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THE EUPHORIC FEELING OF FLYING WHEN YOU JUMP FROM THE TRAIN MADE CELIA WANT TO GO CRAZY AS SHE JUMPED. Everyone else followed after her as she led them to the place where she first met Eric and Four. She peered over the ledge, gun in hand. "There's a net at the bottom. Don't think, just jump," she informed the newcomers. When she jumped off that ledge on her first day, it changed her life. She met the two people who would change her life, one for the better, and one for mostly the worse. Now, she had to go save the one who made it better. She got deja vu when she hit the net, rolling off of it. She helped everyone off of the net, even Marcus, who she hated. "You good?" She asked Amara, who was panting. Then, looking at everyone else, "Good?"
"I can't believe you chose dauntless," Amara muttered. Celia smiled at her friend.
"Let's go," she led them through the hallways, looking over her shoulders a couple of times. When she peered into the hallway that was by the chasm, she was shocked to find Peter standing there. "Wait here," she mumbled, holding her gun in front of her.
She went around the wall in front of them, making sure Peters's back was turned. Then kicking the back of his knee, making him drop his weapon. He turned to her, putting his arms up in surrender. "Against the wall."
"Should've killed you when I had the chance," he taunted.
"Against the wall," she seethed, pushing him against the opposite wall, her gun against his chin. He rolled his eyes, following her order.
"This is kinda fun, don't you think?" He teased her, looking at her gun.
Celia ignored his comment, "How are you awake?"
"Because I'm smarter than you," he winked at her. "They need me." He added.
"Where are they controlling it from?" She asked.
"Why would I tell you that? It's not like you're gonna shoot me," he smirked. Is it underestimate Celia day or something?
"Why the hell do you guys keep saying that?" She asked, pointing her gun at his arm, shooting him. He groaned, falling to the floor.
"You bitch," he muttered through gritted teeth.
"Where are they controlling it from?" She demanded.
He looked up at her, having an inner battle with himself. "Fine," he hissed. Celia helped him up as the others came around the corner.
"Was it really necessary to shoot him?" Marcus asked. Celia glanced at him, not being able to hold her tongue.
"Was it necessary to beat your son?" She quizzed. His eyes widened as she said it and everyone looked at him. "No? Didn't think so. Keep your damn mouth shut," she scoffed. "Every minute we waste, another innocent dies and another dauntless becomes a murderer," and another minute Four is captured. She scolded them. "Peter, let's go." She nodded to Peter. He started walking and they went up a flight of stairs. They stopped once they reached a hallway, hiding behind the wall, she looked toward Peter. "That's it, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he said, nodding.
"I've seen Eric, Jeanine, and her guards go in there. That's where they're controlling it from," she informed while Tris' dad, Andrew, peered into the hall. He came back and grabbed Tris' gun from her.
"Like she said, there isn't a second to waste," he whispered to her. She smiled and looked down, while she did that, he went into the hallway.
"Dad, no!" She whisper-shouted at him. He held so much confidence while shooting the guards. Tris ran out into the hallway to help him, everyone else followed, even Peter, though he didn't have a weapon. Celia laid back, making sure no one was following them. When she turned around, the first thing she noticed was that Andrew was on the floor.
"Tris," the girl turned to her friend, noticing her stare, she glanced at what Celia was looking at. There lay her father, dead, and her brother right next to him. She ran over to them, tears in her eyes. She dropped down next to them, crying. Celia wondered where Tris's mother was. They stood there for a while, but Celia remembered the task at hand. She turned toward Peter, Kai, and Marcus, "Watch them for me, I'm going in there." Everyone looked at her in concern, even Peter. He knew she was operating on desperation.
She turned to walk away, knowing this could be a suicide mission. She entered through the door, holding her gun like an FBI agent. She found a lot of chords on the ground, leading her to where she needed to go. She got to the end of the hall, where the next room began. The room was pure white, with electronics everywhere. She peered around the corner, seeing through the tablets they had set up, abnegation people being killed. She leaned back, reality hitting her hard. She glanced to the other side of the room she was in, and once she did, her eyes widened.
Four.
He was sitting in a chair, hooked up to machines. His face displayed no emotion and he had a rigid posture. She made sure no one was looking, before silently running over to where he was. The screen above him showed her, and she looked like a mess. She couldn't worry about that right now. "Hey, hi," she grabbed her knife and started to cut the restraints on his wrist. But, once she did, he grabbed her wrist, making her drop her gun and throw her knife. Then, he proceeded to push her into the cabinet behind her. She looked at him cautiously. "Four, Four it's me," she put her hands out in front of her. "You're in a sim."
"He can't hear you," Jeanine said, walking toward her, as Four walked toward Jeanine. About ten people were right behind her. "Amazing isn't it? Everything we think of that makes a person, thoughts, emotions, history... All wiped away by chemistry." Celia tried to ignore the woman.
"Tobias," she persisted, looking straight at the man a couple of feet away from her.
"He's gone. And we're all safer for it," Celia scoffed at that.
