Rampant: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Two) ©

Chapter 39

                She was losing it, falling apart right before my very eyes.

                Come on Ally, you can do this. I thought as I watched her fear continue to unfold before me. Concentrate. Don’t let it get to you.

                Though most people might think that the fear landscapes brought pain only to the initiate whose mind had created them, this wasn’t the case. It was in times like these that I truly understood what Amar had gone through, and why he’d been distraught as he’d witnessed my own simulations. It was a wretched feeling to have; to observe someone go through their worst fears, and much more so when there was absolutely nothing you could do about it.

                I was nothing more than a silent spectator.

                This fear, it was one I hadn’t seen yet. In it, Ally had opened her eyes to see that she was in a large plane of nothing but white. The floors had been tiled, and the ceiling smooth but incandescent; as if it were a thin sheet of plastic that only let in a certain amount of light. The area had just stretched on as far as the eye could see without a wall in sight.

                As she’d surveyed the area, a noise had suddenly sounded behind her, causing her to whirl around in a rush. There, she’d come face to face with what appeared to be a clone of herself; another Ally that had stared at her with a frown.

                “Who are you?” the clone had demanded.

                “Me?” Ally had repeated shakily.

                “Yeah, who are you?” Another voice had sounded to her left; yet another clone.

                “I’m me,” Ally had said, trying to sound firm and composed. “I’m Ally.”

                “No, you’re not,” the first clone snapped, shaking her head in irritation. “Don’t lie.”

                “I-I’m not,” Ally had said as she tried to step backwards, only to stumble into the even larger crowd of clones. “I’m Ally, I’m me, I’m real.”

                But the clones had merely shaken their heads at her; some looking suspicious, others angry, a couple amused and smirking, and some even with a look of pity. As the seconds ticked by, the crowd only seemed to grow and grow, until the real Ally was drowned out amongst all the others and I’d lost sight of her.

                I’d felt panic then, but that wasn’t even the worst part; because after the sea of clones had grown to an insurmountable quantity, they’d all begun to panic. Shrieks and screams of panic arose, and physical violence was quick to follow. Eventually all the Allison clones had turned on each other, clawing and ripping at each other’s hair; each fighting to be the last and true Ally.

                I’d watched in complete agony as I read what this fear really meant to her. It was so much deeper than what the passing glance could ever tell. But I couldn’t do anything to help. In fact, it wasn’t until only a few seconds ago that I’d even found the real Ally.

                Huddled in a ball, rocking back and forth, I knew it was her without even the slightest bit of doubt. It wasn’t her appearance that clued me into the truth –since all the clones were replicas of her and had the exact same mannerisms– but something within me recognized the true essence I’d come to really familiarize myself with over these past five days.

                “I’m real, but this isn’t real, I’m real, but this isn’t real–” I heard Ally continually chant under her breath. “Just a simulation.”