Finn took off his jacket, wrung out the water, and draped it over her shoulders.


    "This will have to do for now," he said. "We need to find a safe ce, get a fire going, and dry our clothes before it gets dark."


    They were in the middle of a vast forest with poor visibility. It was quiet for now, but neither of them knew what dangers lurked beneath the calm.


    They stuck together, moving as one.


    In less than half an hour, Finn found a rtively safe cave. Following his instructions, Evangeline gathered some dry grass, twigs, and a few pieces of dry bark.


    "Do you have a lighter?" she asked.


    She hadn''t seen him smoke during their time together, and he never smelled of it.


    Finn shook his head.


    Evangeline was confused. "Then how are we going to start a fire?"


    Finn just smiled.


    He spread ayer of dry grass on the driest part of the cave floor, enough for them to sit or lie on, then moved to the center and started to work.


    Evangeline had zero wilderness survival experience. It had never crossed her mind that she''d one day be in a situation like this, so her knowledge on the subject was non-existent.


    She watched, her eyes wide with amazement, as Finn produced a me simply by rubbing two pieces of wood together.


    "How did you do that?" she asked, astonished.


    Finn gently ced the smoldering piece of bark into the pile of dry grass. "I joined a wilderness survival club a while back," he said with a smile. "Learned it there."


    After the fire was steadily burning, Finn added a few more sticks. "Come closer, it''s warmer here. Your clothes will dry faster."


    Evangeline moved nearer to the mes, and a wave of warmth enveloped her, a wee relief from the chilling dampness. It felt so much better.


    But drying her clothes this way would take time, and the wet fabric clinging to her skin was still deeply ufortable.


    What made it worse was her


    underwear. There was no way to dry it through her clothes, but she couldn''t possibly take everything off in front of Finn.


    She scooted even closer to the fire, as close as she dared.


    An idea seemed to strike Finn. He stood up. "This is too slow. I''ll go outside. You


    take off your clothes and dry them by the fire."


    "What?" Evangeline eximed.


    Finn was already walking toward the mouth of the cave. "I''ll stand guard. Don''t worry, I won''t peek."


    Evangeline was speechless.


    The situation still felt incredibly awkward.


    She hesitated, watching Finn''s silhouette disappear from the entrance.


    The cave was fairly deep. Even though it was still light outside, the interior was dim, making it hard to


    see clearly. She reasoned it would be just as difficult to see in from the outside.


    After a moment''s thought, she decided to stop being so self-conscious. She stripped


    off her clothes and held them close to the fire.


    Her clothes were thin, and after about half an hour, they were dry. She put them


    back on and instantly felt a world of difference.


    She was about to dry Finn''s jacket


    next but then remembered that his own clothes were still soaked underneath it was better to let him,e in first.


    "Finn, I''m done," she called out softly.


    There was no response from outside.


    "Finn?"


    A jolt of fear shot through her.


    She had been so focused on her clothes and trying to stay hidden that she hadn''t


    spoken to Finn or paid any attention to what was happening outside.


    Now, the silence that met her call sent a wave of panic through her.