To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 129

(Hosanna's POV)

"Please, don't inject her with that," Eric pleads to Jeanine, worry in his voice.
She laughs—a mocking, haunting sound. "Or what?" she taunts. "What will you do for me, dear nephew?"  I see she still has that small tablet in hand, controlling the guard. 
"Anything you ask," he responds quickly.
"No, Eric. I'll just be paralyzed for a few minutes. Don't do anything for her," I tell him.  The syringe in my neck is starting to make it hard to speak.  He can't offer her a deal.
"Baby," he says gaining my attention with the deep concern in his tone. He gulps audibly. "I love you."
"I love you," I reply with great difficulty.  Just breathing is hard.  I feel almost sticky—heavy and thick like I'm stuck in mud.  I'm struggling just to remain standing.
"Hosanna... please hold still," Eric begs. I furrow my brows.
"Why is that serum purple?" Tobias questions worriedly. "The rest were blue."
"Because it's death serum," Jeanine cackles.

She bends over in laughter, as if this is the most amusing moment of her life—to see me dead and to torture my Eric.  "My elite guards carry death serum," she continues to laugh, the haunting sound echoing throughout the quiet of the council chambers.
When she finally calms down, she speaks again... to Eric. "You know, I've never seen you grovel like this before. I rather enjoy it," she smiles sinisterly. "What should I have you do for me?" she taunts tapping her chin in thought.
I close my eyes and pray... to get out of this situation but mostly, I ask God to save Eric.  No matter what, I don't want him harmed and most importantly, I don't want him giving in to his aunt's insane schemes. She's so manipulative that he would do anything to save me and I don't believe she's the kind of person to keep her word. She uses people and then discards them after she gets what she wants.
I open my eyes to see Aaron staring at me. I focus on him and notice he's holding his firearm up. He must still have a round remaining—an answer to my prayers.  He motions to my captor's arm with his gun, the arm holding the syringe to my neck. I blink once, hard, hoping he understands that I'll grab it.
"Jeanine," I say, swallowing the difficulty to speak for the sake of its importance.  I feel like I need to give her another chance to do the right thing. She looks to me with a smug grin on her face. "I forgive you for this. You've been deceived. This is wrong. Power is not everything, love and compassion is. We'll all work together to make this city a better place.  Even though you've done some terrible things, I still love you as my aunt and friend," I tell her sincerely.
She smirks and I think I may have reached her. "I warned you about how foolish and demented those religious types were. I can't believe you were so dense to fall for someone like this," she mocks Eric.
I look to Aaron and he nods. I start to reach up in an attempt to fight and pull the syringe out but Aaron shoots the guard at an angle, away from me, throwing him back and onto the floor. I pull the syringe out of my skin speedily, aim it down, and push the plunger releasing the serum onto the ground so it can't be used on anyone else.
Eric rushes to me. He checks my neck and looks me over frantically, making sure I'm okay. 
"Oh my goodness, you're alright," he laughs almost hysterically. His hands are shaking when he embraces me tightly.  Eric releases me quickly though, and turns his attention to Jeanine.  "Arrest her!" he demands with infuriation in his voice.  I've never seen him so upset before.  He actually does look scary in this moment. 
I bend down checking on Sam and Zander.  They both have a pulse and look to be uninjured.  "It's just paralytic serum," I tell them comfortingly looking into each of their eyes.  "It will wear off in a few minutes."  I squeeze their hands in comfort before removing a set of handcuffs from Sam's belt.
Aaron, Four, and Max have Jeanine pinned down to the table. Tris is standing over her looking like she wants to punch her in the face. I rise and walk up cuffing her.
"Call your guards off of Lizzy," Eric commands her.
"No," Jeanine defies him smirking. "My one great comfort is to know that you will suffer for what you've done."
"Ellen? What's going on?" Eric questions.
"They're still surrounded. It looks like all of Erudite's guards have been sent there. Our teams intercepted my mom and dad but Lizzy's team didn't make it out of the building in time. They look like they're on that same serum as your attackers," she explains. "Our additional forces are en route but it'll still be several minutes to intercept."
