Chapter Twenty-one: When Will It Be Over

When was enough, enough?

When were we going to stop fighting each other?

When would trust and loyalty finally outweigh personal gain?

When would this fight be over?

Whose life was it going to cost next?

Part of me was aware that commotion was sounding around us. But most of me was terrified. Staring at Eric, my mind flashed back to just days ago. The love of my life lying on the ground. The traitors confirming him dead. The simulations returning him and taking him away over and over and over again. That feeling of constant terror. Feeling like the world was ending. Then – somehow – it all turned out okay. Only now I felt like it was happening all over again. Panic was starting to take hold and for a moment I didn't know what was real.

"Baby?" My breathing became prominent in my ears as I stared at him. There was something in the way his eyes were shut. Something in the shallowness of his breathing. There was something that was terrifying the shit out of me. This couldn't be happening again. Not again. "Eric." I said as tears welled in my eyes.

Then his brows furrowed, starting to move, "Jesus."

Letting out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I laughed at him. "You son of a bitch."

"They hit harder than Dauntless." Eric stated putting his hand on the back of his head.

Following him as he pushed himself onto his knees, I moved his hand to take a look. Superficial. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm the only one who can." He smirked at me.

"I hate you." I grinned at him, helping him remain steady.

His smile grew, "Say it like you mean it."

Helping him to his feet, I took his head in my hands, making him look at me. "How you feeling?"

"Like I got hit over the head really hard." He replied with furrowed brows.

Trailing my fingers through the hair at his temple, I smiled at him adoringly, "My poor baby."

He laughed and gently gripped my wrist, his thumb running along my skin. Only in the next second there was yelling and I looked just in time to be hit hard across the cheekbone. Falling hard to my knees, I shook my head, my world spinning. Pushing myself up, I fell backward, seeing a blue-banded Dauntless on top of Eric. Yelling, I staggered toward them, gripping their neck before snapping it. Falling to the floor with them, I pushed myself back up as the room seemed to explode. Chaos started to ensue as more and more broke free.

"Eric!" I yelled as I was grabbed from behind.

"Pen!" Tori yelled as she was held at gunpoint.

"Evelyn!" I yelled as I turned toward her, seeing a deep-set frown on her face.

The whole thing was falling apart. Whatever control she had, she was losing quickly.

A fist hit my stomach, making me hunch over. Reaching behind me, I felt the face of the traitor who had me, thrusting my thumb into their eye socket. Feeling warmth start to pool and drip from my hand, they screamed and let me go. Spinning, I punched them hard, sending them to the ground. Spinning to find Eric, I was hit across the jaw, sending me to one knee. Quickly standing, it took two punches to knock them out. Spinning again, I took on two, blocking hits and taking them before I was once again in search of Eric, wiping blood from my lip, spitting what had pooled in my mouth on the traitor at my feet. Finally spotting Eric, I rushed toward him, watching as he took on three. It seemed the traitors' numbers seemed to be swelling. At the same time the factionless were attempting to neutralize the situation, but they weren't helping. Disarming one of the factionless, I shot the soldier who had Eric pinned to the ground. Shooting four others as they came at us, I stepped in front of Eric.

"Are we having fun yet?" I smirked at him.

He held out his hand and seeing the expression on his face, I swiftly gave him the gun, stepping closer to him as he let off three consecutive shots. Looking around, the factionless were starting to gain the upper hand. Hearing my name, I turned to see Claude and Terra on the ground. Darting toward them, I was nearly there when I was clothes lined, landing hard on my back. Henry yelled my name before he was there, more shots ringing. It was getting quieter. Soon both Eric and Henry were on their stomachs in front of me, all of us with guns pointed at our heads. Then a Dauntless traitor was thrown to the floor next to us.

"You're a fucking traitor." He shot at Eric. "And you're supposed to be dead."

"You're the idiot who's working for a psychopath." Eric shot back at him.

"I've known you for years, Eric. I thought you were on our side." He replied and actually sounded upset about it.

Eric sighed and looked at me. "I was. But something more important came into my life and I'm not letting that go for anything."

Smiling, I wanted so badly to reach out for him.

In the next second the traitor had a bullet in his head.

"Get them up." Evelyn's voice sounded from above me.

Meeting Eric's eyes, we were all yanked back onto our feet. The bullet wound in my arm protested, feeling blood start to trickle down my arm. I honestly had completely forgotten about it. Only now it was making its presence known full force.

