Determinant: One choice will change everything

Chapter 40: Tobias - Impact

Chapter 40: Tobias – Impact

It's difficult to shut my emotions off after I end the broadcast. I badly want to sit here and let myself break down, the way I did back in the bomb shelter after showing Caleb that memory. But I'm not alone this time, and I won't show that kind of weakness in front of others. It's ridiculous, I know, since I just relayed my feelings to the entire country, but the habit is still too ingrained to fight.

So, I force the feelings down, my eyes dry as I look around the room. What I see catches my attention.

Four soldiers are crowded in the doorway, staring at me with something akin to awe. They're not moving, and I can only assume that they're no longer threats. If my transmission worked, they shouldn't be.

However, they're not the only concern. Peter is lying on the floor, blood pooling from a wound on his side as Uriah crouches next to him, pressing his hands to the injury. That must have been the commotion I heard as I started the transmission.

I jump from the chair, heading toward them quickly, but I'm immediately tangled by all the wires that still connect me to the Control Computer. They rip at my skin in multiple places at once, jerking me back to the seat. I growl a little in frustration, grabbing a handful of wires and yanking hard, but that approach is as ineffective as it is painful.

Reluctantly, I slow down, working the electrodes off one at a time. And then something unexpected happens. One of the soldiers walks over to me, her expression hesitant.

"Let me help," she says, reaching for the wires as she watches my face to make sure I don't object. I stare at her for a second, uncertain how to respond, but she's clearly not attacking me, and I could honestly use some assistance. So, I nod, letting her pull the wires from my left side while I deal with the ones on the right.

As we're working, the other soldiers seem to come alert too. "I'll grab an emergency kit," one of them declares abruptly before racing from the room.

"I should get a stretcher, right?" the third one asks. At first, I think he's talking to the room in general, and I'm about to respond when the fourth soldier does it for me.

"Yes, quickly," he states sharply. He must be in charge.

I watch him closely as he begins moving toward Peter. It's hard to predict what he'll do, all things considered. But he just crouches down opposite Uriah as if he's as unsure how to proceed as the rest of us. I suppose he is.

"I think that's all of them," my helper says, and I realize I'm finally free of the wires. Good. In two long strides I'm across the room and crouched beside Uriah, looking levelly at the soldier.

He looks back for a few long seconds before saying, "I'm Levi." Gesturing to the woman who helped me, who is now starting to crouch beside him, he adds, "And this is Em."

I nod slowly. "Four," I respond. "That's Uriah, and Peter."

Levi nods too, his eyes barely touching on Uriah before we all turn our attention to Peter. His eyes are wide, darting fearfully between us. He tries to say something, but he's breathing too rapidly, and it just comes out as gibberish.

"Don't try to talk," I tell him firmly, trying uselessly to evaluate his wound through Uriah's hands. All I can see is blood. Hopefully, that makes the injury seem worse than it really is.

"I need to see the damage," Levi says calmly, gently pulling Uriah's hands away, and we all look.

The gunshot hole is near the edge of the abdomen, high enough that the bullet probably grazed a rib, or went through one. But in that position, there's a chance it missed the organs.