The chapter opens with the Unknown narrator waking in a basement, disoriented and foggy, and hearing whimpering from across the room. The narrator calls out and a faint, shaky voice replies. When the narrator asks for help, the sound of a chain dragging is heard, and the other woman panics and screams to be let go.

The narrator explains that they are also chained and cannot help. The narrator asks if the other woman saw the captor, referring to him as a man, but neither has seen him. The narrator describes how the captor only throws food and water down from the top of unseen stairs and never descends.

Asked how long they have been there, the narrator admits having no sense of time because no light reaches the room, recalling initial panic and terror upon first waking. The narrator tries to calm the other woman, who describes head pain, dizziness, nausea, and a dissociative feeling, which the narrator recognizes as similar to their own experience.

The other woman repeatedly screams and struggles against her chain, while the narrator urges her to conserve energy because no one can hear them. Both express fear of dying, and the narrator tries to reassure her.

At the end, the narrator identifies themself as Stacy, and the other captive reveals her name is Carissa. Their names establish that the captives are Stacy Howard and Carissa Brooks.