JAX [1]

•Chapter 17: Sad Goodbyes•

I sat up on my elbows as the man in front of me readied his gun. Suddenly, a gunshot went off and the man in front of me fell down on the ground, dead. Then, the other two men were shot, and they fell on the ground too, dead. I looked around and saw 3 people running towards me. My mom, Tris, and another lady. I'm guessing Tris' mom.

"Jacquelyn!" My mom said as they ran over.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Jackie." She said reaching down and pulling me up off the ground.

"Mom!" I said. She put her hands on my cheeks.

"You're okay." She said, smiling.

"Aine." Tris' mom said. My mom looked at her and the woman passed her a knife.

"Thank you." My mom said and turned to me. She cut the restrains off my wrists and pulled them off me. Tris grabbed the other two guns from the dead guys and handed one to her mom. I took a gun from the last dead guy.

"Okay, we gotta run." Tris' mom said. My mom put my arm over her shoulders and helped me as we ran behind the buildings for cover. We stopped and Tris looked at her mom.

"You were Dauntless." Tris said.

"Served me well today." She said. I looked at my mom.

"Is Mateo okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said. "He and Mr. Prior led a group over to Monroe and State. We're gonna meet them there." I nodded. Suddenly, I heard people shouting. "Let's go." We started running again.

(Time Skip)

We were running between down an alley way when people started shooting at us again. We moved quickly behind a wall. Tris and her mom pointed their guns one way while me and my mom pointed ours the other way. I got one guy and my mom got the other. Then, two more started coming. I shot one and then I noticed something. I knew the other one. It was Will. I hid behind the wall and looked at Tris. She looked at me. I peeked out from behind the wall and saw Will aiming at me.

"Will." I said. "Will!" He just had this blank expression on his face. He took a shot, and I hid before it hit me.

"Will, stop!" Tris shouted but he didn't. I peeked out from behind the wall again.

"Will!" I shouted. "Please, don't make me do this!" He shot at me again but missed. "Stop!" He didn't and I ended up pulling the trigger. He fell to the ground, not moving. Tris looked at me and I looked at her.

"Okay." Tris' mom said.

"Come on, girls." My mom said. "We gotta go." We walked past Will and I just kept staring down at him with sadness. I stopped and everyone looked at me.

"I killed him." I said, my voice breaking. "I killed Will. I killed him." Tears ran down my face.

"Jackie." My mom said and hugged me. "He's in a better place now. Alright? He's okay." She pulled away and looked at me. "Let's go find your brother." I nodded, wiping my tears. Tris looked at me.

"I'm so sorry." I said, knowing that we were both his friends.

"It's not your fault, Jax." She said. "Will wouldn't stop. He couldn't. And...it was either you or him. You did the right thing, Jax. It's gonna be okay." I nodded. We turned to our mothers.

"Cover me." Tris' mom said.

"No, I'll go." I said, limping over.

"Jax, you can't." Tris said, holding me back. "I'll go." She walked out, causing me to sigh.

"Okay, she said it's clear." Tris' mom said.

"You go on ahead." My mom said. Tris' mom nodded and left us.

"It's gonna be okay, Jacquelyn." My mom said, looking at me.

"All clear!" I heard Tris shout.

"You go on." My mom said to me. "I'll be right behind you." I nodded and limped out into the open.

"Come on, Jax." Tris said, waving me over. But then, I saw a truck pulling over at the side of the building. I pointed my gun and started shooting. Suddenly, my gun was shot out of my hand.

"Go, Jacquelyn!" My mom shouted behind me. "Go!" She ran up to me and started pushing me along. Suddenly, we fell to the ground, causing me to groan in pain. I sat up and looked at my mom.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said, nodding.

"Okay." I said. I looked at Tris. "You guys go on ahead. I'm just gonna slow you down."

"But Jax—"

"I'll be okay, Tris." I said, nodding. I grabbed my mom's gun and cocked it. "I'll be okay." They nodded and ran off. I sighed and pointed the gun around the corner. I started shooting at the guys. I hit most of them. I turned to my mom when they were hiding or down on the ground. "We're good. Let's go." She just stared at me from the ground. "Mom, we gotta go." She didn't answer me. "Mom, what is it? What's wrong?" She pulled her hand off her side and I noticed she was bleeding badly. I felt my heart breaking. "It's okay. It's okay. It's not even that bad."

"Jacquelyn—"

"You're gonna be fine, mom." I said. "But we need to go."

"Jackie—"

"Let's get you up—"

"Jax!" She shouted, causing me to stop. She put her hand on my cheek. "I love you so much. Never stop being yourself for anybody, okay?" I nodded. "Take care of our family, sweetheart. You're our only hope. I love you so much, Jacquelyn. Never forget that." Then, her hand fell down from my cheek and she closed her eyes.

"Mom?" I asked, but she didn't answer. "Mom?!" I grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. "Mommy!" No answer and she wasn't breathing either. "Mommy." I started crying as I hugged her one last time. I heard more gunshots. "I love you, mom." I pulled away and set her down gently. I got up and started limping away, leaving my dead mother behind.