Arc 7The Cabin and the Mist

Nick and his companions were drawn into a secret sacrifice operation, escaped after unleashing the facility’s monsters, and then faced a deadly fog in Hood River. The group reached Carol’s home, while Nick and Lila fought creatures in the mist and headed back to the Humvee.

  • Kurt brought Nick, Jules, Dana, and Martin to a remote cabin, where Nick discovered hidden cameras, one-way mirrors, and signs that the place had been carefully arranged.
  • After the group found Anna Faith Buckner’s diary and read the cellar’s Latin spell, hallucinogenic gas and monsters attacked, but Nick protected his companions and Martin disabled the cabin’s surveillance.
  • Nick led the group into an underground facility, where they found cages containing monsters and learned that the researchers planned to sacrifice five people to appease the Ancient Gods.
  • Nick gave Dana a code manual, and the group released the facility’s monsters before escaping through maintenance passages toward the ancient altar.
  • Nick killed Ripley and led the group out of the base, where they survived the emergence of an Old God and escaped in a Humvee as Nick, Kurt, and Martin suffered injuries.
  • The group reached Hood River and entered a supermarket for supplies, but an air raid siren sounded and a supernatural mist began swallowing people outside.
  • Nick stopped Kurt from escorting Carol home and took her there with Lila, where Carol reunited with her children and Nick left them supplies and safety instructions.
  • Nick and Lila fought a Venom Bee Wesen and a pterodactyl-like creature in the fog, then ran toward the Humvee as more monsters approached.
Chapters 155–179 Vol. 2 Read

Ch. 155Braving the Girls' Dorm

Nick joined Kurt, Jules, and Dana for a weekend trip to a remote cabin, though the group planned to bring Kurt’s motorhome in case the cabin was unfit to stay in. As Kurt and Jules packed, Kurt tried to give Nick and Dana a reason to talk.

  • Kurt showed Nick his father’s motorhome and explained that they were heading to a cheap cabin beyond Hood River, so they might need to sleep in the RV.
  • Kurt led Nick into Jules and Dana’s apartment, where Nick saw Dana and suspected the trip would not go smoothly.
  • Jules argued with Dana about bringing a thick book, and Nick complimented Jules’s newly dyed blond hair.
  • Kurt joked with Jules about her hair and the book, then picked Psychology and Life for Dana to bring as a possible conversation starter with Nick.
  • Jules called Kurt to help with her suitcase, and Kurt encouraged Nick before going to her.

Ch. 156The eccentric Martin

Nick and his friends set off in Kurt’s Winnebago for a weekend trip, joined by the eccentric mathematics student Martin. As they left, Nick worried that someone had been watching them and wondered whether their group had already been targeted.

  • Nick pointed out that Dana was wearing only panties, then helped her and the others load their bags into the RV.
  • Martin arrived in a smoke-filled red SUV, and Kurt scolded him while Nick admired Martin’s collapsible smoking pipe.
  • Martin greeted Dana and Jules, then Kurt got everyone aboard and started the RV.
  • Nick sensed that someone had been watching the group but found no suspicious person.
  • The group set off toward Hood River, where they planned to stop at a supermarket for ingredients.

Ch. 157The classic run-down gas station

Nick and his companions encountered familiar faces from The Walking Dead before their RV reached a remote, dilapidated gas station that reminded Nick of horror films. An old man appeared inside the station, and Nick asked him for gas and directions.

  • Nick recognized faces resembling Detective Miller, Andrea, and Carol, and worried that he might be in a zombie apocalypse.
  • Nick explained away his purchase of canned food and considered how his weapons could protect the group if zombies appeared.
  • Jules complained about the missing GPS route and phone signal while Martin and Kurt teased each other during the drive.
  • Kurt realized he had forgotten to refuel, and the group stopped at a run-down gas station on the way to the Columbia River Gorge.
  • Nick called into the apparently empty station, then stepped back when a filthy old man appeared and asked what he needed.

Ch. 158Conflict and traps

Nick and his friends stopped at a gas station, where he intimidated the hostile old man and learned the way to the Buckner House. After the RV drove on, the old man, Mordecai, contacted someone and revealed that the group was being led toward a planned slaughter.

  • Nick watched the old man pump fuel while Kurt asked for directions to Talleyman Road and the Buckner House.
  • The old man insulted Jules, and Nick stepped between him and the others, frightening him into backing down.
  • Jules and Dana admired Nick, while Martin questioned how he had projected such a convincing murderous presence.
  • Nick told his friends he had worked in Hollywood as a cold-blooded killer in a movie, then dodged their questions by claiming the film was confidential.
  • Mordecai watched the RV leave, called someone from the gas station, and said the group had entered the pen and would soon reach the slaughtering ring.

