"Oh...those mangy things really were lookin' for prey," Ellis thought out loud, having seen some of the attack patterns used. By the way they sought out people, it was clear some if not all of them had a little sentience or worse, controlled in some way. "Not that you're prey, you're still here."

If Ellis had known about the ice, he'd be a little less blunt about the questions that he'd been asking Luke for. Silence terrified him, made his brain act weird in putting sounds that weren't there. To die drowning in a frozen lake...it was one of the worst ways to go.

But the way the mechanic spoke the words you're still here were more than just assess the facts, but to encourage Luke. To make him realize that he was still in the competition as El was.