24 Hours In Nowhere

As the tumult quiets, the group catches their breath. The mine is thick with dust, and they struggle to see clearly. Shining his flashlight, Gus notices that they’re surrounded by rubble; a large boulder, perched overhead, has saved them from being crushed.

The group debates the best course of action, aware that their supplies are critically limited. Rossi suggests that they navigate back toward the hollow wall, optimistic that it conceals another corridor. As the smallest of the group, Gus offers to climb atop the rubble and crawl through to the other side. When he struggles to hoist himself, Rossi gives him a push, much to his delight.

Sandwiched between the ceiling and the rubble, Gus squeezes forward. The jagged rocks cut through his shirt and pierce his skin. Gus peers ahead, hoping to discern the far wall. He sees only darkness but still urges the others to join him. Breathing in the thick, dusty air, the group struggles toward the other end.

The group slides down, finally on the other side. The hollow wall has collapsed in the tumult, revealing an opening. Without hesitation, Rossi climbs through. Before following, Gus checks the supplies in his backpack: Twinkies, water, and his great-grandfather’s pocket watch.

The group follows Rossi through a large tunnel, treading over uneven rocks. As Gus shines his flashlight on the tunnel walls, he realizes that they’ve strayed from the mine. Eventually, the group emerges into a large room, which Gus recognizes as a cave. The air is cool, and the ground is marked by fallen rocks and stalagmites.

Gus compares the stalagmites to the scenery on Thunder Mountain, a ride at Disneyland. Matthew, shocked that Gus has been to Disneyland, asks for more details. Gus, embarrassed, changes the subject, and Jessie shoots him a knowing look.

Despite Gus’s protests, the group agrees to reassess their objective: Instead of hunting for gold, they’ll concentrate on their escape. As they walk further into the cave, the group encounters a rank, overpowering smell. Rossi raises her lantern and discovers hordes of bats hanging from the cave roof. The group trudges through piles of bat guano. Meanwhile, Matthew and Jessie continue to bicker. Eager for a fight, Matthew grabs a handful of guano and hurls it at Jessie. Jessie retaliates, and a battle erupts, startling the bats into flight. As Rossi heads back toward the cave entrance, a bat swoops down and tangles itself in her hair. Gus shoos away the bat and frees Rossi.

The group decides to follow the bats as they flee the cave, suspecting that the bats are seeking an exit. Their path is ridden with treacherous boulders and narrow tunnels, and the group must crawl on their stomachs. As they crawl, they tally their supplies, noting that they should conserve the flashlight batteries.

Rossi reluctantly admits that she’s claustrophobic. Meanwhile, Matthew teases Jessie, deliberately mispronouncing his name. When Gus chimes in, Jessie reveals that Gus’s real name is Fergus. Matthew then targets Rossi and asks her real name, doubting that she coincidentally shares a name with a famous dirt-bike rider. Gus, surprised, begs Rossi for clarification, but she remains silent. Matthew insists that Rossi is untrustworthy and wonders aloud how Rossi can afford her gear and bike repairs since her father is so poor. Ultimately, Matthew accuses Rossi of stealing. Rossi doesn’t respond, and Gus dismisses the accusation. He reminds Matthew that not everyone is what they seem.

Eventually, the passage expands, and the group stands up. Rossi leads the way with her lantern. Suddenly, Gus notices a series of cave drawings, and he calls the group over to inspect. Awed by the old drawings, Jessie imagines that they were originally carved by Indigenous tribes, ancestors to Rossi.

When Matthew and Jessie turn away, Rossi beckons Gus to look more closely at the drawings: One of the arrows is larger and has been hastily scratched in the wall. Neither can imagine what it means, and they rejoin Matthew and Jessie.

As they explore further, Matthew asks Rossi for riding tips. Rossi observes that Matthew usually slows down when he hits the silt, a slippery patch of dirt. Instead, Rossi suggests, Matthew should speed up to easily glide over the silt. Matthew worries about the safety risks, but Rossi encourages him to be brave.

Meanwhile, Gus and Jessie talk honestly about their friendship. Jessie wonders why Gus abandoned him, and Gus, surprised, insists that Jessie is the guilty party. Gus alleges that Jessie and his new friends had gossiped about him in Spanish. Jessie sets the record straight, explaining that he regaled the group with Gus’s many escapades and that they burst into laughter, impressed. According to Jessie, the group likes Gus and regrets that he’s distanced himself. Ultimately, Gus and Jessie agree that there’s room for both old and new friends. Matthew interrupts their conversation, bantering again with Jessie. Suddenly, when Matthew turns away, he disappears.

