No Rules- Fourtris

Chapter 42

"You've been here for days. You may not remember the first few trials. You fought the serum," Jeanine explains as she leads Tris down a hallway. Matthew walked behind them, ushering Tris along. She followed easily behind; It was as if something was forcing her feet to go in the same direction as Jeanine. Everything Jeanine wanted her to do, she did, even if she did not want to, "But now, I've figured it out. You aren't as special as we originally thought."

"What are you doing?" Tris manages to ask.

"People need to be controlled," Jeanine responds, "Differentiating opinions is what is killing us as a species. War, crime, it can all be avoided. Think of it as... Sacrifice, in order to save the greater good."

Her words did not make sense. Tris did not understand what she had to do with Jeanine's insane plot, but she did not ask any more questions. Jeanine leads them into another room, and Matthew quickly shuts the door behind them.

"Now," Jeanine smiles and pauses, "I need you to prove yourself to me. I'm going to leave you in here, and if you don't kill one of them in the next hour, I have no choice but to... eliminate you."

They quickly leave the room, but not before Matthew hands Tris a gun. The door shuts, and the room illuminates. In front of her, Tris sees Christina and Will tied up. She stands in place, unable to move, even though she wants nothing more than to help her friends. She can hear Christina's cries for help, but she does not budge.

"You can help them," Jeanine's voice sounds. Tris turns to see a wall of glass, and Jeanine behind it, along with many unfamiliar faces. Tris frowns when she sees David enter that room, but suddenly, her thoughts are interrupted. She walks toward Will and Christina and unties them.

Jeanine does not say anything else, but instead begins to click on a monitor. Christina is about to hug Tris, but Tris lifts the gun and aims it toward her friends instead. Every nerve in her body tells her to pull the trigger, to kill one of them, but she hold back. It physically pained her, and she squeezes the gun tightly in her hands.

"Tris," Christina says quietly, "What are you doing?"

"I can't," Tris says, "I won't."

Jeanine frowns momentarily, but nods at a man across the room, "Don't waste the bullets. The glass is bulletproof."

Tris had not moved the gun toward the glass, but she thought of doing so. It was as if Jeanine could see inside of her head.

The man returns, but not alone. He held Caleb's arm, who was trying to pull away. He stops when he sees the sight in front of him, "Beatrice? Let her go!"

"Kill one of them, or your brother dies, and all three of you will also," Jeanine says flatly, "Tris, you have to understand. This is for the greater good."

Jeanine taps on the monitor again, and this time, Tris feels as if her mind goes blank. She can see what she is doing, but she cannot stops herself. She turn the gun toward Christina, who freezes in place. Will grabs her arm, but just as he was about to step in front of her, Tris fires the gun. She drops it after, quickly coming to her senses. Christina's screams and cries fill the room, and Tris drops to her knees. She killed one of her best friends, all because she cooperated with Jeanine.

The door opens again, and Matthew walks in along with another guard, and they quickly pull Tris out of the room. As she leaves, she can see Christina knelt over Will's body, her hands covered in his blood.

The two drag Tris down the hall, and this time she resists. She kicks and fights back, but her body was too weak to actually make a difference. They turn another corner and she falls limp again, but looks up when they stop suddenly. Uriah stood in front of them, a gun to the man's head. Matthew steps back, but does not let go of Tris's arm.