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“There are some experiences in life they haven't invented the right words for.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Married By Morning

After getting Jungkook into the back of the truck, Taehyung got into the driver’s seat. Nari opened the door to the passenger seat but didn’t get in.

“Are you not getting in?” he asked. She hesitated for a second before shaking her head. She looked back to see Jungkook, who had begun to fall asleep.

“We have to check his wounds and I don’t want to leave him back there alone.”

He frowned. “You’re not feeling well, Nari. I can’t keep an eye on you when I’m driving from back there. Here, you stay here and I’ll go check on him.”

Still, she shook her head. “It’s okay, I’ll just check on him quickly.” She closed the door and walked to the back. Taehyung let out a sigh but said nothing else. He started the engine after making sure she had gotten on.

Once Taehyung started driving, she took out the bandages and cleaning salve from her backpack and scooted forward to roll up his pant legs.

Her eyes widened at the gashes running up and down his legs most likely from the sharp glass and rocks when the building blew out. There were bits of rocks and fabric caught into his wounds that she had to get out before she could clean anything.

She was relieved to see that his legs were not broken but she saw the kneecap sticking out and knew it was dislocated. She was surprised he was able to walk this far with one busted knee and one dislocated.

She had just picked up the knife to cut off the fabric on his legs so that she could get closer to the wounds when her arm clenched up in pain and she dropped the knife. Taehyung, hearing the clatter and her whimper, looked up into the rearview mirror. He saw her clutching onto her arm and his eyes rounded when he saw the red veins now lining her arms. He stopped the vehicle immediately and rushed to the back.

He jumped onto the back of the truck and pulled her arm to look at it. “What is this?” She shook her head, feeling numb. “I’ve never seen this before.”

He looked her up and down and seeing her heavy breaths, he let out a sigh.“You’ve pushed yourself too much, I told you. Go sit in the passenger seat for now, I’ll clean his wounds.”

Taehyung noticed she had troubles keeping balance and he quickly hopped off the truck to catch her. She gave him a grateful smile as he steadied her towards the seat. After making sure she was okay, he returned to the back to tend to Jungkook’s wounds.

After cleaning and bandaging all the wounds, Taehyung wiped the dried-up blood on his fingers with a cloth and tossed it into the back with his bag. He started the engine again when he heard a noise come from his device. He reached back for it and was confused when he saw nothing displayed on his device. He reached for Jungkook’s and turned it on.

His eyes widened when he saw all the incoming messages and the one from Jimin caught his eye.

Please respond, Jungkook. I know you’re out there. I can’t lose you too.

Taehyung felt his face drain of colour and his fingers tightened around the display. He closed his eyes briefly, mentally sending his apologies to his friend for all the worrying they had caused.

He set the device down and turned to see Jungkook leaning against the edge of the truck. He turned back to Nari and he thought about waking her up but it seemed like she needed all the rest she could get.

He sat there for a minute, wondering what he should do. The tracker was still with Jungkook and no matter how far they got, the others would still be able to follow. They would begin to question why the tracker was moving if they were able to track it.

The only person who would know where it is specifically located was Nari and it didn’t seem like she would be waking up anytime soon.

He took his own device and using his tools in the back, he took apart the back and began rewiring the insides. He bit his lip, trying to recall what other electrical parts he had in the back.

After a while, he turned back on the device and pressed in a few more codes. He cracked his knuckles and tossed the device onto the backseat and then turned back to the wheel.

He was just hoping the ECM signal jammer would last long enough for them to get far enough away

“We have to go around. The bridge collapsed in the storm,” Yoongi said, staring up ahead at the missing middle section of the bridge in front of him.

“The tornado tore it out?” Jimin asked. Hoseok nodded, peering out the window. “The only other way into the city is through the south entrance.”

Jin sighed. “That’s going to take us another few hours to drive around- especially through all this wreckage.” He stared out the window and his expression dimmed. “And that means Jungkook will be there alone even longer.”

Hoseok, who was beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, he’ll be fine. He’s a strong guy.”

“But we haven’t heard anything from him for days,” Jin said.

Jimin spoke up from behind them, “That doesn’t mean something happened. His tracker has stayed in the same position for the past few days so most likely he’s trapped.”

“Yeah he’s been- wait,” Hoseok whispered, “something’s not right.” Namjoon, upon hearing that, turned around. “What do you mean?”

Hoseok looked up. “He’s off the radar.”

Jin’s eyes widened and he looked down at his own wrist, turning on his device. “His tracker’s off the map. How?”

Namjoon sat up in his seat and he looked down at his own map. He tilted his head in utter confusion.

“I would say there’s no way his tracker would have broken but after what happened to Taehyung, I’m starting to believe there may be something wrong with them,” Yoongi said.

Jin bit his lip. “We should still go to the museum and see if he’s there. Maybe the storm messed up some of the signal towers that we use for our location tracker.”

Yoongi nodded and brought the car into a reverse. He looked behind him as he backed up and off the bridge. He turned and raised an eyebrow when he realized that Namjoon hadn’t said anything about their next move.

Namjoon, feeling eyes on him, looked up. Yoongi shot him a questioning look but Namjoon simply gave him a wave of dismissal.

“We’ll check the museum.”

