Chapter 20
Kazana has lived factionless her entire life, having been found by the rebels who strive to live without the faction system she becomes their new secret weapon. The plan is clear, choose dauntless, pass initiation, infiltrate the system, but what can she do when a certain leader sees through her façade? AU No War, One year after Tris' initiation.
A/N: This was a difficult chapter to perfect, but I hope it works for all of you and just know, all of this happens for a reason! Mixture of Book 1, 2 and the movie.
I was watching the film again and Tris stares at a wary factionless girl after her aptitude test. I googled who played her and she doesn't look far off from how I envisioned my OC. Weird!
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent. If I did I'd buy a bungalow and it'd just be one big bed. Like. 'Honey I'm home!' *jumps enthusiastically on to house sized mattress*
RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS DISCOVER THE KEY TO GENETIC RESTORATION
Toma Volkov, world renowned biologist and public speaker has revealed plans for renovations to his current research lab. The enterprising young scientist remained furtive on the nature of his new task but rumours have ensued as a result of his latest interview on WNT that it will be an extensive look in to Genetic Preservation.
"I cannot reveal at present the circumstances surrounding my findings. I can however say that substantial progress has been made and we do hope to see significant changes made in the future. Until appropriate subjects are found The Russian Precinct of Time and Sustentation will remain a theory based program only."
Whilst many praise the breakthroughs made by Volkov in recent years, there are still those who question the ethics of research conducted by the RPTS. Religious speakers have taken to the streets to voice their protests.
"It's a crime against humanity! We were put on this earth to live our lives as God intended, in pursuing this act of madness, they are committing the worst sin imaginable, haven't we suffered enough?"
Critics have assailed Volkov's work saying that it is 'fruitless' and 'an age too late' but not everyone agrees.
"I say let him get on with his work, I mean it's bad enough already right? How much worse could it get? Better that they keep trying before there are no more Originals left."
Although this view does hold universal value amongst the optimists of our society, it does rouse the doubts that play on everyone's minds. Are they any Originals remaining?
Tune in again to World News Today to find out more on the issue.
6 months after initiation
Amelia Crow had never envisioned her life to end up this way. It had been a cruel hand that she was dealt with and yet even amidst the poverty and heartbreak, she had found a community. One that loved her, it was only when she immersed herself in to their lifestyle with reluctant beginnings that their withstanding loyalty became clear.
A former Erudite had to have known that a substantial amount of the Factionless population was still infantile. But she had not. No horror had been quite as shocking as the moment she entered the crumbling night room and saw before her a crowd of innocent faces. All wide eyed and cherub cheeked.
Few jobs were available to the Factionless and in the rumoured uprising; Factions were reluctant to give work to potential rebels. It was in that moment however, that Amelia Crow decided herself their guardian and devoted her time to ensuring their safety. In the 6 months since her abrupt departure from the Dauntless Compound, she had worked diligently to nurture them.
True happiness was a rare feeling when one was surrounded by so much pain. But nothing, not even in the years that she had lived in luxury, made her happier than seeing their little faces light up with an angelic smile.
Of course, perhaps there was one more thing that had surprised her more than the neglect on the city's youth.
Kaz Thomas had not been in Amity.
Kaz Thomas had not received a Dauntless result.
Kaz Thomas was NOT Kaz Thomas at all.
She was Kazana, a treasured vigilante amongst her new community.
In light of the news she had been filled with bitter resentment, arriving one day at the run down warehouse, starving and sodden from the pouring rain.
"Excuse me? Where can I find the boy with the eyepatch?"
"You what?" the bearded man had replied, face contorted with dawning anger.
"Urm…I was told to find a boy with-"
"Yeah I heard that! Well someone must have had you on love cuz he's dead!"
"W-what? No! I mean, she said-"
A dark shadow passed over her and she turned to see a woman standing in the doorway, frail and gaunt, yet she radiated a strange sort of power.
"I'll take it from here Bill," she'd said. "My name's Evelyn Johnson, I'm afraid there's a lot to explain…"
Bitter resentment indeed, she, a rightful contender for a top spot in the Dauntless rankings, had lost her place to someone who didn't even belong there.
But time changes everyone, and as wearisome days turn to freezing nights, Amelia could now understand Kazana's desperation to escape. And of course, everyone adored her. She was after all, their only hope.
Speak of the devil and she shall appear, a hooded figure approached with cautious steps.
"THANA! THANA!" the boy in her arms cried in excitement, tongue hanging languidly from his mouth to create a prominent lisp.
"Hey there little man! How's my favourite soldier doing?" Kazana scooped the small child up with minimal effort and spun him around to evoke manic giggles.
Grinning madly, Kazana planted a firm kiss on his forehead and placed him down to join the rest of the children. Amelia shook her head at the immediate lift in the group but proceeded forward to embrace her friend with a laughing hug.
