JAX [1]

•Chapter 19: Finding Four•

Jax's POV

I followed the wires all the way to another room. I saw Erudite standing around a bunch of computers. The one in the middle looked like it would be the control computer. I saw on a screen that Dauntless had Abnegation against the wall. That wasn't good. I sighed and looked around, but my eyes stopped on a freighting sight. It was Four. He was sitting in a chair, restrained, and had wires on his head and right hand. I quickly limped over to him, seeing my face on the screen behind him.

"Hey." I said. "I'm getting you out of here." I pulled out the knife my mom gave me earlier and used it to cut the restrains off Four. Suddenly, as soon as his restrains were off, he knocked the gun and knife out of my hands. As he got up, he pushed me away and my back hit the wall, causing me to yelp and hold my back in pain. He walked over and stood a few feet away from me. "Four, it's me! It's Jax! You're in a sim!"

"He can't hear you." I heard Jeanine say. I looked to see her and a few other Erudites walking over to us. "Amazing, isn't it? Everything we think of that makes up a person, thoughts, emotions, history...All wiped away by chemistry." I ignored her and looked at Four.

"Four—"

"He's gone." She said. "And we're all safer for it."

"How are we safer?" I asked in disbelief.

"The brilliance of the faction system is the conformity to the faction removes the threat of anyone exercising their independent will." She explained as she walked over to stand next to me. "Divergents threaten that system." She walked back over to Four. "Don't get me wrong. There's a certain beauty in your resistance, your defiance of categorization. But it's a beauty we can't afford." She nodded to the Erudites and walked away. An Erudite walked over to the computer and I walked up to Four.

"Four, it's me, okay?" I asked. "It's Jax. Look at me." Suddenly, he pushed me up against the wall, causing me to gasp from the pain in my back. I slammed my arm down onto his, so he let me go, but instead he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall again. I kicked him in the stomach and them climbed up him. I wrapped my legs around his neck and swung him around and onto the floor. I got up and ran to run away, but he grabbed me by my arm and threw me across the room. I fell into a table and onto the floor. I got up and he started stomping towards me. He started throwing punches at me, but I dodged them. I caught his arm and twisted it, so it was behind his back. "Four! It's Jax!" But he just elbowed me in the arm, the face, and the side, causing me to let go. He grabbed me and threw me down on the floor, causing me to yelp in pain. He punched me in the stomach, causing me to gasp in pain, so I kneed him in the head, causing him to fall back. I got up and he did too. He walked up to me, causing me to back up as he started throwing punches at me again. I dodged them and threw a punch at him, but he caught it and punched me across the face. He then twisted my arm behind my back and kneed me in the side. He let me go then grabbed me and punched me again, causing me to fall on the floor. I got up and ran at him, but he caught me and threw me on the floor, causing me to feel a crack in my ribs and gasp for air because he knocked the wind out of me. I sat up and started backing up because he was stomping towards me. I looked around me for something to protect myself with and saw my gun. I grabbed it and pointed it at him. "Stop." He just kept walking. "Four, stop!" He stopped when he stood over me. "Stop, please. Please, Four, stop." I then realized that...I couldn't shoot him. It would hurt me more than it would hurt him. So...I did the next best thing. I turned the gun around and pointed it at my own head. He kneeled down over me and held the gun to my head. "It's alright. It's alright. It's me. It's alright. It's okay. It's just me. It's okay." He started looking away. "Four, don't." I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. "Look at me. It's okay. Four, look at me." I gently pushed his head, so he looked at me. "I love you. It's okay. It's just me. It's okay." He kept flinching like he was trying to pull the trigger, but he couldn't. "It's okay. It's just me. It's alright. It's okay. I love you." Suddenly, he started breathing like normal and I felt the gun starting to go away from my head.