Chapter Summaries

Nick and Dahlia fought through a church overrun by Human-Headed Spiders and foul Hollow Men, then escaped into a bunker that might hold the gorge’s secrets. After Dahlia asked Nick to hold her, he resolved to get her out alive and protect her from whatever awaited them beyond the gorge.

• Dahlia fired at the Human-Headed Spiders while Nick fought them off and carried her toward the church entrance.
• Four foul-smelling Hollow Men burst into the church, and Nick and Dahlia drove them back as the spiders attacked them too.
• Dahlia blasted a hole through the church wall with a grenade launcher, and she and Nick fled across the graveyard and along the road.
• With more Hollow Men howling around them, Dahlia spotted a bunker, and the pair forced their way inside past a barricaded steel door.
• Nick noticed signs that someone had broken into the bunker long ago, and he and Dahlia agreed to explore it.
• Dahlia asked Nick to hold her before they continued, and Nick promised they would make it out alive while privately resolving to keep her safe.

Nick and Dahlia explored a ruined secret laboratory and recovered a film reel that revealed the canyon’s origins as a joint Allied and Soviet biochemical weapons project. The film showed that an earthquake caused a toxic-agent leak and a catastrophic outbreak of mutations, while the researcher on screen was the corpse at the laboratory bench.

• Nick and Dahlia entered a damaged bunker and found signs that strange organisms and human remains had been chemically treated.
• They cleared a laboratory and discovered grotesquely mutated corpses, including one holding a film canister labeled “May God forgive us.”
• Dahlia found propane cylinders connected to a backup generator, and Nick started it to power the laboratory.
• Dahlia repaired the projector, and Nick and Dahlia watched a film explaining that the bunker had been a secret biochemical weapons research base.
• The researcher on the film described an earthquake-triggered toxic-agent leak that fused plants, animals, and people into monsters, then revealed her own mutated body.

Nick and Dahlia uncovered Black Lake’s secret research into the canyon’s mutated life-forms and learned that its hired operatives may have been expendable test subjects. Nick concluded that the mission to save the world might require destroying Black Lake, and he and Dahlia vowed to make the company pay if either survived.

• Dahlia and Nick watched footage showing that researchers had failed to develop a treatment for the biochemical agent, then decided they should leave quickly.
• Nick and Dahlia found a hidden computer room and discovered that Black Lake had continued research in the canyon long after the original project began.
• Nick read files revealing that Black Lake had collected the laboratory’s Final Samples and later pursued longevity research using the canyon’s Hollow Men.
• Nick and Dahlia realized Black Lake may have hired them because they were expendable, and Dahlia asked Nick to promise they would make the company pay.
• Nick suspected that saving the world meant destroying Black Lake in its entirety.

Nick and Dahlia uncovered Black Lake’s Stray Dog nuclear contingency and shared their feelings while the Magic Movie Ticket offered a way for Dahlia to leave the world with him. When they emerged from the bunker with evidence in hand, a disciplined group of Hollow Men confronted them.

• Nick discovered that the Stray Dog Plan would detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy the canyon if its jammers failed, and he removed the hard drive containing evidence against Black Lake.
• Nick told Dahlia he came from another world and urged her to survive, but Dahlia told him she did not want to live without him.
• The Magic Movie Ticket revealed a Couple Pass that could let Nick take Dahlia with him after they completed the mission, and Dahlia agreed to leave with him.
• Nick and Dahlia packed the hard drive and film evidence, then opened the bunker door and found a tall Hollow Man beside a bonfire with more than a dozen riders behind it.
• Dahlia prepared to attack, but the Hollow Man leader silenced its followers, and Nick lowered her gun so they could see what the group wanted.

Nick fought and killed the leader of the "Hollow Men" after it offered a Willys jeep in exchange for Dahlia, then he and Dahlia gunned down the pursuing cavalry. The nameplate on the leader's corpse identified it as B. Shaw, possibly Captain Bradford Shaw, leaving them to wonder whether anyone had ever escaped the canyon.

• The leader of the "Hollow Men" pointed at Dahlia and offered Nick a rust-covered Willys jeep, then challenged him to a duel.
• Nick defeated the leader by breaking its ankle, cutting off its hand, killing the snake in its chest, and beheading it.
• The "Hollow Men" cavalry charged, so Nick and Dahlia fired their rifles and grenade launchers, killing the riders and their mounts.
• Nick found a nameplate reading "B. Shaw" on the leader and suspected it was Captain Bradford Shaw, prompting Dahlia to wonder whether anyone had ever left the canyon alive.