"Ahhh! I haven't seen you in forever! Where've you been!?" Mia asked.
"It's been impossible to get away, the workload has been mad lately, some project Eric's working on. I've got as much information as I can but…," she threw her hands up and the two nodded.
But this was the firm, unyielding Dauntless Leader. Secrets remained just that.
The calm ambience that settled was broken as two hulked arms wrapped around Kazana's waist and hauled her off the ground.
"Oi! Why did no one tell me you were here?! Where've you been huh?!" Cain's cheerful cry resonated boorishly along the walls and soon a vast crowd had appeared in search for the prestigious young woman.
She batted his large hands away and stood unable to contain her smile as familiar faces surrounded her.
"I don't even know where to begin, man I've missed you all!"
"How about start by telling us how you got so huge!" Cain chuckled.
"Hey I resent that, I like to call it lady muscle," Kazana punched him in the arm
There was however a noticeable change in her body, as wiry limbs had filled out to tight muscle, giving every appearance of a Dauntless warrior. Young faces gazed up at her shadowed figure in awe.
Cain smiled fondly at her but his expression turned stern as he stood with crossed arms.
"Seriously though, we haven't heard a word in 2 months! We thought something might have happened-"
"No! No, I just didn't want to risk anything…I don't know, I've just been on edge, like someone's watching…"
"You know if that were true, we wouldn't be here right now."
"Yeah, yeah…well," Kaz turned to the crowd of people and lifted a large satchel above her head.
"I COME BEARING GIFTS!" she yelled.
"YAY!" a myriad of small voices cried, running at her with vigour. Laughter broke out as small arms grappled at her black clad figure in search for presents.
"Woah! Slow down there tigers! There's enough for you all," she moved out of the throng of bodies with an endearing smile and began to hand out various treats from the Dauntless' pantry.
It had been a pain in the arse to collect; glittering blue eyes gazed up at her as a young girl gnawed gleefully at a bar of chocolate. But it had been completely worth it.
With the children distracted, she turned to the others with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, don't worry there's treats for you too," she winked. The crowd laughed, treats in Kaz speak was a covert reference to weaponry. If food had been particularly difficult to source, then pinching from the Dauntless' armoury was near impossible.
Kazana gazed back at the young ones, giggling and tackling each other to the floor in pursuit of the last slab of cake. She turned to Mia with a proud slap on the back.
"You've done an amazing job with them."
"Oh it's not me, not really. They-," Mia shook her head as her eyes began to shine with bright tears. "They're remarkable. I mean really special, it's like they have nothing but they just keep on fighting I…," she shrugged with a watery smile.
"They aren't the only ones," Kaz broke away to gesture to those around. "When I was growing up I…it was nothing like this. It's like everyone's finally coming together."
The crowd murmured in agreement, there was a sudden shriek as she was tackled to the floor by faded orange hair.
"OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE ACTUALLY-HOW'S TANYA?! AND VESPER AND MARTY AND WHAT'S-" Kazana groaned as she pushed the excited girl away and sat up.
"Shia, calm down! They're fine! Everyone's fine, Tanya's working with Sophie now, giving everyone horrendous haircuts," she smirked at the memory of Vesper's fuming expression when leaving the salon with a violet afro.
"NO WAY REALLY?! IS SHE-"
"If everyone is quite finished catching up, I would like to talk to Kazana," Evelyn's authoritative tone rung out across the huge hall and silence fell amongst the group. "Alone."
A moment of tension passed as Kazana saw the disappointment cross their faces.
"They can stay if they want to," she supplied meekly.
Evelyn's mouth tightened as she pursed her lips and scanned the crowd with stern eyes. There was an immediate shift as they made their way dejectedly to the exit.
Their solitude was finalized by a slamming of the door. As had become standard since the night of Kazana's simulation, she kept her eyes fixed on the wall, unable to even look at her former guardian.
"You haven't contacted us in two months."
"It's been impossible," she replied, and it was true. To have made the journey out today was already a monumental risk.
"And what do you expect us to do in that time hmm?" Evelyn's voice was tight as she came to stand over Kaz's seated form. "When you're off gallivanting-"
"Oh I don't know? Maybe think of a plan!?" Kazana got to her feet, the doubts had been in place for months now and she was not the only one to feel them. "I've given you what information I can Evelyn! You're supposed to be our leader! And yet still I wait to hear an idea!"
"Information? You call this giving me information?! When I gave you this task I never expected you to be so, to be so-"
"To be so what?!" Kazana spat, "To be so traitorous? Is that what you think? You think I like having to sneak around lying to everyone? That I like leaving everyone here to live another life I-"
"You're so ungrateful! Evelyn hissed, "I should have known that you're ridiculous infatuation would-"
"Don't you dare bring him in to this!"
"Why? Because you're in love with him is that it? Because the murderer of our people has stolen your heart?"
