Thank you for the reviews. Whew, Chile, Listen, I ain't ever writing another cannon story so y'all gonna get every thought and storyline I got for these characters, and if it's 100 chapters that's what it's gone be! But...It won't be, I'm trying to wrap this one up soon cause ya girl is TIRED but I'm going to finish this story come hell or high water! I also want to send a big Thank you to my partner in crime and ride or die, lexinthecity for letting me bounce ideas on how to shape up this chapter and whine and cry as I obsessed over details no one has noticed! Love Y'all!
The blizzard swirled around Chicago burying it in snow and shutting the factions off from each other. It takes a few weeks for the snow to start to melt. Marlene rolls over stretching. She smiles as she looks over at Caleb who is sound asleep still. They had grown closer with the storm, spending most of their time in bed, making love, asking each other questions, and different scenarios to create a pretend world where they could be themselves.
"Caleb, Marlene…Come in" Marlene hears the radio they kept on the nightstand crackle. She sits up with a start pulling the sheet over her naked body. She grabs the radio quickly and then shakes Caleb.
"Elena? What's wrong?" She asks even though she knows what the call was about. She'd fooled herself that this little bubble she and Caleb were in could last longer.
Caleb grunts as he wakes up feeling Marlene shake him. He rubs his eyes and sits up quickly when he realizes what's happening.
"It's starting, Stephan just left" Marlene could hear the nervousness in her voice over the radio.
"Shit" Marlene curses as Caleb quickly gets up and pulls their go-bag out from under the bed.
"Okay, time to follow the plan"
"I'm heading to Safe House 3 now with the kids," Elena confirms.
"Please be careful," Marlene pleads. Caleb and Stephan pinpointed the closest bunker to them for Elena to head to first since she had to take Emilia and Grayson. Caleb's was the furthest out.
"You too," Elena relays.
Marlene immediately changes the channel and calls Natalie.
"Natalie, Max, Come In," She says as she looks over at Caleb who is pulling on a pair of black jeans.
"Marlene, Is everything okay?" Natalie replies.
"It's starting…" That is all she says.
"Okay, Max will be there as soon as he can with reinforcements, Call me when you reach the safe house"
"Will do" Marlene says as she gets up and quickly starts to get dressed with her Dauntless clothing Caleb had pulled out of the bag.
"How much time do you think we have?" She asks as they dress quickly and Caleb sits on the bed to lace up his black boots.
"Not long, maybe 30 minutes or less"
"And how long before Dauntless can get here?" She blows out a breath as she quickly pulls a black sweater on and then reaches for a hair tie to pull up her hair.
"At least 45 minutes," Caleb confirms.
The two are downstairs with their backpacks on and weapons in 10 minutes. They added yellow armbands that the Dauntless coming to help would wear so they weren't mistaken for anyone trying to pose as Dauntless. Before Caleb opens the back door he stops and pulls Marlene into a hug and then kisses her fiercely.
"I love you, no matter what happens, you are the best thing that has happened to me. don't forget that, be careful," he tells her.
"I love you too, so much" She kisses him quickly again. They divided Abnegation into three sections until support from Dauntless could arrive.
Caleb turns the gun in his hand and slips out the backdoor. Marlene blows out a breath, waiting a few minutes, and then takes off in the opposite direction sticking to the back of the buildings. The sun was coming up now, and there was still snow on the ground that crunched beneath her feet even though most of it was slush.
"What in the world, Marlene, is that you? Why are you dressed like a Dauntless?" Eliza Marshall gasps, squinting as she steps out of her back door in her housecoat setting out her trash.
"Eliza I need you to come with me, there's an attack coming," Marlene tells her quietly not taking her hand off her gun"
"Attack, what are you talking about?" Before Eliza can finish her sentence the sound of popping in the distance and screams.
"Oh my Lord"
"Go grab your coat, and put some shoes on quickly. Stay calm and follow me, Come back out the back door, I'm going to get Josiah and his family from next door"
Eliza nods and does as she's told. Quickly, Marlene amassed a small group of people from their street while they heard the sounds of gunfire and screams from other streets. When they reach the dormitories, Marlene opens the back door, ushers everyone in, and orders them to keep quiet and hide in the back.
"Ms. Haskins" she calls out, moving quickly towards the front of the building and crouching down. She stops at the sound of breaking glass and a scuffle and hears a gunshot.