Nick and Dahlia traveled through the canyon in a Jeep pulled by plant horses, then entered a forest to retrieve their fallen ropes. They found the ropes hanging above a writhing cocoon nest containing trapped, half-melted human figures, and Nick planned to free the ropes before ending their suffering.

• Nick and Dahlia used the plant horses to pull their Jeep past an abandoned military camp and a tower-mounted nuclear bomb.
• The plant horses stopped at the forest’s edge and turned hostile, so Nick and Dahlia shot them and prepared to enter on foot.
• Nick rigged a C4 booby trap on the Jeep before he and Dahlia searched the woods for the fallen ropes.
• Nick and Dahlia found both ropes hanging in a mutated tree beside a huge nest woven from glowing vines and cocoons.
• Nick discovered that the cocoons contained agonized humanoid figures and told Dahlia they would retrieve the ropes before ending the victims’ torment.

Nick and Dahlia escaped the cocoon nest after Nick’s climb disturbed it and the pursuers triggered their C4 trip mine. As they ascended the cliff on a powered rope ascender, Hollow Men rapidly climbed after them, forcing Dahlia to warn that they had to kill the creatures before reaching the mines and automated turrets near the top.

• Nick climbed through the dormant cocoon nest and recognized JD among the grotesque figures, realizing the nest was producing Hollow Men.
• Nick cut the first static rope, then tried to retrieve a second rope when a branch snapped and the tree and cocoon nest began shrieking and contracting.
• Nick cut the rope and swung down as transparent vines lashed at him; the pursuers triggered their C4 trip mine, and Dahlia set the tree ablaze with vodka and a grenade.
• Nick and Dahlia fled the burning nest as Hollow Men poured into the woods, then attached themselves to a powered rope ascender and began climbing the cliff.
• Hollow Men rapidly climbed after them, and Dahlia warned Nick that they had to stop the pursuers before they reached the proximity mines and automated turrets near the top.

Nick and Dahlia escaped the Hollow Men by climbing out of the gorge, then discussed leaving their old lives behind and going to Nick’s world. As night fell in the West Tower, Nick explained his unusual abilities, and Dahlia suggested an eccentric use for Fake Death Revival.

• Nick and Dahlia fought off the Hollow Men climbing after them, then cut the rope and escaped the gorge.
• Dahlia asked Nick whether his claims about his world were true, and he told her Portland was peaceful and that he was an ordinary cop there.
• Dahlia told Nick she wanted to stop killing and had planned to leave for France to open a restaurant, while Nick invited her to come with him.
• After night fell, Nick explained his unusual abilities, including Fake Death Revival, and Dahlia proposed using it in a way that startled him.

Nick and Dahlia prepared for the nuclear blast and discussed whether their world was real, with Dahlia insisting they follow their original plan. Three days later, Nick used Rivi’s identity to lure older Ripley into revealing her concern about a talking Hollow Man, then signaled that their plan could proceed.

• Nick and Dahlia discussed hiding places and how to survive the nuclear blast, then worried about whether the Magic Movie Ticket’s world was fictional.
• Dahlia told Nick to follow his original plan and said she would act according to her own wishes.
• Three days later, Nick contacted the military as Rivi and claimed he had captured a Hollow Man that could talk and repeated Captain Bradford Shaw’s name.
• After Nick mentioned a military drone had flown out of the canyon, older Ripley ordered him to keep the Hollow Man contained and promised doubled pay.
• Nick ended the radio call, wrote that everything had gone smoothly, and carried the message toward the observation terrace.

Ms. Bartholomew’s forces arrived at the Canyon seeking Levi Kane and the Hollow Man, only to discover the supposed creature was a scarecrow and two rabbits. As Black Lake’s sixteen Big Ears were destroyed, Ms. Bartholomew recognized the Stray Dog Plan; a flashback revealed Nick and Dahlia had designed the trap to draw Black Lake’s leaders into the Canyon and kill them with a nuclear bomb.