We were led back to Tori, all of us being pushed down to our knees. Claude attempted to stand only to be hit, landing hard on her back. "Stay down." Edward commanded, limping down the line of us.

"Pen." Tori said softly. "Eric."

"We're okay." I told her without meeting her eyes.

The room was still alive with commotion but the shooting had stopped. It was clear that both the enemy and our loyal Dauntless had lost, the factionless truly taking over.

I couldn't help but flinch as a final gunshot rang, Evelyn shooting at the fallen portrait of Jeanine. The room went quiet and Evelyn dropped her gun on the table next to Jeanine's head. I put my hand on Eric's shoulder, while he sat on his heels, his hand finding my thigh, my other hand quickly covering his.

"Thank you." Evelyn told the room. "I know that you are all wondering what will happen next, so I am here to tell you."

Gently gripping Tori's leg as she sat straighter, she leaned toward Evelyn, ready to react to whatever Evelyn was going to say next.

"The faction system that had long supported itself on the backs of discarded human beings will be disbanded at once." Evelyn announced. "We know this transition will be difficult for you, but –"

"We?" Tori interrupted, her expression starting to go dark. "What are you talking about, disbanded?"

"What I am talking about," Evelyn went on, for a moment she kept Tori's eyes, and then turned her attention to those around her, "is that your faction, which up until a few weeks ago was clamoring along with the Erudite for the restriction of food and goods to the factionless, a clamor that resulted in the destruction of the Abnegation, will no longer exist." She smiled a little. "And if you decide to take up arms against us, you will be hard pressed to find any arms to take up."

"What the fuck is she talking about?" I asked, only then there was the audible sound of guns.

Anyone who wasn't factionless was now looking around the room. The factionless soldiers were each holding up a gun. My stomach started to turn as I took them all in. This was bad. They're evenly spaced around the edge of the room, some disappearing into the stairwells. We were officially surrounded. Outmanned. And now we were outgunned.

"Well this looks promising." Eric frowned. "Evelyn." He said and attempted to get up.

"Hey!" I yelled as he was forced back onto his knees, getting to my feet and putting myself in front of Eric. "Back off." I told the soldier, holding out my hand as I lowered myself to my knees. Glaring over my shoulder at him, Evelyn started talking again.

"I instructed my half of the army to relieve your half of the army of their weapons as soon as their missions were completed. I see now that they were successful. I regret the duplicity, but we knew that you have been conditioned to cling to the faction system like it is your own mother, and that we would have to help ease you into this new era."

"What new era?" I shot at her.

Evelyn shot me a look before looking to Tori who had a shocked look on her face. "Ease us?" Tori demanded as she pushed herself onto her feet and limped toward Evelyn, who calmly took her gun in hand and pointed it at Tori.

"I have not been starving for more than a decade just to give in to a Dauntless woman with a leg injury." Evelyn told her. "So unless you want me to shoot you, take a seat with your fellow ex-faction members."

Watching Evelyn, it was clear that she meant business. Slowly getting to my feet, I held my hands up as soldiers pointed their guns at me. Stepping toward Tori, I put my hands on her arms and gently pulled her backward until she was against me, helping her once again take a seat in the chair.

"Relax." I whispered to her. "We can't do anything right now."

"Pen." Eric said and I slowly stepped backward, lowering myself to my knees as I pressed myself against his side.

"Those of you who assisted us in the effort to take down Erudite will be rewarded." Evelyn continued. God I wished she'd shut up. "Those of you who resisted us will be tried and punished according to your crimes." Her voice is now raised; making sure everyone in the room can hear her.

Then the door opened, a sense of relief filling me. "Four." I said softly as he, along with Marcus and Caleb, entered the room.

He went straight to Tris, crouching at her shoulder. For a second my relief started to waver. I couldn't read either of their expressions. But it could only mean that he succeeded in getting whatever data Tris had risked his trust for. I only hoped that I was right.

"What is he saying to her?" Eric frowned.

Shaking my head, I frowned with him, "I don't know."

Then the screens that hadn't been destroyed flickered and turned on, hearing the projector turn on that was positioned over the wall where the portrait of Jeanine used to be. The room was now entranced, all eyes turning toward them. Getting to my feet, Eric gripped my arm, pulling himself to his feet as well, his arm wrapping around me.

