Divergent One Shots (Eric & Tris)

Seventy-Nine-Beyond Boarders 23.2

Tris

I hear Eric communicating with leadership as I drive along the wide cement road. The radio is already beginning to cut out.
"Well, they know we're out here, at least," he tells me putting the radio on the dash. "These are useless now, though."
"Do you think the fence interferes with them?" I question. There's never an issue inside the fence, just outside. We even have difficulty calling Amity. Email or in person works better.
I glance at Eric and he's staring at me.
"You just thought of that?" he questions.
I shrug, "It's actually been on my mind for a while when our department loses communication."
"What did you test for?" he questions teasingly.
"What did you test for?" I joke right back.
He chuckles, "We should hang out more, Stiff."
"Oh? Do I amuse you?" I inquire surprised.
"Always," he says softly.
I smile and glance at him. I continue on the road dodging potholes. I see the area he was interested in up ahead but the closest bridge connecting us to there has collapsed.
"Shoot. Keep on moving. Take the first area that looks whole and drivable," he directs.
"Got it," I respond.
We drive a bit more and I actually find a good bridge. Alpha Two is keeping up. We cautiously cross over the bridge and enter into a city street with skyscrapers. I grin in awe. This is incredible. I hear a click and glance to Eric.
"Are you taking pictures of me?" I question.
He shrugs in reply.
"I'm not very photogenic," I insist.
"Looks good to me," he mumbles.
I bite my lip at his compliment.
"Where to?" I ask.
"Just explore a little more," he insists.
I drive the road a bit longer and I turn to the right leading us further away from our city. We can see the marsh on one side and this city district on the other.
"Let's find a residential area," he suggests. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find some dusty beds waiting for us."
I grin.
"That would be better than the cement," I agree.
"Or next to the marsh," he adds.
"But it's beautiful over here," I mention.
"And buggy at night," he points out.
"I didn't know that," I tell him.
"A fire will keep them at bay but it's supposed to rain so they'll probably be worse," he explains.
"Alright," I nod.
I find an area that I think might be homes and he nods his assent. I park and we get out. We all congregate together for him to give direction. He lists the order of command—Eric, then me, Marco, Lucas, Olive... and so on. He explains that top priority right now it to find shelter for the night since sleeping in the trucks is not an option. He instructs that he'd like us to stay together or at least neighboring groups. No one is to go off on their own. We are to be cautious. These buildings and everything in them are ancient and could crumble at any moment.
We all nod. He assigns groups and I'm with him. I'm surprised he didn't separate me with the others but I follow my orders. He adds that he'd like everyone to wear their packs at all times. If the worst were to occur, we'll be prepared.
I put my bag on my back and remove my firearm. I observe as Eric locks the two trucks with our supplies.
"Can't be too cautious," he tells me softly.
"I've seen raccoons carry whole garbage bags away before," I point out.
He chuckles at that.
"Well, there are a lot of trees and greenery growing up through the cement and buildings around here," he agrees.
He puts his pack on and I follow his lead. We have four others in our group. We explore the closest building while everyone else spreads out. Officers Fisher, Travis, Wesley, and Owens join us. They're all male. There are actually only three females besides me here. So, separating by genders won't work. There are twelve of us.
I watch Eric step inside the building cautiously. The door opens easily enough with a slight creak.
"That's hopeful," he says.
I'm right behind him. We enter into a foyer. It's dusty and dirty. There are signs of spiders and whatnot but there's no plant life growing inside—no mold either so that's good. We take the stairs. The first one breaks under Eric's weight but the second holds. The rest do as well for the most part. We follow and get off on the first floor. The doors all appear to be locked.
"Is this a hotel?" Officer Owens asks.
Eric looks at him.
"It might be," he agrees. "Three go and see if there are keys at that front desk."
I'm about to volunteer but he insists that I stay with him. I nod even though I want to go. He puts his shoulder into a doorway and it opens. It contains cleaning supplies.
"Hmm," he says in surprise.
Some of the chemical bottles are still intact while others have exploded. They're dried but it's possible there are hazardous chemicals on the floor and everything in there.
"Let's leave that be," he says after considering it and shutting the door. He probably thought of the same things as me by the look of it.
The other three join us with keys to this floor.
"Awesome," Eric grins.
I think he's actually having fun. And honestly... so am I. He opens up a door to a decent-looking hotel room.
"This is nice," he comments.
"If the floor is intact, we could all crash in here," I mention.