Kaz stared at her open mouthed, her eyes narrowed as she threw open the door. As expected, the entirety of the crowd stood there with necks craning to hear more.
"Our people have gotten NOTHING from you, if you really want to help them then you'll stop withholding information."
Wide eyes and curious faces stared at the girl who only months before had flinched at the sound of a gunshot, but there she stood. Fierce stance and head held high, she addressed the group clearly.
"The Dauntless have a close affiliation with Erudite. From what I have seen, Jeanine Matthews has been making regular trips to the compound. I don't know why and I don't know what it is they are planning but it looks to be soon-"
"Illuminating," Evelyn drawled. Kazana stiffened, but kept her gazed fixed on the crowd.
"Now if all of you just stay together then we have a fighting chance, the important thing is that you're safe. If I hear anything more then I will return immediately but I cannot stay long," she regarded them sorrowfully before appealing to their leader.
"Evelyn I know things have changed between us," inexplicable regret welled up inside as cold eyes stared back at her. "But you have to let that go. We have to make our move whilst we still have the chance."
A charged silence befell the room, and then she left.
Eric had never felt the desire to smoke. It was to him, detrimental to training and furthermore a waste of his time. To feel thick smoke entering his lungs as time wastes away at his teeth, it really didn't hold any appeal. None at all.
But as Peter stood centre on in the control room's extension, his expression marred in confusion, and a stupid question hanging out his mouth. Eric decided nothing could have been more desirable then, than a damn cigarette.
"So…you're just gonna like…inject them? Like a simulation?"
The Dauntless Leader remained at the entrance, hands clasped behind his back as he observed Erudite worker's in action. A small smirk graced his features as they glanced nervously up at him before scrambling on to the next task, bodies trembling all the while.
"Mhm," he replied shortly. If not for the apt progress made in recent months, his temper might have snapped just then. Peter really was a last resort.
"And you want me to…"
"Watch for any intruders, yes."
"But if they're all out of it then-"
"It's a precaution," Eric cut him off coldly. "Nothing can infringe on this plan is that clear?"
"Urm," the green eyed imbecile scratched nervously at his neck before replying. "Yeah, I guess…"
His superior arched a brow.
"I mean yes, yeah."
Eric fixed him with a cool stare, "You're absolved from the injection on the grounds that you take this task seriously. You're expected here at 10 o'clock tomorrow at the latest. Now get out."
Summer months had come and gone, leaving behind a bitter chill which found its optimum potency within the Dauntless cavern's. In the deepest crevice of the caves, Military Operations provided a minimal warmth as Christina sat soldering at her station. A surprised yelp echoed off the walls as she felt two hands poke her waist.
"Damn it Kaz, that's not funny!"
The younger girl in question simply grinned, throwing dark swathes of clothing in to the corner to reveal sculpted arms. Hard-core training really had been inevitability, she blamed their leader.
"I'm sorry; your reactions are too good!"
Christina shot her a mock glare; a film of sweat covered her skin as she worked painstakingly at their newest adaption to the tank. It had been at Kazana's insistence that they start working on defence methods, considering the sizeable bullet holes which marred its metallic surface.
"This thing's driving me crazy! Where've you been all afternoon?"
"Ahh, Vesper needed help in tech," Kaz supplied smoothly.
"Has the afro gone down yet?"
"Pfft, no."
"I'm surprised Tanya's still alive," Christina shook her head and placed a wad of cloth in her mouth to focus ardently on the electric current sizzling between two metal poles. "Howuhrick?"
"Beg pardon?"
The cotton wad was spat away in a vulgar motion.
"How's Eric? I never see you guys together."
Raven black locks tickled damp skin as she heaved herself on to the truck and began dissembling a gun barrel. She kept her eyes fixed on the task at hand.
"He's busy."
The constant whir which had reverberated off the cavern's surfaces halted as Christina switched off the iron.
"Busy huh? No offence but like, I wouldn't even think you're together. You're so cold with each other, how do you live with that?"
Seconds ticked by, the silence permeated only by an echoing click and gentle shuffles. The former Candor had yet to abandon her incessant curiosity; Kazana said not a word, just continued on with her work.
Christina groaned frustrated, "Right, no Eric questions. Got it."
Kaz smirked softly to herself, though she would insist to this day, that it had not been his influence.
Long days and even longer nights had culminated to a deep pitted frustration within Eric. The evidence of his exhaustion was minimal; his tenacious willpower meant a rigid front had to be kept at all times. Yet the skin beneath his eyes had begun to darken and light stubble covered the breadth of his jaw, the entire look was…shadowed, menacing in fact. In that regard it worked in his favour.
Though Eric sought to keep an impassive outlook as he carried out the tasks which Jeanine had bestowed upon him, it was difficult in his current state of fatigue not to snap.
A reason why, as he led the guards trailing after him down to the Dauntless' armoury, he did so with a brooding stalk.
