Okay so, I left you guys on a bit of a cliff-hanger… sorry 'bout that but here's the next chapter.
For those of you that also follow/favourite the outtakes for GF, you will have noticed that I've also updated that too. The outtake belongs to Bree and doesn't necessarily have to be read before this chapter but at the end it does include spoilers for some of this chapter…
But just before we get into the deep stuff, I was scrolling through my insta the other day and I came across a post about Eric fanfics and I cannot tell you how happy I was to see that someone had recommended this story. It honestly made me squeal out loud and every time I remember it I just get this stupid grin on my face. The fact that this story which has basically become my life means so much to another person feels absolutely crazy and unreal. So I thank you, I thank all of you for supporting this story!
Also shout out to my best friend and sister Norin24_7 over on Wattpad! She's made me think of scenarios that I hadn't even thought of and nearly all of the crazy shit in this story comes from our conversations. (Pssst! If anyone is interested in shows like Criminal Minds or NCIS, she's currently writing a story on Wattpad that's very similar but not fanfic. I'd appreciate if people could check it out; she's just got into writing and is unsure but doesn't realise how brilliant she is!)
Anyway! On with the chapter!
Uriah's POV
Uriah was totally hyped. He hadn't been this excited in a long while. They were going home. In the sheer excitement for going home, no one really bothered to keep to their squadrons and so they were all mixed about. Uriah had climbed into the cab of 226's truck with Clark in between Uri and Bulldozer. They were going home. Uriah was nearly squealing in his seat.It felt like a foreign concept for Uriah. After they hit the fourth week staying at the cabin, he was pretty sure they'd be there for at least a couple of months more. Then there was that thing that Meg told them about. The Factionless had something terrible planned and yet it hadn't happened yet and they were going home. There was a very small uneasy feeling in the back of Uriah's mind. The entire duration of their time at Amity was actually rather easy for everyone. If they forgot about the distance between them and their families, the squaddies could all pretend that actually the rota times back at the compound had been changed and it was just usual patrols. There had been no raids or attacks, but he'd heard about the ones at Candor.
The uneasy feeling was squashed by his anxiousness to finally get home. Uriah couldn't wait to see his family and his friends. Uri started out of the passenger side window as he let his thoughts of his family take over. He didn't know who to look for first – actually, he'd better see his mama first or he'd get lectured into next year. Then Zeke would probably be next and Marlene. Fuck, he missed Marlene so much. His other half.
At that thought, Uriah's mind flashed to Issy. It had been common knowledge that Eric and his squadron had been at Amity from months on end before they had. He knew it pained her, leaving the compound just as Eric's truck drove in. Uriah had seen Eric through the windows of the truck on that morning that felt so long ago. The young Leader had been hardly recognisable but Uriah knew it was him.
His thoughts were interrupted by soft thuds against the truck that sounded a lot like rain but when his eyes focused, there wasn't any droplets on the window. In confusion, Uriah looked forward, just in time to see the back wheel of Issy's bike lift up from the ground and in mere seconds, she and the bike was thrown to the ground viciously, rolling across the road like ragdolls.
"HOLY SHIT!" Bulldozer braked suddenly, drifting the truck as he tried to keep away from Issy or her bike.
"ISSY!" Uriah shouted when she stopped finally. The soft thuds that Uriah heard before hit the truck again with quick succession and all three of them looked out Bulldozer's window. "Oh my god." Uriah breathed. There were so many Factionless gaining ground towards them with guns raised. A storm indeed, Uriah thought, thinking back on Meg's words. Bulldozer immediately started shooting at them for his window.
With wide eyes, Clark reached for the radio quickly, connecting it to the other trucks and the control room. "AMBUSH!" He shouted and instantly there was action in the back of their truck. Kenna's truck starts to quickly back up to make a barricade with Clark's truck and Duncan does the same from behind. Thankfully all of the trucks arc around Issy, protecting her from the onslaught. "SOLDIER DOWN! CONDITION CRITICAL!" The shock from the army of Factionless fades then and Uriah makes sure he has both of his guns in the holsters and enough ammo before he jumps out of the truck and runs towards Issy. Even as he runs towards his friend, he can still hear Clark shouting at the radio. "SCORES OF FACTIONLESS, I'M NOT QUITE SURE HOW MANY." As Uriah gets closer, he can only just hear someone respond back.
