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042: erratic

chapter 42: erratic
location: sioux falls, south dakota

The next morning, Namjoon made Hoseok get out his big Rand McNally maps, and the two of them planned their route. They would drive for a bit each day, stop in a city overnight, pray they didn't get caught, and use Sara to deescalate if things got tricky. It would take them a week or so to get to Oregon, but Namjoon knew it would work.

"If the co-op doesn't accept us," he said, "we'll have to zap out because they'll probably call the feds on us. We will regroup and go somewhere else and hide at that point."

They drove all day through what appeared to be the wilderness of Nebraska, driving up through Omaha and then across the state line to South Dakota. The trip was boring until Jungkook asked Sara, "What was it like living in the 1950's in America?" After that, the boys had a million questions for her, and Sara, finally feeling like family, felt she could answer them.

"Yes, there really were no televisions! We had one, but I preferred listening to the radio programs. If I really wanted to watch someone on a screen, I would go to the theater."

"There were times that we still used horses and carriages to get around, just to make a statement. Yes, I understand it was totally weirdsville, I just put up with it because I had to."

"No, I never wore a poodle skirt. Those things were hideous."

Taehyung had always felt like Sara was out of his grasp, spiriting herself away from him whenever she got the chance. That had only been partway true; yes, she had some major trust issues, but so would you if your dad had dropped you off in the middle of a field to die. And instead of dying, she had been left to suffer for...who knew exactly how long? Months, at least, at the hands of Kim Namjoon and the portal button they had been pushing to save themselves.

Sara was still quiet, sure, but she at least seemed to trust the others now. Every once in a while, she would glance over at Taehyung, then blush and look away again. And Taehyung noticed, and now that the pieces were all starting to come together, he knew what he could finally do. So the next time Sara glanced at him, he gave her a boxy smile back, and she got so flustered she forgot what she had been talking about.

They arrived in a city called Sioux Falls and stopped on the edge of town. Namjoon drove around in circles for a bit, but all of the hotels were chains, too nerve-wracking to stay in for the time being. So they drove to a store called Wal-Mart that was like a department store, that sold general merchandise and clothing. They picked up enough blankets and pillows for everybody. Then, they drove outside Sioux Falls to the nearest rest stop and parked the van.

"We will sleep in the formations we set up before," Namjoon said, passing out snacks to tide them over. The windows in the back had been tinted at some point, so Taehyung and Sara would be sleeping in the front. That way, if someone looked at the van, they would see a white girl sleeping next to an Asian man, and that was it. It would raise less suspicion that way. Yoongi slept on the floor behind them, with Seokjin and Hoseok sleeping on the floor in between the other seats. The cushions were reserved for Namjoon, Jungkook, and Jimin.

Sara put the passenger seat back just a little bit and looked up through the windshield. The entire Milky Way was on display tonight, countless stars dotting the black sky. There were so many that she couldn't even pick out any of the constellations. Everything blurred together.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's absolutely radioactive," Sara said with a laugh, turning to Taehyung. "But not as beautiful as you are, V." Then, they both laughed. Sara was obviously kidding.

"Sara," Taehyung asked, "why do you like me so much? I mean, it's obvious that you do. But you also keep running away from me."

Sara sighed, looking back up at the stars. "When I first met you, I thought you were Tommy. For a jiffy. From the back, you're the same height as him, and you had the same swinging hair as him. But then you turned around, and your face was different, and I noticed you had this odd green color in your hair as well. And I was reminded that I had left Tommy back a long while ago." She was quiet for a moment. "He's dead, V. Tommy was the first person I tried to find on the Internet, and I had a nice lady in a library help me out. But when I put in his name, all I found were obituaries. He died of cancer, and I never got to see him again."

"Wow, I'm sorry," Taehyung responded.

"But I saw from the obituary that he had a nice life. He had a lovely wife and two kids, a boy and a girl, and he got to be a grandfather before he passed away. It was then that I realized I had a fate worse than death. Life had moved on without me, and I didn't know how to reconcile that. So I just...didn't. I ran away from anybody who wanted to help me, because I never stayed put in one place anyway. I thought I was unable to be helped, that I was a cold case. When we started meeting, I knew I couldn't form any connection with you. And, well, you were such a baby, so easy on the eyes, but I knew in a day or two I would be somewhere else. Then I saw you again, and the van, and...I didn't know why God had given me this life. Why did God make me go through this? Now I understand that I'm supposed to help the seven of you, for some reason. I was taken from my old life, and now I'm here, and -- goodness, I'm just rambling on like a book."

Taehyung reached over to the passenger seat and wiped away the tears Sara didn't know she had been crying. "I don't understand everything, either. But you try your hardest, and that's all that matters to me."

"It never mattered before."

"Well, now it matters to us, so there." Taehyung stuck his tongue out, and Sara laughed. "What do you think will happen with us next?"

"If all goes according to plan, the co-op will accept us, and we can live in peace for a few years. Maybe I can have some security. It would...be nice to maybe write poetry again."

"Have you been?"

"V, absolutely not. I haven't had the time to do anything between being blasted through the stratosphere like a moon rocket!"

"Then you should. You could write a poem about...anything, really. And then I'll get my saxophone and --" Taehyung paused. "Oh, wait, I left my saxophone back at college."

Sara was surprised. "You play the saxophone? That is SO coolsville. No wonder I like you so much. We're both artists."

Taehyung blushed. "See, now you're not running away from me. You've got nowhere else to go."

"I guess I don't, do I." She smiled at him, and he leaned forward, kissing her cheek. They couldn't afford to do more in a van full of sleeping men, but it was a connection the two of them could afford to make.

"Sara," Taehyung said, taking her hands, "I'm gonna be honest. I don't know you that well. But I want to. The little bit that I do know, the little bit that I have told you about myself, I know that we would be a good match together. And I can tell that you like me, separately from Tommy. You want a new start, and I think I can provide that. So, here's what I want to do. I want to know more about you, as we're traveling. Things that the boys can know, yes, but secrets that you only want to tell me as well. And then, when we get to the co-op, if we're accepted in and we can have a happy life there, then I would love it if you became my girlfriend. Does that sound fair?"

Sara smiled, eyes shimmering in the starlight. "That would be copacetic."