Ch. 159The horror version of "The Truman Show"

Nick and his friends drove to a remote cabin while Nick sensed they were under constant surveillance, and a secret research team revealed it was manipulating Jules and monitoring their trip. The group reached the cabin and found its clean interior far more welcoming than its exterior suggested.

  • After driving through a mountain tunnel, Nick felt watched from every direction but chose to follow the plot rather than act rashly.
  • In a secret mountain base, Sturson, Root, and Hadley laughed at Mordecai's warning and discussed sabotaging Jules with a drug administered through her hair dye.
  • Root reported that the Swiss team had failed, while Sturson said their own operation had two safeguards and watched the RV arrive at the cabin.
  • Jules, Nick, Martin, Dana, and Kurt approached the dilapidated cabin, and Martin worried that things were going badly.
  • Kurt opened the cabin, and the group found a clean, furnished living room with a lifelike mounted wolf's head.

Ch. 160Nick's Gentlemanly Conduct

Nick discovered hidden cameras and a one-way mirror in the cabin, then warned Dana and offered to switch rooms with her. The group began checking their rooms, while Nick remained suspicious that the cabin concealed more than its strange decor suggested.

  • Nick repaired the generator and noticed backup wiring connected to cables running through the cabin.
  • Nick used his phone camera to find hidden cameras throughout his guest room and discovered a disturbing hunting painting.
  • Nick removed the painting and found a one-way mirror behind it, through which he saw Dana in the next room.
  • Nick knocked on the glass to warn Dana, and the group gathered to discuss the mirror and check their rooms.
  • Nick offered to switch rooms with Dana, and she accepted and helped carry his backpack next door.

Ch. 161Things were gradually veering off course

Nick noticed that the lakeside cabin and woods seemed deliberately staged, while researchers underground prepared a ritual-like procedure and bet on what would happen to the five people. After sunset, the five returned to the cabin and began playing Werewolf, unaware of the control center beneath them.

  • Nick pointed out that the woods had no birds and told Martin that the cabin and surrounding area felt deliberately arranged.
  • Underground, Sturson and Hadley explained to a young Black man that the researchers could guide the five toward the cellar, but their choices had to determine what followed.
  • The control center staff placed bets on possible horrors and cheered as the game was about to begin.
  • Nick lost his appetite for cooking and ate canned food while the five prepared dinner at the cabin.
  • After night fell, the five gathered by the fireplace and played Werewolf.

Ch. 162Nearly Fell for It

Nick realized that a strange gas in the cabin was making the group act unusually aroused, and he escaped its effects by opening the door. When a hidden cellar entrance appeared, Jules, Kurt, and Dana eagerly prepared to investigate while Nick remained wary.

  • Hadley and Sturson released a special gas into the cabin through a concealed vent.
  • Nick noticed the group growing flushed and suggestive, and he briefly entertained thoughts of pursuing Jules before recognizing that something was wrong.
  • Nick smelled a goat-like scent, opened the door for fresh air, and concluded that a potent hallucinogenic gas was affecting the others.
  • A floorboard sprang open to reveal stairs leading into a cellar, and Jules, Kurt, and Dana gathered around the entrance.
  • Jules volunteered to explore the cellar, Kurt and Dana agreed to go, and Nick wondered whether they were behaving like characters in a horror movie.

Ch. 163The Movie Cabin in the Woods

Nick realized he was trapped in Cabin in the Woods as one of five sacrifices and considered how to protect his companions while surviving the ritual. In the cellar, the group discovered objects that would determine which monsters the organization sent after them, and Nick planned to reach the underground base.

  • Nick recognized that the cabin and contrived cellar entrance placed him in Cabin in the Woods, where five people were meant to die as sacrifices to appease the Old Gods.
  • Nick recalled that the Movie Ticket's mission required him to survive and save as many companions as possible, despite the ritual's deadly rules.
  • Kurt called Nick into the cellar, where the group gathered around a flashlight and lantern.
  • Nick and the others found a collection of eerie objects, including a mask, dolls, a shrine, a strange metal polyhedron, and a pendant on a wedding dress.
  • Nick decided to keep the plot moving while protecting the others, then seek a way past surveillance and into the underground base.

Ch. 164Choices

Nick and the others explored the cellar of the Buckner House, where Dana found Anna Faith Buckner’s diary and read its Latin spell despite Martin’s warnings. In the underground control room, Sturson declared the Buckner family’s zombie torturers the winners, while the group left the cellar unaware of what they had triggered.