• Ms. Bartholomew learned that Levi Kane and his East Tower counterpart were missing, while her forces found a tarpaulin-covered figure beside the West Tower.
• Ms. Bartholomew ordered a soldier to uncover the figure, revealing a scarecrow labeled “Hollow Man” and two rabbits instead of the promised creature.
• Ms. Bartholomew ordered the drones to find Rivi, but explosions and tracer fire destroyed all sixteen Big Ears across the Canyon.
• Ms. Bartholomew and the Black commander identified the attack as the Stray Dog Plan.
• Three days earlier, Dahlia questioned Nick about how he planned to destroy the Big Ears, and Nick explained that their real goal was to lure Black Lake’s senior executives into the Canyon with the promise of a talking Hollow Man.
• Nick planned to use a nuclear bomb codenamed Stray Dog to kill the executives and create enough chaos for their escape.

Nick and Dahlia triggered their nuclear trap at the Canyon and escaped the blast, while Ms. Bartholomew and the Black Lake forces were caught in the destruction. Five days later, Nick and Dahlia crossed a border into a safe house, where they confirmed they had been near the Caspian Sea.

• Dahlia struck first, and Nick detonated the explosives at the Canyon before fleeing along his prepared route.
• Nick shot down two pursuing drones as Ms. Bartholomew ordered the Black Hawk to escape the Canyon.
• The nuclear blast destroyed the helicopter, drones, and surrounding forest while Nick sheltered in a mountain hollow.
• Nick hid from radioactive fallout in a cave until five days later.
• Dahlia used her credentials to pass a border checkpoint with Nick, then explained that they had reached an FSB safe house in their sphere of influence.

Nick and Dahlia returned from their mission to Portland, where Dahlia discovered that the crossing had restored her body to its best condition. As they settled into everyday life, Nick and Dahlia discussed how their worlds and the Magic Movie Ticket might work.

• News outlets revealed Black Lake's role in secret biochemical weapons experiments and linked it to the nuclear explosion, prompting the FBI to raid the company's offices and laboratory.
• A flash of white light transported Nick and Dahlia from an apartment in Almaty to Nick's home in Portland.
• Dahlia found that her old shoulder scar and cavity had vanished, and Nick explained that the Movie Ticket restored her to her condition when she entered a world.
• Nick took Dahlia shopping for clothes and supplies, then brought her to a Russian restaurant for dinner.
• Back at home, Nick showed Dahlia the Magic Movie Ticket and asked whether she remembered seeing its words in Russian, while he had seen them in English.

Nick and Dahlia settled into living together while planning how to resolve her undocumented identity and find her work. The next morning, Dahlia mistook Hancock for an intruder and overpowered him, then learned from him that Nick had a reputation as a playboy.

• Nick cleared a bedroom for Dahlia and explained that they needed to maintain personal space while adjusting to living together.
• Nick planned to arrange Dahlia a legal identity and help her find work, though he would support her in the meantime.
• Dahlia joked that she would be Nick's live-in maid, and Nick offered her his credit card to buy clothes.
• Nick woke late and found Dahlia cooking breakfast, then heard her challenge Hancock as he entered the house.
• Dahlia pinned Hancock to the floor before Nick rushed downstairs and explained that Hancock was one of them.
• Hancock recognized Dahlia as Nick's girlfriend and revealed Nick's playboy reputation, prompting Dahlia to tease Nick.

Nick remembered his promise to cook for Hancock and agreed to bring him dinner, then visited Monroe with a thank-you gift for helping save a girl and kill a serial killer. Nick asked Monroe if he knew an identity broker for a friend who needed legal papers, and Monroe grew suspicious of the request.

• Nick remembered promising to cook Hancock meals while he recovered and agreed to bring him dinner.
• Hancock asked Nick if he was serious about Dahlia, then left after asking whether she had any single friends.
• Nick brought Monroe beef bones as a joke and gave him an expensive bottle of whisky to thank him for helping with the case.
• Nick talked with Monroe about Wesen and his home before asking whether he knew an identity broker.
• Monroe stared at Nick and asked if the request was a police sting.

Nick sought a way to secure Dahlia a verifiable identity through Wesen underground contacts, then returned to work early at the Portland Police Bureau. Inspector Raynard summoned him after rumors spread that Nick was planning to get married.

• Nick asked Monroe to find a Wesen black-market contact who could provide Dahlia with a genuine identity, and Monroe agreed to inquire.
• Nick went home to prepare beef marrow soup and delivered a meal to Hancock.
• Nick returned to the detectives' office despite being on leave, hoping to pursue cases that might recharge his Magic Movie Ticket.
• Inspector Raynard called Nick into his office and teased him about rumors that he planned to marry.
• Nick denied knowing anything about the supposed wedding, while Inspector Raynard said the gossip had upset women at the station.

