light caving pack, with spare batteries, water and carbide, placed it on his back, picked up another light one left there by his friends, and still a third much heavier one, stood up and frantically climbed up the eight-foot wall, entering large room number seven.

Right that instant, the noise was ear-shattering and absolutely overwhelming, and nerves were just about to break down. Catastrophe for sure, was only a very few brief seconds away, so quick decisions were mandatory. A fast check around revealed, to the extreme right, a fairly wide and strong protecting column, so thoughtlessly he ran for it. But upon second thought, it was clear that the incoming havoc would then surround him from two sides, at least, so... No, wait!.. A calculated jump placed him still another five feet higher and further to the left, behind a five- foot wide and nine foot tall sturdy rock. Whether the rushing nightmare would show itself from the left or right side, or both ( a very uncomfortable thought!), it seemed this shelter should hold, at least for a while. Besides, there was now no time left. The flash-flood smashing waters were imminent, time-crashing, and surely life taking.

And then, just behind him, he heard voices..One,..two...three... Three of the final sump caving team members had made it out of the belly-crawl trap!... But... what about the others?... Disgracefully, right that instant, we just had time to think about our own lives. It was every man for himself!

Then it began to happen. The floors the walls, the far away ceiling, the whole cave, everything was shaking, shaking hard... The sounds were unbearable, and unbelievable, just like out of a Sci-fi movie!... Carlos had let go of the two extra packs he was carrying, but keeping his, and by the moment he got behind cover, Ricardo and then Gustavo joined him. José Alfaro was a little bit behind, and he got hit by the low, first wave, the "get-out-of-the-way" bottom column, no too large. He managed to somehow fish the light-blue pack-sack that Carlos had just dropped, held on, and skipped being carried away by jumping up a mud ledge, and barely made it to cover, behind the big protective rock. Just then, with no mercy, all hell broke loose!!!

Right now as I write this article, only a couple weeks away from that unforgettable experience, it is impossible to think back and talk about things in a fairly calm way. But at the very instant of that killing nightmare, we were nothing but four minute, tiny spots of human flesh, clinging to life, uncontrollably shivering and shaking, absolutely overwhelmed by the mega-giant size of the circumstances surrounding us. And so, unable to stand by ourselves against them, our only resource, besides taking relative refuge, was only this simple: improvise, honest to God, desperate man's prayer!... Yes, we prayed, we ALL prayed intensively, with all our hands clinched in a big powerful circle of faith. We prayed, first of all, that He would stop the rain, at surface level; and then to emphasize, that He would drive the clouds away and bring on the sunshine, even though it was a bit late for that!...But above all, we kept a constant, strong flow of prayer for "Primo" and Randall, trapped or lost somewhere down below, and for Bryan, lost or missing way on top of us, whose desperate last minute yell had given us that precious minute of early start, which was the edge that provided us four with some hope of survival! Where on earth could he be, at this instant? Certainly, inside the cave and closer to the entrance