The glow from Kayla’s lantern dissolved the glacial darkness ahead. She and her best friend, Riley, were spelunking in a cave created by a river of lava some couple hundred thousand years ago. Ripples on the cave walls and on the ground beneath them told the story of the current of burning, liquid rock that rushed towards what would become the cave entrance. The heat must have been immense. Now, though, the cavernous tunnel remained below 50 degrees Fahrenheit year round.

Driven by the sweltering heat this first day of July, the cool air called Kayla and Riley to explore the Lava River Cave. Their “historic” apartment lacked air conditioning, and fans only moved the warm air around. The pair tired of milling about the empty mall with its boarded up shops, sitting for a couple of hours at the movie theater, or stepping into any number of stores that entice you to spend money in exchange for relief from the heat.

“We’re almost to the split!” Kayla called back to Riley, who was following Kayla’s trail.

Suddenly, her lantern flickered and winked out, plunging the two into a void of darkness.

Kayla blinked uselessly trying to bring her sight into focus. She knew there was no light for her eyes to adjust to this far into the cave, but that didn’t stop her from trying to peer through the black veil.

With the heel of her palm, Kayla smacked the side of the lantern, trying to dislodge any corrosion impeding the flow of electricity.

Nothing happened.

She tried turning it on and off again.

The darkness remained.

“Oh, come on! These batteries weren’t that old!” Kayla mumbled. Her voice echoed throughout the cave.

“Did you remember to bring extras?” Riley whispered.

Kayla shrugged her backpack off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground harder than she had intended, the sound bouncing off the walls and throughout the tunnel. Most of the cave was relatively smooth, but the floor was uneven and covered in jagged rocks. She hoped nothing inside the backpack broke.

Kayla carefully knelt on the flat rock she was standing on and felt around the face of the backpack for the front pocket. Her fingers found the zipper and tugged it open.

“Uh, let me check a different pocket,” Kayla said.

“If you forgot the extra batteries, I’m going to be so livid,” Riley replied. “I don't want to be trapped down here forever!”

“You can’t be pissed at me. You’re the one who dropped and broke your flashlight,” Kayla said as she felt around for the zipper pull on the side pocket.

“Besides, we won't be trapped down here forever. It's summer after all, and the Internet said this was the best time to explore this lava tube. We might have to wait a week to be rescued, but we'll be found,” she teased Riley.

“You mean our bodies will be found. We didn't bring enough food or water to last a week,” Riley said.

Kayla grabbed the plastic baggy holding the extra ‘D’ batteries from the side pocket.

“Got ‘em!” she said.

Grabbing two of the batteries, she shoved them into her pocket so they wouldn’t fall to the ground while she opened the battery panel. Using the fingers on her left hand to “see” which way the batteries faced, Kayla used her other hand to remove the old batteries and replace them with new ones. She then clicked the panel back into place.

With a flip of the switch, the light from the lantern sliced through the darkness. Kayla looked at Riley and grinned.

“Ready to keep going?” she asked.

“Ready!” Riley said.

Kayla took two steps forward and then the light flickered and went out.

“No!”

“When we get back, I’m sending an angry message to whatever company made those batteries. This is ridiculous!” Riley said.

Laura Nettles What happens next?