To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 40 (Eric's POV)

I wake in the morning in Amar and George's spare room.  The sheets are a disaster and our things are tossed everywhere.  Smirking, I kiss Hosanna's temple. I don't know why I love starting a day like this. She moves slightly in my arms, holding me tighter. Burying her face deeper toward my neck, she sighs. 
"Are you awake?" Hosanna whispers toward my ear. 
"Yeah," I say. 
She groans, "I really want more time with you this morning but..."  She's interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Hey, your meeting is in an hour," Amar shouts through the door.
"...but we should probably get up and get ready for the day," my wife finishes as she lifts her face to mine.
"Yeah," I agree.  I kiss her lips gently.  "We should get up."  I look her over and contemplate staying in bed all day but I detach from her and stand.  I have to get to this meeting out of necessity.  I thought I'd be more nervous than I am, but I'm not. I'm actually quite calm. I'm just anticipating the discussion we're going to have.  I expected that I'd be dreading it but in reality, I'm looking forward to getting this over with.  I'm going to tell him that I'm no threat to him, my wife, or her people. 
We get ready together.  Amar offers to loan me some of his clothes since we're about the same size but Hosanna already has a small wardrobe here.  He tries to give me some of a different color, but I just look at him oddly.  He laughs and says he doesn't like to wear them either—that he still prefers black.  I guess they wear whatever color they want here but I don't know if I could ever do that.  I did wear blue again recently but it was all I had at the time.  I put on the clothes along with my leadership vest and boots before we walk into the kitchen. 
We join George and Amar for a quick breakfast before we're off to the main compound.  Amar is escorting us to David's office while George heads for work patrolling at their fence.  We arrive at the building and I grudgingly check my firearms with the security guard at the checkpoint again.  We quickly walk quite a distance through the massive building.
I notice people wearing all sorts of different colors—some that I haven't seen before in clothing form—and it looks odd, like there is no meaning behind the colors they wear.  There are quite a few people wearing navy blue or light green jumpsuits though.  I'll have to ask the significance of those later but as I see a few passing by, I notice some in green cleaning the building.  Some in navy are working in labs... I think I've got it figured out. 
Everyone we pass stares at Hosanna and me. It's not unusual for us but these looks are not of fear or friendship, or even admiration for that matter.  They seem to be in awe, as if we're like living idols stepping into their world. It's actually kind of strange... so many people have shocked expressions on their faces, calling out our names, waving, and congratulating us. I maintain my typical straight face dismissively, while my wife smiles and acknowledges just about everyone we pass.
We walk over to a series of white hallways on the other side of the compound. I look to my watch to see that it's almost time.  As we round a corner, there is a receptionist's desk at the end of the hallway behind a glass wall.  The glass door is opened in the center of that wall. There are two rows of chairs on either side of the white walls when we step in.  It's very similar to our set up before the fear simulations except our walls are stone, not drywall. Just behind her desk, there are two extremely large guards stationed outside a door. They're comparable in size to some of the men in our fighting league in Dauntless, probably more like the largest whose name escapes me at the moment but I've seen him before and he's practically a giant. They look like they'd definitely be a challenge for me if I had to fight them and I realize that must be David's office they're guarding. I wonder what they feed everyone outside of the fence if people here can grow to be that large because men that size are very few and far between in Dauntless...
Amar walks us up to the desk. "Eric Franklin has a meeting scheduled with David," he informs her. The woman behind the desk nods her head and excuses herself, walking through the door to David's office. I look down to her desk for a moment. The nameplate reads: 'Ms. Hillary Michaels, Executive Administrative Assistant to Mr. David Sullivan, Head of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.'
I maintain my current stance as I wait, head held high, hands clasped behind my back. I don't step from foot to foot like my wife does. It's clear to me that she's quite nervous. I reach out and take her hand when she doesn't stop. She turns to me with the most devastated look that I think I've ever seen on her face. "It'll be alright," I tell her comfortingly. She nods her head but doesn't look at all relived. I pull her to me and hold her while we wait, kissing her head and rubbing her back. She sighs with a slight hiccup as if she were crying. She rests her head on my chest and I continue to hold her for a moment. The door opens up and Ms. Michaels steps out.
