Determinant: One choice will change everything

Chapter 24: Tobias - Flight

Chapter 24: Tobias – Flight

The stress is getting worse. In Dauntless, I could work it out by shooting or using a punching bag or even just going for a walk, but I don't have those options in the back of this truck. Instead, there's just hour after hour of bouncing along a miserable road with nothing but danger ahead – and Lauren inside.

My fellow trainer has regained consciousness, but she's weak and is in significant pain. I keep expecting her to spike a fever too. Cara and Caleb clearly did their best, but there's no way that "surgery" was anywhere near sanitary enough. It's just a matter of time before infection sets in. I can't help but feel responsible, since I asked Lauren to lead that group. What's worse is the reason I did it…because I didn't want to put Marcus in charge. She shouldn't die just because I hate my father.

No one asks the obvious question, because no one wants to answer it, but what are we going to do with her? She can't fight or run like this, and she needs care that we can't provide. But there don't seem to be any options. The rebels in Pittsburgh won't be safe for long, not once they're exposed to the higher serum levels, and it's not like we can leave her in a hospital. If she gets feverish and starts talking, she could reveal far too much about Chicago, along with plenty of detail about our faces and at least some information about what we're trying to do. We can't risk that.

I rest my head in my hands, trying to come up with some alternative, some way for Lauren to live through the next week without endangering everyone else. We just need to buy enough time to finish this mission – realistically, if we're not done with it in a week, it doesn't really matter who talks. It would be too late to make a difference.

Maybe we should try Tris' idea and let Priscilla and Doug take Lauren back to the bomb shelter. They'd probably all die on the way, but at least they'd have a fighting chance, compared with if they stay with us. It seems like a kinder way to abandon my friend.

I groan in frustration, and Tris rubs a hand in calming circles on my back. It helps a little, but even her presence isn't enough right now.

At least Tris seems to have come to terms with Caleb. They've been looking at each other a lot since the battle earlier, and there's understanding in their eyes. Tris isn't talking about it yet, probably because Robert's death is too fresh in her mind, but my guess is Caleb helped her in a pretty major way. The thought makes me glad I let him come with us.

On the flip side, there's Marcus…. He's not doing anything directly, but every glimpse of him adds to the massive knot of tension growing inside me. He sits there with that smug expression, like he did us all such a favor by suggesting Tris play prisoner. And I can't even say anything about it, because it actually was a good idea. He was right about the restraints too, though I certainly wasn't about to let him participate in making them. I can't stand the thought of him being near Tris under any circumstances, let alone now. Still, I used his idea to rig a pair of handcuffs so Tris can open and close them on her own. It feels a little better having her be in control of the act.

Given my mood, it's a good thing Uriah stopped flirting with Tris. Objectively, I know he was mostly joking, and after two years of listening to him and Zeke banter back and forth that way, part of me did find it funny. But it doesn't sit well, and the more time passes, the more I dwell on one of the fears from his simulations – the one where Tris and Marlene both rejected him and Lynn clawed at his eyes for asking them out.

Zeke swayed him away from Tris after that, for my sake, and I do know Uriah is too loyal a friend to go after her now. But as I stare at Lauren's blood, my mind seeks comfort in the only place it can, and the image from Uriah's simulation gets in the way of that.