Chapter 31
TRIS
The day is chaotic from the second it begins. My house is a mess, I miss my son and I can't seem to make sense of the majority of my thoughts.
The trial is today, a lot sooner than anyone had expected; Tobias was only captured two days ago.
With Chad and his minions off the Jury, Derek was tasked with finding competent last minute replacements for the trial. According to Harrison, it proved difficult to find jurors not biased in one way or another. On one hand, there are those loyal to Tobias, who believe he should be set free on the account that he helped stop the factionless attack and saved Dauntless. On the other hand are the Dauntless who are loyal to Derek for some reason, or on his payroll.
Although I have no idea who will be deciding my husband's fate, I was at least glad to know Derek wasn't partial in choosing his jurors. As if Harrison would ever allow it.
"It's time to go, Tris," Zeke says to me for the third or fourth time from the front door of my apartment.
The trial starts in less than an hour and as much as I want it to be over, I don't. I've been finding last minute things to do for the past hour just so I wouldn't have to accept that it's time. I pick up a dirty towel from the couch and begin to fold it for no reason at all.
"Hey," I hear, and I feel a large hand wrap gently around my wrist. I look up to see Zeke staring at me worriedly. "It's going to be okay, Tris," he assures me.
Shauna took Andy away from the compound, though Zeke won't tell me where, and from the look on his face, one way or another, we will get Tobias back regardless of what happens at that trial today. I'm scared to ask what he has up his sleeve because I can't say I would try and stop him. Unlike Tobias, my Abnegation is but a whisper inside my head.
"Okay," I answer softly, and I drop the towel from my hands.
My legs are a shaking mess the entire walk to the meeting hall where the trial will be held, and my stomach is in knots. I hear the crowd before I see them, and amongst the cheering and jeering I hear my husband's name over and over again. No one really seems to be here for Evelyn and Chad. I guess we can all agree those two can go straight to hell.
When I enter the room, it becomes eerily quiet, and I feel a million pairs of eyes on me all at once. Christina stands from her seat in the front so I can see her, and she calls me over. With the nod of his head, Zeke sends me toward her. He appears to wish to stand for the duration of the trial.
When I take my seat, the crowd stirs up again, but much less than before.
I catch sight of Evelyn and Chad standing front and centre with their arms behind their backs, and a panel of three stand in the corner.
"Three? There are only three jurors?"
Christina shrugs and says, "Harrison and Derek make five."
Even so, a trial of this magnitude deserves at least nine or eleven, since there always has to be an odd number of jurors.
"Where's Four?" Christina asks softly, mostly to herself. She knows I haven't been allowed to see him in the forty-eight hours leading up to the trial. If I had known the day I took him to his cell would have been the last time I'd get to visit, I would have insisted to stay longer.
"I suppose they'll try him separately," I suggest, and I at least hope that's the case. Chad and Evelyn's fate should be their own.
When the hall suddenly settles down again, it's because Derek walks in, and his footsteps are so loud that my heart seems to beat in sync with them. He stands to the middle of the room and raises a hand although everyone is already quiet. Harrison walks in behind him, and his eyes search until he finds me. He doesn't smile at me, or make any sort of gesture. He just stares for a second before turning his head away.
It makes my heart heavier than it already is, not knowing what he and Zeke are thinking. Christina must sense my uneasiness; she takes my hand and squeezes it a little.
"The trial of Evelyn Eaton, appointed leader of the factionless, and her alleged accomplice, Dauntless leader Charles Fuller is now in progress."
"My name is Johnson," Evelyn quickly rebuts from centre stage. "I have no ties to the Eaton name anymore."
"You sure as hell don't," I murmur at Evelyn's comment, given it's a name I share. "Wait," I say a little louder. "Chad's name is Charles?" I blurt out with a smirk.
Christina raises an eyebrow at me. "You're one to talk, Beatrice," she jokes, and I manage to crack a smile on the day that hasn't stopped feeling like a nightmare.
Harrison takes a seat with the other jurors and Derek turns to Evelyn.
"Very well. Of all the people on trial today, Ms. Johnson," he begins, "You're the only one whose crimes have been verified and whose guilt is not in question, so I won't waste much time with you and we'll get right to the hard questions. What is your association to Chad?"
"He is my informant," Evelyn answers without a single thought, and the crowd gasps.
"You need to shut the fuck up, Evelyn," Chad spits.
"You will get your turn," Derek says strongly to Chad. "Let her speak." He then turns back to Evelyn to ask, "And how did he become your informant?"
"I knew his family. He was born factionless, and then adopted into Dauntless as a young boy," Evelyn continues to say.
Christina looks at me in confusion. I shrug. I didn't know this either.
"It's why I approached him when I realized I needed help inside Dauntless if my fight were to be won," Evelyn admits without struggle. "And it's how I knew he'd be happy to help our cause. He often reached out to his family in the factionless and shared the pain of our misfortune."
"And he aided you? How?" Derek asks.