"Safer? How in the hell are we safer?" She snapped.
"The brilliance of the faction system is that conformity to the faction removes the threat of anyone exercising their independent will," she said, walking and stopping right in front of the girl. "Divergents threaten that system," she walked away from Celia. "Don't get me wrong, there is a certain beauty in your resistance, your defiance of categorization. But, it's a beauty we cannot afford," she nodded at the men and started to walk away. One of the men went to where Four was previously sitting. He went to one of the tablets and started pressing things.
"Four," Celia rushed toward him. "It's me. It's me. Please, Four, look at me," she brought her hand up to his neck. "Look at me."
The guy on the tablet pressed a button and Four rushed Celia into a wall, his hand pressed to her neck. "That's kinky," she muttered before hitting his arm, trying to break free of his hold.
He grabbed her waist and slammed her back into the wall. Celia grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself up. Her legs wrapped around his neck before she twisted them, making them both fall to the floor. She rushed to get up and run away, but Four pulled her back. He threw her against one of the carts in the room. Celia got up and backed away, knowing this was gonna be a hard fight to win. He threw punches at her but she dodged them. "You may be a good fighter, but I'm smarter. I know all your tricks. Memorized them, actually." When he tried again, she went under him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Four, you bitch, it's me!" She exclaimed and he elbowed her in the face. She tried to get away but he grabbed the back of her jacket and threw her down. He tried to hit her but she brought her knee up and kneed him in the face.
"Wow," one of the people watching murmured.
"A leader trained me, Tobias. I know how to beat you." He fell to the floor and Celia used it to her advantage. She got up and back peddled, dodging the punches thrown at her. Eventually, one hit her, and Four grabbed her hand before kneeling her in the face, just like she did to him. She fell to the floor, groaning at the pain. She got up and charged at him, but she ended up on the floor anyway. She backed away as Four stalked toward her.
She glanced to the right, seeing her gun on the floor, she grabbed it and aimed at him. "Four, Stop," everyone else's guns were on her in an instant. "Stop! Tobias, please," she whispered as he stood right in front of her. She recalled his fear landscape; he couldn't kill an innocent. She made an impulsive decision. One that could kill her in seconds. She turned the gun to her forehead. Four instantly dropped down, took her gun, and held it himself. Her eyes closed, "It's okay, it's okay," her eyes opened. "I love you, it's okay. It's okay," she restated.
From afar, Jeanine smirked, thinking the serum she used was working. "It's okay, I love you, Tobias. It's okay. Tobias, remember, work on kind, you dumbass." Celia hoped that her plan would work, otherwise she'd be dead. It was working, since Four looked away from the girl, his finger on the trigger. "Hey, look at me," Celia brought her hand up to his face, making him look at her. "It's me, it's me." Celia had blood coming from her nose and mouth. Four's eyes widened as the serum wore off.
"Celia..." He acknowledged.
The girl smiled a little, "I came here to save your ass and this is what I get," she whispered, looking over his shoulder at the guards. "Go." He nodded and turned around, shooting at the guys. Celia got up, grabbing the knife she used earlier on her way.
"Finish it," Jeanine demanded.
"Ugh, whore," Celia muttered, hearing what Jeanine said. She ran over to the other side of the room, stopping to stab a guy who was shooting at Four. Celia looked at all of the tablets in the room, seeing abnegation being forced to their knees.
Four was doing great beating the guys up. Eventually, he ran out of ammo and kicked the guy he was fighting. He punched another guy who was coming at him before glancing over to Celia, making sure she was okay.
She was in fact, not okay. A guy came up behind her and held her in a chokehold. She broke free and elbowed the guy in the face, making him fall down. Four smirked, proud of her. Celia looked back toward Jeanine, seeing the woman pressing buttons on the screen. The brunette knew she wouldn't make it in time, so she put her arm behind her head, and flung the knife at her hand.
Bullseye.
Jeanine groaned as the knife impaled the middle of her hand. The training with Eric had paid off. This time, Celia smirked, glancing at Four. She quickly walked over to the woman, grabbing the handle of the knife.
"Hey!" A guy yelled, running at her. He didn't get far because Four slammed him to the ground and punched him. Another guy came running and Four hit him and pushed him into two things full of bottles.
Celia looked back to Jeanine, "Shut it down," she ordered.
"No," Celia glanced at the tablets, watching abnegation people try to escape, and fail. What pushed her over the edge was when I was she saw Christina. Her kind friend pushed people to their knees. Will right next to her. Celia pulled the knife out of Jeanine's hand and pushed it against her throat. "I will not ask again, shut it down. Do it!" She demanded.
"I admire your willing to die for what you believe... But so am I," Celia glanced at the screen behind the woman, hesitating. "You can't do it, can you?" Celia looked at everything around her, trying to formulate a plan. Her eyes locked on a capsule of serum on the floor and a syringe. She made eye contact with Four, giving him a hint about her plan before she turned back to Jeanine, letting her go. "Maybe you aren't quite as dauntless as you thought you were," Celia smirked.
