Chapter nine

Tris

I sprint down the hall, grabbing Alaska's sticky left arm, smearing blood all over my hands. She groans as we turn the corner, clutching her leg in pain.

"No Tris, you'll never make it." She moans.

"Yes we will." I reply sternly, grabbing the piece of crumpled paper out of my back pocket.

I stop for a short minute and unfold it carefully. It is a map of the compound, marked with the routes to take in order to escape. All cameras are marked in blue and routes in red. I hold the map in front of my face and keep running, taking a turn up ahead and ducking slightly where a camera is said to be marked. Alaska groans some more, putting pressure on her leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I run down the next corridor, avoiding the cameras and lean her up against the wall.

"What are you doing?" She says croakily, running her hands through her fringe, smearing her once purple hair with streaks of dark red.

I tear a piece of my white gown off the bottom and begin to tie it tightly around her leg, causing her to stifle a scream.

"This is going to hurt." I say quietly.

She looks at me with both fear and admiration in her eyes and I help her up. Her eyes water as I hoist her arm over my right shoulder and take a step forward. She moans again, clenching her teeth and holding her leg. I see the pain in her eyes, but silently will her forward, quickening my steps. She gets the message and grabs the map from my hands, reading the directions out to me.

"There are two corridors up ahead," She says breathlessly "Take the one on the left and duck halfway."

I nod, and speed up my steps again. Alaska looks as if she is going to burst into tears or pass out or both, but we have to keep going.

We reach the end of the hallway and take the corridor on the left, but as we duck halfway, Alaska screams and falls to the floor.

I go to help her up again but without a word, her eyes roll back into her head and she collapses in a heap on the grimy tiles.

I scan the map once more, there is just a few more turns until we reach the exit.

I remember how Four carried me in the Erudite headquarters and hoist Alaska onto my back, her lifeless body slumping over my left shoulder.

I untie the cloth around her leg and tie it around both of our waists, securing her onto my back and half walk and half jog to the end of the hall. Each stride is a struggle, but I know we must keep going; otherwise I'll be stuck in this hell forever.

Alaska's head bounces lifelessly on my shoulder; she will have a few bruises when she comes to. I look at the map, there are three corridors left.

After more ducking and turns, I hear Alaska groan. Her head lifts off my shoulder and she jumps, throwing me off balance.

"Tris?" She asks groggily.

"Alaska." I say.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to escape." I reply.

She pauses for a moment and I take another turn down a slightly better lit hallway, the light throws me off a little, but I keep going, ducking when necessary.

"Why didn't you leave me back there?" She asks after a while.

This girl is full of questions.

"I couldn't," I say. "You risked your life for me and your sister, so I did the same for you."

I feel her nod and I stop for a moment, untying her from my waist and setting her down. She struggles to stand, her knees wobbling and I put her arm around my shoulders and keep walking.

The last turn marked leads to an emergency exit. At the end of the hall is a dull green light, but other than that, the corridor is pitch black. I look down at the map, there are said to be six cameras. I stop suddenly and Alaska looks at me with a confused look on her face.

"We are going to have to crawl to the exit." I say.

"Are you crazy, Tris? I can't crawl in a state like this!"

"Either crawl or be caught." I reply harsher than I intended.

I see her nod and set her down carefully. She winces as she puts more weight on her injured leg and I hear a muffled groan.

I crouch down also and tell her to get on my back.

She looks at me puzzled.

"Tris, no," She says, "I can't ask you to do that."

"It wasn't a suggestion." I reply as I hoist her onto my back.

It was a lot easier to carry her while standing and when she sits on top of me, I feel as though I'm going to cave and fall flat on my face. I take a deep breath in and continue to walk – crawl – to the exit, taking each step carefully and slowly. Alaska sits tall and I notice a blinking red light, a camera, not far ahead.

"Alaska," I hiss, "Get down."

She bends down and hugs my chest, her head lying in between my shoulder blades.

I feel her breaths, short and sharp, against my neck. She is scared.

"Good," I say in an attempt to be soothing.

I feel her nod, her hair tickling the back of my neck.

I keep crawling, each step getting harder when my hand hits something sharp. I wince and stop for a microsecond, trying to see my hand in the darkness. The pain is almost blinding, but then I remember Alaska, how she risked her life for me, how strong she has been and I keep going, holding my hand to one side, keeping the injured side from touching the ground.

"Tris, are you ok?" Alaska asks in a hushed voice.

"Yes," I reply breathlessly.

I look up, my vision blurry at the edges and see the dull green light getting closer and closer and I quicken the pace, careful not to place my injured hand on the tiles beneath me.

Alaska groans and I hear her whisper, "I can't do it Tris,"

"What? No, Alaska, we are almost there."

I hear her stifle a sob, "No, Tris, stop…I can't do it."

"We are almost there," I reply sternly.

"Tris stop!" Her voice wobbles.

"Alaska, you can make it." I say, determined to reach the exit.

"It's not that," She says, "It's… It's…"

Her sentence hangs in the air.

"What is it, Alaska" I'm angry now, the exit is so close.

"It's a trap." She says finally.

Everything inside me stops, and I set her down on the tiles, looking dead in the eye.

Tears run down her face and she stares at me.

"I'm so sorry, Tris, so so sorry." She shakes and sobs, her voice strangled.

I am unable to say anything, I was going to see Tobias, I was going to get out of this hell, and it was all a set up?

My blood boils and I look at her with hard eyes.

"I can't believe you did this to me," I say, my voice cracking, "You lied to me! You lied! I was going to see Tobias again, my Tobias, and you tricked me into this foolish set up, leading me down halls, risking both our lives…"

"Tris, I'm sorry," She cuts me off.

"That means nothing!" I yell at her, "None of what you say means anything to me!"

She looks at me and nods. I stand up, wanting to be rid of her and forget the cameras surrounding us. A bright light comes on and I'm blinded. Sirens blare and I feel a hand grab my arm.

"Run." Alaska says.

And I do.