Dex:
I'm still yelling Lyra's name when Callum hauls me to my feet and pushes me into a run after Plato.
The guards are closer than ever now and, worst of all, they've had time to ready their guns at us.
"Go, go, go!" Callum shouts in my ear as he propels me away from the danger. My body responds before my brain can fully process what is happening and I've already started running long before Callum's words actually sink in.
The guards begin to open fire, adding another layer of sound to the rising cacophony that's already surrounding us. We dart round a corner and into another corridor.
Plato turns his head to face us, smiling, his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.
"We're almost there!" He shouts, "Just one more corridor to go and then we're out!" I nod. We're so close to being safe.
Suddenly, there's a burning sensation in my leg and I stumble, collapsing on the ground. The pain is hot, searing and it feels like it's immobilising my entire body.
"Dex!" Callum shouts, and then he gasps, "Plato! She's been shot!"
Shot? Then I see the guards racing towards and realise one of them must have fired.
Callum puts one of my arms round his neck, "Come on, Dex!" He urges, "Just a little further."
I nod. But try as I might, I can only do a quick hobble.
"Make sure you get on the train," Plato says grimly, "You haven't got much time."
"What about you?" Callum asks. In answer, Plato unslings the gun and points it at the guards.
"I'll buy you as much time as I can," he says.
I frown. This doesn't make any sense. My leg is hurting too much for me to work out what's happening.
"Plato?" I begin, "What-"
"Just go," he says. Then he crouches in front of us and opens fire on the guards.
Callum grabs me with surprising strength and begins to haul me down the corridor. With each step I take, it feels like electricity is surging from my leg into the rest of my body. Like I've been paralysed. I grit my teeth and drag myself forward with Callum's help. We have to make it. We must.
Just as we're about to round the corner, I turn round to look at Plato. He's still crouched there, miraculously unharmed, unmoving as he continues to fire at the guards. Then the noise from his gun stops and the guards continue to surge forward.
"Why isn't he firing?" I hiss to Callum.
Callum, who's been looking ahead, now turns to glance at Plato. "He's out of bullets," he mutters, and shoves me forward.
"Plato!" I shout, "Come on!"
Plato turns to face us, his brown eyes frantic with fear. It's only for a second. But it's a second too long. A bullet strikes him in the back and he slumps forward onto his knees.
His eyes meet mine, and he opens his mouth to speak. His quiet voice is barely audible over the sound of fire, "Dex. I-"
He never gets to finish his sentence. Another bullet strikes him in the back of the head and he falls slowly forward onto the floor.
Dead.
All I hear is white noise.
Brooke:
Grimacing, I get back onto my feet.
"Hello Isaac," I say, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Hello Brooke," he says, with equal casualness "Going somewhere?"
"Me?" I ask, playing for time as I try and create the most convincing lie I can, "I was just going for a jog. Had a lot to think about after the simulation I had today. Brought up a lot of bad memories from my childhood, with my mother dying and all. I'll see you back at the dorm, yeah?"
Without waiting for a reply, I attempt to get past him, but he stretches out his arm, blocking my path. I feel a chill run through me, as I glance up into those merciless blue eyes of his.
"Have you ever heard the expression 'Keep your friends close but your enemies closer?'" He asks, slowly.
"No, uh, can't say I have," I lie, "Didn't have many books in Candor."
"It was said by Sun Tzu," Isaac says, "A Chinese military genius."
I don't reply, but he doesn't seem to expect me to. He just studies me, smirking slightly.
I sigh, "Look Isaac. You know I'm not interested in this kind of thing. Just let me-"
"No." He says, and in that one word he cuts me off mid-sentence. His blue eyes flash malevolently and I'm briefly reminded of the way a cat plays with a mouse right before it goes for the kill.
"I know what you are." Isaac says quietly.
"And what is that exactly?" I ask, my voice equally quiet.
He smirks and leans down to whisper in my ear, "Divergent."
Panic rushes through me but I pretend to be confused, "Sorry, what?"
A flash of irritation crosses his face, "Don't play dumb with me here Brooke."
"I am dumb." I reply.
He raises himself to his full height and studies me again, like a scientist studies a specimen. Then he says, with a trace of annoyance in his voice, "Don't you want to know how I found out? How long I've known?"
"No," I reply, "I really don't care." I try to duck under his arm. He grabs me before I can move.
"There's no point going to help your friends," he says. I freeze. "That girl-Lyra, was it?-has been thrown into the Chasm. And do you hear that?" He raises a finger. There are gunshots in the distance. "That's the rest of them being annihilated. You're the last Divergent left. And before I throw you into the Chasm, you're going to hear what I have to say."
I sag. The idea of Dex escaping only to be shot dead makes me sick. But I hold my head high and stare Isaac in the eyes, "Fine. Tell me."
