Oh Carina, you aren’t the first girl to fall for The Trail…  and you won’t be the last.  As you stand in the passageway, faintly reminiscent of… oh dear readers, you fill in the blank… and as you cop a Trail-feel in panel two, Mark is oblivious to your advances…And what’s with the  hooked arm and clenched fist?  Odd posturing, there Mark…

Gabe, what is your deal- OK I get it, you saw yourself with Carina when this all started, and now that you have invited your “Old Friend” Mark Trail to write an article, a cheap ploy to help you maintain your grant,  he really has horned in and ruined your plans…  so now you are content to be buried alive, martyred on the alter of unrequited affections?  Is there anything more sad than someone who will not save himself?  Is desperation the most difficult thing to witness?  Maybe the ol’ ticker just gave out… too much stress and excitement for one who appears to have gone to the buffet for seconds too many times…

From George Atkins.  Brilliant:

So Carina made a run for it, having apparently abandoned her colleagues to die, only to be surprised/shocked that they are still alive. And while the two hapless souls are running towards her and a possible exit (from the tunnel or the story?), the ever-informative and scheming Mark hopes to confuse Gabe by looking off to the side, yelling “Over there, Gabe!” Or maybe the injury has left Trail addlepated; and he not only does not hear Carina yelling out to them, but seems to be confused by who and what is clearly in front of them.
You see Dennis, it is not just the readers who are confused here, but the characters, themselves. From one sequence to the next, they have no idea what they are supposed to be doing, where they are going, why they are in the cave, or even if they are really supposed to get out of the cave. I’d think they would welcome Jefe and his automatic rifle about now. And point it towards Allen.