A Day In September - BTS Zombie au

26: Ugly Duckling

After hearing what most of them had to say, Mara had harbored a slight resentment for the leader. Namjoon's decision was bound to be against her staying, but it didn't deter any bitterness.

Jimin's promise slowly became harder and harder to fulfill, and with that dwindling hope came the subconscious mistrust of Jimin's word. However, Mara tried to enjoy every second of his company until her imminent departure. Truly, things could have gone so much worse, and Mara didn't want to push the limits of Namjoon's mercy despite her desire to stay. She came to the conclusion that regardless of their efforts, the outcome would've been the same either way.

Namjoon lacked sympathy for her, sure, but it was his camp that he and his group had built, and Mara felt in no way entitled to any part of it, not even a square foot of space. She could feel bitter, and she could mentally curse at the leader all she wanted, but her fate was set. At the very least, she would get a few resources to steady her for a bit until she eventually found her way. He was also allowing her to recover for a week before having to leave, which was also a plus.

Taehyung's conclusive words echoed in her head—

"Maybe it's for the best."

She was far from believing that to be the "best" considering she had previously been cornered into starvation by a cult that had odd eating habits. She didn't want to think too much about it, but the next day came and she inched closer and closer to being back to solitude. She would become more susceptible to being abducted—to dying at the hands of lunatics. Mara didn't want to be scared. She wanted to be brave and fearless and a force to be reckoned with, but she was just Mara. She was the girl who sought protection from the evil world but who had been stuck with bearing only her machete and her wits with her.

Speaking of which, the girl gave up on ever seeing that thing again (her machete, not her wits, although that could also apply). There was no mention of a gun either, and Mara wondered what had happened to her weapon. She'd only been given her bag in return, from which she gathered nothing too useful. A lot of her things had been left in the old lodge. She'd only had time to gather her main items —not much else. Mara considered going back to the lodge as it loomed over her with ambiguity. The lodge held sentimental value and trauma, but once again, necessity played a major role in deciding which emotion to ignore. She wanted to stay close enough to visit Jimin every now and then, but that meant dealing with the loitering threat. She was torn in half, but she had a week to decide so the girl placed the ultimatum last on her list of priorities.

Thinking back to the gun, Mara decided to ask about it the next time she saw Jimin. Oddly enough, the lad was busy doing chores around the camp, instead leaving Mara with Jin, who had welcomed her warmly into the greenhouse.

Constraints in regards to her staying for the remainder of the week were set for the safety of everyone else. One of those was for her to not be left unattended. She lacked a weapon for defense, access to certain areas of the house and everywhere she went (except for the restroom, of course), there came the chaperone following closely.

Namjoon did not trust her at all—not one bit.

"This is the squash I use to make vegetable soup with and that's Jimin's favorite. He's always been a healthy kid," Jin fondly explained, slowly walking as he gave a tour of the produce.

"We've also got strawberries and cantaloupe, limes and bananas, we've got aloe vera, tomatoes, potatoes, chamomile and mint leaves. I recently started planting ginger," Jin approached the plot in which small bulks breached the soil, distractedly muttering to himself, "And it looks to be...growing quite nicely."