After escaping Frank Q. and Maggie My on the chopper, Carl waits for any notification that his trapped rat corpse has killed them, but none comes. Carl is relieved because killing other crawlers would earn an achievement he wants to avoid. Instead, Carl and Donut receive a mocking achievement for being attacked by crawlers in a safe zone and saved by the system.

Carl drives the chopper east with Donut monitoring the map. They quickly hit the edge of the dungeon's apparent version of the Lake Washington area, turn south, then resume heading inland because Carl suspects stairwells will be in denser sections of the labyrinth. The long ride is empty, and Carl reflects on motorcycles and on his estranged father, whom Carl has not heard from in twelve years.

During a restroom stop, Carl and Donut encounter small raccoon-headed Scat Thugs. Carl kills two with his knee pads and loots their spears. The encounter teaches Carl that the fog of war tightens around them while the chopper is moving, meaning they are traveling almost blind and could easily drive into danger without better navigation abilities.

Hours later, Carl and Donut find fresh English graffiti directing crawlers toward stairs and people. Nearby Chilly Goat corpses show that many crawlers recently fought there, convincing Carl that the signs are probably not a trap. Following more markings, they reach a circular area where Donut spots the stairwell to Floor Two on the map.

Another warning tells them not to go deeper into the spiral or they will activate the borough boss, contradicting Carl's expectation that bosses would not guard stairwells until later floors. As Carl and Donut walk toward the crawler gathering, a huge fast creature thunders behind the wall. At a gate into the inner ring, they glimpse the pink, rolling, sewer-smelling monster racing through the passage, confirming that the route near the stairs hides a dangerous boss threat.