TRIS' POV
I'm infuriated by the arrival of the nurse, Tobias has told me that her name is Stevie but he doesn't understand that she can't help me and I don't want her too. We've both taken off our gas masks, but I'm still wary about the gas that's circling a mile below us. It will make its way up, it might take hours and it might not. Tobias is trying to tell her what happened but he's getting flustered and she's getting scared.
I interrupt, "If you have the cure after you've died because of gas poisoning, do you survive?"
The answer is all I care about.
"The cure?" she asks dumbly.
She's easy to read. I think I'm crying, the pain is hard but my pain tolerance is higher now but still I'm only just managing to hold it together.
"Tell me or I'll shoot you in the face." I surprised that I said that, considering Tobias is holding my gun but it starts her talking.
"How soon after you died?" She asks, seeming more alert like a child when someone tells them a horror story.
I realise that she basically is a child, she must be only a few years younger than me but her face hasn't aged like mine has. Yes, it the burden that consumes all those that have seen war, ruin, death and hopelessness, our face's harden, become wrinkly.
"Maybe a minute, I can't be certain. I was dead." I start to laugh but stop when I see Tobias discomfort. If I didn't know Tobias, I'd think he was having a panic attack. Maybe he's fighting off a simulation. I try hard to breathe evenly to calm him down.
"And I'm guessing you're talking about yourself."
I nod.
"I can't help you."
I nod again, I knew there was no way she could help but I'm surprised how much hearing it out loud would hurt. I've been preparing myself for death since… well since I died. I thought I was ready but I guess nobody can be ready. Tobias, however, takes the news worse than I do. He now, apparently, has two free hands and is using them to hold Stevie's wrists. I hear footsteps. Where's has Tobias out my gun?
"Why not? WHY THE HELL NOT?" He demands.
I slowly get out of bed, I don't want to startle Tobias. He's lost it.
She surprisingly stays calm.
"Because the cure doesn't work on dead people. It's not supposed to anyway." She tries to pull away but Tobias is still latched on to her. Her squinting eyes tell me that he's causing her pain. Her friend arrives behind her and I can see the glistening of a knife. He doesn't see me, I stay slightly out of sight.
"if you die by gassing then the gas has destroyed everything that makes human's stay alive, the cure can't fix all that damage. It just can't."
She tugs away again but he still doesn't let her go.
I find my gun tucked into his waistband, remove it and secure my fingers in place while her friend speaks up.
"She's told you everything. Let her go or I'll make you."
He's hidden the knife, so when Tobias laughs a single laugh, I'm sure he doesn't know that he has one.
I step out as soon as the boy steps forward. I point the gun at him.
Tobias looks alarmed and so does the boy.
Keeping my eyes on him, I say to Tobias "He's right. It's not her fault, I'm messed up. It's mine. If you want to be angry take it out on me. Not her."
He shakes starts shaking as soon as he lets go of her. She moves away from him quickly toward her friend. The sudden movement makes me feel dizzy.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
Her arm's say otherwise and it makes the boy angry. He steps forward quickly and I press down on the trigger. The bullet smashes through a, what was, a fully functional x-ray machine and the glass smashes into pieces. I look down at my hands to find eight smudged ones. I never miss, not by that much. I step forward but my body resists and sends me backwards. I hear a gasp, a scream, the sound of pain and a thud.
I can't see any of it, everything's blurred into colours and irregular shapes. Am I dying? This feels different from last time. I feel lighter than usual but I can't move. I can think clearly but I can't hear myself breathing.
Am I not breathing?
AN: Yep, still not over. Leave a review, a suggestion for the ending maybe?