Chapter 20

Summary

Carl and Princess Donut wake in a safe room to encounter Frank Q, a suspicious crawler who had been sleeping in the women's bathroom. Frank claims to be a former federal agent investigating human trafficking, recounting a firefight with Rebecca W and her associates, but Carl detects inconsistencies in his story and realizes he is lying, likely hiding a stealthy partner named Maggie My. When the two crawlers attempt to ambush Carl and Donut with firearms, the safe room's anti-violence rules freeze them in place instantly. Carl deduces their stealth capability and the trap they set, leaving a rigged smoke bomb and dynamite in a rat corpse as a warning for any followers. The pair escapes on their chopper, narrowly avoiding Frank and Maggie while listening to a dungeon-wide broadcast detailing patch notes, including the removal of Blender Fiends and the curability of Feral Rabies.

Characters

• Maggie My (Crawler #324,116) — An athletic woman with closely-cropped brown hair, wearing metallic pants and a leather jacket. She is Frank Q's partner, appearing frozen in place alongside him during the ambush attempt, revealing she had been alive and hiding in stealth despite Frank's claims.