Uriah skids to his knees by Issy. She wasn't moving. Some of her body was bent in an awkward position. "Don't be dead. Don't be dead." His fingers find her pulse point on her neck and he holds his breath… Uriah exhales slowly as he feels a beat under his fingers. Its slow, but it's there. "I NEED FIRST AID!" Uriah shouts to where his colleagues are climbing out of the trucks and firing back at the incoming force. "QUICK!" Four people break off from the mass of black. Uriah saw Rainbow, Asher and Calvin running towards them, each with their medical bag. Following them was Hector. "She has a pulse but it's getting weak!" He calls out as they get closer. Hector pulls him away slightly once the three first aiders get to Issy. Asher gently pulled the helmet off.
"Harrison has alerted the fence and they've sent out a truck full of backup. He's sent the order to try and get one alive for questioning." Hector's pale with fear as he turns his gaze to Issy. "He's also sent a med truck from Dauntless so that should be here soon hopefully."
A ricocheting bullet brought them to the present.
"C'mon!" Uriah pulled Hector along until they were resting on the hood of truck 226. There was a small gap between Clark's truck and Kenna's but it was wide enough for the Factionless to slip through. A gap in the chainmail. Both Hector and Uriah took guard there and shot down any Factionless that came too close.
As more Factionless fell to the ground, more seemed to come running at them in an endless loop. The Factionless started gaining ground every time a soldier reloaded the weapon. Uriah's breath caught in his throat when the Factionless was nearly able to touch the trucks. Shit shit shit shit shit shit. Uriah chanted in his head, but his composure stayed calm and he carried on shooting. He heard rumbles of an engine and he immediately thought more Factionless were coming – until he saw the Dauntless symbol on the side of the truck. His heart soared as fence workers swarmed out and immediately started firing. Even with the extra power, the Factionless don't seem to be backing down but there purpose seems pointless.
"ISSY! ISSY!" Uriah turned around to see Rainbow slapping his friend's cheek none too gently. "SHIT!"
Uriah watched in horror as Rainbow, Asher and Calvin gently rolled Issy until she was on her back. Calvin checked her pulse one more time before nodding quickly to Rainbow. Without wasting a minute Rainbow hooked on of her own hands on top of the other and started pushing down firmly against their colleague's chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Uriah recognised them as chest compressions. A tremble began to shake Uriah's body as he watched Rainbow do a set of chest compressions and then forced air into her body before starting the next set of compressions.
His breath caught in his throat and Uriah staggered back as he turned, taking in the scene before him. Hector was still at the hood of the truck shooting at Factionless. Other squaddies were reloading as those from the fence cover them. The crowds of Factionless was slowly but surely thinning out. Uriah's wide and unusually dull eyes latched on one figure through the chaos. A guy stood within the force of the Factionless. He looked slightly familiar with tanned skin and darkish hair. The guy was grinning proudly at the madness around him. It set alight a spark of anger within Uriah. His teeth gritted painfully together and his fists clenched until his knuckles were white. How dare he! Issy was practically dying behind Uriah and that bastard had the nerve to look pleased with himself.
Without another thought Uriah's anger fuelled worry shoots through him and he charges towards the guy, ignoring Hector's shouts of distress as he goes. The guy clearly isn't expecting it when Uriah runs straight at him and tackles him to the ground. They become an odd tangle of limbs as bullets fly past them. The guy snarled at Uriah but Uriah roared straight back a feral glint in his eyes. Uriah unarmed him quickly, chucking the weapons away. The guy beneath him fought against him, trying to throw punches. One caught Uriah's cheekbone and he felt something warm start trickling down his face as he dodged and delivered a swift jab to the Factionless' throat. He choked and as he leaned forward Uriah knocked him out with a punch to the temple.
The gravel dug into the palms of Uriah's hands when he pulled himself away. Around him seemed quieter too and he looked around to see that Dauntless were checking through the bodies looking for survivors. No Factionless had retreated. All were on the floor before them. The captains stood clustered to together pointing at places around them when Uriah stood up. Uriah none too gently kicked the Factionless at his feet and the guy stirred. It was then when his anger had subsided that he noticed the band on the guy's upper arm.
"Shit!" Uriah swore as he grabbed the guy's collar and dragged him towards the captains. Uriah stops a few feet from them, forcing the guy to his knees as he blinks awake. "CAPTAINS!" Uriah shouts, gaining their attention and everyone else's on the plain. Uriah cocked his gun and aimed it to the survivor's temple. "Got one!"
