The Erudite [Divergent]

Chapter 26

Dedicated to issymac and @other_worlds

Last Chapter before the epilogue.

*Cassie's Point of View

They're alive. My mom and dad, I mean. They're alive and ,as soon as this is all over, I'm going to find them again. We're going to be a family. My mom told me. I'm going to find my parents as soon as this is all over. You can count on it.

Surprisingly, my mom is Judith. The abnegation woman who administered my test? The woman who urged me to keep my divergent identity a secret? She's my mother. She rescued me from the place and told me the truth. She's not from abnegation. It was a disguise and she did all of it to protect me.We saw my dad too. He was looking at me in complete shock and awe. Like he was so glad I'm alive. Like I shouldn't be alive. Which is true. The fact that I'm alive right now is a miracle.

I've been through too much. And right now, I wish I was dead almost as much as Jeanine Matthews does. As I've recently learned, that's quite a lot. It's crazy that I got out of the place she was holding me in. But I did, and I've been beating up (and in some cases, almost killing) dauntless with whatever strength I have left, hoping I save at least one abnegation life.

I walk as quickly as I can towards the center of town with my friends. I just have to stop what I know is going on down there. I saw it on the computers at the building I was held in. The dauntless have tied up at least a dozen members of abnegation and are getting ready to fire their weapons. I would run there, but I'm not sure if my friends can run.

"Cassie, what happened to you?" Nevaeh asks quietly.

I know I should say something back but I honestly don't know. And we have other things to worry about. So I ignore her question and keep going.

"Are you okay?" Edward tries, putting a hand on my shoulder. Him and Nevaeh are worried about me,but for some reason this barely phases me. I don't stop moving.

I push it off, ignoring the stinging pain in my shoulder. Just keep moving. After I ignore him, everyone just sort of gives up on trying to talk to me. It's no use, at least for right now. I'm just so tired of all of this.

When we finally reach Town Square, it's exactly like I thought it would be; the selfless ones tied to poles while the "brave" ones hold guns pointed at them.

"What's our battle strategy?" Uriah asks, sticking a hand out just as we're about to turn the corner into the dauntless's line of sight. Slightly annoyed, I shove his arm out of the way and proceed to attack the dauntless. Attack first, question later. I'm tired of the waiting. The suspense has drove me past my breaking point.

I walk out to where they can see me and take out my own gun.(Don't ask where I got it.) I'm done with this nonsense. I'm finishing this. We've wasted enough time trying to reason with the hypnotized freaks. I'm aimed at the back of one of their heads when I'm pushed to the ground. In the struggle, I'm not sure who tackled me. But I'm suddenly more aware of what I'm about to do.

"Stop it, you're not like them!" Kaylie screams. I'm on my back and she sits on top of my stomach, forcing me down. "Wake up, Cassandra. Wake up! I'm not sure what they have on you or what happened but this isn't you. You don't kill people; you want to help people. You're the most selfless girl I've ever met. So stop it."

She takes the gun like she's scared I'll shoot her and considering my mental state right now I'm not entirely sure what I'd do. I might just shoot her. She might have the gun,but theres a lot of guns here. Surely I'll be able to find one. She's irritating me.