Chapter 9 Blood in the Water

From Andrasta's Perspective

I need to throw up. My head is spinning. I don't even know which way is up. I have to get a grip. Get a grip, Andrea! Andrea? What the fuck? You don't even know who you are anymore!

We had followed Evelyn to the factionless compound. Once there, we were given a tour. I remember having the impression that the whole thing had been carefully scripted and choreographed. There was a cavernous hospital. Max and Harrison were impressed, but they should have been scared. She had led us through its hallways, pointing out operating rooms and other facilities.

"How many of you are there?" I has asked.

"Fewer than a hundred." She had responded, immediately.

"But why do you need all these hospital beds, then?" I pressed.

"There are thousands of factionless, and we intend to care for them all. Somebody has to, now that the Abnegation are gone." She replied.

"But it must have taken you years to build this!"

At this, she had stopped and turned around to face me. "We've known what was coming for some time."

"How?"

To my annoyance, she had directed her answer to Max and Harrison instead. "Like I told you before, we have many former Erudite among our ranks."

I wouldn't let it go, though.

"From defectors? And you trust that information?"

She had seemed amused by my questions, rather than threatened. At the time, this had been oddly reassuring. I know better now.

"Yes, I do. We've been right so far, haven't we?"

This had silenced me, and the tour had continued.

It had been clear that there were things she wasn't showing us. I knew that even then. Max and Harrison had been convinced, though. They had planned the attack over food served inside an enormous hall. Evelyn had said that all of her people were willing to join the raid, but only about two dozen were well-trained and well-armed.

"We only want soldiers, we need to get in and out." Max had stated.

She had nodded, "I agree."

"We'll bring 50 Dauntless, and that should be more than enough."

Evelyn had produced schematics of Erudite, more detailed than anything I could have imagined. Max and Harrison made suggestions. All the while, though, it had been clear to me that she had already planned everything, but had been intentionally guiding Max in such a way as to make it appear to him as if he were in charge. It had worked. The plan was simple. She knew exactly where everything was, she just needed the manpower. But I had known things weren't right. Why hadn't I spoken up?

At the appointed time, the Dauntless had arrived at the agreed upon rally point. Evelyn had arrived shortly afterwards with her people. They were dressed in rags and poorly armed.

She had shrugged her shoulders coquettishly. "We could never have done this without you," she told Max. He had clearly enjoyed her gratitude.

"Shall we?" He asked.

At that, Evelyn's expression had changed, she had turned to signal her people, and we had started moving toward the Erudite headquarters. The key to a surgical strike is surprise. You want to be in and out before it even occurs to them to shoot back. Fewer people get hurt on both sides. So we Dauntless had charged right through the main entrance of the Erudite building. They were not expecting us. I'm still not sure what made me look backward when I did, but what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

Pouring through the doorway after us were several hundred armed soldiers. They were at least as well armed as us, and they were wearing Dauntless uniforms. But they were not Dauntless.

"Max!" I shouted, jerking my head backwards to alert him.

His mouth had dropped open, and I could almost see the realization spreading over his features. We had been window dressing.

"We need to get our people out of here!" I yelled.

"OK, but I want Eric!"

"Have Harrison take them back, I'll stay with you and find him."

"Agreed."

Max had given the signal, and we had ducked into an alcove to plan the extraction. The maps Evelyn had given us were confusing, and looked nothing like the hallways around us.

"She gave us phony maps."

"Yup." Had been my only response. There would be time later for blame.

"Does your radio still work?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. We'll split up. It'll take both of us – wait for me if you find him first, OK? I want him alive."

"Got it."

With that, we had taken off in opposite directions. The Erudite headquarters was huge and the architecture was so unlike anything I was used to. The elevators had been shut down, and the hallways and stairwells were full of Erudite, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"You're under attack!" I had shouted. "Get out of the building!"

I could tell they didn't understand, and I didn't have time to explain. We had to find Eric before Evelyn did.

