I'm back with a new chapter! Hope the wait wasn't too long!
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Tris' POV

The second time, I do hear the gun go off. Out of instinct, I drop to the ground and cover my head with my hands. I let go of the syringe instantly and it smashes onto the ground, empty. The screams intensify and I see Nita clutch her chest with a bloody hand, right below her shoulder. Peter stands opposite her, arms outstretched and holding the gun.
"Time to go stiff!" He yells and I panic. Nita is lying on the floor, unmoving.

He killed her.

"I said let's go!" His voice booms loudly, echoing off the bare walls. My feet feel like they're made of concrete as I take after Peter, who is already sprinting down the staircase. I struggle to keep up with his long strides. I don't dare look back, even though nobody is chasing us.

The image of Nita's body on the floor haunts my mind as I carry on running.
We burst through the doors, the cool wind lapping at my arms and face. My neck aches from the serum and I press a cold hand to it, hoping it will help dull the pain.

My legs are burning by the time Peter finally stops. The building is long out of sight, but I have no clue as to where we are or where we are headed.
"What the hell was that?" I scream.
"Can you walk or not?" He asks me.
I look at him unbelievably. "Were you even listening to..."
"I'll explain later. Can you walk or not?" He repeats in a menacing tone.
"Of course I can walk." I snap.
He starts off again and I try to keep up with him, timing my steps to his larger ones. We only get a few metres further when a sharp pain goes through my head, like I've just been stung in the scalp. I stop and close my eyes, waiting for it to pass, but the pain only intensifies and suddenly I feel my knees start to tremble.

I collapse onto the floor on my knees, my skin scraping across the rough gravel. A blurry Peter comes walking back towards me and I feel my weight being lifted off the floor. When I look up, Peter's face is very close to mine and my arms are around his neck. I frown, and try to get off but my body feels like it weighs a hundred pounds.
"Stop squirming will you!" I hear him say, before he mutters something like "stupid Stiff". He throws me up slightly and catches me again, his grip on me stronger than before. My eyelids feel heavy but I'm scared to close them. But when Peter tells me to go to sleep, I listen to him.

-.-.-

For once, the nightmares didn't return and I sigh with content. My eyes feel like they're glued shut, making it a mission for me to try and get them open again. My head is pounding and I groan, pressing the tips of my fingers against my temples to draw out the pain. I squint in anticipation of the bright hospital lights, but instead I am greeted by darkness. I let my eyes adjust momentarily and I struggle to get my back up off the floor.
"You're only going to make it worse."
I think of ignoring them, but I can't bring myself to sit upright so I stop struggling and lay down, defeated. My back feels cold, like I'm laying on a tiled floor, and a blanket is draped over my legs.

It takes me a while to realise that the person talking to me was Peter. I turn my head and watch him. He's sitting on a chair about two feet away from me. He has something in his hands.
"Where are we?" I ask Peter, my voice coming out dry and raspy.
"An old warehouse." He replies calmly.
"Why are we here?" I croak.
He puts the object down and stands up to walk over to a table in the far corner, before he makes his way back to me.
"Here." He hands me a bottle of water and I eye it cautiously.
"Relax, if I wanted to kill you I would've shot you along with Nita."
I feel another stabbing pain in my head and I groan.

Nita.

"Is she.." I let my sentence hang in the air. I take a slow sip of the water, relishing in the relief it gives me.
"Dead?" He finishes for me and I nod my head. "I don't know." He picks up the object he was fumbling with earlier.
"Why would you shoot her?"
"She isn't who she says she is. She's a liar." He states bluntly.
"But the serum.." my eyes go wide in fear as I look at Peter for an answer, my eyes pleading him.
"..was real." He interrupts. "What you're feeling now are the side effects of it." The object in his hands catches the light, and I see it's a small pocket knife. In his other hand he holds a small lump of wood.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to me.
"You timed it didn't you? You waited till I took the serum and then made a run."
"Yep." He pops the 'p' before continuing, "Although I had to admit, I didn't think you would be so easily persuaded to take it. I thought you were going to make my job a lot harder."
I cover my face with an arm and sigh deeply.

I should've seen it coming - it was too good to be true. Now I don't even know who to trust anymore.

"Was she working for David?"
He nods, focusing on sharpening the wood in his hands with the knife.
I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. The reversal serum I took is making it very difficult for me to think. Or concentrate.

"Why would she help me if she wasn't on my side?"
He sets the items down again on the floor next to him.
"Because she needed you. She wanted you to trust her and, funnily enough, you actually did." He lets out a small laugh and I roll my eyes.
"I didn't." I defensively say.
"Then why did you take the serum?" He argues, narrowing his eyes on me.
I hesitate slightly before answering.

"Because I had nothing to lose."
He stays quiet, his bold remarks no longer present.
"Four is in the hospital already because of me. I couldn't imagine doing that to anyone else." I say quietly, pressing the palms of my hands into my eyes, pushing back the angry tears.

I look at him quickly again. "Four.." I take a deep breath, "I need to see him. I need to make sure he's okay." I try to get up again despite Peter's warnings and another shock goes through my body, throwing me back down onto the floor.
"He's gonna have to wait. The effect is gonna wear of soon so be patient will you?"

I sit still for a while.
"You never answered my question." I say, breaking the heavy silence. "Why did we end up here?"
"Because I couldn't carry your heavy ass all the way to the infirmary." He gives me a sarcastic grin.
He stands up again as I roll my eyes at him.

