Drown [Eric Coulter] Divergent

Part XXXVIII

***

Eric remained in his apartment until Harper got up, not on her own, but because the serum had taken hold, and she was now under the firm control of Jeanine. It scared him to know that he had been making such big mistakes since he met her. Letting her know things that could have compromised this operation, telling Jeanine that she was ready for a job better than training initiates. Eric now knew why she wanted to train them, to keep an eye on them and protect them. He didn't understand her side of it, but there was something inside of him that told him she had been doing what was more righteous. But righteousness wasn't going to get them where they wanted to be, Erudite and Dauntless (those who weren't being controlled) had to take drastic measures to change the world.

Harper was already dressed, and she stood up mindlessly. Eric walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders and dipped down to look into her eyes. There was nothing in them that he usually saw when he looked into them. Once it had been joy and a hint of suspicion, and then later it turned to something that resembled love, and last night it was just hatred. He released her and watched as she left the room, joining the others in the hall and soon the train. She was alive, and that kept Eric's head up high. Quickly gathering his stuff, he headed down to the train with a overwhelmingly cocky stride to his walk. He had to mask all else, to show to the others that they had made the right choice choosing him for this.

***

Boarded on the train, Tobias stood as still as he was able to, gun in his sweaty palms, wishing that he could see anything other than the backs of heads. The train started up and Tobias knew where they were going; there was a good reason why he left Abnegation the minute he had the chance to do it, and that very reason was one of the leading causes for what was happening now. Marcus wasn't the easiest man to get along with, he wasn't a good person, but Tobias himself did not think that was reason enough for this. Divergence and giving away food, being the governing faction, it was still not enough for this, and yet Tobias simply had to stand there without moving a muscle. Because if he was discovered, as he suspected Eric would be watching for him, he knew that a bullet would enter his brain and he couldn't help anybody after that. 

So distracted by this, Tobias hadn't noticed that someone was coming up behind him, slowly and carefully. When Tris was by his side, she glanced at him, and he glanced back. An overwhelming sensation of alleviation took over him as she touched his hand subtly enough that no one would notice, and somehow Tobias knew they would get through this.

But he couldn't forget about Harper.

***

Eric and Max were walking through the train, trying to spot any Divergents' before the arrived in Abnegation. They could not have anyone ruining what they worked for, but before they went through, Max took Eric aside. The older man looked at Eric with a distraught and offsetting look in his eyes, but he wasn't here to lecture Eric. In reality, he didn't care about Eric and Harper, he didn't care about any of that. But he knew that Eric might have to do the one thing he wouldn't be able to, not while he still had attachment to Harper. 

Max narrowed his eyes. "A lot of people are going to die in a few hours, now Abnegation isn't going to be able to fight back, but if anything happens, I need you to keep your head out of your ass."

"Get off my fucking case, Max." Eric sneered. "She's under the serum, I did what I had to."

"That's it right there." Max laughed one false laugh. "I wasn't even talking about her."

"Are we doing this?" Eric was done with this conversation, done with Max and Jeanine with their drone-like attitudes shaming him for one thing. He never once regretted being with Harper, and he was devastated that it was over, and the way it ended had been unfixable, like smashing a glass on marble floors. Shattered into a million pieces that could never be glued back together, and if you tried to pick them up your hands would be a bloody mess.

They walked through the train, each taking left and right halves. For the most part, they just walked through the train, seeing if anyone's eyes moved onto their position, or anyone shifted for comfort. Those were little signs that would be easy to see, and the harder ones to pin point would be different breathing, sweating, white knuckles. So far, they hadn't run into anyone. Max spotted Harper and a grin fell onto his dark lips, and he walked beyond the others, stepping right into her space. He knew that she was under the serum and that there was no worry. When he felt Eric's presence and eyes boring into him, he looked over and cracked a mean joke. "She's finally controlled. That body without a mind to distract you; she's the perfect girl for you now, Eric."

Eric pulled out his gun and pressed it to Max's temple, though the man hardly seemed phased by this, as he knew Eric wouldn't jeopardize this over a girl. Jeanine would have his head, and Harper's. She had no troubles destroying someone's life to get them to do what she wanted. She might even just keep Harper hostage to get Eric to do as he was told, but Max knew that Eric would pull himself together when the time came. He wanted Abnegation gone, and even without Harper being in her right mind, he would pull this off. That is why they chose him. 

Eric pressed the gun hard against Max. "One more fucking comment, I will kill you."

"No, you won't."

"Don't test me," Eric said, cocking his head to the side. "She's not a distraction anymore, that bridge was burned. I know that, Max."

"At least she picked a cause and stuck to it, that's more than I can say for you. Tell me, are you with us, or are you still trying to save her?" Max growled. "What do you think happens when the serum wears off? She's going to be a feral dog without a leash, she's going to have to be put down."

Eric put the gun back into the holster and slammed Max against the wall, his strong forearm against his neck, making it hard for him to breath. Max struggled, but gave up and simply laughed, a choked-off sort of laugh. With just enough airflow to speak, Max coughed out, "You're all words."

He knew that he couldn't kill Max, and that Max was just taunting him, testing him to see what he would do. There was no chance in helping Harper, even when the serum did run out, she wouldn't want his help. When he released Max it wasn't because the urge to punch him until he stopped breathing disappeared for what he said about Harper, but because Max was right. He didn't know what to think about what would happen after all of this; he couldn't keep Harper underneath a serum for the rest of her life, she'd be better off dead. He knew, with her spitfire attitude, she was going to retaliate, probably with a lot of people. What did Jeanine have planned for all these Dauntless? Were they going to be under the serum forever until her jobs were done?

He had a lot to think about, and not a lot of time to figure it out. When the train arrived in Abnegation and was shut off long enough for everyone to filter out, he stood among a huge mass of people without control over their minds. The sun was about to rise, the day was going to start with bloodshed as it had been planned so long ago. He just had to hope that Harper would leave, go somewhere safe when it was all over.

But he knew she wouldn't.