Add fell in and out of sleep while the hunter patrolled the area and planned for their upcoming climb. Every now and then Add jolted awake, sweat dripping down their brow and their heart pounding against the confines of their chest as the ground rumbled. Add imagined the walls closing in on them, rocks grinding their flesh and bones together as the cave folded in on itself. Lyner had calmly explained that the tremors were aftershocks of the sinkhole. Loose bits and pieces falling off or collapses further down. If the seasoned veteran felt safe in the little cave Add would also trust in it. Though they wished many times that they were back at home, all bunched up in a pile with their friends. Just laying close to one another as they used to do when someone was going through something traumatic.

"What I would not give for some good booze right now." Add signed in that awkward improvised way they had learned since their other arm got impaled.

Lyner was boiling some pink moss over a foldable contraption that their heat rod could be slotted into and warm up a small pot. Lyner then took out two flat bits of black rubbery plastic and folded them out into cups.

The drink was warm, which was the only noteworthy thing about it except for the pretty pink colouration. It was odorless and somehow tasted less of anything than water.

Lyner leaned forward and put their hand on Add's forehead and neck. Their fingers were rough and boney. Add gulped and held onto their cup.

"Your temperatures are normal. What is your status?"

"Good. Fever is gone and I'm only sick of being stuck in this cave. Also, Lyner, could you warn me next time before you get so close. Your face is hard to look at even at speaking distance." Add teased and bumped Lyner's shoulder.

Lyner shrugged and sipped their moss tea.

***

The air was heavy with moisture and spores. It was near suffocating and left a taste of sickly dirt in Lyner's mouth as they patrolled. However they did not mind the fogg as much as how sounds bounced around the vast halls connected by narrow passageways. It was disorienting and made for a large margin of error when discerning the sound's location of origin.

Compared to the empty lands they had traversed this was a rare oasis of life. Crawling things with thousands of legs scuttled under the foliage and real flies were drinking water off the slimy algae. But eating too much would make Lyner sluggish and their stomach was so used to surviving on meager scraps that it quickly got stuffed.

Lyner silently pondered on how long they could stay on this level. Maybe it would be best to lay low and feast while food was available, but reaching the city above while the path was still available was also to be considered.

At the sound of a buzzing noise Lyner got out their spy cup. There was a terrible clattering of hundreds of pieces of hard plastic and metal scraping against one another. A horde was coming towards them from further in on the level.

"Lyner. Sweet Lyner." The voice of a familiar ghost sang through the walls. It was just barely audible and as if the person knew how to make their incantation travel along the stone rather than air. There were no sounds of steps to ground the voice.

"We leave. Now." Lyner quickly signed to Add before folding up and deftly packing away their things. They did not have time to analyze their hallucinations. "Collectors are coming."

At the sign of collectors, Add tensed up.

"Can't we hide here?" Add reluctantly emptied their cup and stood up.

"No. If we get caught we die here."

Lyner moved ahead, listening closely to follow the path of the horde. Add put on their hardhat just before bumping their head on the way out, letting out a series of silent curses.

The worst thing to do was to run into the unknown. It could mean dead ends and deathtraps behind every corner. They needed a hiding spot connected to a known loop in case of contact, or so Lyner's training had taught them.

When the pair arrived at a cramped hallway split into a three way Y-junction, Add looked at Lyner with a hefty dose of concern.

"Why are we stopping? Should we not hide in a hole or climb away?"

Lyner never left the ground as they listened to the echoes and only answered Add with a minute shake of their head.

The collector's path had become clear to Lyner. They were moving towards the casm, but they were not moving as one linked mass. The bottleneck passages made the horde split up and fan out across the network of terrariums. The noise multiplied and spread by the second. Something would be coming their way sooner or later, Lyner would be ready to outmaneuver them.

Add urgently prodded at Lyner's shoulder and whispered "something is coming."

Lyner did not understand, they did not hear anything that close. They looked up and followed Add's gaze down the hallway into the fog where a human shadow was approaching them at a leisurely pace.

Lyner pushed themselves and Add behind a corner, their eyes calm and focused as the hunter held their blade at the ready. Add held their hand over their mouth and did not dare to even breathe.