Soldiers jog over to Uriah but the guy in his hold didn't struggle but sat up straighter. Dick. There's several intakes of breath from some of the older members and as Clark's step falters, Uriah understands why the Factionless looked familiar.
"Zack?" Clark breathed in shock.
The bastard in Uriah's hold simply straightened his back and grinned ferally. "Hello brother. Long-time no see."
Red came up from behind Uriah and smacked the butt of his rifle against Zack's forehead. "Fucking unbelievable." Zack collapsed to the ground and each soldier stared at the armband, disbelief clear in everyone's eyes.
xXx
Uriah still couldn't believe that their prisoner was Clark's little brother… What are the odds? Handcuffs were immediately snapped onto his wrists and three soldiers assigned as guards while the rest clear the place up.
A med truck from Dauntless arrived not long after and Uriah was pleasantly surprised to see Marlene jumping from the truck. She quickly looked around before her eyes caught his and she exhaled a breath as he smiled. Marlene got to work then, running to Issy's side with most of the other staff. Those that remained flitted through the soldiers, checking for injuries.
Uriah walks over to Hector and Red, who were stood not far away from Issy, and they nod at Uri. "What's happening now?"
Red shifts on his feet. "Well, Harrison has sent another two trucks out from the compound. One to collect the prisoner and the other to help us clear this place up."
"Issy's gonna be taken straight to the infirmary and I'm going to go with her." Hector sighed heavily before picking up his bag from the floor. "I'll tell someone to alert our family." Red and Uri clapped him on the shoulder as he walks towards the med truck, his shoulders slumping. Hector waits as the nurses push the stretcher into the truck before climbing in with Marlene behind him. It's not long before the truck set off to the compound.
"Hey Red? Can you find Issy's bike?" Uri asks and Red starts smirking.
"She'd kill us if we left it. No problem Uriah." Red picks up her helmet first and then he starts looking for the bike.
xXx
When the next two trucks arrive from Dauntless, they have all of the bodies piled together after they were searched for anything useful. Nothing was found on any of them unfortunately. Red had pushed Issy's bike into Kenna's truck as it was the largest. Uriah wince at how beat up it was… Issy wouldn't be impressed.
"Uriah!" Duncan shouted to where he was talking with the guards that would take Zack to Dauntless. Uriah jogged over to them and nodded at his captain before glancing over to the guards next to him. The purple stripe on their jackets made it clear they were guards of the Faction and not just simple soldiers. "You'll be going with these guys to guard the prisoner." He said seriously before he started smirking with a hint of pride. "After all lad, you did tackle him to the ground."
Uriah nodded with a small smile. "Will we be leaving now?"
"Immediately."
"I'll go get my bag then."
xXx
There were six Dauntless in the back of the truck with Zack, including Uriah. They were all armed to the teeth but their weapons blended in with their uniform. Zack wasn't stupid though. As he took notice of those that joined him in the truck, he wore that knowing look which made Uri want to punch it off his face. The whole way to Dauntless Zack didn't say anything; he simply grinned at Uriah, who was sat in front of him. Uriah didn't gift him with a response, he just kept his face blank and allowed his vision to blur as he lost himself in his thoughts.
Not soon enough, they pulled into the garage. It was Uriah's turn to grin as Zack's expression faltered. Two guards pull Zack out of the truck and flank him as they wait for the others to get out. Once they are all out of the truck they take position around Zack. Two guards flank slightly behind Zack, both holding onto his arms with a third guard covering Zack's back. Uriah and another guard flank his front with the sixth guard leading the way to the cells.
Whenever they pass groups of members, they all stop and stare at the newly acquired prisoner, pointing and gossiping. Zack laps this up, smirking. A guard roughly pushes him forward but the smirk stays.
The cells are in the deepest part of Dauntless. There was a small control room there and an integration room. Sometimes on extreme cases, they'd take prisoners to Candor for the truth serum. Uriah didn't know if this was classed as an extreme case or not. On their way down to the cells, the control room was on their path and just as they turned down the corridor leading to the control room entrance, Four stepped out.
From the corner of Uriah's eye, he saw the smirk shift into a delighted grin once Zack's eyes settle on Four. Uriah's friend stops in his tracks and in turn, narrows his eyes at him, but there's a glint in Four's eye that Uriah can't name. Four stares Zack down for a moment and then his eyes flicker down to the armband. Shock replaces the unnamed glint quickly. Glowing brightly in contrast to the mud covered and ripped clothes that Zack was wearing, sat a blue armband with the Erudite symbol stamped in the middle.
…How many people saw that coming?