Isaac smirks, "I knew the moment I saw you in the Cafeteria." He brags, "I saw you for what you were. Someone who wasn't Candor doing their best to fit in. I had you pegged for Erudite."
He shrugs, "But then you chose Dauntless at the Choosing Ceremony and that's when things really fell into place. Your pretense at being an idiot only strengthened my judgement. I wanted to keep you near me so I could keep an eye on you. I wanted you to pass the first stage of training. I didn't want you to be cut. I wanted you to stay so I could kill you later on."
"And Edgar?" I ask. If Isaac's right, it's too late to save Dex and the others, but I can play for time and save myself. Amar said that if I was gone longer than five minutes, he'd begin to get worried. All I have to do is stall Isaac until he gets here. Isaac may be smart but he clearly enjoys talking.
Isaac shrugs, "A random bully. I didn't want anyone being suspicious of me. Didn't want the Divergents finding out about my plans to exterminate them all. So I pretended to be a bully. You and Edgar were great helping me with that."
"Trust me, it wasn't by choice," I growl.
Isaac smirks, then, as if he's reading my mind, he says, "You think if you keep me talking, someone will come down here and help will come?" The chill runs down my spine again. "You know, Brooke, I'm smarter than you give me credit for. And there's something else you should know. Ask me what it is."
"What?" I ask, my throat has gone dry with fear now.
"I didn't tell you all my plans to show-off. I told you them so you wouldn't notice my accomplice standing right behind you."
All the hairs on my back stand on end, as, in the silence, I realise that there is, in fact, someone behind me.
Isaac smirks his trademark smirks, "Come on, Brooke. Someone as clever as you should have realised that I'd have a partner. Why don't you turn around and see who it is?"
I grimace. It's a trap, I know, but my curiosity to see who it is overwhelms my common sense. I turn around.
"Phoebe? " I gasp.
Dex:
Everything is too loud for me to think. Why can't it all just stop? My mind is foggy. Maybe me, Sam and Plato had a party last night. That would be nice...Plato. Something happened to Plato. I try to think but it just makes my head hurt.
I blink-Plato is lying in front of me, covered in blood. But I can't see him well. There's something obscuring my vision, making everything hazy and unclear.
Callum pulls on my arm, yelling something incoherently. Something about a train. He makes me run-run, run run-all we ever do is running. I smile. The Dauntless love running.
We run and some people in black run after us. It's like a dream-always running but never getting any closer. Then we're suddenly outside, near some train tracks. I laugh. Everything always happens weirdly in dreams.
There's a loud noise as something fast whooshes past us. Callum lifts me up and pushes me onto something.
I close my eyes and when I open them, I'm on a train.
Brooke:
Phoebe smiles. She's still wearing Dauntless clothes, even though she should have been in the Factionless for a week now. There's something different about her too. She seems taller, more sure of herself. The whole meekness must have been a deception, forcing herself to look smaller to put us off our guard. And it worked.
"Surprise," she smiles, and there's a viciousness to it that wasn't there before. She stretches out her hand, "By the way, I don't think we were ever formally introduced." Her other hand grabs mine and forces it into her right one. She squeezes and shakes my hand in an iron-grip. It's clear from the muscles bulging in her arm that she must have deliberately came last in training. "I'm Phoebe, Isaac's girlfriend, trained and raised in Erudite specifically to kill Divergents. Like you."
The pair laugh. Then, before I can react, Isaac grabs my upper-half, whilst Phoebe grab my legs and they begin carrying me towards the Chasm. As I struggle in desperation to free myself, everything suddenly clicks. It was Phoebe who Isaac let into Dauntless. It was Phoebe who he was talking to about Divergents. And Phoebe got herself kicked out of Dauntless so that no one would suspect her.
Isaac and Phoebe are still laughing as they stand over the Pit, still carrying me like a baby in their arms. I'm still kicking and waving my arms wildly in the air, but it's not affecting them at all. Was this also covered in their training?
I attempt to grab them by their shoulders, hoping that if they throw me in, they'll at least fall in too. And even though I won't be able to save myself, I will have riden the world of two psychopaths.
Before I can try and grab them though, Phoebe swats my hands away so hard that they leave red marks on the back of them. She smiles sweetly at Isaac, "On three?" Her voice is barely audible over the sound of the rushing water below.
"On three," he replies. He grinning so widely, it seems like they're about to do something fun rather than commit murder.
"One," they say in unison.
I risk a glance down at the Chasm. Is it possible for me to grab hold of the side as I go down? It's steep. Probably not.
"Two," they say.
This is it. I squeeze my eyes shut.
I'm sorry Dex. I think.
They begin to lift me even higher into the air.
"Thr-" they begin. But 'three' never comes. Someone tugs me roughly out of their arms and I'm dropped unceremoniously on the floor. My eyes fly open.
Amar has come to my rescue.