Like cream that rises to the top, Mark is in Alpha Mode once the chips are down…  but at the same time hoping Ol’ Gabe has a sat phone on his hip… otherwise I doubt whether there’s a tower within range.  But he’s agreeable enough- “OKAY, Mark, I’ll try!” he says…  Carina will be fine without her glasses- they were just a cheap pair of “attitude” glasses from the Dollar Store that she wore to make her look smart.  It’s hard being a woman in a man’s world.   Without them, her features have softened and she has become a more sympathetic character in the James Allen Trailverse…

What I don’t understand is why they feel like the cave is so “safe…”  Like they are 12-year-olds playing a backyard game of “Jailbreak” and they are safely in their own “base…”  The reality is that they are now cornered and trapped with a heavily armed bad guy outside what appears to be the only exit- the way they came in, and they aren’t even aware of the other bit of fun that’s in store…

And in related news, here’s piece written in support of one’s right to keep and bear dynamite… seems to be one of our bedrock principles as a nation…