"I want to check all the floors above and make sure they're not going to collapse on us. I'd like to generally stay lower to the ground in case of an emergency but this isn't bad," he says and I couldn't agree more.
We check the floors starting with this one.  Eric points out what he wants us to look for—building stability, space enough for everyone, no leaks... etcetera.  We separate again and grab keys for each level.  Eric, of course, wants the top levels and I'm to join him.  Fisher is with us, too.  We grab keys for the top three levels and the rest of our team gets the bottom three just above the second floor.  I walk cautiously with Eric up the stairs and we get off at level five.  He passes out the keys to us. I walk to the door next to his room and open it. It's similar in style to the room below except this one has a larger area. It has a massive bed and several seating areas. It even has a small kitchen. I walk in cautiously and survey the room. It could almost be an apartment.
"This one is nice," Eric comments from behind me. "The one I checked out was a box with a small bed."
"They must just have a variety of spaces," I say staring out the window.
We exit the room and examine the rest. He joins me on the top floor room I've got. I think it's the largest and takes up half the floor. There are several separate bedrooms in here, a big living space, and a massive kitchen. The view is incredible where you see all the surrounding buildings and some skyscrapers nearby. We can actually see the Hub and Hancock Building from here with the surrounding buildings in the distance. There's a huge tree line and that must be the forest and pond.
"Let's check out the roof," Eric suggests from beside me. "The ceilings are all intact. Nothing has gotten in here. This place isn't even very dusty."
"We should make sure they all shut and lock the doors so it stays this way. It'd be terrible if it got destroyed now. If the furniture or anything else is good, we could have crews strip the places we find later on," I mention.
I glance to Eric. His eyes are already on mine. "Good point," he replies.
I smile at him and he stares at me. I look back to the view. "What about bathrooms?" I question.
"What about them?" he asks.
"What latrines are we using? The water in here isn't working. Everything is dried up," I explain.
"I don't know," he chuckles lightly. "We could find an area that's useless and piss there."
I can't help but chuckle at him.
"Knowing this team, unless I tell them not to use the toilets in here, they'd wonder why it's not flushing," he teases.
I laugh harder and meet his eyes again. He's smiling at me now.
We check the roof together and it's in pretty good shape. We meet up down in the main lobby with the rest of our team and the other group.  We have our lunch of rations and water from our personal canteens in a dining hall just beyond the main entrance and elevators. It's kind of spooky with cobwebs and whatnot but it'll do.
"You said it's supposed to rain tonight, right?" I ask Eric.
"Yup," he nods.
"I was thinking. We only have so much water. Have you considered a rain catch?" I inquire.
He stares at me and looks to be thinking. "That's a good idea," he nods.
"We could check out the kitchen and maybe line the roof with pots or something. We could even put a tarp up or something for drinking or even bathing water," I point out.
"Are you sure you tested for Dauntless?" he teases me.
I chuckle lightly in response. But he's eyeing me—not with a threatening expression but one of admiration and respect.
"Or we could just strip naked and shower in the downpour," Officer Sage teases—the short, sexy brunette female.
"I've got no problem with that," Officer Travis agrees. He's a tanned male covered in tattoos and piercings. He's been eyeing her since we arrived.
Eric looks away and sighs. "Dauntless promiscuity," he mumbles. He looks back to me. "You know, your Stiff values are going to be tested on this trip."
"I figured," I reply. I finish my bar and walk toward the kitchen. I find it fully stocked. I start stacking up stockpots on the countertop.
"Good choice," Eric comments.
I smile at him and keep grabbing useful items.
"I wonder what happened here," I say softly.
"What do you mean?" he questions.
"I don't know," I shrug. "Did everyone die or did they just leave?"
"I don't know either. I guess we never will," he replies.
I laugh lightly. "My mom told me I'd find answers out here," I mention.
"Does Abnegation know more than the other faction's leadership?" he questions.
"I have no idea. She's always had the answers to everything, though," I tell him.
"You act like you see her often still," he points out.
"I go to church most every Sunday when I'm not working. So, I do see her fairly regularly," I reply honestly.
"To see your family?" he questions.
"To worship God," I correct. "Having my family around is just an added bonus."
He laughs lightly, "I guess that's where your morals come from."
"Yup," I agree.
The soldiers join us and we all carry the pots to the roof. I have Eric unlock the truck and we replace our rations in our packs, fill our canteens, and grab several tarps. We take the tarps up to the roof and spread them out. We tie them down with rope.
"I didn't know you were so good with knots," Eric points out.
"I've worked with Jax for what?  Five years?  He's taught me everything he knows," I grin.