The group runs to investigate. Scanning with her lantern, Rossi realizes that Matthew has fallen into a crevice, crammed between rock walls. Below him is a significant drop.

With his body pinned, Matthew is unable to move, and the group struggles to pull him out. To bolster their strength, they dip into their rations and share bologna sandwiches, saving half for Matthew. However, they’re still unable to free Matthew, and they sit back, defeated.

Breaking the silence, Jessie asks Matthew, facetiously, if this counts as his worst day yet. Matthew, however, names another day: Valentine’s Day in second grade, when the class mocked him for his cards. Realizing that Gus and Jessie are surprised, Mathew explains further: He says that he had stolen the cards, eager to do something kind. When his mother found out, she beat him mercilessly. Matthew says that he befriended Bo to escape further ridicule; he needed a safe place, either at home or at school.

Matthew encourages the group to consider Bo similarly, arguing that Bo’s troubled home life has hardened his demeanor. Jessie, however, insists that individuals are responsible for their own choices, no matter their upbringing. Privately, Gus agrees with Matthew, and he sympathizes with Bo.

Matthew prompts Gus to recount the worst day of his life. Gus remembers that his mom took off when he was a toddler, leaving him with his father. Together, they lived in Reno, Nevada, and his father managed a meager living as a glazier. One morning, his father woke him early and surprised him with a day at Disneyland. Gus loved Disneyland, and his father treated him to rides and cotton candy. Before leaving, Gus visited the gift shop and bought a bag of 17 jewels, which he hoped to trade for real cash.

On the way home, Gus fell asleep in the car. In the morning, he found himself in Nowhere, at his grandmother’s trailer. His father unloaded Gus’s luggage and left him, never to see Gus again. To this day, Gus still has the jewels, but their symbolism has changed: Now, they remind him of his abandonment.

After Gus’s story, everyone is silent, though Matthew manages a joke. Matthew encourages Rossi to share her worst day, but she’s too focused on his escape to listen. Instead, she proposes that they source a lubricant so that Matthew can easily slide from the rocks. Eventually, the group decides to use Twinkies filling to lubricate Matthew. It works, and they free him from the crevice.

Reaching into his bag, Gus checks his pocket watch. The others notice, and Rossi asks to take a look. She realizes that Gus has misread the initials on the front: It reads “W.A.D,” not “W.D.A.” Eventually, the group decides that the pocket watch likely belonged to William Dufort, and Matthew accuses Gus of stealing. Gus defends himself, explaining that the watch belonged to his great-grandfather. Matthew and Gus tussle until Rossi intervenes. She wonders if the accepted history is wrong and posits that a third party might have been involved, aside from Dufort and Navarro. Inspecting the watch, she finds a note stuck in its back case. As she unfolds it, the group is startled by a loud rumbling. Gus shines his flashlight into the darkness and finds two large cat eyes staring back.

The group recognizes the cat as a mountain lion. Hoping to scare it away, they yell and flail their arms. When the lion doesn’t budge, they scramble up a few boulders. Gus secures his backpack, but he leaves his flashlight on the cave floor. As he hurries, the lion lunges after him, taking his shoe. 

Finally, the group reaches a low rock ceiling and huddles together. The lion scampers up the boulders and lunges at them. Thinking quickly, Gus swings his backpack, hitting the lion in the nose. The lion slips down the boulders and lands on the cave floor. The group shares a ration of Twinkies and warm water.

Matthew questions Gus further about the pocket watch. Gus explains that it was passed from his great-grandfather to his grandmother to his father. According to Grandma, her father had collapsed in the desert, fatally bitten by a rattlesnake, and the watch was found on his person. Gus remembers that his great-grandfather supposedly died the same night that William Dufort entered the mine. Matthew and Gus debate the story’s accuracy, and Rossi hopes that there will soon be enough light to read the mysterious paper.

Suddenly, Rossi feels a draft. She surmises that they’re close to an exit and scrambles down the boulders to explore. Rossi’s hunch proves correct, as she discovers a low, cramped tunnel that stretches about 15 feet toward an exit. The tunnel opening is too small to fit either Jessie or Matthew, so Gus and Rossi offer to escape and fetch help.

Gus leaves his backpack behind, and he and Rossi crawl through the tunnel on their stomachs. As they talk, Rossi admits that she doesn’t care about her bike and hopes only to escape. Gus wonders if Grandma will wake up and call the police. The police, Gus assumes, will investigate the mine and assume that the group died in a cave in, halting any search effort. Rossi, intrigued by such an opportunity, half-jokingly suggests that they abandon Nowhere and travel to Baja, Mexico. Finally, Gus and Rossi reach the exit, emerging onto a rock ledge. They breathe heavily, relieved to have finally escaped.