She races to the front and finds two men standing, looking down at Ms. Haskins.
"Dauntless?" One asks, raising his gun, before he can get off as shot, Marlene quickly fires on both of them and their bodies drop to the floor.
Marlene quickly drops to her knees to help Ms. Haskins. She had been the kindest person outside of Caleb, who had welcomed her to Abnegation and guided her throughout initiation.
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Haskins I'm going to get you out of here, just hang on. I have a safe place to take you" Marlene tells her, biting her lip as she places her hand on the gunshot wound in the older woman's abdomen. She had no idea how she was going to get her out but looking at the puddle of blood on the floor it didn't look good.
"I know you are Dauntless, no matter how hard you try to hide it" Ms. Haskins wheezes.
"Shhhh, Don't talk…" Marlene whispers, applying pressure to the wound as tears spill from her eyes.
"I'm old, save the others, I know you will protect them" She gasps with her last breath. Marlene gently closes the old woman's eyes and says a quick prayer for her.
Marlene shakes the sadness off of her, letting out a shaky breath. This was madness. She peeks out the window and sees a group of factionless soldiers moving down the street. She gasps as they come upon an Abnegation man who looks to be asking a question and punches him in the face. One of the men shoots him and Marlene dunks down again moving to the back of the building.
"Ms. Haskins didn't make it," she tells the group who bow their heads in respect. A few quiet sobs come from a few of the women.
"We need to stay here and be quiet for a minute and then we will move quickly and quietly. If we get separated, go to Monroe and State. Knock three times, pause, knock twice, pause, and then once. Understand?" She asks the group. "I'm going to try and find more people and I'll be back soon"
"Thank you, Marlene," Elias Montgomery tells her.
She slips out the back and moves quickly to the next row of houses. She wonders where Caleb is but she stays focused on her task. She stops when she sees a group kick in a door in a house across the street.
"This looks like a nice place to set up shop." One man yells and the others laugh. "Yeah, it's been too long since I lived in a proper house"
Marlene quickly moved to the back door and stepped inside to find Susan Black and her mother huddled in the kitchen.
"Marlene?" Susan asks.
"Yes, Come with me, quickly and quietly, I'm going to take you to a safe place where other people are hiding," Marlene instructs in a no-nonsense tone.
While her mother nods, Susan shakes her head.
"You're dressed like a Dauntless, you never wanted to be in Abnegation, Caleb believed all your lies," Susan says frantically.
"Susan!" Her mother gasps.
Marlene lets out a frustrated breath before speaking. "We don't have time for this, we need to go now"
"No, I don't believe you, you're probably helping them. Caleb changed because of you, you probably transferred to spy on us." Susan stubbornly says.
"Ms. Black, Please, I need you to believe me" Marlene begs. Before she can respond Susan gets up and runs out into the living room. She looks back for a moment and then opens the door but a tall man, with an Erudite blue t-shirt and black pants stands there blocking her path.
"You don't have to do this, we help clothe and feed you" Susan stammers as she visibly shakes.
The man backhands Susan causing her to stumble backwards. Marlene quickly lifts her gun and fires. Susan screams but doesn't move to run. And bullets start to fly toward the house. Two strike Susan in the chest and she slumps against the wall, sliding down, a trail of blood left on the wall.
Marlene grabs Ms. Black and they run out the back door, hiding behind another building. Ms. Black doesn't say a word, tears falling down her cheeks. They find three other people hiding on the way back to the dormitory.
After about 10 minutes, Marlene starts moving the group three or four at a time out. There were four small children and everyone was doing their best to keep quiet. They made progress but got stopped two streets over from the safe house.
Marlene quickly reloads her weapon.
"Do any of you know how to shoot?" she asks and everyone shakes her head. She needed someone else who knew how to fire a gun with her right now to get them out of this situation. It was cold, she could see the children shivering.
"Elias, I'm going to lead them away from the group, can you get everyone inside the bunker?"
"No, I will be the distraction," he says and bows his head. Marlene knows he is trying to sacrifice himself as she looks back at the group. She could at least defend herself. Elias was dead if she let him go.
Just then, yells come from the group, and shooting follows. "Dauntless, someone yells" Marlene looks up at the sky and whispers "Thank you God" She had never been one for religion and still struggled with connecting with it even after sitting in services twice a week in Abnegation but right now, she felt there had to be a higher power looking after them.
