masked-assailants-ambush

In this chapter, the group of travelers encounters a natural roadblock caused by a large boulder dislodged by an earthquake, where they discover a young woman who has been brutally tortured and murdered, reminiscent of the Black Dahlia case. The travelers are ambushed by masked assailants, leading to a violent confrontation in which Margo and others defend the group with advanced weaponry. The chapter ends with the group securing their position and a tense interaction with a policeman who questions their flight from an unspecified disaster linked to a new planet affecting tides.