Right? --A Fourtris/Tris Pedrad Story

Chapter 58

I help pick up Uri, dragging him up the stairs. Bullets storm at us, but we dodge them, successfully reaching the top of the stairs. We run out of the front door and to the side of the house.

"Are you okay?" I ask Uriah, grabbing the sides of his face. He swallows and nods, glancing at the very small window that must lead to the basement. We kneel next to it and watch through the dirty glass. We can slightly hear.

Four is on the ground being hit, kicked and whipped. I see the expression of pain on his face as he curls into a fetal like position. I hear his grunts. This glass must be thin.

Uriah moves and the gun is aimed at the window and it shatters, Uriah and I on either side of it, unharmed. Shit. They must've heard from us.

"Guess your little friends are here to watch the show." We don't move from our spots. "I don't understand why they would be friends with someone like you, " Marcus says. "You really are awful."

"They're far by now. You can't hurt them, " Four squeaks and I glance to see him practically writhing on the floor. He told us to go far away, but I can't just leave him. I won't. I wish I could tell him we were here.

We look back through the window and Four makes eye contact with me. "Go, " he croaks. "Please." The gun fired and I jump away. I look at my arm and see a tear in my loose sleeve.

"Don't waste any more bullets, " Marcus snaps as Andrew reloads. He reloads and keeps the gun in his hand, ready to fire. "They're not worth it." Hell yeah, we ain't!

I just want to run in there and protect Four, but something inside me freezes like moving is impossible. I want to help, but I just can't. I don't even know why, but I'm such a douche! He is my best fucking friend!

The belt whips down on Tris' small, frail body again. "No, " Four barely gets out, moving slightly closer to her. Even when he looks half-dead, he is protecting her. That's the Four we know.

"What!" Marcus shouts and hits Four with the leather strip. "Are!" Again. "You!" Again. "Gonna!" Again. "Do!" Four's breathing has quickly increased to the point where it sounds like he might pass out.

I look at Uriah, who watches intently. Tears drip from his eyes and I don't realize they come from my own until I see his. He should never have to deal with this. I should've been protecting my little brother, not Four. He is my responsibility like Tris was. I'm the worst big brother ever.

"Die, " Four answers. "You can kill me. You can get revenge for me leaving." What the hell is he doing? He can't just die! We need him more than he knows, more than he will ever know!

Marcus seems to contemplate it. "I won't fight anymore. I'm done, Marcus. Let them take her home, knowing that it's really her this time." This must push Marcus to an answer. He nods.

"Get down here and collect the girl!" He shouts at us. Four knows we're still here. He knows we wouldn't leave him. Now, he's making us. He's making us take her and leave him for dead. I can't do that to him.

Uriah's eyes meet mine, and we nod. Both of us start to walk back to the basement. I bite my lip to the point that it might bleed and my legs shake like crazy. I can't do this.

Marcus and Andrew tuck their guns away, keeping their hands up. "Take her and leave. We'll shoot to kill, " Marcus warns. "Can we at least talk to him?" I plead. "Please." "Fine. Make it fast."

I drop to my knees next to Four. "Oh my God. I can't leave you here. I won't do it, Four." He shakes his head. "You can." He winces and sucks in a painful breath. "You will. Take her to the hospital, please, Zeke." I see tears in his eyes too.

He wants Tris to be in a hospital, not survive. He cares more about her than anything. He would give up dauntless cake for her, and that's saying something.

"I can't. I j-just can't." He shakes his head a little. "Zeke, now. Don't come back." Uriah grabs the blood-soaked Tris and sets her by his side. He whispers something in her ear. "I love you. Don't you ever forget it."

"Time up." I gun goes off and Four grunts. "Go, " he snaps, now actually writhing in pain. I have to run. I can't not listen to the last thing he told me to do. Not the last thing we'll ever hear him say.

We get to the train tracks and jump on. Uriah lays her gently on the ground and I just kneel in the center of the floor, clutching the sides of my head and screaming as loud as I can.

I shouldn't have left him! How could I be so stupid? Tris is gone already. Four wasn't. It's not fucking fair! They don't deserve this! Nobody does!

I feel two hands on my shoulder. Uriah. I just scream and scream, not caring who heard me or how insane I look, which I'm sure I would qualify for a mental institution.

"I'm gonna tell everyone to meet us at the hospital, " Uriah tells me. I just stay there, my screaming stopping because I physically can't do it anymore. I just cry, sob, in the middle of the train.

"Oh my God, " Shauna mutters after hearing the full story. "No. He can't be gone. Not Four. Not now, " she rambles, tears streaming down her face. I squeeze my eyes tightly closed and hold her in my arms.

We all just sit there and cry. What else can we do? They say Tris is alive, right now, but won't be for long. How could she survive so long with Marcus? How did Four?

"I'm gonna go help him, " Mom says. I suddenly break from Shauna. "He's gone. He told us not to go back." "He didn't tell me, " Mom snaps back. "Four may not be blood-related, but he's just as much of a son as you are." I bite my lip and nod. "I'm coming too, " I say.
"Me too, " Uriah says.

"No, you're not, " I retort. "You almost died in there and I won't let you get hurt." Four took the hits-the shots for us. "I don't care, " he says. "I'm coming."

We open the door to the basement and it slightly creaks. Mom walks down first, being the bravest of us all. None of us thought to bring weapons, so we're unarmed in a murderer's house. Great.

There's a body lying face down on the stairs. Hands chained behind their back. Four. I run right there and look around the basement. Marcus and Andrew lie on the floor, seeming unconscious.

"Oh my God!" Mom shouts, picking up his head. His shirt is practically gone; what's left soaked in blood or peeling off his skin. "We have to get him to the hospital, " Uriah says. "Wait." I stand up and walk down toward Marcus and Andrew.

I reach Andrew and just kick and beat him as hard as I can. I jump onto both his knees and hear cracks. Good. Now, he won't be able to get up.

I move to Marcus and I can still see the remnants of a smirk on his face. I do the same to him before walking back to the stairs and wiping my bloody knuckles on my shirt.

"Pick him up, " Mom demands. I pick his shoulders up. People are much heavier when unconscious, but Four is worth it.

They rush him back as well and leave us in there. "Anything about Tris?" Uriah asks. They shake their heads. "No, " Mar says quietly, looking down.

"He's gonna be okay. Four can do it, " Lynn says and it sounds like it's more for herself than for us. "He told Marcus to just kill him before he knew it would get Tris out, " I say. "He was hurting her and I've never heard him scream like that." They all turn to me. "I don't know if he would want to."