  • Kurt, Jules, Dana, and Martin examined objects in the cellar as Nick recognized that each seemed linked to a monster.
  • Dana found Anna Faith Buckner’s 1903 diary and read passages describing the family’s sacrifices and gruesome rituals.
  • Nick tripped Martin when he tried to stop Dana, and Kurt restrained Martin while Dana read the Latin spell.
  • Sturson announced that the Buckner family had won the control room’s wager, and the researchers celebrated their prize.
  • Kurt led the group upstairs, and Jules returned the cat’s-eye necklace to the wedding dress.

Ch. 165Attack

Nick took Dana into the woods, where they discovered Kurt and Jules embracing, while a hidden control room manipulated the group with pheromones. Nick used a cigarette to clear Dana’s mind, then attacked a zombie, leaving Kurt and Jules surrounded by more monsters.

  • Nick urged Martin to keep making his calming herbal cigarettes, then took Dana out of the cabin while Kurt and Jules left to be alone.
  • Nick led Dana away from the lake and found Kurt and Jules kissing in the woods as Hadley and Sturson watched them from an underground control room.
  • Sturson raised the temperature and released more pheromone mist while the control room staff monitored Nick, Dana, and Martin.
  • Nick gave Dana a cigarette that cleared her mind, then threw a transforming spear at a zombie approaching Kurt and Jules.
  • Jules and Kurt saw the spear-pinned zombie, then spotted a figure with a hay rake and a towering attacker swinging an animal trap on an iron chain.

Ch. 166Like a Warrior Descending from Heaven

Nick fought off the monsters attacking Kurt, Jules, and Dana, then helped the group expose and disrupt the people controlling events from underground. The group learned that the control agents had failed and that surveillance devices were hidden in the cabin, while Nick kept his identity unexplained.

  • Nick killed and dismembered several monsters, then ordered Kurt to take Jules and Dana to the cabin.
  • Kurt brought Jules and Dana inside, where Nick arrived covered in blood and noted that the family group now had five people.
  • In the underground control room, Hadley and Sturson learned that Nick and the scholar were immune to the control agent, but their attempt to release more agent failed and the monitors went to static.
  • Kurt smashed open the cabin's electrical box, and Martin severed the exposed wires to disable the cabin's hidden mechanisms and surveillance.
  • After Martin uncovered cameras and microphones, Nick told Kurt that they all wanted to survive while unseen people manipulated events.

Ch. 167Coming to Our Senses, Let's Go Underground

Nick helped Kurt, Jules, and Dana recover from the strange behavior controlling them, then led them underground after the tunnel out was sealed. The group found Martin working at a hidden passage that might be their only way out, though it could also lead to the monsters’ lair.

  • Nick pointed out how unlike themselves Kurt, Jules, and Dana had acted, and the three began to recover their senses.
  • Nick told Kurt and Dana to keep Jules inside the cabin and block its openings while he and Martin investigated.
  • Nick returned with a crowbar and learned that the group’s makeshift weapons contained hidden stun devices.
  • Nick rejected Kurt’s plan to escape across the canyon, showing the others that even birds could not enter or leave the area.
  • Nick led the group through a cemetery and down a hidden entrance beneath a coffin, where they found Martin working beside an automatic rifle.
  • Martin explained that they had followed the monsters’ tracks toward a possible exit, and Nick argued that staying above ground was no safer than going below.

Ch. 168Cards on the table: I'm a Witch Hunter

Nick led Dana, Kurt, Jules, and Martin into the underground facility, where Sturson ordered the Emergency Response Team to search for them after learning the surveillance system had been sabotaged. As their elevator moved through strange displays, Dana accidentally shot Martin and Jules was frightened by a ghostly face.

  • Nick concealed his weapons and told the group they would catch their enemies off guard, then Martin opened a hidden elevator beneath the floor.
  • Sturson learned that the plan in Japan had failed and ordered at least half the Emergency Response Team to search the upper levels.
  • Nick armed his companions and put on Predator Armor as the elevator descended, then it began moving sideways.
  • A Wolf Wesen appeared in a neighboring glass cube, startling Dana into shooting Martin in the arm.
  • Jules saw a ghostly face form in the mist across the elevator and clung to Kurt, while Nick took back the handguns.

Ch. 169A culmination of horror movie elements

Nick and the others found themselves trapped in an elevator among cells holding famous horror monsters, while Sturson and Hadley tracked them down from the control room. Their cube was moved through a vast, rearranging structure packed with monsters, leaving Nick to wonder whether to unleash them.

