Crazy Messed Up World
*Please, please don't hate me... It was something I had to do... I know you guys love me anyway but it was necessary... At least in my mind.
"Colorado." She complained once again making him want to slip a sleeping pull into her drink. As much as Eric loved Tris listening to her complain is not something that he has grown accustomed to. The fact that she doesn't really do it that often makes it a little easier but this move is proving more difficult than necessary. He wished Max had asked Four to make the move instead of him and Tris but Max thought it would be good for them to get away. "Eric, are you listening to me. There is nothing here but trees and coal mines, how are we going to live that way?"
Eric looked over to the passenger seat of his F150 and smiled at the woman he loved. "Tris, we can't go back now, Max entrusted us with this and I am sure we will be okay. I know that you getting away from Christina will be a good thing. We get to make friends who don't know what we do and who we are. That reminds me by the way do we have all of our information for our new "undercover" jobs."
Tris held up the folder and the scowl on her face deepend. "I can't believe Max wants me to work in a bakery, yes I know these people are considered dangerous but really, a bakery?" He laughed a little at that and then thought about his own new job. "Like being a coal miner is any better. Do you know how many diseases I could get down there. Plus my OCD is going to go freaking crazy. We are going to have to buy stock in soap! What are the names of the targets again? Who do we need to get close to?"
Tris opened the folder and flipped to the first page. "Max said that President Snow had his suspicions about 6 people. The first one is considered the most dangerous but also the most important. Her name is Katniss Everdeen, evidently most of these people are what they call Victors. I am not sure what that means but there is only one that is not one and his name is Gale Hawthorne."
She turned to look at him and he just knew there was a question dancing on her tongue. "Out with it." He said as he looked at the road ahead of them. "How did Max find these people? We grew up thinking that the outside world was decimated and that we were the only people left in the world and now we are on a secret mission that we couldn't tell anyone about. Where is the logic, how do we know we aren't driving to our deaths?" Eric looked over at her shook his head slightly. "We have to trust that we are doing what our boss wants us to do and that it is the right thing, however if we finds things to be off or not right we can always change sides. Even though Max said that this President Snow would be watching us. Who is next on the list?"
"Haymitch Abernathy, he is the oldest and apparently he has an alcohol problem, you should be able to bond with him instantly." She said with a little laugh. "Then we have Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason and the baker Peeta Mellark. There are pictures included but we can go over those once we get to our house." Upon saying this she perked up considerably. "I wonder what it is going to be like to have an actual house instead of living in a hole in the wall. Aren't you excited Eric?"
He laughed and reached over to grab her hand and gently slide her closer so she was cradled into his side. "I am excited we get to play house. Now, we have alot to do tonight once we get there so get some sleep my love." Tris reached over and grabbed her tiny pillow and placed it on my lap before kissing my cheek. "I love you." She whispered before placing her head on the pillow and drifting off to sleep.
Finally getting some peace gave him some time to think about what was going to happen once they got to Colorado Springs. He was not sure why they bothered to give them jobs especially ones that required training because, and Tris does not know this, in a week they were set to become Peeta and Katniss' personal security on something called a Victory Tour. Max said that this is going to be the most important part of what they were doing there and then again 5 months later during something called The Hunger Games.
What Max told him is that President Snow thinks that the five who will be on the Tour and at The Hunger Games, minus Hawthorne is not authorized to be on either which is why he will be on his team at the mines to gather information before they leave, are trying to start a rebellion in his country and we are to glean as much information as possible.
Eric continued to muse as he drove and as the sun began to set he sees in front of him what looks like a big metal fence. Now as a man who was used to seeing a giant fence this one doesn't look like it can hold anything inside and he lauged at it in comparison to the one he was accustomed to. He drove closer to the structure and immediately noticed that there were a few guards waiting at the entrance. He reached over and shook Tris slightly to wake her from her slumber. Eric let her know about the current situation and sat up looking through the window and groaned loudly. "Trees..." He heard her whisper and he found it difficult to suppress his laughter. "It will be fine, but for now we need to get ready to deal with these guys."
As he pulled to a stop at a designated area a man dressed in the weirdest armor he had ever seen approached the truck. Tris tried desperately to hide the laughter but was failing miserably before he rolled down the window he glared at her. "Really? You do this now?" She glared back and through the laughter said, "I'm surprised you are holding it in." After that she reigned it in and Eric rolled down the window.
"Sir, I need you and the lady to exit the vehicle." Eric was taken aback, no introductions, no how are you this evening? Just exit the vehicle. Tris reached to open the door but Eric stopped her. He didn't know if this was some kind of trap or what but he was not about to let them lose what upper hand they had. The man standing before him removed his helmet to reveal fiery red hair and a nicely trimmed goatee. "Mr. Coulter, Ms. Prior would you please exit the vehicle. We need to get everything transferred over and dispose of your vehicle."
When he said this Eric grew angry, he was told that he would have access to his vehicle and even though they rarely used them in Chicago he felt that being lied to was unwarranted and he got even more uneasy about the mission. "We were told we would get to keep our vehicle." The guard rolled his eyes and held out his hand. "Mr. Coulter, my name is Darius and I want to apologize for any misinformation. However the people in this District do not use vehicles on a daily basis, or at all really. I am sure you were told the pretenses of you bring moved into the District?"