The three men fall quickly and she can't believe her eyes at who comes into view.
"Uriah!" She yells happily running to him. He pulls her into a tight hug.
"God it's good to see you," he tells her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I have a group of about 20 that I need to get inside the safe house," she tells him looking around.
"Go, I'll cover you," He tells her with a smile.
She runs back to the corner and motions for everyone to follow her.
"Hey, Black's really is your color!" Uriah yells after her.
Marlene lets out a laugh and shakes her head, after all of the horrors she had seen that day, Uriah making her laugh was the medicine she needed.
Caleb moves quickly through his section, he can tell the Factionless are ruthless, not caring about the Abnegation, killing many of the men they encountered and sometimes women. It burned him to the core. No matter how cruel the city had been to them, the Abnegation had always cared for them and they had no respect. He does notice some of them seem mindless, with blank looks, their faces void of emotion. He reasons they must be injected with the serum.
He starts at James Rowell and his family, moving them quietly and gathering two more families.
"Caleb, why is this happening? How did you know it was coming?" James asks and they sit and wait for an opportunity to move.
"We don't have time right now, I'll explain later" Caleb whispers. They both cringe a little at the sound of another scream and gunfire.
Caleb hears Harrison and Amar in his mind.
"They won't hesitate to kill you Caleb, I know you're Abnegation, but if you want to survive, you're going to have to be prepared to use your weapon"
He and Marlene had talked about it once, it scared him and made him nervous but he thought of his wife, he would do anything to protect her.
"Let's go" Caleb instructs and the group moves quickly, with Caleb watching their backs. An elderly woman has a hard time keeping up, two of the other men in the group help her.
"Trying to escape, well we can't have that '' A voice calls. Caleb turns and fires quickly, he hears the man hit the ground but doesn't look, he just keeps moving.
His safe house was the furthest out so he kept the group going, taking out three more factionless soldiers before arriving.
"Stay here, the only people you should let in will knock three times, pause, knock twice, pause, and then once. Do you understand?" He asks James Rowell.
James nods as Caleb quickly reloads his weapon.
"Where are you going?" Simon Thompson asks.
"To get more people," He tells them without further explanation.
"We should go with you…" James chimes in.
"No.." Caleb says forcefully. He had anticipated this would happen but they didn't know how to defend themselves, it would just add to people that needed saving.
"Dauntless is sending reinforcements, stay here and look after everyone that comes"
He sets out again. He hoped Stephan and Marlene were okay. He can hear gunfire. Caleb runs as he approaches the backside of Abnegation to take cover behind a house and sees a group of about 5 women, two with small children running toward him.
"Come on, he says waving them" It's not long before he's crouched at the end of the Factionless section in a shoot out trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this. The women cry, clutching the children to their chests. He takes a deep breath, he had to think of something. There are startled cries when a noise comes from behind him.
"Looks like you could use some help" Amar calls with Tobias close behind him.
"I don't think I have ever been more happy to see either of you in my life" Caleb laughs as Amar grins.
"Go take this group, we go this" Tobias tells him.
Caleb gets the new group settled when the knock pattern comes on the door signaling someone friendly was outside. He carefully opens the door to find Tobias and Amar with another group that they encountered fleeing.
"How bad is it out there?" Caleb asks, handing a bottle of water to a young woman.
"Pretty bad, but we've set up a perimeter not far from here, but we can't hold them back for too long. We need to move quickly so we can try to move some folks to Dauntless. We don't want to get trapped here"
Caleb nods in understanding. He wanted to know if his wife was okay but as Tobias and Amar reloaded, he knew there wasn't time. There were still two more streets in his section that needed to be swept. Tobias greets a few older men that he knows and gives instructions.
"Ready?" Amar asks and Caleb nods.
Caleb takes a small step and hears the snow crunch and then stops. He'd led about 10 people to a hiding place at the back of the distribution center while he went to look for more people. The next house on the street is Marcus and Andrew's. He is battling with himself but shakes his head and goes in. Did he try to help them? He quickly enters the back door and finds Marcus and Andrew arguing in Marcus' living room.
"Caleb?" What are you doing dressed like that?" Andrew asks with a gasp.
"Saving people, from the attack you didn't believe was coming. If you want my help, come on, if not, I'm moving on" Caleb tells them simply.
"We will follow you," Marcus tells him.
