Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent series; all characters and rights belong to the talented Veronica Roth.
"I back up, aiming over Caleb's shoulder at one of the security guards. I inhale and steady my hand. I exhale and fire."
Caleb's POV:
I look up at the wounded security guard that Tris shot. His right hand is pressed firmly against his left side trying to staunch the blood flow from the wound, the other two guards take off down the hallway after Tris. For a moment, I'm too frozen with shock to think or process what to do next.
I was supposed to be the one running to my death, not my sister.
The wounded security guard regains enough control through his pain apparently, and slowly pushes himself to his feet as he starts toward me. I don't know if they bought the story that I was Tris's hostage, they might considering Tris has made it very public her hatred for me, but I'm not going to wait around to find out. I may not be brave like the Dauntless, but I had already made up my mind when I said I would be the one to set off the memory serum. I had watched my sister get executed once; I wasn't going to watch it happen a second time.
Acting with what I know must be a surge of pure adrenaline coursing through me I jump to my feet in one quick motion and take off down the hallway in the direction of the Weapon's Lab. The sound of a gunshot makes me hunch over on instinct but I keep moving. Maybe I can get there in time before Tris detonates the death serum. My lungs protest the exertion as I push my legs to run faster, how can one hallway seem so long?
Suddenly a loud blast knocks me off my feet and I fall to the ground, my head banging against the wall hard enough for me to see stars for a minute. I feel something warm starting to trickle down the side of my face but ignore it. Tris must have detonated the explosives to open the second door to the Weapon's Lab, which means she'll be facing the death serum any second now.
I roll over and make it to my knees but I can't get up any further before the hallway begins to sway and dip in my vision. I must have hit my head harder than I thought on the wall. The soldier pursuing me however was not as injured by the blast, his footsteps echo louder in the hallway and I dizzily see him round the corner towards me. His steps however are heavy and staggered like he is struggling. The gunshot to his side is slowing him down thankfully.
"Stop right there!" the guard screams at me as I push myself up on to all fours, I crawl a few steps then trying to fight the dizziness the best I can, I push myself up onto my feet, breathing hard and leaning against the wall as I drag myself further down the hallway. I hear another gunshot whiz by my ankle and jump to the side knocking the wall again. I groan and shake my head a few times trying to shake the weird fog my mind is in.
But, I can't stop. Despite his injury, the security guard is still moving faster than I am. I listen hard to his feet pounding against the hard floor trying to calculate the distance between us and how much time I have until he catches up to me. He's too close. I can't outrun him, especially with my head still spinning like it is.
I set off down the hallway as fast as my spinning head will let me. I can make out the doors to the Weapon's Lab about 30 feet away. There are two figures slumped on the ground in the entryway, which I can only assume is my sister's handiwork. Suddenly, as I try to push myself faster, a white-hot pain explodes in my right shoulder. I scream, falling to my knees. When I take my hand away from my shoulder, it's smeared with dark red blood. Before I can fully process the full extent of just getting shot, I feel the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of my head; the guard finally caught up to me. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths, trying to stay calm.
"Hands behind your head, now!" The security guard barks, his voice is strained with pain. I feel my arms shaking as I bring them up and lace my fingers together behind my head, nearly screaming again from the pain in my shoulder. I can barely hold my arms up for a second before they fall back down, my shoulder on fire. I gasp, and try to breathe through my nose to keep myself from passing out from the pain.
I can hear the guard fumbling in his pockets behind me, probably trying to get handcuffs out. I don't dare turn my head around but it sounds like he's having trouble finding them with one hand. His right hand is still holding the gun pressed into the back of my skull.
Think Caleb! I tell myself, I'm smart; I'm Erudite. I should be able to think of a way out of this. I close my eyes again, what do I know? I can't fight him, I'm not very strong nor do I have much fighting skills. Then it occurs to me, he's injured.
The guard is burly and muscular, but I can use his injury against him. It's a risk considering I'm injured too. I just hope I can react faster than he can. I wait until he's looped one end of the plastic restraint on my right wrist, wincing as he forces my hands behind my back. I feel his grip loosen slightly as he adjusts the gun, still trained on me; he needs two hands to tie the restraint.
Now! I scream inwardly. I grit my teeth, knowing this is going to hurt.
