Seven

Chapter Seven

Namjoon POV

Something hard jabbed into my side, pulling me from a dreamless sleep. I groaned and pushed against the object, but it didn't budge. Grunting, I sat up and finally opened my eyes. At first I was confused as I saw the inside of the old cabin, the dead fire, and everyone sleeping. I rubbed my eyes and glanced down at my watch and bit my lip as I saw it was nearly 6 in the morning. Of the next day. The memories of the past 12 to 18 hours came rushing back to me and I cursed under my breath. I looked over at Jungkook still asleep on the couch, and I assumed his shoulder had been the hard, immovable object. He was on his back, his hands folded over his chest, the hood of his coat pulled over his head. I looked down at the floor and saw both Jimin and Taehyung fast asleep. Tae was curled up against Jimin's back, and Jimin had the blanket still tightly around himself as he faced the now lifeless fireplace.

I groaned and stretched my arms over my head, cracking my back and shoulders in the process. I was stiff and cold and tired. The couch was old and not so comfortable to sleep on. The inside of the cabin was chilly since the fire had died during the night. Apparently we were tired enough to sleep through the afternoon and even through the night somehow. Jin and the others were probably either panicking or furious. I reached for my phone and my heart leapt into my throat as I saw that I had a message. I quickly fumbled into the message app with stiff fingers and opened the file. It was from Jin.

"Where are you guys? Are you ok? Call me as soon as you get this." I read aloud. I saw I no longer had any service. I must have had a random glimpse of it last night and figured perhaps the weather had helped or hindered the signal.

"Joonie?" Jimin's slurred and sleepy voice asked quietly and I looked up to see him sitting up. He was bundled up in the blanket but looked to be shivering still. "Where are my clothes?"

"They should be dry, they're hanging up there." I pointed and his squinted eyes glanced over to them. He stood, letting the blanket fall over Tae as he went. "We got a message from Jin last night. I guess I managed to get service last night."

"What did he say?" Jimin seemed to wake up more at this news. I shook my head.

"He's wondering where we are, and wants us to call him. But we have no service out here."

"Maybe by the van?" He suggested. I paused and thought for a moment. We might have signal out there, just maybe. The van was a good half hour hike back the way we had come. Perhaps the others would be waiting for us there?

"Jungkookie, wake up." I reached over and patted his chest, lightly moving him back and forth. He groaned and reached up to take my hand, pulling it away from himself. "JK,"

"What?" He groaned and rolled over onto his side. He hissed in a breath and sat up, now registering how cold it had become in the cabin.

"Tae Tae," Jimin was working to wake Taehyung up at the same time. He was knelt by his side with his hands gently massaging Tae's shoulders. I felt a shiver run through me, making my teeth chatter. I stood and walked over to my pack sitting on the counter and pulled out one of the water bottles. Drinking some, I passed it to Jungkook's outreached hand.

"We need to get to the van today." I said as Taehyung was finally conscious enough to understand.

"I thought we didn't have the keys?" Jungkook picked up Jimin's blanket and wrapped it around himself tightly.

"I know, but we need to at least find a place with some service, that way I can try to call Jin." I explained. Jimin nodded and quickly began rummaging through the boxes sitting behind the couch. I hadn't even noticed them yet. He pulled out a couple more well worn blankets and tossed one to me. These would have come in hand last night…

"Let's get going then." Tae stood quickly, but then leaned onto Jimin's shoulder. He had stood up too fast, and was likely dehydrated. Jungkook passed him the half empty water bottle and he quickly drank. He passed the remaining water to Jimin, who finished it off. I folded my blanket and stuffed it into my pack, the others doing the same. We only had three blankets for the 4 of us, but I knew we'd all share them anyway. I shrugged my pack on and opened the door. The shock of the cold air against my face made me gasp. The rain had refroze during the night and left everything in a brilliant sparkling sheen. Icicles hung from the edges of the roof and even hung from some branches on trees. Jungkook stepped outside and reached up, snapping one off and sticking it in his mouth. Jimin ran out, now in dry clothes, and broke off one of his own. Taehyung joined them with a wide grin. I sighed and watched my breath be carried away by the breeze as a large cloud.

"Here, Joonie." Jungkook handed me a large icicle. I bit into it, enjoying the satisfying crunch and cool water. It chilled my hands though, so I quickly finished the rest of it. Jimin and Taehyung crunched into theirs as well. I led the way down the slope towards the trailhead. The morning air was very crisp and chilly and I estimated it to be easily in the low 40's, maybe even high 30's. I stuck my hands into my pockets as we trekked along, clenching my jaw against the cold. I felt tired and light headed and a headache was slowly creeping up on me as well. The elevation made it difficult to breathe, and that coupled with the freezing air made it nearly impossible. I could hear Jungkook panting hard next to me. The sun was barely up over the mountains far away, but it did nothing to warm us or the surrounding area. The ground was wet with dew and the rain from last night. Brown, dead pine needles blanketed most of everything, and the thick tree trunks were covered in green moss. Rocks jutted from the ground in unnatural positions and made trip hazards as roots grew around them.