"You're right," she admitted, surprising the older woman. "I'm not," Four threw her the syringe, loaded with the serum. "I'm divergent, bitch," she muttered, injecting Jeanine with the serum. Jeanine gasped and looked down, her mind shut off. "Now shut it down, and wipe the program."
Four, from behind her, went over to the tablet and started moving things around. Jeanine went to the big screen and started doing the same. Celia looked toward Four, "Oh, and how the hell did you learn that, fuckin know-it-all," she sarcastically muttered. He smiled, glad that she still had her humor.
They glanced at all of the dauntless faces, as the serum wears off. Then the PA system rang out, "Simulation abort. System-wide shutdown," Four and Celia looked at each other, smiling and laughing. The girl glanced down, getting dizzy, considering her wound was still bleeding. Four steadied her, concern making its way into his eyes again. Jeanine cut off their moment.
"No... no..." She frantically pressed the screen on multiple tablets. "No!" She screamed.
"Don't get me wrong..." Her attention was brought to Celia. "There's a certain beauty to your resistance," she used Jeanine's words against her. The older woman lunged for her, the syringe in her hand. Celia caught her before she could do anything and punched her in the jaw, knocking her out cold.
"Four, I'm losing blood pretty quickly," she muttered, but he was focused on a bigger problem.
"Celia..." Four trailed off, looking at the security camera. About twenty guards were coming toward the room they were in. Shit! Everyone else stayed outside. Celia grabbed her forehead, exhausted. "We gotta go, now," they rushed out of the room, Celia dreaded seeing everyone else. When they went out, Marcus immediately stood up.
"Tobias," he muttered, surprised.
Four looked him up and down, "We need to keep moving," that surprised Celia, he didn't say anything bad to the man who abused him. Good for him, if it was her, she'd be swearing left and right. He grabbed a gun from a dead guard, walking, expecting everyone to follow. They did, obviously.
Celia walked next to him, repeating her statement from earlier. "Four I'm losing blood, fast." He grabbed her waist, making sure she didn't fall.
"A couple minutes, Celia, I've got you, I promise." Everyone started going up the stairs, but Celia stopped, seeing someone in the hallway. Four, who was next to her, stopped too.
There walked Eric, more like limped but whatever. "Four, go. I got this. Make sure everyone is safe," she glanced toward him.
"Your wound?"
"I'll be okay, it's just Eric."
"Okay, I trust he won't hurt you," Four muttered and walked up the stairs, knowing that Eric wouldn't hurt Celia. He cared for her too much to do that.
"Eric," she acknowledged, slightly leaning against the wall for support.
"Flower girl," they stood a couple of feet apart now. "I see you didn't die."
"Yeah, cut the small talk, Eric. I need to leave," she said, annoyed and worried.
"I know. But, I'd be considered a traitor if I did let you leave," he looked down at her. She rolled her eyes and pushed him against the wall, her gun to the side of his head.
"I really don't want to kill you, Eric," she answered honestly. She didn't want to kill him, but she didn't like him. He was part of the reason many people died that day.
"Then it's a good thing I don't care about being a traitor." His face held a small smile.
Celia's eyes widened a little. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"I'm not gonna turn you in. I'm not gonna stop you from leaving. I'll even distract the guards for you," he smiled down at her once she took the gun off of his head. "We both know you couldn't kill me even if you needed to." He grabbed her shoulder and leaned her against the wall.
"And vice-versa. Why?"
"Because you're the cure. To the serum, I mean. All you have to do is talk to them, and they snap out of it, even if they aren't divergent," Celia gulped, trying to process what he was saying. "And, even though it seems impossible, I do care about you, Celia." He glanced toward her wound, where blood was soaking her entire sleeve.
That left Celia stunned. Cared about her? Since when did he care about her? This is Eric we're talking about. The mean instructor, who always made her do the hardest thing possible. It didn't just seem impossible, it was impossible. "Just promise me one thing?" He stepped closer to her.
"What?" She tried to step back but remembered she was against the wall. She had to admit that Eric did care for her, in some odd way or another.
"Make sure that wound gets fully healed." He smiled.
"Yeah. I was planning on that anyway." She laughed.
"Even if you hate me, promise me you'll be safe. Otherwise, I will make you stay, just to keep and eye on you. That's how much you mean to me. And I know Fours out there waiting for you, so, go be happy. And fully healed. I'll see you again, I'm sure of it, princess." Celia was stunned. She didn't even know how to respond to that, so she didn't, not directly.
"I-I have to go. Bye. Thank you, Eric. For saving my life, multiple times." she avoided the situation, thinking it was the best thing she could do. She was limited on time, considering the train was starting to leave as she got there.
Four was hanging off the train door, knowing that Celia would make it, and she did. She caught up to him and he grabbed her, helping her in. "You know I can do it myself, right?" She muttered once she was on the train. She was surprised to see Marcus on the train with them.
"I know you can," he whispered. They just smiled at each other. She knew she made the right choice.
They made it, thanks to each other.
next chapter is the epilogue🥲