Kim Seokjin's P.O.V

"Anything, Tae, for the love of God." Seokjin's tone, tinged with fading patience, only aggravated the two in the backseat as they rummaged around on their knees, desperately looking for something to slow the beast down.

"We're trying here, hyung! I don't think an empty can of Cool Whip is going to distract that thing," Taehyung grunted as he helped Yera lift the middle seat so she could search under it. The realization had finally settled among them that the beast from the store had survived and was now seemingly out for their blood—an act of thanks for the thoughtful explosion they had left as a surprise for it. No one has managed to have a moment's rest since the engine started. The beast made sure of that. Its relentless launching of trees and other shrubs alike kept everyone on edge, burning away any need or desire for rest.

"It's like it's not tired... I swear we've been on the road for a good ten minutes, and it's not even batting an eye," Seokjin mumbled, periodically glancing at the rearview mirror to keep an eye on the distance between them and the beast. He didn't want to risk tempting the creature into trying another Olympic sport, like long jumping directly onto the car. The "javelin-style" tree throwing, as Taehyung called it, was enough for Seokjin to deduce that the beast had no intention of giving up.

By the looks of it, they would have to cross out the possibility of tiring it out, as it was apparent that the creature seemed to have unbelievable endurance. On the other hand, the fuel gauge was dropping with each passing second, and Seokjin feared the worst. It was only a matter of time before the car sputtered to a halt on the road, leaving them at the mercy of the beast.

"I found something!" Yera dug her hand further, her entire arm disappearing under the seat as she struggled to reach whatever it was. With one final tug, she managed to pull it free.

In her hands was a toolbox the size of a Happy Meal.

Taehyung looked at Yera with an expression of grim sarcasm.

"That's great, that's just great. Why don't you pull out a mini hard hat while you're at it? We can play Bob the Fucking Builder until this thing runs out of gas," Taehyung huffed and collapsed onto the floor of the car, scratching the back of his blonde head as he tried to avoid Yera's eyes.

"I'm just going to assume that's the hormones talking," Yera warned as she opened it up.

"Guys? What's happening? What did you find?" Seokjin asked from the front, his voice softer as if he were sympathizing with Taehyung's feelings of frustration. He could see the blonde boy's eyes, and he felt a pang in his chest at the sight of a stray tear running down his cheek. Before he could say anything to comfort the boy, Yera's voice cut through the silence of the car.

"Fuck yes." From the tiny toolbox, Yera pulled out a string of firecrackers, each the size of a finger. There were approximately twenty in total, and the shit-eating grin on Yera's face was enough to pull Taehyung right out of his spiral. The boy looked up, confused, before mimicking the same smile Yera had plastered on her face.

"Sweet Jesus..." Taehyung leaned forward, absolutely baffled at the sight. They looked perfectly untouched as if they had been waiting for this moment forever.

"Please tell me there's a lighter."

"You wanna reach back in there and look for one?" Yera's sarcasm was not well received when Taehyung glared at the girl in response. Yera returned in kind by flipping the boy off, making sure that the lighter she found was positioned in such a way that Taehyung could see it.

Yera didn't waste a second before tearing a cracker from the string and tossing it to Taehyung, who caught it as though it might burst upon impact. She passed him the lighter and nodded at him with a look that said, 'You know what to do'.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is happening back there?" Seokjin's exasperation didn't last long as Taehyung climbed his way back into the front seat, silencing any form of the driver's protests. That was until Seokjin made eye contact with the firecrackers briefly before a hilarious double take that had his eyes widening like saucers.

It was obvious that he was seconds away from providing his two cents regarding the arsonist-inspired idea.

"The fu-"

"Just drive, Seokjin!" Yera's warm hand enveloping his right shoulder told Seokjin two things. The first was that they had it under control and that he should let them take care of it. The oldest had been keeping his exhaustion to himself all this while, and it was apparent that this was Yera's way of appreciating him and telling him that they had his back, no matter what. Secondly, this was their only resort; regardless of the fact that it could potentially do more harm than good, it was still the only thing that could give them a fighting chance at surviving this.

"This better work," Taehyung, receiving the 'go ahead' from the older boy, faced the window.

"..and Tae? Be careful"

Taehyung grinned.

With a flick of his thumb, a tiny flame burst to life, flickering rapidly as the winds from the open window tried their best to snuff it out. Taehyung held the cracker to the flame and coaxed it to catch fire. The string sparked for a second, eliciting a celebratory whoop from Yera before going out.

Yera remained quiet after that.

Beads of sweat raced down Taehyung's forehead as he persisted, praying that this wasn't a waste of hope.