"I'm a little jealous," Eric smirks at me.
"Jax is like a second father to me," I admit. "He's just like Dad... but Dauntless. He's full of all sorts of interesting information."
We finish up on the roof and meet downstairs. We designate some ruins on this street as a latrine. The roof is missing and the walls are still standing but everything is gone—nothing of use but privacy to do our personal business. We take a break and everyone uses the designated facilities. Afterward, we meet on the street.
"Alright, we're splitting up. Two people per team. We're searching for anything useful. Don't go far and keep your partner within sight at all times. We're looking for computers, metals, electronics, jewelry is fine. Books would be useful if they're not crumbling... but you know what we need. Search this street. Don't go further than a block in each direction and don't move on any farther. We'll all go together tomorrow. When the sun begins to set around eight, we'll meet back at the hotel and sleep on the top floor—Tris's room," Eric explains.
He assigns partners and he picks me as his. He puts Sage and Travis together. I look to him confused. We separate and walk down the street. I keep in step with him. "You know what they're going to do. I'd rather have them get it out of their system before bed tonight or we'll all be hearing them," he tells me. "Or they'll be like rabbits and I'll never have them join us again," he teases.
"Gross," I reply.
"It's human nature," he shrugs.
"Sure, sinful nature," I agree.
"You think there's something wrong with sex?" he asks me as we step into a sturdy-looking building together.
"No," I shake my head. "Out of wedlock, yes."
"You sound like my parents," he points out.
"And mine," I reply.
"So, you and Four never..." he trails off.
"I think you're under the assumption that Four and I are together," I mention.
"Aren't you?" he questions.
"Nope," I reply. I thought it was obvious.
He hums a reply. I look back to him and he's eyeing me. He meets my eyes and turns his attention to the building. We climb the stairs and start at the top, working our way down. It's a small apartment building. We find computers, scraps of metal, jewelry boxes...  I honestly don't know what else the city will want.  Currently, we have a metal shortage but so many items we locate could be useful in the future.  We carry a small bag of the most useful items we could obtain back to the hotel when it's getting late.  We climb the several stories of stairs and we're the first to arrive. 
"I'll put those two in the furthest room," Eric tells me.  "The majority can sleep out here.  Where do you want?"
"Out here's fine," I shrug. 
"I think you're under the impression that all these men won't be tempted to touch you in your sleep," he tells me. 
I sigh.  "Just like initiation," I grumble. 
"What?" he questions. 
"Nothing," I say dismissively. 
"What happened during initiation?" he presses. 
"Peter Hayes happened," I reply.  "There's a reason I still keep my distance from him."  I walk on.  "There are two beds and a couch in here.  The other ladies and I can stay in here or we could split up if they're anything like Sage."
"Fine," he says softly.  I look back to him and see concern.  "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Four knew," I shrug.  "Initiation ended.  Al was dead.  Drew was gone and I steered clear of Peter."
"It was all of them?" he questions. 
"Yeah," I reply.  "My abduction fear..."
"I'll separate the genders in the future," he tells me. 
I nod. 
Everyone arrives back and we decide on sleeping arrangements.  One of the other females wants to share a room with her new boyfriend so Olive and I are together in a smaller room.  We sit in the main living room together.  I'm on the floor eating a ration and sipping my water while several of the others are on the furniture.  Eric is sitting off in a chair looking out the window. 
"Prue, I thought you already had a boyfriend," Sage asks. 
"We broke up for the trip.  I know he wouldn't stay faithful and I wasn't planning on it either," Prue shrugs. 
I wince at that. 
"Whatever happens outside the fence, stays outside the fence," Sage grins. 
Some of the guys chuckle at that.  Eric doesn't.  I decide to go sit with him and watch the sunset. 
"It's beautiful," I say as I sit beside him. 
"You don't have to sit on the floor," he points out. 
I shrug in reply.  Sage and Travis are making out on the sofa.  I don't really want to sit next to them.  Eric tells them to take it in their room.  I stay where I am, though. 
"You sound like the dad," I tease. 
"I wouldn't raise my children like that," he replies. 
"Are you planning on having them?" I question. 
"If I found the right girl," he responds. 
I turn away from the sunset to see he's staring at me. 
"What about you?" he questions. 
I shrug.  "I hadn't thought about it.  I've been too busy working to consider things like that," I admit. 
He turns away and looks back at the sunset. 
I figure that I ought to use the latrine before bed so I go to the door. 
"Go down in groups," Eric warns. 
