Mama Bear

Unwanted Surprises

The next morning the doors to the van are almost impossible to open.

The back door is finally tested, and swings against the mud piled up against the door, and the seven step out in to thick mud.

****

After getting free of the thick mud surrounding the vehicle they settle down to view the disaster the van is now facing.

'Did it really rain that much last night?' wonders Yoongi.

The last vestige of their world, now sinking in mud up to the top of its tires, seems impossible to remove from its trapped situation.

Jimin and Yoongi, the two lightest of the group, are sent back in to the van to pull everything out that isn't attached to the frame itself.

First paperwork and random bits that were 'lost' underneath seats are gathered and handed to Jin to keep track of.

Next tool and safety kits are passed out, along with a few first aid kits Yoongi had stacked in the car for the in-case situations that always seemed to pop up with his group.

Then a toolbox was opened, and the seats were unscrewed from the floor. This took half the day to do  so there were a few breaks for food and rest before it was finished.

By the time they were done the sun was close to setting again.

And the bear-woman, y/n, hadn't shown up that day. At all.

This concerns the hyung line.

This scares Jk and Jimin.

Tae just shrugs and settles on the floor of the van to sleep for the night. 

Once the rest admitted that he had the best idea with their limited options, they join him on the floor rug still inside the van, leaving the bigger parts that they removed just outside the doors. Jin insisted on bringing everything else back in, for safety.

****

Sunrise comes and the bear-woman from the day before yesterday is sitting on one of the removed chairs outside the vehicle.

Another struggle to open the back door and they all stumble out, some quick stepping to the woods to relieve themselves, others collapsing on a couple of the removed chairs to find comfort for their sore muscles after sleeping on rug-covered steel.

'It seems that your metal box is much less comfortable without your metal-foam seats. Why did you remove them?' Y/n asks the two who are still sitting, eyes closed.

'Weight seems to be the problem.' Yoongi says in his morning voice.

'The van is sinking in to the mud, so we needed to lighten it to keep the doors above the mud.' Jin adds in, squinting at the bear woman as he rubs the morning crust from his eyes.

Trudging back with a hat full of berries, JK collapses in to the next closest seat, offering first pick to Jin and Yoongi before snatching a few and tossing them in to his mouth.

'Healthiest breakfast we've ever head.' JK mumbles as he chews.

'Also the saddest.' Jin agrees, reaching for more. 

It almost looks like they're going to tussle over the food before they just... don't.

The energy to do so is missing from them both today.

****

'I think we need to accept your offer of finding a cave to live in.' Namjoon admits after a very plant-based breakfast. 'While we would prefer to stay with the van, it looks like the mud is limiting our options on that.'

'It'll be easier to remove it from the mud once the rain stops and the earth firms up... but we need to do it before the first frost. Ice will keep it from being able to dig out.' Hoseok adds.

'Are we really expecting to stay until winter? That's months away!' Jin protests.

'We don't know how we got here, hyung, so we don't know how to get back.' Jimin replies.

'Not planning for where you are is a good way to not be able to survive where you are.' Tae adds on.

Jin grumbles but looks to Joon, hoping he has some idea of what to do.

'That rainstorm before you met us, how often do they happen?' Joon asks y/n.

'It's happened several times in my species' oral history, but I can't say when the last time was.' She admits.

Yoongi squints at her, considering her words. 'Do they happen more than once in a short span of time? Or are these storms spaced widely out?'

'I'm not sure. There's only one other time non-shifters have been mentioned as being found after a storm. Or at least, I don't remember any other ones from the stories.' She looks at the guys, then up at the sun rising to its zenith. 'Do you want to move these comfy chairs to a cave? If so, we should go scout out a few options and see where you want to bring them before it gets dark.'

Slowly standing, each of the guys nods as they prepare to hike the next few hours, looking at caves to sleep in that night.