And just like that, the string was ablaze and, in seconds, turned into a makeshift sparkler in Taehyung's hands. Without an ounce of hesitation, the blonde boy stuck the upper part of his torso out the window as Yera gripped onto his belt to hold him steady. Trailing just a few meters behind them, the beast shrieked, its ear-splitting shrill making the boy wince, momentarily dazing him. Had it been this close to the vehicle this whole time? How had they never noticed? His face revealed every single question that surfaced, prompting Seokjin's attempt at trying to get the boy to focus on the literal mini-bomb in his hand.

"Throw the goddamn thing, Tae!"

As if he were yanked back into that very moment, Taehyung made eye contact with the beast and hurled the firecracker right in the nick of time as it exploded the second it made contact with the beast's heaving chest.

"EAT THAT, YOU KING KONG-SHIT."

The beast's roar was a mix of pain and fury, now even more terrifying. The sound was filled with raw rage as it increased its speed as if letting them know that the firecracker was a terrible idea. The beast unhinging its jaw was probably the most gruesome and graphic sight Taehyung had ever been witness to. With its mouth gaping open, Taehyung saw just what they would be in for if their car ever stopped. jagged and razor-sharp, dagger-looking teeth decorated the beast's inner cavity, glinting in the sunlight with a sense of death, violence, and just a touch of impending doom.

It was not going to be a peaceful death.

Taehyung recoiled and laid back in his seat, stiff as a board as he fumbled with his fingers, looking beyond terrified.

"I think we just pissed it off." His meek observation had both Seokjin and Yera glancing at the rearview mirror, only to be jump-scared by the face of the beast, merely inches away from touching the trunk of the Nissan with its enormous teeth.

"Fucking hell-" Seokjin nearly felt himself jump right out of his skin at the sight and found his hands gripping the steering wheel for dear life as though he were grounding himself. They were already at full speed; there was nothing that Seokjin could realistically do in that moment, as it meant that the beast could adapt to such speeds and even push past its body's limits.

"Let's not... do that again? Damn, and here I thought that was going to be a badass moment for all of us. It was obvious that Taehyung had resorted to nervous rambling to cope with the fact that the beast was so close that it could climb into the backseat if it felt like saying hello.

"No, do it again." Yera insisted, voicing out Seokjin's thoughts exactly.

"Uhm... I'm not the only one who heard that 'fuck around and find out' warning from Mr. Ugly, right?" Taehyung looked to Seokjin for some form of protest; the idea, to him, was the equivalent of throwing water at an electrical fire. But to his dismay, the older boy agreed.

"Yera read my mind. I think you should keep going, Tae. Rapid fire."

Taehyung's face contorted into a look of unsettled terror.

"It's obviously getting a reaction out of it," Yera's voice from the back had Taehyung angling his head so that he could see her.

"I wouldn't say it's the kind of fucking reaction we want!"

"It reacted because we took it by surprise; maybe if you throw another, it might back off a bit from the car, a few feet at least."

"Are you nuts?? That is by far the most ignorant plan that has ever come out of your mouth. Yera, can you even hear yourself?" Taehyung laughed incredulously as he grabbed at his hair in disbelief.

"I mean, think about it! Do you guys seriously think that thing is going to piss off because of a few firecrackers? The first one practically had it ripping its mouth open because it 'shocked him', you didn't see what I saw!"

"I can try to explain myself to you while that thing rips that blonde fringe off of that forehead of yours, or would you rather I do that when we get rid of it??"

"YOU WANNA GO, DORA? I CAN TALK LOADS ABOUT THAT  BALD SPOT."

It was obvious, Taehyung was seconds away from launching himself into the backseat to throttle the girl. But before Yera could continue her verbal assault against Taehyung's hairline, Seokjin took it upon himself to interrupt the oncoming roughhousing.

"Taehyung I hate to break it to you, but we don't really have the time to be bitching about what else to throw at that thing. The crackers are loud and flammable, so just shut up, listen to Yera, and start throwing," Seokjin's voice boomed, startling both Taehyung and Yera.

It was an immediate response.

Taehyung was already silently asking Yera for another cracker, avoiding all eye contact with her and pouting as he did.

The scene was almost hilarious, his face screaming 'We're all going to die' as his ears turned bright red, reacting to Seokjin's change in demeanor.

Seokjin knew very well the kind of effect he had on the boys; putting aside his age, he practically raised them, and there was a strong sense of unconditional respect and loyalty they had for him. And as much as he hated to admit it, he did sometimes use that to his advantage.

Park Jimin's P.O.V

"JUMP!" Hoseok's panic-stricken voice caught Jungkook's attention as he and Jimin stretched their arms further out the window. Both Hoseok and Jimin were currently halfway out the Jeep window, begging Jungkook to jump already, but it was apparent that something was preoccupying him in that critical moment.