  • Nick played the music box, revealing a girl with a lamprey-like mouth and a bloodied, saw-bladed man holding the real metal puzzle.
  • Nick put on the Predator helmet and turned invisible, telling the others to stay calm while they waited for help.
  • Sturson and Hadley found the group on damaged surveillance footage and ordered cube 3606 brought down, while insisting the Virgin must be killed last.
  • The elevator moved cube 3606 away from the other cells and exposed a vast structure filled with cubes holding monsters, including Pennywise and a facehugger.
  • Nick and the others stared at the monster-filled complex, and Nick hesitated over whether to release its inhabitants.

Ch. 170Recreating an iconic scene (part one)

Nick and his companions escaped the elevator into a facility where armed guards tried to capture them, and Nick killed the guards before the group fled into a control room. With soldiers firing uselessly through the room’s reinforced glass, the four companions released monsters from their containment cubes, leaving the group ready to face the chaos.

  • Nick opened the elevator doors, then used his invisibility and Combistick to kill the guards waiting outside.
  • A woman speaking over the loudspeaker explained that the facility appeased the Ancient Gods by sacrificing people, while soldiers approached the group.
  • Nick led Kurt, Martin, Dana, and Jules into the control room and gave Dana a manual of codes for releasing the monsters.
  • Dana and Jules entered eight codes as Special Forces soldiers fired at the reinforced glass, which stopped their bullets.
  • Kurt, Martin, Dana, and Jules pressed the red switch together and shouted, “Welcome to the party!”

Ch. 171An iconic scene returns (part two)

Nick and the four survivors continued their escape through the monster-overrun facility as the power failed and the control center came under attack. They broke into a maintenance passage and fled deeper into the base, with more monsters closing in.

  • Nick used the evacuation map to convince Dana, Jules, Kurt, and Martin to keep causing chaos and seek North Door 22.
  • Hadley and Sturson learned that several sectors had fallen and their defenses were offline before the facility lost power and something began battering the control-room door.
  • Martin’s group chose to search for maintenance passages, and Jules explained that they could break through a partition wall to reach the pipes.
  • Dana knocked Kuchisake-onna aside with a crowbar, and Martin shot her while a pterodactyl fought a demon-possessed person in the corridor.
  • Nick found a hollow section of wall, and Kurt tackled through the partition to open a passage.
  • Nick threw a bladed metal disc that decapitated three faceless nurses as they approached.

Ch. 172The altar

Nick and the others escaped the monster-infested base through a maintenance passage and found an ancient altar beneath it. There, an elderly Ripley explained that the five of them had been chosen as sacrificial subjects and began identifying Jules as the first victim.

  • Nick led the group through maintenance passages as monsters overran the base and the five lost their bearings.
  • Dana found a sign pointing to Zone Zero, and Nick and Kurt opened a hole in the floor to reach an ancient stone passage.
  • The group followed the passage to a circular hall with five carved steles surrounding a pentagram over a misty abyss.
  • Dana suspected the carvings depicted the five of them as part of a planned sacrificial ritual, and Kurt recognized the idea of human sacrifice.
  • An elderly Ripley appeared and explained that sacrifices required at least five healthy young people, then pointed to Jules as the first to die.

Ch. 173The apocalypse that failed to arrive

Nick joined the group at the altar, rejected Ripley’s warning that their deaths were necessary to prevent the apocalypse, and killed her before leading everyone out. The supposed Old God emerged at dawn but was defeated by human weapons, and the survivors escaped as Nick entered suspended animation to recover.

  • Ripley told Kurt, Martin, Jules, and Dana that their deaths were required to stop an ancient demon god from destroying the world, while Dana could choose whether to sacrifice herself.
  • Nick arrived at the altar, challenged Ripley’s account of the ritual’s history, and killed her after the female researcher confirmed she knew an exit.
  • Nick and the others escaped the underground base, but soldiers blocked their way until dawn, when a golden titan emerged from the earth.
  • Nick used his cloaking armor amid the battle as artillery and missiles defeated the Old God, allowing the group to steal a Humvee and flee.
  • After Nick was wounded during their escape, he entered suspended animation, while Kurt and Martin were also injured getting the group clear of a mudslide.

Ch. 174Still Not Over?

Nick woke after being badly wounded and learned that the group had escaped the underground base and was nearing Hood River. He had them stop to rest and treat Martin, but a military communications jeep passed without stopping as they reached town.

