A/N- I do not own Divergent or any of its characters. All rights go to Veronica Roth.
"We need to engage that group over there." Zeke points to a group of traitors guarding an entrance to a set of stairs.
"Split into two, we'll come at them at both sides." Lynn orders.
We all nod and continue to crawl through hallways, holding our guns at the ready. Me, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn take the right side, whilst Zeke, Christina and Will take the left. We're an uneven group due to Tobias leaving us to watch Marcus. We start to creep up to the group of traitors, and Uriah is telling us what to do by using hand gestures that I don't understand. Marlene must notice my confusion because she turns to me and mouths "On three."
Uriah holds up three fingers, then two, then one. As soon as he is just holding a fist in the air, we all spring up from the floor and begin to charge forwards, shooting at the traitors. Zeke's group is attacking them from the other side, until Uriah shouts "Clear!" To let them know that we have taken down our side. We wouldn't want to accidentally shoot each other, after all. One by one, each and every traitor falls to the ground, until it is just us left in the hallway.
"Where to now?" Uriah pants, asking Zeke.
"Back to the main lobby," he replies. "Let's go!"
As we start to jog back, I feel a damp, warm hand clamp softly around my ankle. I turn around to see who grabbed me and stifle a strangled scream. Lynn.
"Stop!" I cry. Everyone turns around to see me crouched over Lynn's bloody body, grasping her head in my hands. Uriah and Marlene come sprinting over, shock and desperation written across both their faces.
"Lynn!?" Uriah yells. Tears are starting to form in his eyes as he grasps one of her hands, and Marlene holds the other. I decide to step back. I barely know Lynn. But that doesn't stop the feeling of an empty pit forming at the bottom of my stomach.
"Shh." Lynn whispers. Her face is white, almost transparent. The colour has drained from her lips but they remain in the shape of her perfect pout. A line of blood starts to trickle out of her mouth, and her eyelids have drooped. She still looks beautiful. Like a tragic painting.
"Oh my God." Marlene cries. Sobs wrack through her body and her face is contorted with sadness.
"You're gonna be okay, Lynn. We'll get you out of here. We can't leave you. Nothing would be the same withou-" Uriah is interrupted by Lynn's weak voice.
"I'm not going to make it." She says. Her voice has never been this quiet.
"You've got to make it." He cries freely now.
"Don't be a pansycake Uri. Remember that. Okay?"
Uriah nods his head in response.
"Mar, I need to tell you something." Lynn looks to Marlene and then back to Uriah. Uriah releases his grip on Lynn's hand, and stands up, leaning against the wall.
"What is it Lynn?" Marlene shakily whispers. Her tears are falling onto Lynn's face.
"I've always," Lynn takes in a deep, croaky breath. "Always," Now she uses her last breath to finish her sentence. "Loved you." Her mouth starts to twitch upwards, and she's struggling to keep her eyes open. Marlene stares at her with tears streaming down her face. She's shaking uncontrollably. Then, she leans down and kisses Lynn slowly on the lips. She pulls away and continues to look at Lynn until her eyes shut for the final time.
I don't know how long we stand there, after Lynn dies. But it feels like forever. Lynn loved Marlene, and she only just got a chance to say it.
"We need to keep moving." Zeke says. Christina and Will have also been watching the whole time, with blurry eyes.
We begin to march forward, with Uriah and Marlene grasping on to each other, turning back to get one last look at Lynn.
…
Once we reach the lobby, we have to forget what we have lost and focus on survival. A group starts to attack us and I crawl under a desk. When I hear that the gunshots are no longer aimed in my direction, I come out from under the desk. I can't see any of my group. I hide behind corners, dodging bullets, and frantically searching for anyone that I recognise. I am alone. I didn't see where the others went, so my only choice is to try and find Tobias. I am small and quick so I manage to race up the stairs in time. Because of my size, I don't think I am much of a threat to anyone, and therefore not a target. I jog through the corridors, looking for Tobias. But I can't see a single person. I pant heavily as I continue to run through the hallways. I decide to shout his name.
"Four?"
No answer. So I try again. "Four?" Still no answer. I think I'm lost now, where could he be? I watched him come up here not too long ago, he mustn't be far away. Then, I run into something hard. A man. But it isn't Tobias, it's Peter.
I gasp as he rips the gun from my hand and throws it out of my reach. He then uses his foot to kick me to the floor, my back slamming against the wall as I fall down.
"What's a little girl like you playing adult games for?" He taunts.
"I-I" My voice is croaky, I can't get my words out.
"What's the matter?" He fake pouts. "Cat got your tongue?"
I stay frozen, glued to the ground.
"Are you okay? Or are you feeling a little…Stiff?" He laughs at his own joke.
He continues to sneer at me as he holds his gun up, pointing it directly at me. He clicks the bullet in place and gets ready to fire.
"This is payback for when you shot my arm, Bitch. Now I'm going to shoot your face."
I close my eyes and beg for forgiveness. For not being selfless enough, for the people that I have hurt. I've never really given much thought to how I would die. And I have come close to death so many times in my short life. Will it be painless? What will happen after the bullet is in my head? I continue to screw my eyes shut and brace myself. Then I hear the bang.
I hear a thud in front of me, but I'm still too scared to open my eyes. I heard the bang, but I didn't feel any pain.
"Tris!" A relieved voice cries.
I finally open my eyes, and see him. Tobias. He found me. And he saved me…again. Peter is lying on the floor, dead.
"Tobias." I choke.
He races up and crashes into me, wrapping me in his arms so tightly that I almost can't breathe, I don't complain though. He buries his face in my neck and I lean against his chest, I can hear his heart racing.
"Why are you alone?" He whispers.
"I lost the others when the traitors were shooting at us."
"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I should have stayed with you." He pleads.
"No, please don't be sorry Tobias. You just saved my life. You keep saving my life." I look him in the eye. "I don't know how I can possibly thank you."
"I will always save you Tris." He smiles at me as he continues to meet my eye contact.
I just kiss him and continue to hug him tighter, never wanting to let go.
"Come on, we need to go back down to the lobby. Jeanine's dead."
My eyes widen. "S-she's dead? So this is all over now?" I ask hopefully.
"No." He frowns and looks down, he knows something that I don't. "It's only just begun."
—
A/N- I'm sorry I couldn't save Lynn like I did Marlene! Tris didn't really play a part in Lynn's death, and I thought it would be a bit unrealistic if they all came out of Erudite unscathed. I also thought that Lynn's death provided a decent amount of angst for the Divergent trilogy, without being too devastatingly heartbreaking. Lynn's death is pivotal for the young Dauntless characters. They've always been pretty carefree and ignorant about war and fighting. When one of them dies from the lifestyle that has been drilled into their heads since birth, it really impacts on them and allows them to mature, thus developing the characters. It makes them realise how real the war is, when in the previous chapter they were joking about it, saying that they couldn't wait for it to be over so they could go back to eating better food. I'm sorry if this scene upset anyone, and don't worry, I'm not going to kill all the characters like Veronica Roth did. I just think that Lynn's death was justified.
I also wanted to add how thankful I am for your kind reviews. I have read and appreciate each and everyone one of them. Thank you to everyone who has taken their time to write a review. Also thank you to my regular readers, I'm so happy that you follow and favourite my writing. I know that this story isn't as popular as others, but honestly I just really enjoy writing this story. And I would still find it amazing even if only one person read through my writing in their spare time.
I know this is a long author's note, but I've never really expressed my views/thanks to you guys like this before, so I wanted to respond to you after reading your nice comments.
Keep reading :) x