JAX [1]

•Chapter 15: The Final Test•

Jax's POV

(Time Skip)

I woke up, feeling someone rubbing my back. I opened my eyes and saw Four sitting beside me.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." He said. "Come on. I'm gonna show you something."

"Okay." I said as he got up. I sat up and got up.

(Time Skip)

We walked over to the edge of the building.

"Look." He said, gently pulling me over to look over the edge. I saw a bunch of people loading up supplies.

"Erudite?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. "They're here every morning. I've been watching them for weeks."

"Why are they at Dauntless?" I asked.

"Loading in supplies." He said. "Computers. And these." He passed me a vial.

"What is this?" I asked, holding it in my hands.

"I think it's some kind of cognitive transmitter." He said. "You inject it like a serum."

"What does it do?" I asked.

"It's supposed to make you more susceptible to suggestion, but as many as they have...they could create an army." He explained as we glanced at them then each other.

"My brother was right." I said.

"Attention!" We heard the speaker say. "All initiates report for final testing. All initiates report for final testing." I sighed in nervousness. Four put his hand on my shoulder.

"You're ready." He said. "You can do this."

"Thank you." I said. "For helping me." He nodded.

(Time Skip)

I walked into the big testing room with Tori following behind me. Everyone was staring at me, like I was some sort of outsider. Like I didn't belong. Well, let's hope I prove them wrong. Four walked over to me.

"They can see your hallucinations on the screen." He said. "So, you get past your fears the way a Dauntless would, but do it quickly."

"So, if I'm too good, then I'm dead, and if I'm too slow, I'm dead." I said. "I gotta try to be in the middle."

"Right." He said. "Good luck." He walked away and I walked up to the chair. I sat down in it and Tori came over with the syringe.

"Good luck, Jax." She said as she injected the serum into my neck. "Hope you make it."

"Thanks, Tori." I said and she walked away. I glanced at Four one last time and saw him nod to me. I nodded back and laid back in the chair. I closed my eyes, and everything went black.

I opened my eyes and saw I was in the room full of light bulbs. Here we go again. Suddenly, I heard birds cawing, again. I looked to see the door open, and the crows fly out. The birds surrounded me and started attacking me. I quickly covered my face to protect my eyes from their claws. I gritted my teeth through the pain. Then I heard glass smashing. I peeked and saw the light bulbs going out. There was the only one still on. I ran through the barrier of birds and over to the last light. The last light went out. Okay, Jax, think! What would a Dauntless do? Find a light switch!

"Okay." I said as I slowly reached my hands out and felt around on the wall for a switch. I stopped when I felt a switch. I smiled and flipped it on. The birds went nuts as the lights came back on. But then, they started burning with fire. Okay, now what? I looked down at my clothes and then an idea popped into my head. I took off my jacket and looked around on the floor. I saw a crowbar laying there. I quickly bent down and grabbed it. I wrapped my jacket around the pipe and made sure it was secure, that if wouldn't fall off. I held the jacketed pipe over the fire, and it caught. I held the torch up at the birds and they flew away. I smiled in success. Then, the landscape changed. I was in the pit again, surrounded by my friends.

"Why are you here?" Chris asked, again. "No one asked you to be here. You let your friend die." That sentence shocked me. "What kind of friend are you?"

"A sucky one I bet." Peter said, causing her to laugh. I knew what was gonna happen next, so I decided to just change it. I pulled my arm back and let it fly right into her face.

"How did you do it?" Will asked, so I punched him.

"How did you do it?" Peter asked, so I punched him.

"How did you do it?" I heard from behind me, again. I turned around to punch Mateo, but I stopped when I saw who it was. It wasn't Mateo this time. It was Four.

"F—" Suddenly, I couldn't talk or breathe, again.

"How do you expect to be Dauntless if you can't even fight me?" He asked as I fell onto my hands and knees. "You're not Dauntless, you're Factionless." I gotta focus. What would a Dauntless do? I reached up and felt my heartbeat. It was racing. I gotta calm my heart down. But how am I gonna be able to breathe? I can't do it like last time. Suddenly, I got an idea. I stood up as Four started to turn away. I quickly went after him and grabbed his wrist. I turned him around and slammed my lips on his. Suddenly, I felt like I could breathe again. I pulled away and opened my eyes. Four was gone and the landscape changed. I turned around and saw I was right in front of the chasm. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind. A hand covered my mouth as two more men came over to help the person who grabbed me, and I immediately knew what this was. I started to panic and fight to get free. They turned me around as the guy removed his hand from my mouth.

"NO!" I shouted as they tried to push me over the ledge. "NO! LET ME GO!"

"Come on!" I heard one say. "Get her over!" I grabbed his mask and ripped it off his head, thinking it was Al, but god, I was so wrong. It was Eric. He smiled, creepily. "Who's ready to go to the big castle in the sky, Princess?"

"NOOO!" I screamed out.

"Come on, do it!" Another shouted. "Do it!" I knew that was Peter. So, I grabbed his mask and pulled it off. As the two men were trying to push me over the edge, I noticed the 3 one was staying behind. I pushed myself forward and gripped the man's mask. The other two men pushed me back more, and the man's mask came off. My heart felt like it cracked into pieces.

"Mateo?" I asked, about to cry.

"Send her over the edge." He said with no emotion in his eyes. Suddenly, I felt myself starting to go over the edge.

"NO!" I screamed and punched Peter in the throat. Peter gripped his throat and gasped for air. I grabbed Peter and threw him into Eric. Eric fell to the ground with Peter on top of him. I turned to my brother. He threw a punch towards me, but I caught it and twisted his arm behind his back. He groaned in pain, and I elbowed him in the face. He fell to the ground with a bleeding nose.

"Good job, Jax." I heard Jeanine say behind me. "Now..." I felt something be put in my hand. "...finish it." I looked down and saw a gun in my hand. I looked at Mateo and pointed the gun at him. He looked at me with tears in his eyes. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I opened my eyes and let it out, pulling the trigger. I heard a bang and then everything went black.

I opened my eyes, gasping for air as I sat up. I saw Four put his hand on my shoulder.

"You alright?" He asked. I looked at Jeanine and saw her talking with other Erudites. "That looked good to me, okay?" I nodded. "Come on. Let's go."