2016 – Day 56

The cave loomed large ahead, its mouth wide and dark, offering a respite from the torrential rains.

"Thank god," Trevor said, then shouted over his shoulder. "There's a cave ahead!"

The line of six hikers behind him was not unified in their excitement, but they followed him up the hill and approached the cave. As they stepped inside, Jaime pulled a lighter from her backpack and raised it across the entryway to help them get their bearings.

"Does anyone see any wood? Or straw?" she asked. "Something we can light?"

"How about the team manual?" Rick said, and there was light laughter among the group. "I'm not entirely joking. I'm freezing wet."

He dug into his backpack and pulled out the 200-page document and tossed it onto the cave floor. It landed with a soft thud among a thin layer of leaves.

"Have at it," he said to Jaime.

Jaime looked around for confirmation then turned toward the manual.

"No, we are not burning the manual," Trevor said, stepping between Jaime and the papers. "I'm sure we can come up with a better team solution."

"Oh my god, Trevor!" Rebecca shouted from the dark. "The team building exercise is OVER. You got us fucking lost in the woods and now we're wet and cold and hungry and sitting in a fucking cave. Light the damn manual!"

"Hear, hear! You tell him!" came other voices from the darkness.

Trevor shook his head and looked down at his shoes. Jaime looked around at the dark then leaned down and held the lighter to the stack of papers. It hissed and popped, then finally flared up, bathing the cave in a small burst of light. Everyone instinctively moved closer to the fire. Rick leaned down and tossed the nearby leaves on top of the flames.

"This won't last long unless we find wood," he said.

The group reluctantly pulled away from the fire and wandered around the perimeter where they now had light. The mouth of the cave didn't feel as large as it did from the outside, and they quickly covered the area. Piles of leaves and twigs were tossed atop the blaze. It sizzled with each new addition. Soon everyone was surrounding the fire again, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, arms extended toward the flames.