"David will see you now," she announces.
I step forward, my wife clinging to my hand. I look back and Amar is seated just beyond the receptionist's desk. I guess he's not joining us.
"Hosanna, sweetheart. It's so good to see you," the man, David, says as we enter the doorway. He reaches forward and hugs my wife. She looks like she's trembling, though. 
"It's okay," he reassures her.  "I just want to speak with him.  Can you excuse us for a moment?"
She frowns and looks like tears are pooling in her eyes.  "You threatened him, when he didn't do anything wrong and you want me to leave him alone with you?" she says slowly getting her voice back, raising in intonation and anger with every word. 
He sighs and steps back.  "I promise we're just going to talk for a bit.  We'll just talk, that's all.  I won't hurt him," he explains in a soothing tone. 
She reluctantly nods her head and looks to me.  She moves to me quickly and holds me tightly.  "I love you," she says squeezing tighter. 
"I love you, too, Hosanna," I respond. 
She steps away slowly and exits the office.  The two guards enter the room and shut the door behind them. 
"Eric, it's nice to finally meet you," David says to me as he reaches out to shake my hand.  I notice he has blonde hair that's starting to grey at the temples and a kind face—which may or may not be deceiving.  He looks slightly older than Hosanna's father, a few wrinkles appearing around his eyes, forehead, and mouth. 
"The pleasure is all mine," I tell him gripping his hand firmly. 
"Have a seat and we'll get down to business," David offers gesturing to the brown leather chairs across from his desk.  He walks away and takes a seat in the matching chair behind his desk.  I sit in the seat offered and lean back.  The chair is quite finely made, comfortable even—which is very misleading compared to the situation I'm in.  I'm not exactly nervous but more on edge than I was hoping to be for this conversation. 
"Let's get to the point, shall we?  I have several questions that I would like to ask you but I don't know if you're intending to be honest with me," he says gesturing to the box in front of him on the desk. 
"Truth serum?" I ask. 
He nods.  "It's more potent than what you're familiar with inside the fence but it is quite similar," he explains. 
I laugh.  "I actually was hoping for this," I tell him. David looks at me confused.  "So you have no doubt whatsoever of my loyalties," I respond to his unasked question. 
"Good, then we don't need to hold you down," he replies lightheartedly.   
I chortle.  He's my kind of leader.  I sit still as one of the guards wipes my neck with alcohol.  I can smell it, stinging my senses.  "I'm surprised you go to such trouble," I say as the other guard reaches for the syringe. 
"Your wife would kill me if you get an infection," David smirks at me. 
The second guard comes closer to inject me with the serum.  I catch a glimpse of it.  It's not grey but it's not white either.  It's like a pastel, transparent green—nothing like the serums I'm familiar with.  As he inserts it into my neck, I immediately start to feel dizzy and sounds start to become louder, echoing in my head.  David leans back in his chair folding his hands in front of himself at his desk. 
'The sensation is similar to that of being drunk and hungover at the same time,' I think. 
"It has been described as feeling like that," David says. 
"Did I say that aloud?" I ask.
"Yes, that is a response to the serum.  It's called honesty serum, or thought serum.  Anything you think or feel will come pouring out of your mouth as well as any answers to questions I ask," he explains.
"Huh.  That would be good to have in Dauntless for interrogations," I say.
"You already have some in your vault," David replies.
"Can you tell us what the others are?" I ask.
"I could... but that will depend entirely on how this interrogation goes," he responds.
"Well, I'm here for a reason, so ask away," I tell him. 
David smiles a genuine smile.  "Alright.  Where do your loyalties lie?" he questions.
"With my wife first of all.  Then my sister, my faction, the city..." I say. 