I paused halfway up the hill to take a breather. My heart was pounding in my chest and I leaned onto my knees to try and catch my breath. Taehyung and Jimin were panting hard and sat down on a large boulder next to Jungkook.

"I never want to hike again." Jungkook breathed, swallowing hard. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, moving him around to access his pack. I pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to him. His voice sounded raspy and I wasn't sure if it was just from the elevation or if he was dehydrated. He opened it and drank about a third of it before offering it to Jimin.

I continued our walk uphill. I wanted to get to the van as soon as possible. Part of me hoped that help would be waiting for us there, but another part of me doubted it. We were in a really remote part of the hiking trail, and I had yet to see anyone out here. But Jin and the others knew we were coming here before, so maybe they would check here first? As I was about to stop to take another rest break, I spotted the empty parking lot we had the van parked in just ahead. I quickened my pace. The van was still the only vehicle parked here and my heart sank as I realized that no one was here. I pulled out my phone as the others rested against the metal doors. My phone only had about 20% of its battery life remaining. I lifted the device over my head and walked around with it, trying desperately to get a signal. To make matters worse, it began to rain.

I cursed technology and cell phones and the lack of cell phone towers. The rain was steadily picking up, and I could feel it starting to get through my coat. I closed my phone and turned to look at the others. Jimin and Tae were huddled close together by the van, shivering as the water dripped off their hair and coats. Jungkook had a rock in his hand.

"Jungkook, wait!" I heard Tae say before there was a large crash. I jumped as Jungkook smashed the window of the passenger side door open. He popped the lock and opened the door.

"Nice job." I grinned as he unlocked the large sliding door. We hurried inside to get out of the freezing rain and wind, and I shut the door behind us. I took out one of the blankets and did my best to cover the gaping hole where the window used to be. We huddled together in the middle seats, Jimin and Tae in the middle, I was on the outside left, and Jungkook on the right. I could feel everyone shivering as we got as close together as possible. I opened up the remaining two blankets and tried to cover everyone evenly with them. I pulled my hood over my head and leaned back into the cold fabric of the seat.

"You weren't able to get service?" Tae asked quietly, his voice trembling as he shivered. I looked over at him, his red hair still dripping rain water. He looked absolutely miserable, as did everyone else. I shook my head and he nodded, leaning his head back against Jimin's shoulder.

"What's the plan now?" Jungkook shivered.

"We sit tight and wait for the others." I sighed, bringing my knees up to my chest. "There's no use in wandering around outside in the cold or rain, we'll get lost. This is the last known place we were at. They'll come."

"It's already been 24 hours, Joonie." Jimin sounded afraid. I swallowed hard and nodded.

"I know, but we can't do anything else at this point." My answer didn't seem to satisfy him, but he leaned back against the seat and his eyes fluttered shut. The rain was really getting harder now and I listened to it drum on the metal roof of the van. The blanket did good on not allowing water into the van, but it did little to stop the chill of the wind getting through. Our body heat helped to stop our shivering, however, and the two blankets were better than nothing. I had everyone's packs leaned up against myself and Jungkook to block the cold air on our sides as well.

I let my mind wander back to our log cabin. Jin, Yoongi, and Hobi probably spent yesterday relaxing by the fire. Jin probably read a bunch, Yoongi most likely slept, and Hobi a combo of the two. They must have cooked a great lunch, and maybe even wrote some more song lyrics. I wondered if they noticed our absence right away, or if it took some time to notice we were gone. Knowing Jin, he probably noticed right away. The message on my phone said it was sent in the early evening yesterday, but that could very well be when my phone got signal for a split second. It was so frustrating knowing that Jin was worried for us, yet I couldn't tell him what had happened or where we were. Did his worry for us allow them to sleep last night? Were they out looking for us already?

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud and low growling sound, coming from Jungkook. I looked over at him as he met my gaze, a pained expression on his face.

"I'm hungry," He sighed, his stomach punctuating his statement with another growl. It was the first time I had even remotely thought of food during this entire ordeal, and suddenly I was starving. Jimin and Tae piped up in agreement, like baby birds. I could feel my own stomach growling angrily, and a wave of dizziness passed over me for a few moments.

"Don't we have food in our packs?" Jimin asked, sitting up more. I grabbed one of the packs and opened it, not remembering what I had brought. A couple granola bars. I had only really planned on us being gone long enough to have a snack before we went back to the cabin. So with two granola bars each, I knew it wouldn't be enough. I wasn't even sure how long we'd need them to last either.

"We each only have a couple granola bars." I said and they nodded solemnly. "We can eat half of one right now, but I want to save the rest until we really need it." Everyone was quiet as I split up two bars and handed them out. They were gone in seconds. It wasn't much, but it seemed to take the sharp edge off my hunger. I could still hear everyone's stomachs still growling. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep. We'd be here until at least the rain let up. I wasn't in the mood to be drenched for the third time.