"Anyone else need to use the latrine?" I ask. 
Nobody responds. 
Eric grudgingly agrees to join me.  We do our business and get back just as the rain begins.  We climb up to our floor and I peek out the door to the roof. 
"I'm tempted to shower like Sage said," I laugh lightly. 
"I'm game," Eric grins from behind me. 
"By myself," I chuckle elbowing him playfully. 
"Take turns?" he offers.  "I'll watch the door for you and you watch it for me."
"Deal," I nod. 
We each get a change of clothes and a towel from the hotel.  They're not too dusty.  I shake it off and we head out together. 
"Ladies first," Eric says. 
I nod and step outside with my dirty clothes on.  I take them off and let the rain wash me.  It's a little cold but not bad.  I squeeze the water out of my clothes and carry them back. 
"Towel," I call out to Eric reaching my hand in the door.  He places it there and I wrap it around me before stepping in.  "I washed my clothes out there, too," I mention. 
He smirks at me and does the same.  I dress with the towel on while he's out there.  I hand him his towel and he steps in but he's not as modest as me, so I turn my back on him until he's finished. 
We return and hang our laundry and towels up in the bathroom to dry. 
"Pleasant dreams, Stiff," Eric teases. 
I tell him goodnight and go to my room with Olive.  The beds are comfortable and I drift off easily. 
I'm woken in the night by the sounds of our neighbors... as Eric put it, acting like rabbits.  I wasn't expecting that.  I honestly thought he was joking.  I roll over and put a pillow over my head.  I can still hear them throughout the night and I'm starting to regret this trip. 
I wake in the morning to the sunrise.  I get up and dress for the day before stepping out.  I see Eric standing at ease in front of the window watching the sunrise.  He notices me walk out.  He smiles at me.  I pad over to him. 
"Did you sleep well?" he asks. 
I move my hand in a so-so gesture.  He asks what was wrong.  My response was rabbits. 
The smile from his face drops. 
"I was joking before.  Were they seriously loud?" he questions. 
I wince and nod.  "I've honestly never experienced that before..." I trail off. 
He sighs harshly.  "Maybe we should send them home."
I don't respond. 
"I'll speak to them," he tells me. 
I nod.  I'm worried that if we all have to group together in one room, will they actually be doing that?
The two of us go down and use the latrines, then we wake them all up. It feels like initiation and instead of treating this team like members, he's having to talk to them like initiates. He takes the four aside and lectures them that if the rest of us are privy to anymore of their bedroom antics, they'll be sent back to Dauntless.
"This is a special operation, not a vacation. I'm your leader and commanding officer. I may have given you leeway before but I won't hesitate to send you back with a demotion if it continues," Eric tells them harshly.
They actually look embarrassed, ashamed.
"Sir, yes sir," they all respond.
"Dismissed," he tells them.
They leave to the latrines. Eric turns to me. "If there's another issue, come get me immediately. You don't have to listen to that through the night," he tells me softly.
I nod but I can't meet his eyes.
We begin to pack up our dry clothes from last night.  We decide to keep the towels, too.
"I think we'll stay here for a few days," Eric tells me. 
"Alright," I nod. 
This building is a good find.  We can search during the day and return for a decent nights sleep. 
We fill our canteens with the collected rainwater.  Everyone else bathes with a little of it but they have to kind of dump some on themselves not getting nearly as clean as we got. 
Afterward, we eat our breakfast of rations—the selection of dried meat, nuts, dried fruit, or protein bars. I just rotate them so I'm onto fruit now.
"Is it terrible that I already miss vegetables," Eric mutters next to me as we sit side by side on the steps to our hotel.
I reach beside me and pick a dandelion green and some lamb's-quarter growing out of the cement.
"Here. I made you a salad," I tease.
He chuckles at me dismissively.
"I'm serious, though. These are edible," I tell him.
"Are they?" he asks.
"Dandelion is bitter," I warn. "But lamb's-quarter is better than spinach."
"How do you know this?" Eric asks me taking them and eating them.
"Everyone thinks Abnegation don't care for their lawns like Erudite but the weeds are all edible... well, not really the grass unless you're an ungulate," I mention.
He grins at me.
"That one is bitter but not bad with the bar," he tells me.
I smile in reply.
We get going and move on foot to another section today. I see some of the girls placing jewelry on themselves and guys pocketing trinkets instead of collecting them for Dauntless. It almost feels like we're grave robbing... and I don't like that.  We travel and search all around the area, deciding to return to the hotel at night. Eric confides in me that we'll pack everything up but we may be moving on to a different area in the morning. We take turns bathing at night since we're the only ones. I honestly don't have much in common with the others. They're more crude and vulgar than what I'm accustomed to. So Eric and I remain together. We separate again and go to bed.