If truth be told, he did not know what would result after the events of tomorrow night. He only knew that it had to be done. It had to, for the same reasons that he hunted down the Factionless, for the same reason he pushed his initiates to break point.
To preserve a functional society.
It was a tedious journey in to the caves that night, simply because he did not have time to waste on patrol. If his soldiers were capable of showing an ounce of competence, then he could work on finalizing plans.
But they were not, they were idiots.
He felt replete with vexation, the feeling coursed through his veins like acid and an urge to destroy itched at his fingers as two silhouettes made their way over in silence.
A loaded silence fell on the group as they stood, immersed in shadow and waited patiently whilst the two figures prepped them for duty.
The burning sensation continued to sear within him as nimble fingers weaved wires through his jacket. However it was for an entirely different reason when she came to stand before him, his hot pulse quickened beneath her fingers as she activated the device.
"I wasn't aware you were working tonight," he spoke indifferently.
"I wanted to finish the resistance panels," Kazana replied coolly, eyes fixed on her busy fingers.
"You won't be paid overtime."
"That's alright, my landlord's a bit of a tool," she grinned slightly with gaze averse.
"Careful, one word from me and he'll have you out on your ass," Eric smirked.
She stepped away and his eyes darkened at the distance.
"You'd never."
Moments passed in tense quiet as Kazana fought away her smile, Eric scowled suddenly at the curious looks which surrounded them.
He lowered his voice to murmur in her ear, though it had returned to cold impartiality.
"I'll be gone for the night."
"Okay,"
A selfish need to preserve, to possess, had eaten away at his conscience for drawn out months and it made him unable to resist one last warning.
"Don't leave my quarter's tomorrow evening."
"What?"
"Just go straight there, don't eat in the hall."
"Why?"
Eric's fists clenched at her stubbornness, he sought a stray excuse.
"It's a surprise," he said through gritted teeth.
Kazana scanned his face with narrowed eyes, but in a way that made her both exemplary and exasperating, she stayed quiet on the matter.
"Hmm."
This would be the moment in which they parted, looked on at each other with aloof detachment and left.
But in a rare moment of impulse, Kaz glanced warily over at Christina before giving him an impish smile. She leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips against his in a tentative kiss.
Eric's hands came instinctively to her hips as he stood still in surprise. Yet the feel of her soft skin beneath his palms demanded a response, and he was all too willing to pull her in possessively. Taking immediate control of the kiss, he coaxed her lips open and felt a stirring in his lower abdomen as she sighed softly in to his mouth.
With a low growl he slid one hand tightly in to her hair and dominated her tongue with his own, she surrendered willingly, wrapping two arms in a firm hold around his neck.
Kazana provided him with all too tempting a release for his blistering temper and as she released a wanton moan against his lips at the delicious friction it had taken a significant amount of self-control not to slam her against the wall then and there.
But as it stood, they were surrounded by gaping morons so he pried his hands from her delectable form and stepped away, their breaths fell heavily as they stared at each other with darkened lust.
Glancing away to retain some iota of restraint, Eric caught the slacked jawed gaze of a young soldier. The guard squirmed under the Dauntless Leader's glare and looked elsewhere.
With an impatient click of his fingers, the men and women marched dutifully away and left him to her unyielding stare, inky black pools which glimmered as she gave him a half smile.
Kaz brushed her thumb slowly over the chiseled cut of his jaw.
"You need a shave," she murmured thoughtfully in to his ear, before walking away. Black waves rippling with each step.
Eric moved to take lead of his soldiery, a light smirk playing at his lips.
"Temptress."
The next evening had Kazana curled up in bed with a book she did not read. It had not been for lack of trying, the nutritional development of cattle (Where did he get this stuff?!) might have once proved to be a stimulating text.
But a dissatisfactory feeling niggled at her, really buried under the skin with stubborn tenacity. Eric had told her to stay away, reason being that it was a surprise. Of course she knew better than to believe that, his manipulative tricks might have worked on others but he was a fool to try them on her.
She had retired to his quarters straight after a long shift in the armoury, the patrol that night would be substantially larger than usual, or so the request alluded. Kaz threw the book down with a huff, what hadn't he been telling her? Restlessness thrummed through her, fingertips itched and taunting whispers, 'You're trapped.'
Her clammy hands created a painful friction through knotted locks as she pulled viciously at her hair as if trying to force a plan from her scalp. Well if there was something he'd been hiding, she was not going to find it here.
Kazana walked resolutely to the huge metal structure that was his door and pulled.
And…nothing happened.
A heavy weight had dropped on to her stomach but she pursued, slammed, wrenched and kicked the door with every iota of her strength.
"No…," she whispered. Fear, frustration it, seared through and in a moment of self-absorption.
"He knows! He knows, He knows! NO! NO!" Unyielding steel trembled as she threw her body at the door in vain, "ERIC, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Kaz screamed a violent tearing at her vocal chords.