I try to think of everything I have learned about fighting strategies, something, anything that will help me get out of this, which isn't much. Erudite generally stick to their books and experiments, Jeanine Matthews was an exception. I exhale slowly forming a plan in my head. While the guard's grip is still loose and before he restrains my left wrist, I ram my left elbow into his side where Tris shot him. The guard curses and grabs his side, dropping his gun. I reach down and grab it before he can. His eyes are watering from pain and his breaths come in harsh pants, but he's already straightened up and lunges at me. I duck and jump to the side to avoid the guard's hands then hold up the gun, pointing it straight at his chest.
"I don't have time for this!" I say, wishing I wasn't shaking and so unsteady on my feet and my voice wasn't shaking so much.
The guard lunges at me again and with my arms shaking, I aim towards the ground and fire, trying to remember everything Tobias taught me this morning about shooting. Amazingly, I hit the guard where I wanted to, the top of his right foot. The guard shrieks and falls to the ground. Keeping my hand on the trigger of the gun, I turn around and jog the remaining distance to the Weapon's Lab. Tris's back is to me, but David is sitting a few feet in front of her with a gun pointed straight at her.
"No! It's supposed to be me!
I hold the gun up ready to fire, but David is quicker than me and his gun goes off, hitting Tris in her right side. She stumbles, but my attention is on David who is raising his hand to fire again.
"No!" I scream. I pull the gun up again, holding it firmly with both hands and fire. This time, I'm faster. He must have been so focused on Tris he didn't even see me enter the Weapon's Lab. The bullet hits David in his stomach, it wasn't exactly where I was aiming, but it does the trick. David drops his gun, clutching his stomach in pain, but I don't want to take any chances. I rush into the Lab and before he can do anything else, I hit him over the head with the butt of the gun. His eyes roll into the back of his head and he slumps against the side of the wheelchair unconscious, his breathing shallow and even.
Coughing, I stumble over to Tris who is now on the ground I hear a strange whizzing sound and look up to see a cloud of smoke emitting from the device.
She did it! The memory serum is being released into the Bureau.
"Beatrice." I gasp kneeling beside her. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, her breathing ragged.
"No, no, no, no, no. Please, God, no." My eyes sting as I wrap my arms around her shoulders pulling her up to me. I hear her groan and something clicks in my head. She's still somewhat aware if she can still register the pain and she's semi-conscious, maybe I can still save her.
Gently, I lower her back to the ground and roll her onto her left side; blood is slowly pooling underneath her. Her whole back is coated in dark red blood. I gag, but force myself to focus. Thinking quickly, I rip the bottom half of my shirt and press the fabric hard against the wound. I feel her stiffen then moan.
"Mom, it hurts." She moans to no one. Her eyes are focused on something to the side of her as if she is seeing something that's not there. I vaguely wonder if David shot her with some other serum and she's hallucinating. But as I continue to press down hard on her wound, I realize she's in shock.
"Beatrice, look at me! Please!" I beg. I feel hot tears on my cheeks as she slowly turns her head back to me, confused. She's fully aware of where she is, why else would she ask for mom?
"Caleb? No, no this is wrong, they weren't supposed to get you too." She sounds panicked now, worried.
"Beatrice, they didn't get me, I'm okay. And you, just…. stay awake…for me please, okay? Just, stay awake." I choke through the tears.
She smiles at me and reaches for my face but her arm drops midway.
"Tell Tobias that I…"
"No! Shut up…please! Just stay awake, just a little longer okay?" I repeat and let my body sag against her, putting all my weight and energy into applying pressure to her wound. The adrenaline rush I had from earlier is fading and I feel my vision starting to get fuzzy again.
"Look at me, come on Beatrice!" I beg as her eyes flutter close. I take one hand away from her wound and gently slap her face. It takes her a minute but she slowly opens them again, this time not as wide. I press two fingers against her neck, feeling her pulse. It's weak.
"Please Tris, don't do this." I say quietly my forehead pressed against hers. She doesn't respond to me, I look at her face and see her eyes are still open but she has that glassy look again.