Eric paces a moment before looking at me. "He promised me that if I took Jeanine out, she'd be safe," he says to himself.
"Who did?" I ask.
"David," he responds harshly.
"Oh," I reply biting my lip. I ponder over the situation for a moment. If he promised Eric... "I call that bluff. He knew what was going on, more so than anyone else," I tell him picking up my phone. He had always known what was going to happen and kept us in the dark. I call his number. He answers on the first ring.
"Where are you?" I ask harshly.
"What do you mean?" David responds confused.
"You promised my husband that if he did this for you, you would make sure his sister was safe. She's being surrounded by Erudites doped up on serum, controlled by a madwoman—a serum you could have told us about months ago, a year ago even. You will help his sister!" I demand.
"Or what?" he laughs. "You have no bargaining chip."  It seems like this is a joke to him and I'm practically freaking out. 
"Oh?" I ask. "I have all of the city leaders in this room. I could tell them all about you," I taunt.
"You wouldn't," he counters. He almost sounds playful. 
"Wouldn't I?" I say seriously.
"Hosanna?" Tobias asks. "Who are you talking to?"
"Should I tell him? You know I tested for Candor. Several people here know I tested for Candor," I say forcefully to David, meeting Jack's eyes then Aaron's.
"They're going to continue to ask about this anyway," he responds.
"Then let this be on your terms. We'll keep it to everyone in this room," I offer firmly. "You ignored us earlier when we pleaded for your help with this. You can save Eric's baby sister's life.  You promised!"
He sighs harshly. "You know, Christopher and a team are already on their way. They flew over the boarder by the marsh in an obscured carrier. They're already marching on Erudite. I was keeping my promise," he grumbles.
I beam at that response. "What?" Eric asks.
"Your dad is coming!" I say excitedly. I slap a hand over my mouth.
"Christopher and Janice Franklin are dead," Jeanine responds matter of factly from the table. "I ordered their execution myself."
Eric grabs Jeanine's arm and stands her up to look him in the eyes. "My father is alive and he's here to save my sister from you," he tells her angrily, releasing her roughly.
"What the heck is going on?" Max asks. I wince. "Hosanna? I want the truth. I know what happened to Eric's parents and you're saying his father is here, alive?"
I hear David sigh. "I could just release some memory serum to clean up this mess," he offers.
"You will not!" I say outraged, pressing speakerphone.
"I would only release just enough memory serum so they could forget this whole conversation. It wouldn't be more than that," he tells me and I hear his voice echo again. "I'm on speakerphone, aren't I?"
I laugh. "David, you're not wiping my friends' minds. Everyone, this is David. David, you know everyone," I introduce.
"Who is David?" Max asks confused.
"The leader outside the fence," I respond.
"Hosanna," David sighs irritatedly. "Control room, put me on screen."
"What's going on?" Ellen asks bewildered. "Put who on screen?"
David appears on the monitor. "Well, this wasn't how I expected for us all to meet, but the current Divergent population may be enough for an introduction," David starts. "What's said in this room stays in this room.  I'm David Sullivan, the leader of an organization just outside your boarders."
I glance around to see some of the Dauntless guards beginning to stand and wake from the paralytic serum. They look surprised—or alarmed, even though they have bruises and cuts on them but don't seem too concerned regarding their condition. I think they're more apprehensive about what they're hearing. It appears as if the Erudite are all staying down for the moment. "We'll make sure our guards don't speak. They are all loyal," I inform him.
"Hosanna? Is he serious about who he is?" Andrew questions.
"Yes, ask Natalie. She knows him," I say.
"What?" all the Priors echo. I wince. I feel bad for keeping that secret.
"This is preposterous," Marcus insists. "There's no life beyond our fences."
"Oh, Daddy. You know that's a lie. I hacked your personal computer and you even have the message from the founding fathers on there. Stop lying," I respond.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he defends. "I don't lie. I don't manipulate, break the law or hurt people. I'm not evil like Jeanine Matthews." Why did he say all of that? 