Seconds passed; minutes maybe hours and still she could not regain control. Every muscle burned as she tore viciously at the door, nails clawing and fists bruising as thunderous echoes resonated around the room.
It was everything she had feared, he knew, he had to know; he'd seen her fear simulation, Paralysis, imprisonment, and her worst weakness of all…him. Breaths fell in tearful pants, how could she have been so foolish? She'd been so sure that yesterday's trip had been covert.
The door would not open.
Kazana swallowed heavily, chest heaving as her back slid down the chilled surface. To lie in submission and accept her fate, it would not do. There was far too much at stake, people's lives, those who depended on her.
Her eyes alighted on the training kit, a heavyweight barbell which had been a favourite of hers during the vigorous strength sessions. Scrambling over, Kaz unscrewed the plates and stood with the long steel bar in hand. It would not affect the door, Eric would never have his main entrance so penetrable.
But he'd never have expected someone to break out of his premises, there had to be an exit. Stick in hand, Kazana begin to examine the ceilings with slow deliberate taps, each sound was light, yet solid.
"Come on, come on!" she hissed frantically as the steady movements led her in to the bathroom. Everything was illuminated with a bright artificial glow that had her squinting in discomfort; she'd been meaning to change that for months now.
Again a rhythmic tapping resonated along stone walls, but to no avail. The sounds were solid.
Frustration took hold once more, a dawning, scorching intensity that clawed at her throat and seared skin. He had trapped her, he had practically told her that she would be ensnared and like a foolish wild animal she had allowed it.
Kazana glanced up at the mirror; dark fearful eyes stared back at her, red rimmed with tears and skin sickly pale once more. It reminded her too much of the girl she had been, always running and scared for her life…pathetic.
With an enraged cry she wrenched back the bar in her hands and brought it down on the glassy surface with a powerful smash. Shards flew dangerously in all directions, but careless instinct had taken over and she had not been able to contain it.
Her grip on the steel was painfully rigid, and knuckles began to whiten from the trembling force but all she could do was stare open mouthed at the sight before her.
A hole. A gaping wide, vast, darkened tunnel.
An escape.
The huntress in her reacted. She had once been referred to by her renegade peers as 'The Lethal Weapon' naturally it had made her scoff, and in a way it still did. But her instincts now were entirely human, a will to succeed, a will to survive.
Kazana held the bar over her shoulder and ran to the kitchen, there couldn't be much time, he could return any minute. She grasped three large knives and tucked two in to her pockets, one in to the loop of her belt.
Beside the entrance lay her boots, she shoved them on and clasped them with frantic movements. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, with deep shaky breaths Kaz ran once more to the bathroom and ascended in to the tunnel.
It became apparent after mere metres of crawling that the journey through would be as uneven and hazardous as the rest of the compound, a stale, rotten stench permeated the air. She gagged on the toxic fumes but continued on, Kazana's terrified yelp bounced off the enclosed walls as a sudden drop sent her flying in to a momentous pit…of waste.
"Yeeuurgghhh," she groaned as a suspicious sticky residue coated her arms and neck. Narrowing her eyes through mountains of empty cartons and left over food she realized then that it had been a vent leading through the kitchens.
"Just what I need!" her voice carried a sardonic edge as she placed both hands on the tip's edge and threw herself over the side, brushing away moulded carrot peels. "I suppose I've had worse."
It had been with a pained grimace that she fished the steel rod out from a manifold of malting beef.
Kaz sprinted from the kitchens in haste, determined to get out, no ingenious plans, not an ounce of confidence, but a will to leave. Desperately she tore through the food hall, down long winding corridors and descended narrow stairs but…
It was deserted.
Never in all of her years had Kazana experience such eerie quiet, there existed in the shadowed halls, a dim array of lights which flickered weakly. Even the crisp air tasted empty, a continuous rushing of water sounded in the distance. But recent events had rendered The Chasm a haunting place for her and it offered little relief.
The terror only truly set in when she came to a screeching stop at the residential quarters, a common sanctuary for her, and saw not a single soul.
It wasn't the echoing desertion which filled her with sickly dread, no.
It was the complete, wholesome feeling of ignorance.
Minutes passed in tentative silence, broken only by the careful treads of her boots. A flash of blue moved in the distance, and Kazana was on it in moments.
It was an Erudite, a real life, writhing form who yelped as she tackled him to the ground and wrenched his arm behind his back. She knelt down and pressed a hefty boot in to his neck, one acute strike and it would be snapped.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" she yelled, incensed with fury as he gave no answer, simply continued to struggle and choke under the pressure.
"TELL ME NOW OR I'LL BREAK YOUR-"
"Kazana! Stop!"
Her head snapped up and a mixture of confusion and relief hit like a tidal wave. Tris was running towards her, heavily armed and followed by two older men. Their clothes were worn and grey, causing her bafflement to increase tenfold.