The roads were clear along the way and Taehyung was able to step on the gas pedal and speed through. He did notice that the noise of the engine attracted some Erratics along the highway but he was going too fast for them to catch up.

He double-checked to see that the jammer was still on and he sighed in relief when the words ‘SIGNAL INTERRUPTED’ flashed across the device.

He glanced at Nari who had her head against the window. He reached back for his jacket, and after stopping the vehicle, he lifted her head so that he could place the jacket in between her head and the window.

Then he grabbed another cloth and quickly went around to the back to make sure that Jungkook was comfortable too.

He kept one hand on the wheel as he drove past everything. His mind began to wander and he couldn’t help but feel guilty at the amount of confusion and restlessness the others must be going through because of them.

He figured Jimin would be going through the toughest time, as the two of them were the closest. Then, he remembered the Bliss pills they must have been downing and he tilted his head.

They had their memories masked but he remembered Nari telling him it wasn’t because of the pills. He grew alarmed when he tried to figure out what it was that made them forget.

It all made sense to him after hearing Nari explain it all and even after so many days, her words still made his skin crawl at the amount of information that the Forerunner had kept from them all.

He was using the Ordinarians as slaves and the Selected as his dispensable pawns. He always thought the Forerunner was a calculated and intelligent man and there was no doubt about it. Now that he saw him in a new light, it made him feel uncomfortable at all the memories where the soldiers looked up to him like a celestial being.

He had read books and articles about what the world used to be like but it shocked him to now know that the Forerunner was able to advance so far in terms of technology and biological science. To create a drug so powerful that it can change the genetic makeup of a human frightened him.

And if he had been trying to create a drug to perfect the human race, what was his goal at the moment?

He turned back to Nari at the thought and he couldn’t help but wonder the type of hell she went through to keep herself going for so long while holding in all this information.

Jungkook stirred awake and at first he was shocked to see the moving scenery around him. He sat up in shock, thinking he was found by the other members. He looked behind him and when he saw the back figures of Taehyung behind the wheel and Nari sleeping, his body slumped down in relief.

He felt the aching pain return all over his body and he let out a hiss of pain when his bruised back touched against the truck.

Taehyung looked up and hearing the noise. His eyes rounded in surprise when he saw Jungkook awake. He gestured for Jungkook to open the small window between them.

“How are you feeling?” Taehyung asked. Jungkook shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel okay but my body doesn’t seem to be cooperating at the moment.”

At that, Taehyung chuckled. “You were stuck under a rock for a few days, give it some time. I’m just glad you didn’t break anything.”

The boy smiled. “You’re right. I guess I’m lucky I even made it out alive.” Taehyung’s eyes darkened and he looked away from the mirror. “Jungkook, I’m sorry you have to go through all of this.”

Jungkook scrunched up his face in confusion. “Why are you apologizing? I made this decision on my own, didn’t I? And I’ve had this feeling that something was off ever since we were sent out for a search-and-rescue mission.”

He thought about it for a second and then he tilted his head. “Where is he, anyway? The guy that we were sent out to find? More importantly, who is he?”

Taehyung pressed his lips together, not knowing what to say. He finally let out a breath. “He was a soldier from the Cover, you already know. He wasn’t a traitor. According to Nari, he had found out about the Forerunner and all that had been going on behind the scenes. Then, he was exiled.”

“Then how did Nari and him meet?” Jungkook asked. Taehyung shrugged. “I just know they supported each other while surviving on the Surface. They must have crossed paths sometime ago. They were research partners.”

“That doesn’t answer my first question, though. Why isn’t he with us right now?”

“He was captured by the Forerunner when he realized that Nari was with him. And he was then injected with the serum and would have turned into a Typic. After rescuing me that day, he left Nari a note and left.”

Jungkook blinked. “He left?” Taehyung nodded. “I didn’t ask her about the details.”

They fell back into silence when Jungkook spoke up again. “Were Nari and him close?” Taehyung thought about it for a second. “I’d say so. I never saw them interact but from the way she talks about him, he was special to her.”

Jungkook nodded in understanding. “And then to lose him must be terrible. I feel bad for Nari.”

Taehyung glanced up at the rearview mirror briefly.

“You’ll feel even worse once you hear the story from her perspective.”

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e 
 
            I'm getting excited writing but the more I write, the more apologetic I feel towards all the readers who are anxiously waiting for the others to be with them too. It'll happen sometime but I don't think it'll be any time soon. Or perhaps another one will get to them before they leave the island? Who knows.

           And again, thank you for reading and above all, commenting!

           P.S. I don't know who but one of you asked me on Snapchat  why I don't put my stories on 'subscribers only' or 'members only' and I thought my answer to that could be put here for everyone to see. It's simple, really. When you go into a bookstore or a library, it's not like you have to have to sign up with a membership card to read the first few pages of a book. If that were the case, I don't think bookstores/libraries would be as relaxing and easily be a place people can walk in and out of. It would be a pain to have to do so and for me personally, I write not only for you guys but also for myself. If it's something I enjoy doing, I want others to experience that without the hassle of having to subscribe first just so I can get karma or whatnot. Reading is for your own pleasure and there shouldn't be any extra steps you need to take to read something you find interesting.