Some ideas are mine. Everything else belongs to Veronica Roth


Run Run Blood, Phantogram

Paintball is a stupid idea for Dauntless training.

You wander around an open dark space, knowing exactly how many bodies you're up against. Your weapon is rather light, everyone has a general idea of what is going on, and you're only objective is to get a stupid flag.

But once real guns start firing at you, paintball is nothing but a game with no repercussions. And the second I ducked behind a metal sheet amidst the adrenaline, I felt a whole fucking lot of repercussions in my left bicep where a bullet was now lodged.

It was on fire and cold at the same time, like I was being dipped into flames and then tossed into an ice bath repeatedly. My hands were shaking from the shock. A bead of sweat dripped into my mouth and I tasted the salt of my bodies reaction to a gunshot.

People were screaming around me and I couldn't make out where all the shots were coming from. I looked to my left and saw Haley ducked down with her hands over her ears, trembling with a feeling I couldn't feel. The old man she was taking care of wasn't moving and I saw blood drip off the table onto the stained rug beneath him. There were others caught in the line of fire, writhing on the ground from shots to the legs, abdomen, and shoulders.

And it was my fault. There was no easy way to get out of this. I couldn't see Beck or any of the others. We were outnumbered and other innocent people were dying because of my mistake. And by the hands of people who were belong with. Why were Dauntless opening fire against us? Why did they have crates of weapons with them?

And how did they know to kill me?

No. Fuck that. How did they know to try and kill me. Because once my gun entered my hands, they stopped trembling. The grooves were familiar, weight familiar, my vision clear. I wasn't going to die. It's going to take a lot more than a flesh wound to get rid of me. And stop me from protecting the people around me and keep me from finding out what's trying to destroy my city.

Finger on the trigger, I ran behind a dumpster, making sure to stay behind cover. With all the shots they've been firing, they're bound to have to reload. I listened closely to the shots and once I heard the clicks of ammunition being changed, I turned towards the fire. There were three in my sight and I was unseen by them due to the lack of lighting near me. My sight was on the firsts chest, but my finger twitched instead of pulling the trigger. Killing my own, I couldn't bring myself to it.

I went for the shoulder. Then the leg, and lastly the hip. They all collapsed, dropping their weapons.

"Theo!"

I turned to my voice and saw Beck across from me, reloading and looking to be unscathed. He was behind barricade of wood and I got the message he was trying to convey. I stood and fired several covering shots towards the mess of soldiers as he dashed over to me. I went back to cover and sat next to him.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked, reloading.

Beck's eyes were wide. "Theo-"

"Where are they? Are the okay?"

"Theo, you're bleeding," He said in a low voice.

I shook him off. "It's just a flesh wound. I'll take care of it after-"

"It's not just one, Theo,"

I froze and looked at him. His face was flushed and his top lip was shiny with sweat. I followed his gaze down to my side, where blood was seeping through my clothes and onto the dirt in between us. Suddenly, my adrenaline dimmed and I felt the throbbing pain along with the one in my arm. My breathing increased, head lying against the cold metal. I guessed I missed that one.

Everything I was seeing was starting to become accompanied with white dots in my vision. I was experiencing a pain I never have before. I've been cut, slapped, and thrown to the ground, and now it's time to add shot to the equation.

"We need to get out of here," Beck said, looking around for an easy exit.

"They're probably swarming the place and we have no idea how to get around here. Especially with your condition right now,"

My head turned towards the medic tent, where Haley remained in the same position. If anyone knew where to go from here, it would be her. If we waited any longer, soldiers were going to come closer and we were both done with.

"What about Evie and the other kid-" I started, panting in between words

"Asher-," Beck filled in.

"Yeah Asher, right. Where are they?"

Beck turned in front of me and fired a few bullets. A "fuck" was heard from across the space.

"They made it out. They're fine. It's just us now," He smiled at me, even though his eyes shone with worry. "The Eaton siblings finally fighting together instead of against each other,"

I cracked a smile. I quickly scanned the room around looking for something to help us. A covered exit or someway to keep us undetected while we escaped, but I found nothing. The only way we were going to be able to get out of this is if we were able to take out everyone, and that had a high percentage of impossibility. The tarp had a small opening next to medic tent, but there was a wide open space we would both have to make across and somehow get Haley along the way. And it was way too-

Bright.

It hit me.

"Beck, we have to take out the lights,"
"What?"

"They won't be able to see us clearly," I reached into my pocket and pulled out an LED light attachment for my assault rifle. A nice little snag from the weapons depot. If we can't beat them with our guns, we might as well try and outsmart them.

"We use this to keep their attention here and they we make a run for it,"

Beck looked me dead in the eyes and then down at the healthy amount of blood between us.

"Hope they're not afraid of the dark," He said back to me, hitting the lamps around Haley. I took to the ones on my side, slowly dimming the area until it was nearly black. The Dauntless started shouting, their fire ceasing. I turned on the light and placed it on top of the dumpster. The shots rang again and I felt Beck grab my arm and start running.

My legs had lost most of their feeling and my body felt as though it was carrying a 100 pound weight as I struggled to run with my injuries. My bones were gone and I was left carrying myself as though I had no structure. We made out way to Haley in the same position.

"We gotta get out of here," I whispered crouching down to her.

She looked up and even in the darkness I saw her eyes streaked with tears. She blinked several times and looked down at my wounds and took a deep breath, nodding. Crawling towards the corner, she grabbed a large duffle bag and lead us both out of the tarp. The alley was dark, with only the moonlight giving my any indication of direction.

"I know where we can go," She said in a soft voice. My hands were now clutched to my side and the pain went hard, like being struck with a board full on nails. My legs were starting to give out and I felt myself fall.

Beck caught me before I hit the ground, muttering a shit.

I felt useless. A liability that was risking the lives of everyone around me. Beck scooped me up in his arms and my heart clenched at the thought of my little brother having to take care of me.

Haley looked at me and her brows furrowed together in worry.

"What are you waiting for?" Beck snapped.

"I-I-" Haley stuttered back, her shoulders collapsing in submission.

"You have to help her!" Beck shouted, his chest rumbling against me.

"She needs more than me," Haley spoke firm, something I've never seen in her. "I can put pressure on the wounds but I won't be able to do as much as she needs. These tools are all dirty and god forbid she gets an infection there's no telling whether she'll be able to recover from that. I know you want to help her but we have to think smart about this. She needs blood and proper equipment,"

Seeing Haley standing up for herself in the face of something serious, feet firmly planted and body steady. No doubt about herself or what she knew, it made me smile. So what if she couldn't throw a punch or hold a rifle? Who the fuck cares? It's moments like these of certainty in yourself and confidence, these are what define a person as being brave. My eyelids began to shut, slowly, and I felt my heartbeat in my ears.

"Fuck Haley," I let out. "You a fucking Dauntless,"

I let myself succumb to darkness.


I'm sorry about all the cliff hangers lol. I've just been on that kinda wave you know? I know a lot of you are very unexpected by the fact that this story has been brought back for the second time and I really appreciate everyone who has stuck with it through all its trials and tribulations. I started this story like 5 years ago when I was 14 and A LOT has changed within that time. Yeah I was 14 and didn't have a lot on my plate back then. But I found myself having this moment where I knew I had to finish it. Yeah I know there's probably differences in my writing from the beginning of the story to where it is now but I promise I'm going to finish this bad boy and give y'all the story of Theo.