"That's my brother! Kaz, he's my brother! Stop!"
"He's Erudite," she replied cautiously, though the force of her boot lessened enough for him to scramble away. Her eyes darted to the slip of grey binding Tris' shoulder.
"Were you shot?! What the hell is-Why is nobody-WHAT's GOING ON?!"
"There's no time to explain, we have to run! Now!"
Despite her gnawing concern, Kazana joined the older girl in a sprint, the men were just at their heels as they headed towards The Pit.
"Where have you been Kaz!" Tris panted desperately, wincing as her arms pumped with every movement.
"Eric locked me in."
"WHAT?! You mean you don't know-"
"Know what?!" Kazana yelled, they had just begun to approach the first strip of light illuminating The Pit. A distance gunshot sounded, causing both women to drop to the ground.
"Dauntless are killing off Abnegation, they're being controlled by Erudite," Tris hissed over her shoulder, a stray bullet whizzed past her ear.
"How is that poss-"
"Mind-control serum," Tris replied, impatient to reach a destination of which Kazana had no idea. "None of them realize what they're doing, that's why we have to stop the simulation."
"You are a clever girl. Who I am is not important right now, I believe the real question at hand, is who you are."
A simulation. That is how they had controlled Max.
It had been an unwilling memory, a realization that could do her no credit. Months had passed in silence, what mattered now was stopping the murders.
Panic washed over as she thought of the others, the Factionless, surely if Abnegation were being wiped out then her people were faring no better.
"We have to get to the control room," Tris whispered urgently, dirty blonde hair clung sodden against her face as she jumped to her feet. A Dauntless soldier stood there ready and a heartbeat of silence fell as he pressed the gun's mouth in to her temple.
Kazana's body acted before her mind could comply, the metal rod swung viciously across the floor and a sickening crack was heard as fell back on his arm. Ripping the weapon away from his tremoring clutches, she began to move in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?!"
"There's something I have to do!" Kaz yelled.
Therein began her thoughtless ascent in to the Dauntless' armoury, whatever unknown deity which ensured light filled the gloomy caverns had fled. There was no time to light a torch, Kazana ran straight in to pitch black and prayed that muscle memory would save her now.
A slice of wind blew threw her hair, it sounded like a breathy sigh as she walked tentatively in the direction of Military Op and withdrew a creepy shiver. Even the powerful roar of the Chasm failed to penetrate these stone walls and it occurred to her then that one rarely ever heard absolute silence.
Shaking palms ran across roughened walls as she felt her way in to the furthest cave. Her body tensed as the scuffle of a boot sounded from the underside of the tank. Kazana dropped to the ground and held the gun steadily towards an unknown target.
"Show yourself!"
"Kaz?"
The voice was instantaneously recognizable, relief flooded through her at the sound.
"Lisa? How are you awake? How did you-"
"I don't know I was asleep and then everyone was suddenly up and getting dressed and Kaz they had this really weird look in their eyes like zombies or something and I just ran before anyone could see…I didn't know what to do I-"
Grappling at cement floors, her hand came to rest calmly on her friend's. They lay in tense quiet, palms clammy and trembling as the two girls held on to each other.
"We need to move, she grasped Lisa's wrist and pulled her out from beneath the monstrous vehicle.
"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Kazana asked over her shoulder as she began to pull frantically at the soft blocks lining the shelves.
"What? No! I work with cameras not tanks!"
"Well you're going to have to learn," she jumped on to the truck's wheel with familiar ease and revved the engine. A thunderous roar resonated off the walls as it came to life; blinding beams filled the cavern with light.
"Start filling the box, white blocks first, grenades then guns and for fuck sake whatever you do don't light a match!" Kaz ran from the drafty cave without another word, leaving a baffled friend behind.
Immersed in to darkness once more, her movements became progressively more delirious as she tore through haphazard materials. Delicate fingers slid carelessly over smooth blades and textured shells.
"No, No, No, N-AHA!" her hands wrapped firmly around a plastic barrel.
Renewed hope thrummed through her as Kazana emerged in to illuminated corridors, she omitted a frustrated groan however when realizing her mistake. A tranquiliser gun. Bloody useless.
"Divergent Rebel, drop your weapon!"
What the hell is a Divergent? Kaz targeted the voice and shot a single dart in to the perpetrator's neck. The older woman's eyes rolled dramatically in to her head before flumping to the floor. She looked down at her gun, awesome.
Every step was one long wide stride after another, on the very tip of her toes. A nervous habit that had culminated from years of fleeing, the entire look was effortlessly graceful but reduced speed by a vast amount. It did however, afford her a predatory silence.
The Pit was empty once more, Kazana wondered then at her decision to leave Tris at such a vital time. A crucial moment existed in which her eyes darted frantically from a solid, steel elevator and a long winding of stairs. One would be littered with guards; the other would lead to a littering of guards…both irresistible choices.