"He supplied me with equipment and the occasional locations of a few Dauntless soldiers so we could relieve them of their weapons. He infiltrated leadership to make sure we were off the radar. And when he discovered Tobias was alive and living in the factionless, he agreed to keep it to himself."
"How could he look you in the eye, knowing your husband was alive?" Christina whispers to me, and she shakes her head from side to side.
Tobias had told me in all his dealings with Evelyn, he'd never met the Dauntless informant. Evelyn kept that information to herself. But there's no doubt Chad knew Tobias was there. People talk, and I'm sure Evelyn's long lost son now living amongst them was the gossip of the factionless at one point. And that story about Tobias losing his memories because of some Erudite experiment, Chad would have known that was bullshit. If there's one thing about Chad, he has his ways of getting the information he wants.
He knew my husband was kidnapped, and he didn't do a damn thing about it.
"If Derek doesn't put a bullet in Chad today, I will," is all I say.
"And what of your son? How did Four end up living with the factionless?" Derek continues to interrogate Evelyn.
"He and a team of Dauntless soldiers came up on my hideout five years ago," she tells the story. "I hadn't spoken to him since he was a boy; I had left him in Abnegation because his father was a tyrant and I wanted to get away. When I saw him there, I pleaded with him to just stay a while with me. I took his memories before he could escape."
Looking confused, Derek asks, "How exactly did you take his memories?"
"A serum. It was given to me many years ago and I had held on to it… waiting for the day when I could get the best use out of it."
Derek looks at her with deep scepticism. "And what of his team?"
"I blew up their train," Evelyn confesses, and the entire hall of Dauntless begin to jeer so loudly, it's like a roar in my ear. I realize no matter what the verdict, Evelyn will die here today at the hands of the Dauntless. Maybe Derek shoots her in the face, or maybe some random passer by in the crowd will.
"And why are you confessing this now? So easily?" Derek asks her after the crowd settles down a little.
"Because I know my fate is sealed, but I don't want my son to die for crimes I made him commit," she says remorsefully, and the ghost of a tear swims in her eye. I guess she does have a conscience, as minute as it may be.
"So you do acknowledge Four was acting under the influence of your manipulation?"
"Yes," Evelyn admits.
"Bullshit!" Chad cries out beside her. "Can't you see she's trying to save her son, since she obviously can't save herself?! She is going to say anything to make sure that traitor survives this!"
Turning to Chad, Derek says, "And do you have evidence she's lying?"
Chad only growls, because he has no evidence that says otherwise, and he knows better.
"I'll take that as a no," Derek says when Chad doesn't answer. "And what's your excuse, anyway? Do you deny the allegations made against you and Evelyn's testimony that implicates you?"
"Of course, I deny them!" Chad yells. "Come on, Derek. It's me! Four is making a fool out of this faction! Isn't that obvious? He doesn't have any actual evidence against me! It's all speculation!"
"But I do," Evelyn laughs, looking Chad right in the eye. "I have the messages he sent telling me which locations the Dauntless were planning to ambush."
"You gotta appreciate Evelyn's honesty in all this," Christina quietly says. "For Four's sake."
"But ultimately I was still captured because my informant fell into a predictable trap," Evelyn says condescendingly.
"You got captured because you're a stubborn fool!" Chad yells at her. "I told you to not go anywhere Four would be able to find you, and what do you do? You run to one of the places he set up for you!"
Everyone and everything freeze in place, including my thoughts. "Did he just…" I mumble to myself.
"What a fucking idiot," I hear the girl behind me say.
"I always knew his mouth would be his downfall," I shake my head a little.
Derek holds his head in his palm and takes a deep breath. "I guess that answers that question."
"Wait, No!" Chad says when he realizes he just gave himself up. "I was confused."
"The hell you were," Derek grumbles turning to the crowd and all he says is, "The trial of Evelyn Johnson and Charles Fuller is now over."
"No!" Chad yells again, probably because he already knows his fate. The punishment for treason is death.
But what happens next catches everyone off guard entirely. Derek pulls his gun from the holster and fires two shots in the middle of the room, and before I can even blink, I see blood splattered on the floor and trinkling down from their faces. Both Evelyn's and Chad's bodies crash lifelessly into the ground, and everyone else is left standing up with their eyes and mouths wide open.
"The fuck was that?" Harrison yells at Derek from where he stands amongst the jury, and angrily makes his way over to him.
"They were both obviously guilty," is Derek's answer.
"That's not the point!"
And although the crowd begins to cheer, celebrating Derek's actions, Christina, Zeke, Harrison and myself can't help but feel troubled by it. Under normal circumstances, executions are carried out a day after the trials, never in the moment. That would have given us the time we needed to free Tobias and escape from here if it came to it. But if Derek is carrying out the executions today, if Tobias is found guilty, we have no time to run.
Somehow I think he's done this on purpose.
Harrison isn't the only one who approaches Derek, but Zeke is the only one who holds him at gunpoint.
I rush from my seat to Zeke and Harry's side, Christina close behind me, trying to make sense of this mess.