"Now that is a complete and utter falsehood," David replies. "I have another promise to keep... to myself. I vowed that if there were ever a reason to communicate with the city in my lifetime, I would release your home recordings. I have Hosanna's medical documentation from our facilities also. That's more than what you would need for a conviction. Eric, arrest him as well."
"With pleasure," my husband smirks grabbing Marcus roughly and pinning him down on the table.  My father grunts at the force.  Tobias grasps a set of handcuffs from a guard and puts them on him, a little too tightly by the looks of it. 
"This is absurd!" Marcus shouts.  "I've had nothing to do with this."
"Oh, Marcus.  This has nothing to do with Erudite," Tobias grins in vindication. 
"This is ludicrous!  You can't arrest me.  I demand to be told the charges," he says panicked. 
I look around the room and at the Abnegation who are all nodding their heads in agreement.  Andrew nudges me encouragingly.  I sigh harshly before speaking.  "Fine, you want to hear the charges?  You are under arrest for domestic abuse and rape," I annunciate clearly.  "There were cameras from the outside in every inch of our home.  What you've done in private, has been recorded... all of it."  Marcus suddenly gets quiet and stops struggling.  His eyes cast downward and he doesn't bring them back up to meet mine.  The room goes silent at that.
"Control room, put the conflict on screen as well. Our team will stun those they encounter," David says breaking the silence in the room. The screen splits. We can see a large force approaching Erudite headquarters. The altercation has moved out beyond the main compound doors. The Bureau's squad has just met the Erudite guards under the control serum. It looks like they're firing some sort of weapon I'm not familiar with. They shoot their weapons and the Erudite freeze in place, falling to the ground.  I can see that another of our forces has joined together but it feels like there's nothing we can do but just watch.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" I ask. They're still outmatched. Jeanine must have a larger group of guards than I expected. I notice a few lab coats out there so she must've injected several of their regular citizens.
"Riley?" David calls out to the Erudite assistant.
"Yes, sir," he answers.
"See if you can hack her personal computer and stop the program. It's in a closed system, one we're unable to access.  It should only be able to be controlled remotely," David says.
Riley nods and takes Jeanine's small computer. I watch as he enters her system trying to find a way through it. I remember him staring at me before at the seminars and at the meetings with Jeanine. I always thought he looked slightly familiar but I couldn't place his face... until now. I suddenly recall him watching me another time.
"You're friends with Matthew," I say softly. "We've met once before."  I remember him from lunch one day at the Bureau's cafeteria.  He was seated beside Matthew.  I entered and wanted to join them but Matthew directed me away and to another table. 
"Finally figuring it out, huh?" he responds. I can hear the smile in his voice. "I wasn't allowed to get to know you, then.  David knew you'd return here but he hoped you wouldn't.  I was being prepared for entry. They made sure we wouldn't meet officially. I think it was in fear of what happened with Natalie and Andrew," he shrugs. "Or maybe they just didn't want you to know me when I went to Erudite since I would be working closely with Jeanine and spying on her.  I was under orders to avoid you until after our Choosing Day."
"I knew I never saw you in Abnegation," I comment.
"Oh, I was there. After they brought you back that first time, I was brought in a few months later like Natalie. I just never volunteered and always was in the library until my Choosing," he says.
"So why did you make the serum for Jeanine in the first place?" I ask.
"I didn't know what it was," he tells me biting his lip in concentration as he continues to work on her computer, punching in passwords and overriding systems. "After I matched up the ingredients for the serum, I worked on the transmitters. That's when I figured it out.  They had to be programmed with the same instructions. I had heard of it but it hadn't been used since the forming of the society. She threatened to execute Wes if I didn't continue. He was my closest friend here and I didn't want him harmed.  She eventually had me working day and night, surrounded by guards and monitors so I couldn't get a message out to anyone. Then, when I finally had it finished and in production, she told me Wes had been released and left Erudite for Factionless. The next thing I knew, he was in that room being shot. I contacted David immediately after that," he explains. "I got it," he says setting down the computer. 