Nick received a ten-thousand-dollar bonus for the ogre serial killer case, then turned to reviewing recent missing-person files. A colleague brought him a drunk driver, Guilda Dana, who claimed her boyfriend had been attacked and might be dead.

• Inspector Raynard told Nick that he and Hancock would each receive a ten-thousand-dollar bonus tied to the ogre case and urged professional silence about certain details.
• Nick wondered why Raynard had taken such a personal interest in him and speculated about the inspector's motives.
• Nick searched recent missing-person files and considered whether unsolved murders without bodies could be hidden in Forest Park.
• A detective squad colleague told Nick that drunk driver Guilda Dana claimed her boyfriend had been attacked and his fate was unknown.
• Nick introduced himself to Guilda and asked her to explain exactly what had happened.

Nick brought Gilda, a suspect in a break-in, to the estate where she claimed a monster had attacked her boyfriend Rocky. The owners had returned, but investigators found no blood or body, leaving Rocky’s disappearance unexplained as Nick went upstairs to question the Rabes.

• Gilda and Rocky broke into a wealthy family’s estate, but when the owners returned, a monster attacked Rocky and Gilda fled alone.
• Nick questioned Gilda and drove her to the estate after she promised she had told him the truth.
• Nick met Andrew Wu, who reported that the Rabes had found their home ransacked and their bed disturbed after returning from Seattle.
• Nick and Wu inspected the broken rear door and found no signs of violence, blood, or a body.
• Nick went upstairs to meet the wealthy homeowners, Frank Rabe and Diana Rabe.

Detective Nick Burkhart investigated the break-in at the Rabe mansion, finding evidence that Gilda escaped through a bedroom window while Rocky was attacked. The Rabes reported no missing valuables, and Nick requested a list of recent visitors to the house.

• Diana Rabe complained about the ruined silk sheets while Frank Rabe explained that the mansion's alarm was rarely used.
• Nick examined the bedroom window and the flower bed below, finding scratches and disturbed soil consistent with Gilda's escape and Rocky's disappearance.
• Frank Rabe showed Nick the living room damage, including two opened bottles of expensive wine, while reporting that jewelry and watches appeared untouched.
• Nick inspected the Rabes' collection of Pacific Island artworks and a Germanic artifact as Diana Rabe explained their conservation organization and the collection's origins.
• Nick asked Frank Rabe for the names and contact details of recent visitors, and Frank listed the housekeepers, their son Barry, and their neighbors, the Corbetts.

Detective Nick investigated Guilda’s account of Rocky’s disappearance but found no clear evidence to explain it. He returned home and was reunited with his gravely ill Aunt Mary, who had come back from Utah.

• Guilda told Nick she fled after something grabbed Rocky in the dark, and Nick reviewed her background and the Labes’ account without finding a reasonable explanation.
• Nick told Andrew Wu to keep Guilda in custody and investigate Rocky, while Wu reported that Rocky was missing and described his poor family circumstances.
• Wu said Rocky often drove girls around in his pickup, prompting Nick to doubt Guilda’s claim that they had always been devoted to each other.
• Nick returned home, saw an old SUV and trailer in his backyard, and found Aunt Mary waiting inside after coming back from Utah.
• Nick hugged the bald and weakened Aunt Mary, then reproached Dahlia for not telling him she had returned.

Nick reunited with Aunt Mary, who warned him about the danger connected to his parents’ deaths and urged him to leave Dahlia. Their conversation was interrupted when Horda attacked, leaving Nick to fight the scythe-wielding creature as Aunt Mary lay injured.

• Aunt Mary visited Nick and Dahlia, then told Nick she would leave after dinner rather than stay the night.
• On a walk, Aunt Mary discussed Nick’s Grimm awakening and gave him a metal pendant linked to his parents’ deaths, warning him to keep it secret.
• Aunt Mary told Nick to end his relationship with Dahlia to keep her safe.
• Aunt Mary spotted Horda and stepped in front of Nick as the creature attacked with a scythe.
• Horda knocked Aunt Mary to the ground, and Nick kicked the creature away before drawing his P226.
• Horda charged again, and Nick fired his gun.