  • Nick woke beside the female researcher and checked that his injuries had not cost him any limbs.
  • Kurt told Nick that the group had escaped the base and was heading toward Portland, and Nick decided they should stop in Hood River to rest and treat Martin's leg.
  • Nick and the researcher changed and dirtied their clothes to make the group look like students who had survived a camping disaster.
  • Kurt spotted an approaching military jeep, but Nick told everyone to act normally, and the jeep passed them by.
  • The group saw the Welcome to Hood River sign.

Ch. 175Air raid siren

Nick and the others reached a Hood River supermarket after surviving a mudslide, where they gathered supplies and learned the town’s power and communications were down. An air raid siren suddenly sounded, leaving the crowd frozen.

  • Nick and the others spotted a busy, dark supermarket and saw a military policeman arrive as the nearby base began mobilizing.
  • Martin insisted on staying with the group despite his painful injury, and Nick led everyone into the supermarket for food and first aid.
  • A manager offered help, but the power outage had disabled the card reader, so Lila Lee paid for the group’s supplies with cash.
  • Lila Lee introduced herself to Nick and went to find clothes while Martin teased him about her apparent interest.
  • A loud air raid siren sounded outside, stopping Nick, his companions, and the supermarket crowd in their tracks.

Ch. 176"The Mist"

Nick and the others took shelter in a supermarket as a deadly mist engulfed the parking lot, and Nick recognized the situation as a fusion of The Mist and Cabin in the Woods. The chapter left them inside during a sudden earthquake, with Lila clinging to Nick as the building shook.

  • A bloodied Dan rushed into the supermarket, warning that something in the mist had dragged John Lee away.
  • A redneck ignored the warnings and ran to his truck, but the mist swallowed him and an agonized scream came from outside.
  • Nick recognized the mist and several people in the supermarket from The Mist, then told Kurt that the group should stay inside and rest.
  • Kurt reported that Martin's injured leg had been treated and asked whether they could leave, while Nick suspected monsters might still be nearby.
  • An earthquake shook the supermarket, sending goods and ceiling fixtures crashing down as Kurt crouched for cover and Lila threw her arms around Nick.

Ch. 177The choice

A U.S. military crew continued conventional attacks on the strange fog after command rejected a request for nuclear weapons. In a Hood River supermarket, Carol tried to leave to reach her children, and Kurt volunteered to escort her home.

  • Deep Hammer 11 reported that a GBU-57 strike had damaged the structure beneath the fog, and Lieutenant General Bruno ordered continued suppression while MOABs and BLU-82s were sent to the area.
  • The bomber crew discussed the military response and the use of nuclear weapons elsewhere.
  • After the supermarket stopped shaking, people argued about the cause and the danger outside.
  • Carol said her eight-year-old daughter Wanda was caring for her six-month-old son Victor at home and asked someone to escort her.
  • Kurt ignored Jules's attempts to stop him and offered to walk Carol home.

Ch. 178Going out (Part one)

Nick escorted Carol through the dense fog to her home, with Lila accompanying them. Carol reunited with her daughter, and Nick asked Lila to talk with him afterward.

  • Nick stopped Kurt from escorting Carol and agreed to take her home instead.
  • Lila insisted on joining Nick, and Nick accepted after she hinted she could help.
  • Nick, Lila, and Carol made their way through the fog, passing a damaged police car and signs of violence.
  • Nick encouraged Carol to keep going, and she led them to her house after nearly twenty minutes.
  • Carol reunited with her young daughter, and Nick asked Lila to speak with him.

Ch. 179Heading out (part two)

Nick and Lila left the basement shelter and crossed the fog-filled streets toward their Humvee while Lila explained what she knew about the fog and the monsters from the Abyss. They reached the parking lot, where Lila identified several creatures, and continued toward the vehicle as monsters pursued them.

  • Nick left food and clean water with Carol and warned her to keep the baby quiet and stay in the basement until the fog cleared or rescue arrived.
  • Lila told Nick that the giant they had killed was likely a fear-born monster, and explained that the fog’s effects could be amplified by other monsters while high temperatures could counteract it.
  • A giant insect emerged from the fog, and Nick cut it down with his Combistick before carrying Lila away as more creatures approached.
  • Lila identified the insect as a No. 0001 Venom Bee Wesen and explained that the early monsters included primitive arthropods, insects, and mollusks.
  • Nick killed a pterodactyl-like No. 0018 creature feeding on a police officer’s remains, and Lila identified it as a natural predator of the Venom Bee Wesen.
  • Nick and Lila reached the parking lot and ran toward the Humvee.
Arc 7 of 9