He nods.  "So what do you think about Jeanine Matthews?"
I laugh.  "Do we have that much time?" I ask.
"The short version," he insists. 
"She's a crazy witch who I'm afraid will murder or torture my wife if she finds out what she is.  She already looks like she dislikes her now because she's a Christian.  I loathe that she threatens to harm my baby sister if I don't do what she says and I believe she murdered my parents," I respond.
"We'll have to get back to part of that later," he says.
"Which part?" I ask.
He smiles and continues on, "Have you ever killed anyone for Jeanine?"
"No.  I was going to hand Kyle over but he jumped into the Chasm instead," I say.
"Would you have killed him?" David asks.
"Probably not.  I'll admit I struggled just having to execute Jacob.  He actually did so many terrible things but it was a fight with myself just to pull the trigger.  I know I couldn't have killed Kyle.  I was surprised that he jumped.  I wasn't expecting that.  Had he fought me, I probably would have knocked him out and taken him to Jeanine," I tell him.
"Have you ever handed anyone over to Jeanine?" he questions.
"No," I reply quickly.
"What do you plan to do with the next Divergent you find or she assigns you?" he inquires.
"I was hoping my wife and I could get them to you, like what happened with Amar," I say.
"Perhaps you can be of use to us then. Do you know what Jeanine does with the Divergent she discovers?" David questions.
"No," I respond.
"Would you be willing to spy on Jeanine for us?" he asks. 
"I was already doing that with my wife, but sure.  I would appreciate it if we could somehow get my sister to safety.  If Jeanine finds out that I've crossed her, she's threatened to kill Lizzy," I explain.
"Perhaps we'll place someone in Erudite for you," he says, voicing his thoughts.
"Thanks," I say appreciatively. 
"Why did you ever follow Jeanine?" he questions.
"She's been holding my sister hostage, threatening to hurt her for years.  She insisted that I go to Dauntless so I had been preparing for years to do that, for my sister.  She threatened to kill her at one point when I argued with her because I didn't want to leave Erudite.  Since I believed that she was the person to kill my parents, I didn't want to have the same happen to my sister.  I would do anything to protect her," I say.
"Would you still kill for her?" David asks, not skipping a beat. 
"No, I'd help them.  I'd make her think they're dead but I'd get them out.  I'll work for you if I can," I explain.
"I want you and Hosanna to have some genetic testing.  How do you feel about that?" he asks.
"Why?" I question.
"She is by far the most advanced Divergent we've ever seen.  We've drawn some blood from her in the past but we don't do a certain type of genetic test until the person reaches sixteen.  There haven't been any studies done on children below that age.  What I would like to see would be her genetic code and yours as well.  After all, this is the whole point of the experiment," he elaborates.
"Fine.  You can test me, but I'll talk to my wife to see if she'll be willing," I say.
"Your serum should be wearing off soon.  Do you have any questions for me?" he asks after looking to his watch.
"Yes.  I have several," I say.  I'm feeling less of the previous dizziness and my hearing is starting to return to normal.
David has the guards escort Hosanna back into the office and she runs to me, clinging on as if I'd disappear. "I was so worried," she whispers to me.
"I'm alright," I say. "We just talked." She nods. I pull her over to have a seat next to me so we can both speak with David.
We look to him and he says, "I brought you here to talk, so let's discuss a few things."
We converse with David about all sorts of matters, starting with the experiment we're living in. He explains more about the reasons why we're there and what this Bureau is trying to accomplish. He informs me of the difference between the genetically pure and damaged.  We discuss ways we might be able to save lives and work towards our shared goals.
Next, we speak about Jeanine and how she came to power. She wasn't the first to actively hunt Divergents, but we're going to work towards making her the last. Apparently her predecessor, Norton, was the initiator to begin actually pursuing them and testing on them as well. Egan transferred from Erudite in the beginning and worked for him to scour Dauntless for them. I remember both men well and always abhorred them, but they're both dead. Norton died of a heart attack just before my aunt took over as leader—around the time of my parents' deaths—and Egan jumped in the Chasm just before my speech. I remember the goodbye from him during my hazing, but who could forget that.
