Revolution -Eric Coulter-

Chapter 52

Riley feels weirdly better. It's just after mid-day when she walks down the corridor. There's a sculpture located at the front of the airport. It's rather ugly, in her opinion, but it's recognizable. That's where she is headed. Uriah is waiting for her there. They're going to meet, eat lunch, and hang out in the control room with Christina. The two had been keeping updates on what was happening inside the city.

As she walks, her eyes find Peter. He's reading a book, as he always is. He doesn't notice her, and she smiles. As he walks by, she quickly snatches the book from his grasp. Peter stops walking immediately. "Hey," he says. "Give that back."

"Is Peter Hayes reading a book?" She teases. "I didn't know you could read."

The light-hearted comment causes him to laugh. "Shut up and give me back the book." Riley hands him the book, which he happily snatches from her. "You're a real pain. You know that, right?"

"I've been told that a lot recently." His smile falls at her words. He knows there's a deeper meaning behind them. "Have fun reading."

Riley steps around him. "Where are you going?"

"To meet Uriah."

"Ah," he points at her. "You're going back to the surveillance room. You know, it's incredibly creepy watching Evelyn all day."

Riley shrugs, "not much else to do." She spins around. She isn't late meeting Uriah. Riley always had a thing about being on time.

There's a silence that takes over. There are a few Bureau works around, but she doesn't think much of them. Stepping into the main area, she finds Uriah. He's standing by the statue. His tall frame stands out among the others around him.

Riley walks towards him, her lips parting to ask him a question when there's an explosion. The wall beside Uriah explodes into millions of pieces. He is closest to it, but she is only a few feet away. Riley hits the ground hard, a pain traveling through her whole body. There's a loud ringing in her ears.

Opening her eyes, she's met with a cloud of smoke. The air feels hotter around her, but her body is cold. She can't breathe. There's a pain in her chest. It feels as if she's been shot. Her mouth tasted of something metallic. She blinks a few times, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. Looking to the side, she can see Uriah's body. He's on his stomach, head turned away from her.

He looks dead. Riley fears he might be. People are screaming and running in all different directions. She looks back at the ceiling. Her mind is screaming at her to stand up, but her body is paralyzed. She can't move.

Suddenly, someone is looking down at her. Riley stares at them. It takes a moment, but she recognizes them. It's Christina. She's screaming, but Riley can't hear her. Someone else joins her. It's Peter. A moment ago, he was walking in the opposite direction. Riley assumes he ran back when he heard the explosion.

Christina places a hand on her cheek. She's trembling. Riley concludes that she is scared. There are tears in her eyes. They fall and land on her neck, but Riley can't feel them. The alarms are going off. The flashing lights are distracting her.

She looks back at Uriah, but a bright light is coming from the windows. She doesn't remember it being that bright before. Riley blinks a few times. The light grows and swallows her whole.

"Riley," Christina shakes her. "Riley, come on!" Her eyes were still open, but she wasn't moving. "Riley, stay with me! Please!" She doesn't move. "Someone help us!"

The chaos grows, but some push through. Caleb stands in the doorway, watching as people trip over others in an attempt to getaway. Eric pushes past him. He's unsure what happened but knows it can't be good. His blue eyes find a familiar mop of red hair. It's Riley. She's lying on the ground. Christina is screaming for help, and Peter's shaking her. What scares him is the fact she isn't moving.

When Eric said that good people don't live long, he never imagined he would be staring his words in the face, but here he was watching the only person he ever loved bleed to death on the tile floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christina decided she didn't like hospitals. It was overcrowded and loud, but she had to be here. Uriah and Riley are separated from them. It can't be a good sign, she concludes. But they can't die either.

"Where's Tobias," Tris finally asks. At the mention, Christina stiffens up. Tobias isn't anywhere to be seen, and that worried Tris.

"They didn't tell you?"

That alarms her, "tell me what?"

"He's been arrested." Tris stares at her. "I guess they saw him in the control room before-" Christina doesn't mention the explosion.

Pushing away from her, she decides to find him. Although angry with him, he needed to know about Riley. She needs to see him. Tris has to be the one to tell him that his actions put his sister in the hospital.

A weight sits on Tris's shoulders. Each step is heavier than the last. It doesn't take long for Tris to find where they are keeping Tobias and the others. "Hey," a guard yells at her. "You can't be here."

"Relax," a tan woman says. "She's the one who saved David."

Tobias doesn't know what happened to David, but he feels guilty. He knows it's his fault. "I'm here with an update. David is alive, but he will need physical therapy to walk again." Tobias listens closely. "But I need to talk to him.

"We can't-"

"Hey," the girl speaks up again. "It can't hurt."

The guy huffs, "fine. Two minutes."

Tris walks to the end of the hall. Tobias follows after her. "Tris-"

"Would you like to hear what exactly your friends did?"

Tobias swallows the lump in his throat. "They didn't want the memory serum, did they?"

"No," she snaps. "They wanted the death serum." The information hits him like a sack of bricks. "They wanted to kill higher-ups and start a war." He shuts his eyes. "I told you. I told you." Tris is furious with him. "Uriah was standing right in front of the explosion." The news keeps getting worse. "As was Riley."

His eyes open. They're wide with fear. "What?" Riley was hurt because of him.

"They are some of the only friends I have," Tris whispers. "I will never be able to look at you the same again."

Tobias deserved that. He deserved everything that came his way. "Is she," his voice fails him. "Is she gone?"

Tris looks away. "I don't know." That last time they spoke, they fought. He was unnecessarily cruel to her. Riley didn't deserve to be treated that way. He was angry at the world and took it out on her. Now, he may never be able to apologize.

Tris doesn't spare him a second glance as she walks away. Tobias sinks into the chair, his head falling into his hands as tears fill his eyes.