I bring my hand back on top of the ripped shirt, applying as much pressure as I can. My body feels weak and the room is slipping in and out of focus, whiteness starts to creep in on the edges of my vision. I feel my pulse pounding in my ears and shake my head a few times, trying to clear my muddled brain to no avail. The shaking makes the dizziness worse and I feel like I might be sick for a minute.
I don't know how much time has passed but I soon become vaguely aware of new sounds around me. Hurried footsteps, someone screams, more running. Suddenly, there are hands pulling me off of my sister.
"No…please, she needs…" My voice is strained and I can't remember what I was going to say next. Everything is hazy and I feel myself slide to the ground.
"I got her!" The voice says. I can't recognize whose it is though it sounds familiar.
"She's alive, but barely."
"Careful! Don't jostle her so much, she may have a spinal injury."
There is more movement, more voices, more shouting, something squeaks that sounds like wheels.
Go get another stretcher!" Another voice orders closer to me, though I can't figure out who they're talking about. It isn't until I feel pressure suddenly on the inside of my wrist as someone tries to take my pulse that I realize the person is referring to me. I pull my wrist away from them.
"Tris needs…" I try to say to whoever is trying to take my pulse, but I'm too weak to resist anymore as I feel the hands again.
"They're helping her but you need medical attention too. Your head is covered in blood and so is your arm." The voice is male but that's about all I can recognize. His voice echoes strangely, making it hard for me to fully understand what he's saying.
"I…"
"Relax Caleb, they're taking Tris to the hospital wing now. Stay still, okay."
"I need…" I mumble, closing my eyes for a second, trying to ignore everything spinning.
"Hey, calm down okay? You can't help Tris like this anyways." Whoever is trying to help me gently puts a hand on each of my arms, pinning me in place to keep me from moving.
"No…you don't understand… I have…I need…" I try to explain again but my voice trails off. I can't seem to form my thoughts into proper sentences anymore.
The last thing I'm aware of is being lifted onto something cold and hard. Someone I think is talking to me but I can't hear them anymore, sound is muffled and muted around me. I can't see anything past the white haze in my vision and then I surrender to the blackness tugging me into unconsciousness.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Has he woken up at all?"
"No, not yet. The doctor said it all depends on how much trauma effected his brain."
"Brain damage?"
"They won't know until he wakes up, though they said it doesn't appear that there's any internal swelling or bleeding."
"How's Tris?"
"Alive for now. Same thing, they won't know more until she wakes up."
I hear the voices but only catch bits and phrases of the conversation as my senses slowly start returning to me, dull at first but slowly getting sharper. I hear footsteps again, lots of running back and forth. I smell a strong antiseptic odor that stings my nose and something cold brushes against my hand.
"I think he's waking up." Someone says near my head. I scrunch my eyes, the voice makes my head hurt.
"Caleb, can you hear me?" Again, the voice sounds familiar and I try to open my eyes. It takes me a minute and when I do, everything is too bright. I groan and turn my head into the pillow, shutting my eyes again.
"Take it easy, you're okay." The voice says again and this time I recognize who it is.
"Matthew." I croak, my voice hoarse.
"Hey." He says, I slowly turn back toward him and open my eyes again, this time more slowly. At first everything is blurry and bright but after a minute, I see distinct outlines and Matthew's face swims into focus, Cara is standing next to him. That's when I realize I'm in the hospital wing.
"Hi." I say a little unsure. Something's wrong, but I can't quite figure out what it is.
"How are you feeling?"
"Tired…what happened?" I ask, confused. I don't remember coming to the hospital wing. I reach an arm up to scratch my head and feel a thick bandage. Matthew grabs my arm and gently puts it back at my side. Cara bites the inside of her cheek, staring at me concerned.
"You don't want to touch that." Matthew warns, then his expression changes, more serious.
"You don't remember what happened?" He asks slowly, watching me carefully and exchanges a quick, terrified glance at Cara. I shake my head.
"I'm not sure…" I groan again and press my palms into my eyes. I remember something big happening, trying to stop… something… and Tris. Something was wrong with Tris.
"Why can't I remember what happened?" I ask shakily.
"You have a serious head injury. Memory loss is common with severe concussions. Your doctor didn't find any signs of permanent brain damage, so you should make a full recovery though. They still need to do some more tests to make sure now that you're awake." Matthew speaks as if he's reciting a medical journal.