We discuss options on what to do to stop Jeanine. I've agreed to wear a wire in exchange for someone to infiltrate Erudite for my sister. David has also decided to give me a more modern phone so I can be contacted whenever necessary. That news made me smile.
We discuss the serums in the vault, but apparently Max should have the information about them in his paperwork or the files Jude had given him.  Hosanna says that Max agreed to show them to her. Knowing him, he's probably not planning on ever looking at them.
We talk about Jude and Diane, how they're here.  Hosanna wants to see them and so do I.  It would be nice to see my old mentor.  David explains that Diane is doing well and responding to the treatment but it's taking longer than it normally would since the cancer had spread throughout her whole body.  He says that she'll possibly be recovered in a few weeks.  I still find it hard to believe since I saw her before they left and her chart said she didn't have much longer to live.  I guess they're much more advanced in so many ways here than we are inside the fence. 
David agrees to let us learn more about this world while we're out here. Apparently Matthew has a trip planned and he's going to take us out with him. He also wants me to see the other side of life here—what they call the Fringe. My wife says that it's much worse than Factionless, that her friend from last night is from there.
Hosanna and I both agreed to let them do their testing on our genes. I already said I would and after David fully explained the details of the test, she decided to allow it. I'm curious as well now, too. It'll be quite interesting to see what's discovered.
We leave David's office but not before he says that he'd like to speak to me again before we leave for the city. There was something we discussed earlier that he says he would like to do something about. I agree even though I'm not sure what he was referring to but I'm relieved that the meeting went as well as it did.
Amar takes us to the cafeteria for lunch. We eat together with George since he's on break. It's just a simple meal—not quite what I was expecting, but I guess the extravagance of the previous meal was a wedding gift.
When we finish, Amar walks with us to the laboratories for our tests before leaving for duty at the control room monitors. We enter a testing room marked GENE THERAPY 1. Before I can formulate any thoughts about the room, my wife shouts, "Matthew!"
She runs over to hug her friend. I look him over to see that he's quite handsome and young—probably close to my age. I get a twinge of jealousy watching them together. His frame is not too terribly strong-looking but he appears to have some muscle—more like Four's. He's definitely better looking in person than the picture I saw before. He's tall, close to my height, and he has dark brown, almost black hair that looks like he intentionally styles it to be messy. His eyes are brown, looking me over as he hugs my wife. He doesn't look to be goading me in the position he's in. He actually looks kind, friendly, toward my wife, toward me.
"It's good to see you," he says to Hosanna. "I just heard this morning that you came, both of you. Congratulations on the wedding, since I just heard about that, too."
I get confused at what he says. Hosanna turns to me and must see the look on my face. "He never watches the screens, at least not like the others do," she explains.
I nod in understanding, glad that he doesn't pine over our lives the way others here seem to.  "It's Eric, right?" Matthew asks me stretching his hand out to shake mine. 
"Yeah," I say relieved to have a real introduction the way it's intended.  I look him over as I shake his hand.  He's wearing one of the navy jumpsuits I've seen around with a white lab coat over it.  The jumpsuit is unbuttoned at the top, a black shirt underneath and a black rope choker necklace around his neck.  "It's nice to meet you."
He smiles back at me.  "Isn't he the one that Amar warned you about staying away from?" he whispers jokingly to my wife. 
She rolls her eyes and elbows him.  He winces and rubs his ribs.  I look directly at my wife.  She shrugs.  "I told you before I was warned to stay away from you.  I just don't listen very well," she says smiling. 
She looks back to Matthew with the same smile on her face.  It slowly drops.  "Isn't that your girlfriend's necklace?" she asks reaching out for it. 
