Hey all. In light of the COVID-19 situation, I am practicing self-isolation and working from home. This means that, suddenly, I have a lot more time on my hands. I've wanted to get back to writing stories for a while and now this is my chance! This seemed like the best story to pick back up and I've edited this first chapter again, since in the last (almost) five years, my writing style has evolved a lot. I hope that this can become something that is both enjoyable to write and read. Without further ado, let's join Tris on her adventure!
Disclaimer: The only things that belong to me are the plot and all non-recognizable characters.
She died.
David shot her.
Yet, she was conscious. This must be the ever-famous afterlife, maybe heaven is a real thing.
Tris opened her eyes to find that she was lying on the floor, the gloomy light of the day coming in through the window. A strange fog hanged in the air, giving off an eerie feeling. If this really was heaven, it was sorely overestimated by the living souls.
Suddenly, there were voices. "Are you sure she's here?". Tris rose from the floor and hid behind a broken cabinet. This was, without a doubt, her old home at Abnegation, although it looked like it was abandoned many years ago. Caleb was lying on the floor a few feet away, but their parents were nowhere to be found.
Another voice answered the first speaker. "Yeah, this are the exact coordinates the computer registered as her location after the hit."
The first person spoke again. "Maybe the bitch is already gone, I mean, it's been a while since she escaped the simulation."
"Maybe she is, maybe not. Now shut up, we're getting closer."
One of them came into her view. With what she could see of the man's military attire, bullet-proof vest and all, paired with the way he moved making his training obvious, she knew that he was dangerous. Everything about it screamed it at her. His body was tense and ready to react. She had the distinct impression that he would not hesitate to shoot the rifle he was holding. A very big rifle. She was sure his companion would be a perfect mirror of the man she was currently appraising.
Looking around, Tris spotted a rusty chair slightly to the right. She needed a weapon and one of the chair's legs looked weak enough that it would be easy to break it off. The strange men were now heading up the stairs, the sound of their footsteps heavy on the wood. They were heading towards the bedrooms, moving away from Tris' hiding spot without noticing her presence.
Crawling towards the rusty chair and flipping it over, it took her but a few seconds to break it off. Unfortunately, the soldiers upstairs heard the metal snapping and came rushing downstairs. Tris only had time to duck behind the couch before they once again reached the living room.
Their rifles were raised as they searched the room cautiously. The only war for her to track their movements was through the soft shadows they cast on the floor. Tris barely had any warning as one of the shadows came closer and closer, until the tip of its owner's shoe came directly into her line of sight. Looking up quickly, Tris was sure this was not the man she had seen before. He was much bigger. However, that made him no less hittable. Getting up, Tris swung the bar unto his head. Hard. Hard enough that the lost consciousness and fell to the ground. Catching his body mid-fall, she used it to protect herself from the incoming bullets coming from the other end of the room. Making her way forward, Tris pushed what was probably the now-dead body onto his still-living comrade. With her remaining enemy now on the floor before her, she grabbed hold of his neck with both hands, kneeling with one knee on the man's chest.
"Who are you?" She demanded. "What do you want with me?"
He turned his head to look at her. "Calm down ma'am and let me go." His words were calm and serious, but he looked like he was panicking inside. "My partner and I are here simply to ensure your safety. We just wish to take you to a safe place."
Despite of herself, she laughed. "Ma'am now, is it? I'm not sure you have a partner anymore." With her words, his calm façade dropped. "What safe place? Where even am I?"
He sneered at Tris. "Really? The great Tris who only has six fears can't figure it out? This is the Chicago experiment. You were in a simulation, everyone is. But you died in the simulation, so your consciousness left the computer program and returned to your own body. Our job is to take you back to our compound, same place where we've taken all the others who died in the simulation"
Her parents. Her parents died, she saw them die. But if it was a simulation and she was still alive after quite literally dying there, they would be alive as well. There was still hope.
"Andrew and Natalie Prior. Are they there?"
"Sure, if they were collected and gathered with the others. It was not one of my assignments."
Tris pulled on his shirt and leaned forward. "Why were we put in a simulation? How long has it been running?"
The sneer on his face was renewed. "And you think I'd just tell you?"
"Then who would?"
"Go to the compound and you might find out."
Getting off of him, Tris picked up his rifle and pointed it at him. "You're gonna take me there. Whatever weapons you still have, hand them over." He took out a Glock from its holsters and a hunting knife that was hidden in his right boot. Securing the Glock on the waistband of her trousers and placing the knife in between the loops on her belt, Tris nudged the man forward with his own rifle. "Now walk. Try anything and you won't be surprised by what happens."
Once outside, Tris got a look at the world, the real world. All of the houses in the Abnegation district seemed abandoned. The lawns were dry and dirty, the paint was falling from the walls and big chunks of wall were missing from several houses. The sky was dappled with foul looking clouds, painted in nauseating tones of grey and yellow.
The world seemed sick.
The dry lands and the grim sky went on for miles. The buildings looked even more wrecked than they did before she died – before she woke up.
Right now, there was only one option for Tris: find out what happened, why it happened and then put a stop to it. Maybe that way she get to reunite with her parents and all the others that died. Al, Will, Marlene, Tori…and so many more.
Shit. Eric. She stabbed him. And Four killed him. Fuck.
I hope you enjoyed that! If you did, you are welcome to leave a review. And also, if you can work from home, do it! Every little action of social responsibility is crucial to help contain this pandemic!