"What is happening?!" I can't help but yell at everyone.
"Go back to your seat, Tris," Derek says strongly to me. "And why the fuck is there a gun in my face?"
"Why the fuck aren't you following protocol," Zeke growls.
"You think I'm an idiot?" Derek almost laughs. "These executions will be carried out today. God forbid one of the prisoners just magically escapes in the middle of the night."
"They're all heavily guarded, Derek," Harrison insists. "That won't be a problem," but it's a lie and he knows it's a lie, or we all wouldn't be standing here trying to reason with Derek.
"Does it even really matter at this point, Derek?" I ask with sincerity. "Isn't their guilt proof of his innocence?" I point at the dead bodies lying on the floor. "He gave you Evelyn, the root of an age old problem, and identified a traitor amongst our leadership. What more do you want from him?"
"You really shouldn't be here, Tris," is what Derek says to me, as if the outcome of today's trials isn't something I'd want to be privy to.
"Why not? Because you've already decided to execute my husband the second you feel he is guilty?"
"There's a jury for that," he answers me.
"Is there really?" I shout at him. "Because you didn't wait for a verdict before you planted a bullet in these two!" Not to say they didn't deserve it. "I think the problem here is that you've already decided to kill them all."
"I'm obliged to agree," Zeke says roughly, still holding Derek at gunpoint.
At this point, the crowd is so quiet, we all hear when a fast paced set of footsteps walk into the hall.
"What on Earth is happening here?" I hear a familiar voice say, and I turn around to see Johanna Reyes walking toward us wearing a long orange cloak that almost sweeps the floor. She's not alone. Kate walks in beside her, and so does Jack Kang, leader of the Candor. Even if I didn't know who he was I'd have imagined as much. His composure is that of a powerful man, and though he wears Candor's signature black and white, there's nothing simple about his attire.
From the corner of my eye I can see Harrison release a breath. I can tell he was expecting him, albeit a little sooner.
"Johanna? Jack?" Derek asks with a voice thick with confusion. "Why are you here?"
"It's nice to see you too, Derek," Jack Kang says with a handsome smile. "Am I to believe you're really about to assassinate a Dauntless leader without a proper trial?"
"Looks like he already did," Kate answers, looking at Chad's body on the ground.
"This matter will be handled internally, Jack," Derek says, ignoring Kate's comment.
"There's no such thing when it's leadership involved, Derek," Kang answers. "Or have you forgotten how you took it upon yourself to remove my predecessor? Or how we were forced to get involved after Max's treason?"
Kate smirks and folds her arms in front of her, sizing up Derek with her eyes. It's amazing how she's only just met him and she can already see right through his bullshit. In another world, where she hadn't slept with my husband, maybe we'd actually be friends.
"Who the hell are you?" Derek asks her when he catches her eyes on him.
"My name is Kate," she says without a shred of fear on her face. "I worked for Evelyn for over ten years, so I know everything there is to know about her and what she did to Tobias. If you had any doubt in your mind, she deserved that shot to the head, but if you're thinking about dishing out the same penalty to Tobias, you're making a huge mistake."
"And why should I believe you?"
"Because she was my source," Harrison answers Derek. "Kate's on our side."
"Imagine my surprise when she came asking for help because Dauntless was on the verge of executing Four Eaton." Johanna then pulls out a vial from the pocket of her cloak. It contains a thick orange fluid, and without her even saying anything, I already know what it is. "This is the serum Evelyn gave to Four," Johanna continues. "I trust you take my word for it, since proving what it is will require some poor soul to forget themselves."
"Where did you get this?" Derek demands, taking the vial from Johanna's hands.
"From Amity, of course. It is a serum only we possess, given to us by the forefathers."
"And how did Evelyn get it?"
"I gave it to her," Johanna confesses. "A decision I now deeply regret."
Derek sighs as he contemplates this for a while, staring at the vial of serum in his hands.
"I will be taking this back," Johanna retrieves it from him. "Obviously others cannot be trusted with it."
"Is this enough for you?" I decide to ask Derek when he's been quiet for too long. "Or do you want more evidence before you decide to not shoot my husband in the head?"
"Nobody is shooting anyone," Jack Kang intervenes.
"I wouldn't say that just yet," Zeke reminds us he's still holding a gun to Dereks' head.
"Allow me to do the trial under truth serum," Kang suggests. "I was brought up to speed by the witnesses here, and I must say I'm quite intrigued by some things. A clear answer is vital in cases like these. There can be no room for doubt. Unless, it's not the truth you're after."
I hold my breath as everyone stares at Derek, waiting for an answer. He's been backed into a corner, but technically he isn't required to oblige us at all. Although, if he refuses, all of Dauntless will now see what a selfish bastard he is.
"Fine," he says eventually. "Let's get to the very bottom of this."
"Good. Then we'll do this my way," Kang says, and only then does Zeke lower his weapon and only then do I remember to exhale.
A/N: Please let me know what you guys thought of the first half of the trial :) R & R