"What is this?" Evelyn demanded.

"Things are about to change." Eric told her.

Pulling me tighter against him, we all stared at the woman with short brown hair who's being projected. She's sitting at a metal desk with her hands folded, and I have no idea where she is. But right off the bat I feel like there's something familiar about her. Something I wasn't sure I liked.

"Hello." She said. "My name is Amanda Ritter. In this file I will tell you only what you need to know. I am the leader of an organization fighting for justice and peace. This fight has become increasingly more important—and consequently, nearly impossible—in the past few decades. That is because of this."

Frowning, a series of images flashed across the wall. They're moving fast, almost too fast to comprehend what their showing us. There's a man on his knees with a gun pressed to his forehead. The woman is pointing at him, her expression giving nothing away. Then we see a small person, hanging by the neck from a telephone pole. Then there's a hole in the ground the size of a house, bodies filling it.

"Eric…" I whispered.

They kept flashing, the speed of them picking up, making it impossible to latch on to more than what you first see. Blood. Death. Cruelty. Empty faces. Fear. The longer they went on the more I felt like I couldn't breathe. What was happening? What had she gone through? What did this mean for all of us?

"Jesus." Eric whispered, dragging his hand down his face.

Then the woman appeared again, "You do not remember any of that." She stated. "But if you are thinking these are the actions of a terrorist group or a tyrannical government regime, you are only partially correct. Half of the people in those pictures, committing those terrible acts, were your neighbors. Your relatives. Your coworkers. The battle we are fighting is not against a particular group. It is against human nature itself—or at least what it has become."

This was what Jeanine had been hiding from everyone. This is what she was willing to enslave and kill for. This was nothing that I expected. I wanted to look away but at the same time I couldn't bring myself to do it. Everything we'd gone through was for this. Everyone who had died had died to keep this secret. Keeping us all ignorant and safe inside the fence.

"That is why you are so important." Amanda stated. "Our struggle against violence and cruelty is only treating the symptoms of a disease, not curing it. You are the cure. In order to keep you safe, we devised a way for you to be separated from us. From our water supply. From our technology. From our societal structure. We have formed your society in a particular way in the hope that you will rediscover the moral sense most of us have lost. Over time, we hope that you will begin to change as most of us cannot.

"The reason I am leaving this footage for you is so that you will know when it's time to help us. You will know that it is time when there are many among you whose minds appear to be more flexible than the others. The name you should give those people is Divergent."

My mouth parted of its own accord, stepping toward the screen. My hand had loosened around Eric's but he swiftly tightened his hold, keeping me close to him.

"Pen." He said as he wrapped his arm around me tightly.

"What is happening?" I whispered as I starred at the woman in front of us.

She continued, "Once they become abundant among you, your leaders should give the command for Amity to unlock the gate forever, so that you may emerge from your isolation."

"Holy shit." I said breathlessly.

This was impossible.

"The information in this video is to be restricted to those in government only." Amanda said. "You are to be a clean slate. But do not forget us." She smiled a little. "I am about to join your number. Like the rest of you, I will voluntarily forget my name, my family, and my home. I will take on a new identity, with false memories and a false history. But so that you know the information I have provided you with is accurate, I will tell you the name I am about to take as my own." Her smile broadened. My stomach dropped and I realized why she seemed familiar.

"Jesus." I stated, my eyes darting to find Tris.

"My name will be Edith Prior." She told us. "And there is much I am happy to forget."

Finding her, shock was written across her face. Prior. The little bitch turned out to be more important than I had ever thought she would be. Now I was going to have to eat words I'd said multiple times. Whether either of us liked it or not, she may have a bigger part to play, one that I'd have to support rather than chastise.

Damn it all to hell.

THE END


Well, there you have it folks! The second installment is officially concluded. It's bittersweet. I can't believe that it's over already. I know it was extremely short compared to every other chapter, but I just couldn't drag it out any longer. I hope it was still satisfying.

I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to all who have read, followed, favorited this story! And an even BIGGER THANK YOU to all who have reviewed! Every one of them is inspiring and motivating no matter how short or long they are. I cannot be more appreciative of every last one of you!

And Pen and Eric's story isn't over yet! We have one more book, therefore we have one more story. I can't tell you when it'll be up but I hope you all read and enjoy it as much as the first two!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Until next time…