Caleb nods, and motions to the door but the door is kicked in.
"Marcus Eaton, we've been looking for you, Your wife would like a word with you." A stocky man with a gun grins, followed by two others. They quickly grab him.
"Unhand me" he demands as he struggles with them. He's given a blow to the head with the end of a rifle that puts a gash across his forehead and knocks him out cold.
"What about these two?" One of the men asks. "We don't need them"
Caleb throws two punches, catching the man off guard as he wasn't expecting Caleb to put up a fight. They intended to kill them, he needed to move fast and hide. He looks back at Andrew who was cowering in the corner. He takes a deep breath, he was on his own to get them out of this situation.
"So you're married to my cousin?" Uriah says leaning against the wall as Marlene paces nervously in front of him. The space was large, but with almost 50 people crammed inside, it was tight but Marlene was grateful she and Uriah were able to save so many people. It had been a full day since they had been hiding out in one of the safe houses. Marlene was going a bit stir-crazy, mostly because they hadn't heard from Caleb. The idle chit-chat with Uriah was helping to keep her somewhat calm. s
"Yeah, it happened fast but I'm really happy, I didn't think I could be this happy," She tells him honestly as she wipes her hands on her pants. She hadn't heard if Caleb was okay and she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life.
"Then I'm happy for you," Uriah tells her with a smile.
"What about you? You meet anybody new? Or are you still messing with that redhead, what was her name? Brandy?"
Uriah chuckles, and his smile fades when he thinks of Christina. They hadn't spoken since their blow-up in the cafeteria. Uriah had taken time during the snowstorm to spend time with Natalie, who he loved. He even spent time with Zeke and Tori. He could tell his brother was the happiest and best self now, and he wanted to find that for himself.
"No, I was seeing someone else, a transfer from our initiation class but it's complicated…"
Marlene raises her eyebrow expecting an explanation. After she and Uriah decided to be friends after a year of dating, she appreciated that they were still friends and could talk like this.
"Sparrow, Come in" Max calls over the radio.
"Go for Uriah,"
"We are moving, Safe Houses 1 and 2 are on the move now. Be prepared to move soon" Max relays.
"Copy that Eagle" Uriah calls back and immediately springs into action mode.
Everyone moved quickly and quietly and Marlene was shocked that there was no fire, but it seemed that Dauntless created a diversion to allow the Abnegation survivors to slip out unnoticed in large trucks.
"Where's Caleb?" Marlene asks, her heart quickening as she stands with the Dauntless leaders left behind, including Stephan.
"We haven't been able to find him," Amar tells her.
"It's okay, take a deep breath" Uriah comforts her, placing a hand on her shoulder as she notices tears well up in her eyes.
"Is he?" She can't even finish the statement. He couldn't be, she refused to believe that.
"We don't know, but we are going to do one more sweep to see if he could be hiding or captured," Max tells her. He couldn't come home without Caleb. He didn't want to think about what this would do to Natalie or Tris. He would do whatever he could to bring Caleb back to Dauntless.
"Zeke, I want you to go back to Dauntless with Marlene…' Max starts
"No…" Marlene says forcefully.
"Marlene, we need to focus…" Amar tries to reason softly.
"I am not leaving here without my husband, I am coming with you," She says again standing tall.
"Let her come, she's tough," Zeke says, pulling his rifle strap over his shoulder.
"Yeah, she can stick with me" Uriah consigns as he passes Marlene a rifle.
Max nods in agreement. "Four you are going to take point since you know this section"
"Amar and I swept this section with Caleb yesterday, he was going back for one last sweep for any Abnegation still left and that's when we lost contact. Let's start from this side, and sweep fast. Stephan, you take a crew east since you know this area of the factionless section well"
"I don't think he would have risked going deeper into the factionless section if he didn't have to and he doesn't know very many areas outside of where Natalie lived" Stephan reasons. "So we should stick to the outskirts between Safe House 3 and here.
"Amar, Zeke, with me, and Four, Harrison, Uriah, Marlene, you three with Stephan" Max orders. "Let's move out"
Tobias pulls his black beanie down over his ears and adjusts his gloves. It was still freezing, as the first rays of daylight started to shine and his team kept to the shadows.
"Where would he hide, if he needed to, it looks like they have taken all of the houses for themselves" Max comments.
