Jason sat with a flashlight at hand, a notebook on the ground, a heavy heart, and a burning anger for all adults. His hand was racing, writing numerous new rules into the notebook. He whispered what he was going to write as he would write. Going, going, going, Jason kept at his fast pace for a while. What he scribbled on the piece of paper was to be the official bylaws of Little Lamplight.

"And… this should do," he said as he dropped his pen after writing the final line. Carefully, Jason read over the lines. A big grimace brushed his face. This was exactly how he wanted the laws to read.

"Everyone… let's gather around," Jason said, getting all of the kids together. "It's time to review the rules of our new settlement." The children rushed to the living quarters. There, Jason was standing on an old Lamplight Taverns crate that looked as if it were rotting and could break at any second. "Let's start from the top."

Jason pulled out the paper of laws he had written. He cleared his throat as he began to read the laws:

1.) Absolutely NO adults allowed in Little Lamplight.

2.) Protect all possessions within Little Lamplight boundaries.

3.) Protect all citizens of Little Lamplight at all times… no matter what the cost.

4.) No stealing!

5.) No hurting others.

6.) Monthly, citizens of Little Lamplight must gather together to discuss current rules of our city.

7.) Regard all rules set by the current mayor.

8.) Avoid Vault 87 at all costs. This means conversation with people in the vault as well.

9.) Never leave out of the cave's front entrance unless given permission.

10.) Once members of Little Lamplight reach the age of 16 and become members of the adult world, they must leave the premises of this city.

After hearing the final rule, the crowd of kids became vocal. They were not angry, but nervousness set in amongst their voices. "Wait, we can't leave. It's too dangerous out there!" "There is no way we can leave. We'll never survive!" "Please… please… we can't do this!"

Jason knew this would be the reaction from most. He decided to try and settle the crowd. "Everyone, look. I know this is tough to hear. We must be brave and honor our first rule, though. If we say absolutely no adults, there can be absolutely no adults here."

Charlie Cob was in the front of the crowd. Looking up at Jason with a sullen appearance, Charlie brought up the question everyone was asking. "What if the adults we were with come back? What if they've met up and are just trying to find this location again?"

"Charlie… we all know they are gone…"

"NO! No, they're not dead. They're just… they're just lost!"

"Charlie, I am really sorry about your parents…"

"Dammit Jason, they're not dead!"

"Charlie, we can't keep up with…"

"How can you say this, man? How can you go on saying this? You are the mayor and you are giving me no hope. You are supposed to give us hope."

"Charlie, it's just…"

"Fuck you, man!" Charlie raced off into the darkness of the cave. Jason chased after him. This was a rough time for everyone, Jason knew, but it was particularly hard on Charlie having his parents gone when nearly two months before they were chaperoning the group of students. This would be tough for Jason to convince Charlie that everything would be fine.

"Charlie!" shouted Jason. His voice echoed throughout the caves. "Charlie, come on out man! Let's talk things over bud." There was no sign of Charlie anywhere. Could he have snuck out without the group seeing him? Doubtful. Jason, as usual, called for a scouting team to search for Charlie.

It was truly surprising to everyone how big the cave was. There were numerous levels with swinging bridges that people were able to walk across. There were different sections with walk through spaces, an easy option for people to hide. One thing that kept the kids from finding Charlie, though, was the fact that it was so dark within the cavern. There were not enough flashlights for everyone, so the leaders of each search party had to have a flashlight to guide groups.

The cave rang with voices of children screaming Charlie's name. The harmony of voices could be heard from every corner of the cavern. There was something hauntingly beautiful about the voices calling Charlie's name to Jason. He enjoyed hearing the voices stream back to him every few seconds. After coming back to earth from his daydream, Jason called out Charlie's name. "Charlie… Charlie…"

The group was becoming distraught. For the first time, Jason himself was becoming distraught. He was tired and just wanted to go back to his area of the cave and sleep. Now, he had to find a way to get Charlie back to the group safe and sound. "Charlie… come on out buddy." He continued to walk up and down the corridors of Lamplight, but Charlie had disappeared.

After about twenty more minutes of searching, the parties called it quits and met back at the living quarters of the cave. Some of the kids were crying, others were talking loud and frantic, and many were sitting down quiet, but worried. Jason moved to the center of the group. "Listen everyone… tonight, as you know, we have not found Charlie. However, we will resume search in the morning. It is important that we find him. He is just as much a vital member to our group as anyone else in this city. Go to bed, get some rest, and we will continue to look for him in the morning."

Jason, too, was worried about Charlie. Though these caves were safe, the thought of a young boy, someone no younger than Jason, alone in the darkness was a creepy and melancholy thought. Jason went to his area of the cave and knelt down. For the first time in a while, he said a prayer to God, just as he used to when he was a really young boy right before bed. He prayed for the safety of Little Lamplight, and most importantly, he prayed for the safety of Charlie. He put his head down on the ground, closed his eyes, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

…

Right after Jason awoke, he gathered the children and began to the second day of searching for Charlie. Again, all search party leaders grabbed a flashlight and looked up and down, left and ride of the cave. Many of the children were screaming Charlie's name. A few of the kids were crying while saying his name. One little girl, Hanna, a third grader, walked around the cave for a while simply saying, "Charlie… come out… we miss you."

After two hours of searching, Jason went to the wall of the cave near the souvenir shop. He slouched down and put his head in his hands. He wished Charlie were just here. He was tired of searching the caves for Charlie. He knew that Charlie was around the corner, he just wished he could find him. "Charlie! Charlie, come on man! Just come out! We are tired, people are crying… Look, we know you are sad, but this isn't fair to the kids of Little Lamplight. Be mindful, dude! Please! Just come out!"

Jason sat there for a while. He felt at peace with his head back in his hands. This was the first time Jason felt calm in a while. He began to doze off when finally a small voice whispered to him from his side.

"Jason… psst… Jason…"

Jason assumed he was just hearing things.

"Jason… Jason…"

Jason lifted his head to look around. When he turned to his left, two sparkling, blue eyes were looking up at him.

"Charlie! Dude, you scared us! Where have you been?"

"I've been around."

"Around? Charlie, where did you…"

"Jason… it's not important. I'm about to show you something that is pretty important, though."

"What are you talking about?"

Charlie rushed Jason to a lower side of the cave. Jason had never been to the area of the cave Charlie was taking him to. They hurried down the sides of the cave and squeezed through a smaller pass. Finally, the two boys reached a spot of the cave. The wall was covered with a piece of plywood. The plywood was loosely attached to the wall of the cave. The boys removed it. When they removed the plywood, Jason noticed that the board was covering up a small room that was dark and musky.

"What's in here?" asked Jason. "Charlie, what is in here?"

Excitedly, Charlie said, "Just go look."

Jason looked back at Charlie. He had a huge grin on his face. Whatever was in this side room of the cave must have been good. Jason felt less worried now that Charlie's excitement was noticeable. Jason took two steps in, flicked on his flashlight, and pointed the light in the middle of the room. "Whoa."