Divergence: Choices

Chapter 12

I wake before the sun, my eyes linger on Tris, who is a mess of hair and tangled blankets. My mind quickly invents scenarios of ways that I could wake up to this every day.

I push my hopeful thoughts to the side and slip out of bed, trying not to wake her. I quickly get dressed and head to the control room to watch last nights suicide before I write my report.

"Morning Zeke." I say sleepily. I know he has been up the majority of the night as well. Zeke pops his head out the door to look for anyone else coming before pulling me into the control room and shutting the door.

"What the hell Zeke?"

"Did you notice who wasn't at the Chasm last night?" He ask me, clearly already knowing the answer.

"Eric." I was so concentrated on Tris last night that I didn't even notice.

"Want to see what he was doing that was so much more important?" I am now fully awake and curious.

Zeke scrolls through the footage of last night, pausing at the loading docks behind the Duantless compound. There stands Eric, along with at least a half dozen Euridite members. I watch as they unload boxes and some sort of equipment into the Dauntless compound.

"Is there any footage of what is in them?"

Zeke shakes his head no. "I went down there on my break and I found this, it must of fell out of one of the boxes." He hands me a bile of serum, one that I had never seen before.

"Do you think this is what Tris was talking about?" He ask as I hold it up to the light. This serum is unlike any other I've seen. It is grey tinted and a thicker consistency, it looks deadly.

"Could be. Where did they take the boxes they unloaded?"

"The old storage room, they posted up a couple a Dauntless guards to it after. Whatever is in those boxes, they don't want us to know." Zeke sounds as nervous as I feel.

"Can you pull up the footage of the incident at the Chasm last night?" I have to verify that Al jumped on his own, that there was no violence involved.

Zeke and I watch as Al paces back and forth, thrashing his arms occasionally as he internally battles himself. For a moment he pauses, looking up to summon strength. I can't help but wonder if he is trying to build the courage to jump, or to live.

"I have to write an incident report on this before training starts." I say pointing at the screen paused on Al jumping. "We will talk about the other stuff later."

I open the door to leave when Zeke pulls me back. "Erudite published another article yesterday. It's about-well you can see for yourself." He hands me the paper. I skim through reading the disgusting lies written about Andrew Prior and his morbid abuse towards his family. My heart drops when I read lower, Marcus. It details my gruesome abuse as why I left Abnegation, discrediting Abnegations leaders.

I scoff and shake my head. "Thanks." I slam the door behind me. I've never spoken of my past with Zeke beyond small details but I know he has seen my scars during initiation, I am sure he can only assume the article is true.

I knock on Max's door, incident report in hand. He waves me in, looking tired and stressed, planning a war does that to you. "Four, I expect you have what I asked for."

"I do," I say as I hand him the report. He barely glances at it before tossing it across his desk.

"What is the conclusion?"

"He jumped. No one else was involved." I say firmly.

Max nods. It's not unusual to have at least one incident like this during each initiation. Even in my class we lost two to the Chasm. "Due to last nights events, training will be canceled today." He fumbles through his desk for a moment, retrieving a stack of papers. "There is another mater I need to address with you before you go." My heart starts to race, my mind settling on Tris, my feelings for her, the fact she is in my bed as we speak.