Memory loss…
I gasp as that one phrase triggers something in my brain. I'm silent for a few, long minutes as I slowly put all the jumbled pieces in my fragmented memory together.
The memory serum…the Weapon's Lab…the death serum…Tris giving herself up, instead of me…David shooting Tris…
"Beatrice! Where is she?" I demand, my voice louder than I meant it to be. I sit up fast, instantly regretting the movement and nearly pass out again as my shoulder explodes in pain, my head feels heavy. Cara grabs my good shoulder and gently helps me lay back down.
"Tris is alive. Now stay still will you, you're going to rip your stitches out." Matthew answers me. His eyes are dark and he looks like he's debating on how much to tell me.
"How bad is she?" I ask, staring straight at him. Matthew frowns again and fingers the cord around his neck.
"She lost a lot of blood. They had to do emergency surgery, something about internal bleeding. They wouldn't tell me too much, only that they'll know more once she wakes up." Matthew explains. I turn away from him again, this time to hide the tears stinging my eyes.
"It was supposed to be me." I say out loud without meaning to, so quietly that I'm not sure Cara or Matthew heard me. Cara looks at me sympathetically as a few stray tears fall down my face.
"Maybe that was the plan, but despite what she may have said, I don't think Tris could ever let you walk to your death. Despite all the hatred and fighting between the two of you recently, she still loves you. Tris is too selfless to watch someone she loves knowingly kill themselves. I don't think it is something she would wish on anyone." Cara says and gently takes my left hand in hers.
"Do they think she's going to die?" I ask, terrified of hearing the answer, but needing to know the truth.
"I don't know. But, I do know your sister is one of the strongest people I've ever met. She's not leaving here without a fight." Matthew says. I don't know if he is just saying that to make me feel better, but I take a few shaky breaths to calm myself down anyways. Tris can't die. I don't think I could live with myself if she did.
"How long have I been here?" I ask, picking at the thin sheets.
"Almost 24 hours." Cara replies.
The answer startles me; I've been lying here unconscious for almost a full day? What else has happened?
I guess people like me who were not fatally injured are not in private rooms, but in small cubicles separated by curtains. I don't see Tris anywhere and swallow a lump in my throat. I look around the hospital at all the nurses and doctors bustling around and that's when I notice the people sitting on the beds, their expressions confused, the nurses lean over them, talking to them quietly like comforting a scared child.
"It worked right? The memory serum worked?" I ask fearfully. This can't have been for nothing, it can't have. Matthew nods and runs a hand over his face. I breathe a sigh of relief.
"It's been nothing but chaos, but it's starting to calm down slightly. Everyone affected by the serum is still all out of sorts, but they're starting to understand…somewhat…and they are slowly being told who they are and what happened." I nod, not sure how to react.
"I want to see my sister." I say after a few minutes. Cara shakes her head.
"You can't. Not yet at least. The doctors are still working on her and besides you can barely move." She says.
"She's still in surgery? After this long?" I exclaim. That can't be right.
"No, she's in post-op recovery from what I can tell. She's in a separate room in the back, but I keep seeing the doctors running in and out of her room." Matthew explains. I sigh and lean back into the pillow.
"Please…let me see her, just for a minute at least." I practically beg. I have to see for myself that she's alive. Matthew stays firm though and shakes his head.
"Not right now, rest first. I promise I'll take you to see her soon when you're more clear-headed. Not now when you've just woken up from a serious head injury and can barely remember what happened, not to mention the gunshot wound in your shoulder."
Matthew stares me and crosses his arms over his chest as if to further prove his point. I glare at him and once again try to push myself up, this time not as fast. Grimacing, I manage to sit up and swing one leg onto the floor.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cara exclaims, grabbing my good arm to try and stop me.
I swat her arm away and swing my other leg onto the floor, clenching my teeth to ignore the throbbing pain in my shoulder. I manage one full step before my knees buckle unable to hold my weight. Matthew catches me before I fall and Cara helps him drag me back to the bed.
"See? You're not going anywhere yet." Matthew chastises. I sigh frustrated.
"I told you, you have a bad head injury. Your balance is going to be off and you're going to be weak, meaning you need to stay put." He says sternly.