I'm woken in the night with a jolt. I felt like I was just shaken awake. I hear a moaning noise. I rise up in bed and I'm tempted to get Eric... but it's different from yesterday. I'm not sure if it's a dying animal or like a zombie or something. It's weird, like a breathy noise of an animal whining or breathing deeply... it's just strange. I rise up and stand before I pad over to Eric's room. He's got the king size all to himself. I open the door and he looks like he's asleep. I can still hear the noise in the distance but it's quieter in here. I step to the side of the bed he's sleeping on, grateful for the moonlight guiding me.
"Eric," I say tapping on him. I think he's shirtless because that's his bare skin. There's no movement. Maybe he's a heavy sleeper. "Eric," I say again shaking him harder this time.
He grabs my wrist and tosses me on the bed. I hear the click of the bullet in his gun slipping into place as he hovers over me.
"Stiff?" Eric questions confused as he looks down at me. "Why are you in my bed?"
"Because you put me here," I reply.
He sighs roughly and uncocks the gun. He lays back down beside me and I hear him set the gun on his nightstand. I hear his breathing even out.
"Did you just fall asleep again?" I ask shoving his chest.
He sighs. "I'm awake. What did you want?"
"I heard a noise," I admit.
"I'm not your mom. I'm not reading you a bedtime story," he teases.
I hear the noise again.
"Did you hear that?" I question jostling him once more.
"I hear nothing," he says tiredly.
"Listen," I insist.
We wait a moment in silence before I hear the noise again.
"That is weird," he admits.
"It's louder in my room," I tell him.
"That's definitely not anyone having sex. It sounds like an injured animal—a coyote or a wolf," he tells me sleepily.
"Should we check it out?" I ask him.
"In the morning," he says. "Wild dogs are pack hunting animals. We go out there, we could be walking into a trap. We'll look into it in the morning."
"Alright," I whisper.
I hear a howling, like a group of wolves or something. He's right. It sounds like one is injured—dying.
"Are you staying?" Eric asks me. He sounds more awake than our entire conversation.
I don't answer as I think it over.
"I don't mind," he tells me seriously.
"I should probably go back," I say climbing up.
I feel Eric reach for me and pull me back against him.
"You're cold," he mumbles against my skin as he snuggles up to me.
I don't move.
"Are you staying?" he whispers.
"No," I say disengaging from him.
He sighs as I leave.
I climb back into bed and try to sleep through the dreadful noise along with the howling. Maybe I should've stayed there... but it would've been a bad idea. I'll suffer through another restless night.
I wake in the morning kind of drowsy. Two nights of barely any sleep is getting to me. I rise anyway and get dressed. I see Eric already up watching the sun rise along the window again. I pad over to him once more.
"I can still hear that noise—although, it's not as frequent. It's quieter, too," he tells me.
I nod. We get everyone up and pack everything. We take the pots and tarps from the roof with us along with the towels.  We're going exploring this morning. 
Eric drives us down a ways stopping and listening for the sound.  It's two main streets down from where we were located.  I see something in the distance.  It looks like rubble fell and hit the unfortunate animal. 
"Eric?" I ask him as he drives. 
He parks a ways away and we get out armed and fully geared up.  I see him pocket the keys and he accompanies me.  Everyone else climbs out but hangs back with the trucks.  I frown as I see the poor dog-like animal suffering. 
"What do we do?" I ask him sadly. 
"The only thing we can do," he replies. 
He raises his firearm and puts the poor animal out if it's misery.  I hear another whimper and I step a little further.  I see puppies in the distance a few buildings down. 
"Oh, Eric," I frown. 
"What?" he asks me. 
"There were babies," I tell him walking towards them. 
I hear a loud noise like thunder above head but the sky is completely clear.  I feel the ground shake from the noise and I see that metal bird-like creature Johanna and Jasper talked about soar through the air above us.  The sound is deafening and I cover my ears as it passes us.  The ground is shaking. 
"Stiff!  Run!" Eric shouts. 
"What?" I ask confused as I turn around and see him. 
He's coming after me and he's running.  I look over and dizzily see the building the rubble came from splitting apart. It's coming right for us.  Eric grabs me to his chest and he's running with me in his arms.  He jumps. My head hits the ground causing everything to go dark.