Eric and Tris shook their heads at the same time and Darius threw his hands up into the air. "Are you kidding me?" They both shook their heads again and he brought his palm up and hit himself on the forehead. "What District are you from?" They looked at each other and shrugged and Tris ran back to her side of the truck and grabbed the folder. "District 5." Darius stopped with his mouth hung open. "Why did you need to look and see what District you are from?" He stepped forward and tried to grab the folder but Tris stepped back and Eric stepped forward.
He blocked Darius from getting any closer to Tris. "That is top secret information and obviously you are not in the loop. Can we please get this over with so we can go?" Darius' face turned red with anger and from lack of knowledge. "We were told that you are to appear as a couple with connections who get one last shot to make a District work. We are to toss you out of the truck and all of your stuff." Tris got a horrified look on her face because there were breakables back there.
Without thinking she grabbed his armor and pulled him to the back of the truck. "You see this box, do not under any circumstance toss or throw it, do you understand me?" Darius turned and looked at her wide eyed. He shoved her away and she stumbled slightly and Eric saw red. He lifted his foot to run to her but was held back by the other unnamed guard. "LET ME GO!" He yelled and in an instant he had flipped the heavily armored guard over his shoulder. Darius lifted up his hands in surrender.
"We have not exactly gotten off on the right foot, obviously you are here for a reason and we need to do things the way we are told." He looked down at Tris and offered her his hand. Being the stubborn girl she is. She lifted herself off the ground and pushed past him. "Just don't break my stuff and we will be fine." Eric nodded his head in agreeance and added, "if you break my truck, I will break your face."
It was well into darkness by the time all of their things were loaded into the other truck and they were finally headed to their new home. Darius looked at the address on the paper as they were riding into town and Eric's guess was that curiosity got the better of him. "How did you guys end up getting a house in the Victor's Village." Having once again no idea what he meant Eric just looked at him and said one word. "Classified."
The rest of the 30 minute trip was passed in silence and when the vehicle came to a stop Eric braced himself to be thrown from the truck. Darius pulled a length of rope from his pocket and secured it around each of their wrists. "Sorry about that, we need to make this look believable. I don't know how you got the President on your side but it looks like you two have some pretty good connections."
In the next minute Eric tasted dirt in his mouth and then he heard Tris huff as she hit the ground beside him. All of their belongings were removed from the vehicle and it sped off into the distance. All around people were standing at their doors and watching the scene in front of them and only one set came forward to help the couple after they rose from the ground. "It looks like you need some help." A man said as he produced a knife from his back pocket.
Instinctively Eric backed up and the man paused before speaking once more. "My name is Peeta, and I won't hurt you, I promise I just want to help." Tris looked at Eric with a confused look in her eyes, one he feared he mirrored. He held out his hands so Peeta could cut him free. "Thank you." He said completely against his nature. "I'm Eric and this is Tris." Peeta smiled warmly as he took his nice and freed Tris. "It is nice to meet you both, would you like some help getting this stuff inside. My friend and I would be more than willing to help." He gestured to the woman who was as small as Tris standing behind him.
Eric thanked him again and nodded his head. With the four of them working it took minutes to get their things inside. After thanking them one more time the duo left Tris and Eric to their new home. Tris flopped down on the couch that was already in the living room and a cloud of dust surrounded her. Eric felt a slight panic at the state of the house but resolved to do it in the morning. For now they needed to learn about their targets, who were unfortunately already breaking what he thought they would be dealing with.
Tris removed herself from the couch and brought the folder with her to sit beside Eric at the kitchen table. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on his arm. "Eric, what if we are on the wrong side of this? Those people did not seem like they would hurt anyone." He nodded his head in agreeance and moved the folder between them. "Let's do a little studying." He lowered his voice considerably and moved so his lips were right on her ear. "I am positive that we are being watched and there might be cameras in the house so we need to make sure that our talks about this subject..."
He was interrupted by a sound he had never heard before. It was a ringing noise that was coming from an object hanging on the wall. Eric slowly rose from the table and grabbed what looked like a handle and pulled up. He heard something coming from the top of it so he put it to his ear. "Eric... Eric are you there?" He was stunned to her Max's voice coming from the contraption. He guessed it was a primative version of the communication devices that they used back home and so he moved the bottom part to his mouth.
"Max?" He heard the man release the breath he had been holding. "Eric, how was the trip?" Tris looked at him from the table with her eyebrow raised. He shrugged his shoulders and recounted the trip with Max. "Listen, the real reason I called is because the mission has changed somewhat. You guys can scratch doing the bakery and the coal mine. You are to do strictly recon until you leave for the Victory Tour." Eric did a little dance causing Tris to rise from her seat. He motioned her back down and after hanging up with Max filled her in.
"Good, that means we can take a look at what really is going on here." She whispered to him. He pulled the folder from her grasp and disposed of their work assignments and they both put their heads down and began to read on their marks. Apparently the five they will be most of the time are Victors from The Hunger Games. Eric took a pen and wrote notes to ask Max the next time he called. What are The Hunger Games being at the top of the list.
They read until they were very, very tired and since they didn't have to report to work duty in the morning resolved to do more in the morning. He pulled Tris out of her chair and after a long, heated kiss led her to their new bedroom. The bed looked much more comfortable and bigger than their one at home and he was quite happy with the size of their room. They both changed and settled into bed exchanging "I love you's" before falling asleep in their new home.