"Can you at least try and get an update on her condition?" I ask rolling over on my side in an attempt to get more comfortable with little success. Something seemed to always hurt no matter which way I lied on the bed.
"I can do that." Matthew nods and gets up, heading toward the back of the hallway. Cara sits down in a plastic chair near my bed. I look up at her and that's when I notice a large bruise on the side of her head.
"Are you okay?" I ask pointing to her head.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just knocked myself out." Cara says with a grim smile.
"You knocked yourself out?" I ask bewildered, she nods.
"I got caught trying to disable the lights in the compound. I knew they would use truth serum to find out who else I was working with and I wasn't going to let that happen, so I ran into the wall and knocked myself out before they could do anything. When I came to, the memory serum had already started going into effect and the guards had left the room. I didn't know where everyone else had gone but I started going to the Weapon's Lab, that's when I ran into Matthew."
"The guards had caught him too." I say suddenly remembering how he had shot his gun into the air as a diversion so Tris and I could get to the Weapon's Lab.
"He wasn't held for very long. He also ran once the memory serum took effect on the guards holding him. We stopped at the hospital wing on the way and ended up getting two nurses to come with us. Surprisingly, they followed as without question. They may have not known their names at the time, but they understood that people were hurt, I guess that was good enough at the time to get them to come with us. We also grabbed a stretcher to…well, to put your body on." She turns away from me, but I nod understanding. The memory serum had been released and they assumed I was dead.
I should be I think solemnly.
"There was so much blood in the Weapon's Lab. When we first ran in there, it looked like both you and Tris were dead." Her voice shakes slightly. I don't know what to say to that.
"What happened exactly?" She asks quietly a second later. I sigh, not really wanting to relive the details.
"You haven't figured it out? Tris took my place! She held me at gunpoint and demanded I give her the explosives. I did, but…I just couldn't let her do it alone. I had made my decision and then she goes and pulls that?" I realize my voice sounds low and harsh. I rub my forehead as the back of my skull throbs painfully. I can't seem to think too hard on anything without my head hurting.
"It's understandable why you'd be mad at her, but you're not thinking of it from her perspective." Cara says slowly.
I didn't realize I was even angry with my sister until now, but Cara's right, I am mad. She might still die and it's all because she had to be so…selfless! Growing up, everyone always thought I was the perfect Abnegation son: always selfless, always thinking of others and never of myself. But now, our roles are reversed. Tris is more selfless than she claims to be. I stare at Cara, my mouth dry. She smiles at me and takes my hand in hers again.
"Like I said, Tris wasn't about to stand back and watch the only surviving family member she has commit suicide. Just like you couldn't stand back and let her walk into the Weapon's Lab alone. Whether you guys want to admit it or not, you're all each other has in terms of blood for family and you'll both protect that in your own way." Cara speaks so clearly, her voice never wavering.
The sudden anger disappears from my chest. I can't deny that every word Cara said is true. I don't have anyone else. I thought I had lost my sister the minute she discovered I had betrayed her in Erudite headquarters, that any relationship we might have been able to have was ruined by my actions. But she allowed herself to forgive me. I still don't know if she meant what she said when were playing "Candor" or if she was just saying those things because she thought it would be the last time she would ever talk to me just minutes before everything turned to chaos. Yet, I can't deny that it at least gives me hope that maybe one day we can have some form of a good relationship again…maybe. My eyes slide close for a second, drowsiness taking over my body.
"Get some sleep." Cara says softly and I hear the chair slide back as she gets up. I don't want to go back to sleep after already spending so much time unconscious but I feel sleep pulling me under and I don't have the energy to fight it.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Now look to the left. Good."
I sigh as the doctor pockets the small flashlight he had just been using to shine into each of my eyes.
"I just need to ask you a few basic questions to determine if there is any permanent brain damage." The doctor says observing me; I nod feebly.
"What's your last name?"
"Prior."
"How old are you?"
"Almost 17."
"Do you know where you are right now?"
"The Bureau for Generic Welfare, a few hours outside of Chicago."
"What is 5 times 12?
I have to think for a minute on the math question. "60." I say a second later, slightly annoyed. It was a simple math problem; it shouldn't have taken me that long to answer it.