The Erudites on the screen pause and look around confused.  I can hear some of those surrounding us—previously under the serum—now groaning in pain.  Johanna and some Abnegation start to help those injured.  I look back to the monitor, searching for Elizabeth. 
"There," Eric says pointing to the wall outside of the headquarters.  I can see her small, blue clothed figure step out surrounded by strong male forms dressed in black riot gear.  She runs through the confused crowd to a large male figure and embraces him.
"She's safe," I sigh relieved.
"What do we do now?" Caleb Prior questions.
I look up to David on the screen. He folds his arms as if staring at me to make a decision. "Well, first off. Thank you David, for sending the backup," I say. He nods. "We'll come visit next week?" I ask questioningly.
"That would be fine. You deal with them. I'll deal with the questions when they get here. Don't tell the rest of the city. This stays within leadership only. This may work out to our benefit in the future," he says. "I'll be in touch."  The monitor begins to fade to black. 
"David!" Eric shouts before his image disappears. He looks to my husband in question. "Thanks," he says glancing at me, then his aunt, Marcus, and at the screen. "For everything."
"I always keep my promises," he confirms. The screen goes dark before Ellen and Jax return. Her mouth is gaping open.
"Don't breathe a word," I instruct.
"Yes, ma'am," Jax says. Ellen blinks, then zips her mouth shut and nods.
"I'm sending medical teams to both locations.  The reinforcements should be arriving soon at Erudite to assist the injured and cleanup," Jax states behind her before signing off.
I thank them and look to the entire mess in the room. Ryan and Lydia are now standing. It turns out that they just were injected with paralytic serum.  Several of our guards have cuts and bruises.  There are a few with gunshot wounds.  The Erudite were terrible shots and didn't land much.  They were easily disarmed also with our first shots.  Jeanine was right, they were no soldiers but the sheer quantity of them against us is what we struggled with.  The pain of their wounds didn't deter them under serum either.  The Erudite sound like they're suffering in agony from their injuries now, though. None of what I can see looks fatal, at least I hope not but I'm no medical expert.  Our guards are helping each other and the Erudite injured.
The rest of Dauntless leadership and I gather.  "How are we containing this?" Max asks. 
"In regards to the outside forces, just say they were another Dauntless troop," Eric says.  "Max, Ryan, and Lydia, go there to assist and control the mess and injured.  Four and Tris, stay here and do the same.  Hosanna and I will take our prisoners to lockup and join you later in Erudite.  I want to make sure these two are secure," he says gesturing to Jeanine and Marcus.  "As for the publicity, tell them the truth about what Jeanine has done.  She was under arrest and injected a control serum into some of her faction to fight us.  She was planning on doing worse.  We'll meet tomorrow with the other factions at the hall in Dauntless and discuss how to handle the rest, privately and publicly.  We'll release a statement to the press after the meeting tomorrow."
We meet with the other factions' leaders quickly to inform them of what we've decided and to make sure they keep quiet about the outside.  They agree easily with that.  Several people believe revealing that information will cause mass panic within the city.  I think so as well.  Our city is not ready to know about this yet.

*****Thanks for reading!  I hope this chapter surprised you.*****

Words of Wisdom:
Have faith in God.  Don't allow fear to coerce you into giving into temptation.  He will deliver you.  It may not be in the way you expect and hope for but it will be deliverance.  Salvation has a price.  Surrender to God's will and accept it.  Do you best in your circumstances, don't lose hope, and believe. 

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1 NIV

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 14:27 NIV

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19 NIV