He frowns and clears his throat.  "I can explain that later," he says, voice cracking. His throat bobs several times as he swallows.  She nods but looks sad as well. 
He turns and walks us across the lab.  There is a woman on the opposite side of the room, working at a desk.  It looks like she's trying not to notice us but struggling with that.  She has long black hair and dark skin, darker than Hosanna's but not quite as dark as Amar's.  She has one of the pale green jumpsuits on.  The woman faces us as we get closer to her station.  She's quite pretty and a little older, but nothing compared to my wife.  She smirks at us in an awkward, sinister sort of way and it gives me a bad vibe about her.  Her dark brown eyes go from Matthew to Hosanna and she quietly scoffs at my wife.  I don't think either of them saw that, but I did.  Her eyes rake over me and I keep a straight face as she surveys me quite uncomfortably. 
"Eric, Hosanna, this is Juanita," Matthew says introducing us. 
"Just Nita, nobody really calls me that," she insists. 
Hosanna smiles at her politely.  I just nod my head, cautious of her.  "Can you prep two genetic tests for them?" he asks her.
"Sure.  It'll just take a minute," she says getting up from her station. 
Matthew walks us to some examination tables that are side by side against the wall.  We sit on each of them.  I, of course, shred the paper on the table by accident but Hosanna doesn't seem to.  Nita comes over to us with two syringes full of a grey solution.  "What exactly is that?" I ask thinking it looks an awful lot like the memory serum. They're both shades of grey but this one has a silvery sheen, where the memory serum is a bit milkier looking.
"This is the genetic test that we use. The fluid in here contains nanites," Matthew explains grasping one of the syringes and looking it over.
I peer into the syringe as well. "Nanites... as in nanotechnology?" I question. I studied a bit on the subject but in the fence, all of the books were theoretical. 
He smiles at me. "It's nice to talk to someone that speaks the language," he says.
He swabs my arm with some sort of sanitizing solution. It smells similar to an antiseptic but is orange in color. He injects the solution into my arm and places a piece of cotton on the injection site before removing the syringe.
"That'll take about an hour to get a basic map of your genetic code to determine what markers you have from your ancestors. The nanites will send the information to my computer for me to interpret.  We're looking for specific markers to identify whether the genes have been corrected over several generations," he explains as he places a piece of tape over the cotton.
He looks over to Hosanna and his assistant to see that they're finished as well.  "In the meantime, do you want me to show you two around a bit?" he offers and gets up without waiting for an answer.  I guess he doesn't mind spending time with us... but then I recall that he's friends with my wife. 
"Hey, Matthew.  Can you do something for me before we go?" Hosanna asks him.
"Sure," he agrees.  She pulls out her phone and they walk over together to what is probably his computer here. 
Nita remains, busying herself with picking up the mess of syringes and medical waste.  "So..." she says turning to me.  She bats her eyes at me when I glance to her to see what she wants. 
Meanwhile, Matthew and Hosanna are doing something on his computer.  I don't respond to her though, waiting for her to say whatever it is she wants to say.  "You do realize this test will tell you whether you are Divergent or not—or rather, genetically pure or damaged, right?" she questions.
I blink at her.  "Do I look that stupid?" I respond.
She furrows her brows.  "I didn't say that.  I just... wanted you to know that after this test, you will either be put into one classification here like your factions, or another like your Factionless," she explains.
"I figured as much by observation alone," I comment noticing her green jumpsuit.  She must be like the janitors I saw in green on the way in.  The colors do signify something.  "You are damaged, aren't you?"
She looks to me a little hurt but pushes the expression aside and reaches out, grasping my arm.  "These tests don't tell you who you are.  The kind of life you lead does," she insists moving closer to me.  She places her other hand on my thigh, stroking both my arm and leg with her thumbs.
I reach down and pry her hands off of me, probably bruising her in the process.  "I'm a married man.  If you ever touch me like that again, expect whatever comes in contact to be broken," I say pushing her away. I stand up and walk toward my wife.