"When I first came over here I asked you to remember three objects, what were they?" The doctor asks scribbling something on the clipboard in front of him. I scrunch my forehead trying hard to remember.
"A chair, a book, and…" I rub my forehead trying to remember, but I can't.
"Take your time." The doctor says patiently, but I shake my head, the answer is lost to me.
"I don't know." I say quietly, feeling defeated. I wince and press my palms into my forehead again, trying to massage the throbbing pain away. I don't like my mind not working properly and not being able to focus or think normally.
"That's okay. The good news is you don't show any signs of any long-term memory loss or damage. However, you are experiencing short term memory loss. It's nothing to worry about; it should disappear within a few days. I'm guessing you're probably still experiencing some dizziness?" The doctor speaks calmly, still scribbling on his clipboard. I nod.
"All signs of your brain trying to heal itself. You're going to have to take it easy for a while. The best thing you can do for a concussion this severe is rest and don't exert yourself. The more physical activity you do, the longer it's going to take you to get better. Plus, you could potentially injure yourself more since your balance is going to be off." The doctor instructs finally placing the clipboard back at the end of my bed.
"Okay." I manage in response to the doctor. As I look at him, I wonder what he would have been like before. Seeing as he was in the Bureau at the time the memory serum was released, he must have been affected by it. I'm surprised he's able to work so soon after forgetting everything he was. Though, Matthew did say the serum doesn't affect your skills or abilities.
"Were you affected by the memory serum?" I blurt out before I can stop myself, my curiosity getting the better of me. The doctor stares at me for a moment then nods slowly.
"I was." He says a little unsure of himself and awkwardly smoothes his lab coat; he's nervous.
"I'm sorry…it's just I was curious how you're able to work so soon after…everything." I mumble, hoping my words make sense."
"I see. Well, they showed us that video about what the government did. I can't fully wrap my head around everything, but working helps. I can barely tell you my name, but I can tell you the name of every bone in the human body, so I'm choosing to focus on that for now. Being a doctor was something I was always good at…well, I like to think so at least. Your friend said that according to the Bureau's records, I've been working here for fifteen years, so I guess that means I must have had some credibility around here."
"I'm sure you did." I say, starting to regret asking him anything. The doctor clears his throat awkwardly and starts to walk away.
"Wait! Can you tell me how my sister is doing?" I call after him. After I had woken up for the second time that day I had waited for Matthew to come back and give me an update on how Tris was doing but I haven't seen him yet. Most likely he got distracted with something else. The doctor studies me for a long moment before answering.
"She's stable for now. The bullet ruptured her liver pretty extensively, but we were fortunately able to repair the damage. She's not out of the woods yet though. There is still the chance of infection setting in and several post-op complications arising, but we are monitoring her and doing our best to ensure that doesn't happen. She also lost a lot of blood. We had to give her two blood transfusions just to keep her blood pressure up during surgery."
"What are her chances of a full recovery?" I ask, my voice cracking slightly.
"It's hard to say at this point. Once the anesthesia wears off and she wakes up, we'll know a little more if there was any permanent damage done. There's no indication of a spinal injury, which is what we were afraid of initially but as of right now, her pulse is steady and her blood pressure is finally stable, which considering everything is a very good sign." I swallow a lump in my throat and feel like I've just been punched in the stomach.
"I'm sorry if I sound too forward, but I want to be honest with you and I don't want to give you false hope." The doctor explains. I nod.
"Yeah, I understand. Thank you." I say, sounding almost monotone. The doctor nods again and walks away. I lean back into the pillow and stare up at the ceiling.
Please, if there is a God up there, save my sister. Please don't let Tris die.
Hi Everyone,
So, this is my first time writing a Divergent fic. After finishing Allegiant I couldn't help but think of different endings since I was really upset that Tris got killed off : (. I will try to update as much as I can. Please forgive any spelling/grammar mistakes, I have a bad habit of writing at 2:00 in the morning, I try to catch them all, but I'm sure I might have missed a few
Please let me know what you think of this story so far. Good or bad I always appreciate reviews as they give me an idea of what people like or don't like about my writing and they help me motivate to update quicker.
I have a basic idea of where I want this to go, so I should be updating soon.
- Fantasyforever1989
