Ambivalence [p.h.] - EDITING

chapter 27 || 'there's a bullet in my palm, so don't get worried.'

All, meaning me and Tris, as well as anybody else down that hallway.

Andrew Prior flies out of the elevator box and sprints down the right hallway, which I'm sure will end sooner or later. He draws all the Dauntless guards after him and away from us while firing at them over his shoulder. I twist my neck briefly to look at Tris, who has her hand over her mouth. A pang of sympathy echoes throughout my chest as I try to imagine what she's feeling. He isn't fast enough. One of the bullets hits him in the stomach, which results in crimson spirals to bloom onto the grey fabric around the hole. His shoulders hit the wall as he clutches the wound, groaning, but doesn't give up. He shoots, again and again, until bullets hit them, though they don't stop until their hearts do. The red liquid is overflowing and spilling onto Andrew's hand as he finishes off the last remaining guard. His breathing grows harsh, as Tris just manages to squeak out: "Dad."

He slumps to the ground, far away from us, knowing he sacrificed himself to save countless other lives. That is selfless and brave; something I'm not sure I would have been able to do. He and Tris lock eyes over the distance. He opens his mouth, as if he's about to say something with all the strength he has left, but relaxes before any words can come out. I notice the tears stinging in her eyes as she pushes herself up and runs towards her dead father. She goes over for a second and mourns over his honourable sacrifice, and I let her, just for a moment. After a second, I pat her shoulder.

"Hey," I say softly. "I'm sorry. I wish – I wish we could stay here and you could really mourn him, but you and I both know we can't." Tris looks at me with tears in her eyes before nodding.

"You're right," she sniffles. "Every second we waste, another Abnegation dies and another Dauntless becomes a killer."

"Exactly. And, look, we're so close. Don't let your father–"

"And mother."

"And mother – wow, I'm so sorry – don't let them have died for nothing. We need to shut the simulation down."

"And find Four." Tris stands up from her crouching position as she places her fathers hands over where the bullet implanted itself, and follows me down the left hallway. There, we see only one door. The only thing left to do is open it.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Yeah."

• • •

The opposite wall is made up of screens; and just that. Screens showing the Erudite sector, the Candor sector, Dauntless, Amity, and Abnegation, of course. The fence. Even the sports facility next to Erudite HQ. I only see one camera down, which, judging by the fact that all the other spots are working, is the one that showed the place where Peter and I were guarding. Wait; could my accidental gunshot have hit the camera? If that's the case, then... none of them saw what happened. I was safe?

Several lines of code passes through one of the screens, which I immediately recognize from my days in Erudite. It has a series of commands being splayed out and executed more quickly than I thought possible, but it only makes sense that the code running is the simulation. In front of it is a desk and a chair, occupied by a Dauntless member with little marks of black ink peeking out the collar of his shirt and shortly cut brown hair. Four. I see Tris watching him and formulate a plan.

"Tris." She looks at me for a second. "I know how to shut that down. It's simple coding; we learned it in Erudite. You distract Four. He's the only one here, and, if I'm correct, he should be able to fight off whatever simulation he's in."

"You are correct," she says. "You can say it, you know. All three of us are Divergent."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. You try and get him out, because I have a feeling you can, and I'll slip in behind you to start on the code." Tris nods as I press my index finger to my lips and slip in against the wall. Four doesn't notice me.