" Cathie begged.

Ali threw Cathie a look that chilled her to the bone. "I should warn you, if you know the truth about me, I will be forced to lock you up when we escape."

"You're thinking about escaping?" Cathie asked, choosing to ignore what Ali had said about locking her up, for the time being.

"Of course, you didn't think I'd stay here, did you?"

"But, how'd you plan on doing that?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out. When that Rick guy gets back, he's going to be answering some questions about this place, I'll see if I can figure out a way to get out of here."

No sooner had she said that, when a door off to our right pounded open. Ali and Cathie both whipped their heads as two Yautja moved down the hallway.

"That was fast," Cathie said quietly to Ali, but Ali shook her head.

"It's not Rick, they're two other people," she said.

Sure enough, as the Yautja came closer, Cathie could see two people dragging behind them. They moved past her and Ali and put the humans in two cages on the other side of Ali. Ali watched the Yautja with narrowed eyes as they moved back in front of her cell. To Cathie's surprise, they stopped in front of Ali and looked at her slowly. There was a brief conversation between the two of them before they continued walking.

"What do you think that was all about?" Cathie asked.

"They're sizing me up, they're trying to decide when would be a good chance to start hunting me."

"You know all that?"

"It's obvious," Ali said. She then turned her gaze from Cathie and looked towards the new humans that have been brought in. "So, what's a hunt like?"

Cathie peered around Ali to see that the two people who have been brought in were a man and a woman. Their clothing was tattered and dried blood was caked to their fronts. Scars and bruises covered their bodies.

"It's the most horrifying thing imaginable," the man said.

"I have a pretty big imagination."

"They stalk you like an animal and taunt you, trapping you and laughing while they do it," the woman added.

"What are your names?" Cathie asked.

The woman looked over at Cathie and she was shocked at the glazed and dead look in her eyes. "Names are meaningless in here, once they break you."

"How long have you been here?"

"Lost count many years ago," the man said.

Cathie stared at them in shock. They looked back at her with empty eyes. Unable to look into those empty eyes anymore, she moved away, but there was no way to force the thoughts that that was what she would be like in the years to come.

"Ali," Cathie found herself saying.

Ali turned her gaze to Cathie slowly. "What?"

"I want to come with you, when you escape."

"Escape is impossible," the woman answered in her dead voice, "You would be killed on sight."

Ali glanced back at the woman, her eyes narrowed, before turning back to Cathie. "And why would I take you with me?"

"Because you said that you protected the innocent!"

"So?"

"Well, I'm innocent!" I replied.

"True."

"So you'll let me come?"

"It depends, will you tell me your secret?"

Cathie shook her head. "There is nothing to tell, I don't have any secrets."

"Fine, I can live with that for now, but you shouldn't try hiding it for too much longer; I'll figure it out eventually." Ali stared Cathie down before finally saying, "When Rick gets back, we'll start planning."