Satin waves had become damp and riddled with sweat, she cursed her choice to forego a hair tie.
Seconds passed in which Kaz hopped to and fro on her toes, akin to that of an athlete before a race, she wiped a stream of perspiration from her forehead and slipped the gun in to her jacket.
"Alright, okay, come on, come on," desperate attempts to gain a semblance of courage. It would have taken months to prepare for such a heinous attack and the security was bound to be near impenetrable. But every second wasted resulted in more unnecessary deaths, she flew in to the stairwell and pulverized the first guard with reckless abandon.
Initially, the shock factor was a sturdy ally, but the ascent up the stairs grew infinitely more difficult when she sent vicious knees in a soldier's nose and watched as 8 more appeared, armed and eyes narrowed at the top. 8 guns, all tense…and pointing at her face.
Appeal to the hunter, she turned on her heel and sprinted down the stairs, a cacophony of thudding boots made their chase and Kazana knew it was only a matter of time before they relied once more on their weapons.
On the very last step she bounded on to her toes and gripped tenaciously on to the railing above, so close behind were the soldiers that her imminent jump sent them flying in to one another. A wave of black went crashing to the floor and with liquid fire pulsing through her veins; she swung herself on to a higher step. Desperate to reach the top before they could regain their footing.
The Control Room was in her sights, teasingly close and all had seemed possible before a lithe figure jumped out from a sly alcove. Recognition was a sickly sensation as he wrenched her hair back mid-sprint; the momentum had her toppling to the floor with a pained outcry.
"I should have known it'd be you bitch, you just got too good, too fast," Solomon sneered as he forced her chin up with his gun. Outrage glittered in her onyx eyes when he kicked open the lapel of her jacket and threw the weapon aside.
He almost seemed to release an ecstatic moan when pressing the barrel deep in to her jugular.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
If there was to be an end, and of course, it was inevitable.
It would not come at the hands of Solomon.
One, he clicked off the safety and leered at her with an uneven smile.
Two, Somehow he had gotten close enough that she could feel his toxic breath on her face.
Three, he pulled back the trigger and she pulled out a kitchen knife.
It was over in moments. Kazana would never forget the moment the sharp blade pierced through the centre of his forehead like butter. Crimson sheets of blood splattered her face and neck, coated her pale hand in a wave of dark liquid.
The entire scene was terrifying, truly, disgustingly horrific. So traumatic a sight that one could not even react, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. It was the type of image that our brains, desperate to preserve the state of our mental health, tried frantically to erase.
She pushed the deadweight away with hands that trembled violently, the soldiers would be on her any moment and she just didn't care.
To kill, it had for years been her prerogative had it not?
No…no. Kaz knew better than that, she wasn't a murderer; it was never supposed to end that way.
Not even a twisted bastard like Solomon deserved such a macabre death.
An agonizingly exhausted crawl had her moving along the floor, red hand prints marred the slate surface until a shaking palm enclosed around the tranquilizer gun.
Her nose was filled with the raw rusty scent of freshly spilled blood, breaths choked out in hissed pants as she came to lie in a foetal position with the weapon hugged to her chest.
They would come any minute now, full, rhythmic steps that marched to the beat of her demise. She could hear it now, though they came in frenzied footfall, so eager to kill.
"Kazana?! Ka-" fingers grappled at her limp form, desperate motions moving down her body. A sigh of relief barely filtered through her consciousness.
"It's not yours, oh thank fuck the blood's not yours."
Her head lulled lazily to the side, eyes squinting ever so slightly in to distance. Blonde hair, platinum blonde like the pale sun.
"Mia?" she croaked confusedly.
Reality began to register through, a static transmission that made her sick to her stomach.
Literally, Kazana rolled on to her stomach and wretched acidic heaves. Flesh. Carve. Gore. End.
"Eurgh," she groaned through a bitter choke. Whispered apologies cut through the air, but he would never hear them.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry."
Awareness slid through her spine as a hand ran comforting strokes down her back. Kazana's throat felt feverishly sore as the surrealism set in.
"What are doing here?"
Squinting through sodden eyelashes, an equally familiar form sprinted along the corridor; and mild confusion took a dark turn.
"Cain!?"
"Come on we have to leave, more guards will be arriving any second," he wrenched her up, seemingly oblivious to the dark substance coating his hands.
"I can't! The simulation-wh-how are you here?!" a chaos of questions hung despairing on her tongue.
She planted her feet firmly to the ground as he tried in vain to drag her away.
"TELL ME WHA-"
Cain grasped her to him in a bear lock, clamping one hefty palm on to her mouth.
"SSHH! Damn it, sshh!" he hissed, jabbing a finger towards the Control Room.
Frustrated tears burned her eyes, threatening to create a searing trail through a canvas of red.
"We have to go," he muttered again.
"Wh-where's…where's Evelyn?"
