Ambivalence [p.h.] - EDITING

chapter 17 || fear three and four

Four plunges the needle of the syringe into my neck, following through with the "be brave" ritual he always does. I feel my eyes closing softly before shooting open.

• • •

It seems as though I'm standing against a cot in an Erudite lab or doctor's office, but something seems off. I try to lift my hands to my face, but am stopped by something cold digging into the skin. I flicker my eyes down to my wrists to see two metal cuffs tightly securing them to the black leather cot. I try and move, but the cuffs don't budge. I can feel more metal strapped around my neck, a slight beeping accompanying the discomforting iciness encircling me. Something sharp is strapped tightly to my neck, just about to pierce my skin. I try and move my head to survey my surroundings but am stopped by a dash of pain and a trickle of what I assume to be blood running down my throat. I hiss in pain as the fear begins to pump through me. I have absolutely no idea where I am or what I'm doing here, but I'm strapped to a cot-like thing and can't move. How fun. I try and calm myself down but shutting my eyes and breathing deeply, to no avail.

After who knows how long, I hear a pristine white door creak open. My eyes fly open, to reveal Max and an Erudite scientist.

"Hello, Jax," Max says in a twisted tone. This alone makes my heart speed up with a stroke of fear. I don't say anything. "You don't know why you're here, do you?" He eyes the sharp thing at my neck and laughs. "Of course you don't. You're going to be our lab rat. We'll be testing out some different serums on you to see what happens." The Erudite scientist holds up a high-tech, painful-looking, metal syringe filled to the top with an unknown purple liquid.

"Have fun!" Max shouts as he exits the room. The scientist comes to a wall full of dials nearby where I am. There are many clearly labeled ones, including one for extreme temperatures, climate simulations, and to my relief one that might uncuff me. He stops at one labeled "COT" and turns it clockwise. I peep in surprise when the cot starts to rotate. I'm being lifted upside down.

"This shouldn't hurt too much," the man says, before laughing. "Who am I kidding? This'll hurt more than a hundred stab wounds at the same time. If that doesn't kill you, the next serum just might."

"What does the serum do?" I demand. The scientist clicks his tongue.

"Bad girl. You will not speak. Not even if you are spoken to. Your punishment?" He inspects the dial wall again as the blood is rushing to my head. He presses one with a lightning bolt, and I scream in pain as an electric charge runs through me. My entire body is tingling with pain. He smiles wickedly. "But just so you know, this one is only the one to paralyze you. You won't be able to do anything. Move, speak, fight back. Every effort you'll try to make will be useless." I start to breath heavily. I have to stop him from injecting me.

"Now. Back to this." The man crouches down to my neck to inject the serum into my neck. Another sudden burst of fear rushes through me. I use the adrenaline rush to bring my foot down on the man's head, just as he's about to stick the needle in. He falls back with steam pouring out of his ears.

"You shouldn't have done that," he says. He stands up and lunges for my stomach area. I kick him backwards, and he somehow crushes a dial as he falls into the wall. To my luck, the cuffs release me and I fall to the ground. I tumble backwards and stand up, ready and able to fight the scientist. I have to shake my head off to regain my balance after hanging upside down. I flip him over and crush his nose with my foot. His eyes roll to the back of his head as the door opens and a bunch of Dauntless soldiers file in. I look around me and find a long staff-like object. Huh. That should do.