chapter 41: obsessive
location: lincoln, nebraskaIt was clear that Sara was not in Vermont, so the next morning, the boys changed the license plate and drove into the mountains. "Let's hope this is the last time we have to do this," Hoseok said as he pushed the button for Namjoon. Mountains were immediately traded for amber waves of grain as they made their way toward another small city, thankfully bigger this time than the one in Vermont.
"Okay," Taehyung piped up from the back, "how far away from this city did we appear?"
"About fifteen miles," Hoseok remarked. "I don't know how close or how far Sara has to be when she also disappears and appears somewhere randomly --"
Namjoon stopped the van in the middle of the road. "There," he said, pointing. Right next to the Welcome to Lincoln sign was Sara, in her blue dress and black Converse shoes, waving the purple van down. There was nobody else around, so Sara ran over to the side, and Taehyung opened the sliding van door for her.
"Thank God," she said, jumping in and sitting by Taehyung, giving him a hug.
Namjoon put the van back in gear. "Where were you before? We tried looking for you."
"Landed in Georgia somewhere. It was so hot, you could fry an egg on the cement. This is a vast improvement. Where are we headed?"
"Not sure yet," Namjoon yelled back. "Taehyung, fill her in."
"The feds found out about us," Taehyung said. "It was on the news. So we have to find a way to lay low for a while. We need to escape, but we decided to take you with us. And since you're here, we're never going to push the button again."
Sara was in shock. "Really?" It meant no more sudden disappearances, no more showing up someplace she didn't know without anybody else she knew around. It meant she could exist in a new time and a new world with people she actually knew. "I don't know what I did to deserve your kindness."
"You extended kindness to us, as well," Namjoon said, still driving. "Let's find a hotel on the edge of town and figure out what to do next."
They drove to the west side of Lincoln and chose a seedy hotel; thankfully the owner was hard of hearing and didn't seem to watch the news much. "We should still start driving again tomorrow," Namjoon said, "so let's figure out what our plan is. We don't want to drive in circles, but we also don't want to be pushing the button unless we absolutely have to."
"Namjoon, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sara asked as they set up the rooms -- three this time, giving Sara a room of her own.
"That we need to start sleeping in the van?"
"Well, yes, but more than that. We should see if there is an alternative community we can live with. I particularly am thinking about the Amish who called Pennsylvania their home. They live mostly off the grid and live simple lives, and while I don't really think we'd be accepted by them, we could find something similar. I bet the Internet could help us."
Namjoon agreed, and the hotel had an old computer and a dial-up connection that they were free to use at any time. While Jimin was in charge of getting food delivery, Namjoon and Sara sat in front of the computer. "So you were really going to be married to my father," Namjoon noted as he started searching in Metacrawler. "That's awkward."
"Completely."
"But you're here now...not betrothed to anybody any longer, I'm sure. You and Taehyung...you and V seem to be quite together."
"He has not said anything to me. I am a traditional girl. If he is interested, I am sure he will formally ask me. But it seems you and Minty are the same way." And when Sara saw the shocked look on Namjoon's face, she laughed. "Oh, don't you worry! Everything is copacetic."
Namjoon shook his head. "You are something else, aren't you? I'm sorry my family were assholes to you, but I'm glad we met. Perhaps we can be good friends."
He started looking for the Amish and found his way back to Britannica, then jumped around until he found something. "They call it a cooperative, where groups of people live away from society. They have small houses, tend to the land and grow food, and share it among themselves. Perhaps we can stay at a place like that for a while. Let me search." And he went back to the search engine, and it took an hour and a half (and a cup of coffee), but he got somewhere.
"The Persona Cooperative. It's located in Oregon, which is awesome! We really liked Oregon. They are open to all people, although there is an application process. I think I can email them and see if they will accept us, but in the meantime, maybe we should start heading that way more. Oh, look -- it says here that people with a criminal record are especially welcome, and that they offer rehabilitation programs to help them reintegrate into normal life. Which means at the very least that they shouldn't turn us over to the police. The FBI would need quite the warrant!"
"And that would not be broadcast well at all over the airwaves. It's worth a try." Sara and Namjoon went back to the hotel rooms, where they sat and ate with the others. Sara leaned on Taehyung's shoulder as she ate and Namjoon explained their plan. By the end of their discussion, they were set on going to the Persona Cooperative and seeing if they would help them. And if they really got in trouble and Namjoon ever had to push the button again, Sara had been instructed to stay put in one place until the others could find her.
"We are family," Taehyung told her. "All of us, together. We've come this far, and our way of doing things has changed just a bit, but our goal is to stay together as a family. So that's exactly what we're going to do."
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kicks ✓ || namgi || k.th
Fanfictionwe're all stuck inside, so let's go on a road trip with bts!