The grip tightened around her shoulders, a fearful hold which served only to heighten her alarm.
Kazana ripped away from his grasp, chest heaving as she watched his pained eyes dart to the door behind.
"Where's Evelyn, Cain?"
Mia's voice answered for him, a timid murmur that had Kaz floored.
"She's already in there," Mia glanced anxiously at the entrance. "They all are, Evelyn…she's going to kill the faction leaders."
"No," she shook her violently, "No, she'd have told me. She'd have said, I've been part of this plan from the beginning, I'd have been told!"
"She was using you Kaz," Cain took a tentative step forward but she shoved away, "Evelyn needed you to get to Eric."
Her steely resolve broke as tears ran freely down her face, silent, agonized tears, but Kazana continued to shake her head.
"No," she whispered, "No."
Her guardian's words echoed through her mind as though they had been spoken mere hours before.
'When the time comes, I'm going to need you to help me make those changes.'
It had been a semblance of hope, for a brighter future, and a democracy in which nobody was thrown on to the streets like trash. All children could grow up without the filth and the hunger and the exhaustion.
But not like this, never like this.
Hissed protests fell upon deaf ears as Kazana stumbled over to the entrance of the Control Room, her entire body trembled as she pressed herself against the wall and peered in.
A screen… No. A multitude of screens, covered the breadth of one entire wall. Her vantage point afforded little more than a fleeting glimpse of soldiers marching in the city streets.
It was enough, she saw now the catastrophic damage that would ensue, and the clues which she had gathered over short months come together in an abhorrent outcome.
But worst of all, she realized, didn't see, no, because she always saw. She realized that the instigator of this unspeakable genocide was…
Was the man standing with an unforgiving mask before the screens, his hateful eyes bore deep in to an unseen opponent. Inked Muscular arms were pulled taut over his chest as the guards beside him wrestled with a struggling body.
A pair of cobalt heels was all she saw in the corner of her eye, out of view. Rich blue, prim yet authoritative.
"Lower your weapon," Eric spoke deceptively calm as he addressed the hidden form, "and he won't get hurt."
"Evelyn please! Just drop the gun! Please! That's my husband, I c-"
Kazana's eyes widened as she heard frantic murmurs, the pleading voice. There were more of them, any of them even. Evelyn had sent them to their execution.
"I'd rather see you dead," the older woman's voice hissed and she saw Eric's sharp intake of breath as he arched a brow at the soldier beside him.
Pained cries reverberated off the walls as a gun was shoved deep in to the factionless man's mouth, Eric's face almost alit with a smirk as he regarded the woman Kazana now knew was her former guardian.
"I'll ask you one more time," he snarled, "Drop. Your. Weapon."
And Kazana waited with bated breath, for the metallic thud that would have to ensue, the relenting sound of Evelyn's acceptance. It had to happen, because if it didn't an innocent man would die and there was no way that-
Her heart thrummed impossibly loud in her chest, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for the submission, she knew the man whose life was currently teetering on the edge of nothingness.
But no such sound came, Eric remained stoic still but his cold gaze flickered over to the waiting soldiers. An excruciating sob turned Kazana's blood cold as they pulled the trigger, and his skull exploded in to a chaos of flesh and brains.
Warm arms wrapped around her in what she knew was an attempt to comfort as Mia and Cain stood behind her, but all she could feel was rage.
This was a society of people, The Factionless made up over 15% of their population and they had looked to a leader. They had searched desperately for someone, someone to protect them.
Throwing caution to the wind she peered further in to the room, half hidden by shadows and saw now the woman who let them down. Evelyn stood rigid before a crowd of people, all clad in rags and holding on to weapons with shaky hands. Choking cries omitted from a lady further back, she rocked back and forth in her son's arms.
Eric stood parallel from the gun which was currently aimed at his forehead, a single shot and he would be done. Yet it didn't seem to bother him in the least, he simply looked on at the gaunt woman, lips curled in a half smile.
"So this is your leader?" he addressed the crowd, "this is the woman that will supposedly take you to victory? Somehow I expected more."
Kazana observed the doubtful faces of her people; she saw the pain that marred their features as their eyes alighted on the deceased body before them. Evelyn bristled at his words, her finger twitched on the trigger and she knew it would miss.
It would miss, and then Eric and his guards would murder them all. It would be easy for him, it already had been easy for him.
They had no chance.
At least not with Evelyn.
She did not tremble when lifting the gun in her hands, her body did not shake as she stood square on from the target. Kaz simply closed one eye, and fired a dart, straight in to the woman's neck.
Grappling hands tried to pull Kazana back, but it had come too far. Eric's eyes narrowed as he watched Evelyn's form collapse to the floor.
"She's not their leader Eric."
Every face turned then to regard the girl who came to face him centre on. Eyes shone, black as obsidian amidst a blood smattered face, her form was tall, tense and radiated control.
"I am."