"These walls," he says, touching the wall behind him, "are made from solid concrete. As is the roof."

He walks back towards me.
"I didn't think you would take the serum, so I was planning on taking it from her by force. If that had happened, we would've needed to be sheltered somewhere where David couldn't activate your tracker, then I would've made you take it."
I look at him with slight surprise.
"How long have you had this planned out for?"
"A while." He answers calmly, shrugging his shoulders like its no big deal.
"But you were working with Nita..you knew what she was planning all along?"
"I was never working with Nita. She threatened me, left me with no choice but to work for her."
I frown.
"What could she have possibly threatened you with?" I ask incredulously.
He opens his mouth then clamps it shut, turning his head away from me. His hands are clasped in front of him, resting on this knees. I see his jeans are ripped there, as if he fell over.
"My family."
"You mean in Candor?"
She shakes his head.
I raise my brows in surprise.
"You have a family?" I ask softly, as if the topic is too sensitive to be said out loud. He nods.
"Back in Minneapolis. A daughter." He lets a out a small smile but it disappears a second later.

I should have known. Nita must've been holding them against him all this time.
"How old is she?"
"One."
I feel a chill go down my back as I picture Nita next to Peter's family, a gun pointed at them as a grin lines her mouth.
"Why did you shoot her? She's going to go for them now!" I say angrily.
As much as I dislike Peter, I would never want anything bad to happen to anyone.
"They're safe. They've been relocated - somewhere far where David can't find them."

I frown and close my eyes. I can see Peter staring at the floor constantly as Nita talks to me.

It wasn't the floor. It was his phone.

I nod slightly.
"Why would David need you?" I change the subject almost immediately after.
"He wanted me to work with Nita." Peter explains. "It was the only way she could make her story more believable."
"So what parts were true exactly?" I ask, raising my brow as I listen carefully.
"Some of it was true. Nita did find me and ask me to help her. She tried to persuade me to do this but something held me back. I knew some parts of her story were missing so I declined her offer. She took me to David by force, threatening to kill my family in front of my very eyes if I didn't cooperate. He gave me back my old memories by reversing the original serum, but he only did it so I would remember who he is and also so I would remember who you were." He takes a long pause, staring at the tiled floor with a thoughtful look on his face. Nita never stole the reversal serum. David gave it to her and sent both of us off to find you."
"Of course." I interrupt. "There was no explosion." I finish, remembering my conversation with Nita in the abandoned building.
"You came pretty close to foiling her story at that part." He grins. "She's not as good as she makes herself out to be."

I sigh again. It's one of relief, but still part worry.
"What could David possibly offer her? What does she need me for?"
"I have no clue. But it has to be something important to her. David talked to her about some genetic damage nonsense.."
"So you think he offered her genetic purity?" I ask, almost afraid of the possibilities of it being correct.
"For yours and everyone else's sake, we better hope not." He replies, a sullen look on his face.

I try to prop myself up on my elbows slowly. I use one of my other hands to cover my face.
"Did David know we were going to escape?"
"From what Nita told me, I don't think so. She said she brought Four to the bureau so that David could taunt you into staying. That way, he could force you to do whatever he wanted."
That's exactly what Nita was doing to Peter: holding his family against him so she can control him.

I feel a slight pang of guilt towards him. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had to compromise his family's safety. I can imagine now why he wants David gone too.

He checks his watch and stares at me.
"Time to go stiff."
He shoves the sharp piece of wood into his pocket and roughly helps me to my feet. Then we're off.

-.-.-

We enter the hospital again, but this time it's nearly dawn. I tell Peter to stay behind for a while then come up to the room - I don't want anyone freaking out over him yet. I walk with a slightly larger confidence this time now that I know the simulation serum is out of the picture. But I'm still worried: Nita and David are still out there trying to brew a war and we're not safe anymore - anywhere.

I spot Christina just outside Tobias' room and when she sees me, relief floods her face. She sprints towards me and pulls me into a strong embrace. I wince slightly, my neck and back still a little sore from earlier.
"Where have you been? I was looking everywhere for you!"

I'm about to answer her but then I see another person standing not too far off.
"Beatrice." She says, nodding her head at me. Her hair has grey streaks now, not like it used to be. Her face is lined with more lines from where the years have aged her. But her eyes gleam - like Tobias'.
"What are you doing here? I ask her cautiously, letting go of Christina. I straighten my posture slightly - sometimes I forget how intimidating she can be.
"I should be asking you the same thing." She puckers her lips bitterly. "How can you be here when you know what you've done to him?" She says coldly, obviously talking about Tobias.
"I didn't do this to him! David did!" I raise my voice and she takes a step towards me. From closer, I can see her eyes are tinged red, as if she was crying.
"You stay away from my son. You destroy everything you touch." She spits. I feel the venom in her voice, and it stings. I take a step backwards and Christina steps in front of me.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that." She seethes. "You, of all people, would know more about destruction than anyone here."

I can hear my heart pulsing in my ears. I want to scream at her - tell her that she's wrong. But I can't. I would be lying to myself.

"Get out of here." She says to Evelyn, crossing her arms over her chest. To my surprise, she starts to leave, but as she brushes ast my shoulder she stops.
"You should've stayed locked up." She whispers in a menacing way, before she walks away, her shoes clicking on the tiles.

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Until next time!

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