50 word Story Contest Week #19: Last Words

Before extinguishing their lamps to conserve oxygen, Matthew, Luke and John clawed their last marks into the mine's wall. The cave-in was not cleared for centuries and so their wives, for whom they'd left their final words, had already joined them. However, the archaeologists called home immediately.

This post is my entry into the 50 word Story Contest Week #19. The word of the week is "mark". I learned about the competition from the original post.
This story is about how our writing can have an effect on an unintended audience.