Tobias thinks for a moment about everything they know. "The chapel, there's a back room, this way"
This section of Abnegation seemed to be quiet as the Factionless soldiers following the diversion set up away from the safe houses and the search team used that to their advantage.
"Amar keep watch," Tobias says as he pushes open the back door of the chapel that is ajar. He points two fingers to the right and Max, and Zeke keep their weapons drawn and move slowly crouching down.
Max hears a noise and moves to the back of the room where he's met with the barrel of a gun.
"Max? Tobias?" Caleb asks, his voice shaking a bit as he registers who's in front of him with a gun drawn as well.
"Glad we found you, you're safe now," Max tells him, lowering his weapon as his eyes scan the room. He had a gash across his head and he gripped his side.
"I had to hide out, my radio was damaged, and…" His eyes move to the corner of the room where Andrew sits on the floor leaning against the wall.
"What happened?" Tobias asks, coming into the room.
"They took Marcus, they wanted to kill us. I fought our way out but Andrew took the butt of the gun to the side. I'm pretty sure he has two broken ribs. I got us here and patched him up as best I could, I couldn't carry him without being seen."
Max takes a deep breath, saving Caleb was one thing, but Andrew was a different story. Zeke looked at his uncle and knew exactly what he was thinking.
"I should leave you here to rot for everything you've done to Natalie, Tris, and Caleb" Max snarls as he picks Andrew up by the shirt. "We know Nat's alive and I have my daughter, you pathetic piece of shit"
"You can't live with the fact that I won. I got the best of you" Andrew spits back. "You should be thanking me for raising that bastard child of yours"
Max drops his shirt and quickly grabs him by the throat.
"Don't you dare let another word about my daughter or Natalie come out of your mouth...You think I don't know all that you've done, You're pathetic. And after everything you did, you still couldn't keep us apart" Max snaps as Andrew claws at his hand.
"Now is not the time Max" Amar pleads placing a hand on his shoulder. Max growls but lets Andrew go. He stumbles back coughing and glaring at Max.
"That whore deserved everything she got" Andrew replies with a cold look in his eyes.
"Don't talk about my mother that way" Caleb says now angry. He risked everything to save Andrew, and now he realizes that he had no reason or obligation to him. "I thought I owed you something for raising me, but Max is right, you're pathetic"
"I should have thrown you out on the street with her, you're no son of mine to begin with. Look at you pretending to be Dauntless..." Andrew antagonizes them. He hated the smug look on Max's face.
Max has had enough and punches Andrew square in the face and the stomach, Zeke and Tobias quickly pull him back.
"Nat and I have everything you thought you took from us, Caleb and Tris will have all the love you never gave them and you have nothing, you'll never have anything of value..." Max says looking down at Andrew.
"Let's just all focus on getting out of here alive," Zeke tells everyone looking at Max and then over to Andrew.
The group sets up, with Andrew sticking close to Caleb. Zeke radios Uriah and Marlene to tell them they have Caleb. They reach the edge of the perimeter Dauntless had set up when they hear gunshots, signaling the Factionless have spotted them.
"Go" Amar yells as he turns around to return fire. Zeke turns and joins him.
They take out two of the shooters but there is yelling and Zeke and Amar turn to make a run for it as more Factionless soldiers start to run toward them from Abnegation. Andrew grips his side, the pain of the broken ribs slowing him down. He wasn't as athletic as the Dauntless and Caleb and fell slightly behind. Caleb turns to run back to help him just as Andrew is struck by one of the bullets in the back. He falls dead at Caleb's feet.
"Keep moving" Max yells at Caleb who was looking at Andrew's body.
They continue to run and reach an alley for cover. Two dauntless trucks pull up and screech to a halt in front of them with Uriah driving one and Stephan driving the other.
"Get in!" Uriah yells. Marlene and Harrison fire at the soldiers coming after them, while the rest of the group plies in the two vehicles. It's a blur as the cars race off towards Dauntless.
"Oh My God" Marlene sobs as she kisses Caleb furiously in the backseat of the vehicle as Amar sits in the front passenger seat. "Baby, I was so scared"
"I know, I'm here now," He says looking at her for a moment before she launches herself into his arms kissing him again.
"Nice to finally meet you Cousin" Uriah grins looking in the rearview mirror.
"Glad to meet you too" Caleb gets out between kisses with a laugh.
Amar looks in the passenger side mirror, he sees Andrew's lifeless body lying in the street, all alone.