I ran up and down countless hallways, they all looked the same. In some places, it was clear the factionless had gotten there first. Blue-clad bodies – men, women, and children, lay on the floor like so many puddles of water. I pushed on for what seemed like hours, but was probably was not. I'll never forget the screams. They echoed throughout the massive glass and metal structure, bouncing off the walls and creating a nightmarish cacophony.

Finally I heard Max on the radio.

"I think I found him."

"Where are you?"

"The 30th floor. Find the swimming pool, then head down the west-facing corridor."

The swimming pool?

"I'm on my way."

I made my way there quickly but carefully, trying to avoid the factionless as well as the Erudite. I couldn't help them. I was worried about finding the pool, but I shouldn't have been. Once I was on the 30th floor, I could almost smell the water, though it was an unfamiliar scent. I followed it and the feeling of humidity on my skin.

Suddenly the corridor widened into the largest room I'd ever seen. I recognized a new smell, now – sharp and metallic. This one, too, I recognized. I looked down slowly, knowing what I would see, but hoping still that I wouldn't. The pool was full of swimmers. The water was stained red where the factionless had gunned them down. It was horrifying, yet still, the thought rose unbidden to my mind. Serves them right.

Max jumped as I approached him.

"You saw the pool?"

"Yup." There was nothing else to say.

Max gestured toward the small window in the door. "He's in there."

"How did you find him?"

"I found one of the Erudite guards."

"Why is he in a cell? I thought he was one of them?"

"Do you trust him? Jeanine's not stupid."

"Alright. On three?"

We counted silently together, then kicked the door in. It almost seemed as though he had been waiting for us. I wondered why he hadn't tried to escape with the others, but then realized, where would he go? He slowly raised his arms into the air.

"Max, thank God!"

"Shut up, Eric. We know what you did."

Eric's eyes shifted quickly between me, Max, and our weapons.

"I can explain."

"Oh, you'll explain, back at Dauntless headquarters." I hissed.

Max kept his gun trained on Eric as I reached into my pack for restraints. I moved toward him slowly, preparing to take his wrists. Suddenly, he lunged forward, grabbing the knife from my boot. I jumped back, but quickly realized I wasn't his intended target. He began to raise the blade to his throat, but then winced, unable to lift his arm further. At that moment, his attention briefly diverted, Max swiftly kicked the knife from his hand. All three of us watched, breath held, as it skidded into the corner.

"You're not taking me alive!" shouted Eric, defiantly.

I glanced back at Max, and he nodded. The butt of my rifle made a satisfying 'thunk' against the side of Eric's head, and he slumped forward. I set about tying his wrists and tossed another set of restraints to Max for his ankles.

"Search all of his pockets. I don't want any more surprises."

Max took ahold of his ankles, and I grabbed him under his shoulders. He was heavy.

"They've certainly fed him well. Is it really worth the trouble?" I asked Max.

"He's the only proof we'll have that the attack on Abnegation was Jeanine's doing."

For once, Max was right about Eric. I sighed and

We made our way back through the hallway and down the stairwell as quickly as possible. After thirty floors, managing Eric's dead weight between us, we were exhausted and shaking. We just had to make it out the door, and then we'd have the cover of darkness. I opened the door carefully, and peered slowly main entranceway. It was full of bodies, but there was no sign of the Factionless. There work was done, it seemed.

The Dauntless were gone as well. I hoped they'd made it back to headquarters. There was nothing left to do except to hoist Eric's still-unconscious body onto the next train. Once inside, I leaned against the side of the train car for support. My legs were weak from the effort of carrying Eric, but it was more than that. Only then did I realize what was happening. It was all falling apart. My entire world. I'd felt this only once before. It was the last time anyone ever called me Andrea.

A/N This chapter, too, was a long time coming and I apologize. I've been through quite a bit in the last year. It's resolved now, but I'm trying to make sense of it. Maybe some of it will find its way into these books. Not every part of these books has unfolded the way I had planned, but I knew the day I wrote the first swimming pool scene that it would one day be filled with blood. Revolution is an inevitable consequence of oppression. The final bit of the next chapter (which you might see as soon as tomorrow!) was also another scene that I planned from the beginning. I hope you like it!