Jimin, in that split second, caught a fleeting expression on Jungkook's face. It was a look of absolute fear and disbelief. Jimin felt nauseous as unwelcome nostalgia invaded his thoughts at the sight of the younger boy's face. Before Jimn could even follow the boy's line of sight, the air was filled with the cacophony of rapid-fire, rivaling the sound of a shotgun, not far from them.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Yoongi yelled over the engine as he tried desperately to avoid clashing with Claire's Jeep.

(A/N: Ifykyk.....pls tell me you know?)

"I think Jungkook saw something," Jimin mumbled, loud enough for everyone in the Jeep to hear.

"Back up!" Namjoon grunted at Jimin and Hoseok as he climbed his way over to the back. In one swift motion, he slid the skylight roof open and pushed himself through. Jimin clung to the boy's trousers to keep him steady as he tried to figure out the origin of the gunfire.

"Holy fuck...."

"What did he just say?" Yoongi couldn't possibly hear what the boy mumbled masked by the roar of the Jeep and the thrashing wind outside.

"I think it was mopey duck." Hoseok hollered, confusion evident on his face as he tried to maintain balance with half of his body still out the window, trying to reach for Jungkook.

Jimin sighed, "Holy fuck, you dumbass, he said holy fuck." he couldn't believe that this was the conversation they were having in a possible life-or-death situation.

He then proceeded to tug on Namjoon's pants to get his attention. 

"Joon, what is it?"

Namjoon closed the skylight and turned to Jimin without a word, his expression pale.

"Get Jungkook, now."

And as if on cue, another round of fire, this time much closer to them, echoed in the air.

Along with one terrifyingly familiar bellow of pure, unbridled rage echoing in the background with murderous ferocity. As if it had become a conditioned response within his body, a haunting shiver raced down his back at the very sound of the guttural roar, leaving the hairs behind his neck standing upright.

Jimin didn't hesitate to put things into action.

By shoving himself halfway out the window to grab Jungkook, he and Hoseok were able to entangle their fingers in the younger boy's clothes, snapping him back to attention as they proceeded to guide him through Claire's Jeep and into theirs swiftly.

But just as Jungkook's feet were hauled in, Yoongi's panic-stricken yell had everyone in the Jeep ready to launch themselves back out the window.

"INCOMING!"

"HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" Namjoon shouted in the nick of time, having caught sight of Yoongi's visual through the rearview mirror.

"WHAT-" Hoseok shrieked as he grabbed hold of a struggling Jungkook's thigh, who in that moment was flopping around on the Jeep floor, trying to gauge the situation amidst the chaos.

And as if the whole world seemingly slowed down in that split second, Jimin whipped his head around just in time to see Seokjin's screaming face before a second car crashed into theirs from behind. Compared to the countless action movies Jimin had watched throughout his lifetime, nothing could ever recreate that very moment in film that would have made him understand what it was really like to be crashed into. The feeling was almost surreal; he could almost see the very instant the glass began to crack under the impact of the other car, even when the shattered shards of glass flew through the air, passing by his face as they made their merry way over to the front of the car in dramatized slow-motion.

Jimin almost felt his neck snap forward from the impact, and he could say the feeling was mutual amongst the others.

Hoseok, despite having a python's grip on Jungkook's thigh, was launched forward from his seat and was now buried in between Namjoon's car seat and the adjacent window. His screams for help were persistent as Namjoon tried desperately to dislodge his head from between the seat and the window side as he preached the safety of wearing a seatbelt.

Jimin looked towards Yoongi and felt his stomach drop at the sight of the mint-haired boy's face splattered with fresh blood. His nose and forehead glistened in the sunlight, blood racing down towards his chin as it dripped onto his lap. Although he looked the worst out of the lot, Jimin could see just how strong Yoongi was trying to be as the designated driver. He had the lights damn near knocked out of him, and yet he was still trying to drive straight.

Jungkook, on the other hand, was clutching onto his stomach, having taken the brunt of the hit right into the gut after being thrashed around like a poor ragdoll on the Jeep floor. He groaned as he rocked himself on the floor in an attempt to self-soothe the ache in his stomach. Jimin didn't miss the line of red running down the brunette's eye-brow, the cut looked deep from this angle he thought. 

The entire fiasco happened in mere seconds leaving everyone in the Jeep in a dazed state of silent disbelief. No one was even able to get a word out as they were still recovering from Seokjin's car practically ploughing into them. 

Before Jimin could even try damage control, another sharp, explosive crack, similar to a clap of thunder sounded from just behind them...

Followed by a spine-chilling scream that Jimin swore sounded just like a pig before slaughter. 

The scream, so horrific and graphic....was coming from...

Seokjin's car...

'Dear God...'