His Chance

Fear

"You okay?" I whisper to Tris, knowing we only have a few seconds before the next fear comes.

She nods quickly, and licks her lips.
I take her hand and say "This should be easy. We're both Divergent, right?" to which she just smiles.

The blank scene we're in swiftly segues into something much different.
A glass tank grows between me and Tris, and a pump inside it begins spewing water.

The panic returns to Tris' eyes as water laps over her shoes. I'm trapped on the other side of the glass, so I can only watch.

The water rises quickly, and I see Tris take some deep breaths, figuring out the situation. An idea pops into my head, and I slap the glass to get Tris' attention.

She looks at me, her eyes locking with mine. I take off my jacket and mime stuffing it in the pump.

At first she looks confused, but I repeat the action until she nods in understanding.

She rips off her cardigan and shoves it into the pump. The water stops, sloshing round her knees.

She stares at the glass, doing something in her head, I don't know what.

She slams her hand onto the glass and a hairline crack in it. She does it again, and the crack gets wider.

I do the same and smack the glass. A spider-web like fracture expands in the tank and it groans a little. Tris kicks and I punch, until eventually, millions of cracks appear and the glass shatters, water splashing onto the floor.

I jump back to avoid getting hit by the smithereens, and watch Tris pick her way across the broken glass.

"You did really good!" I say to her, and she smiles.

Before she can reply, something crashes into my back, knocking the air out of me,

I fall with a splash and am immediately immersed in water. Black waves slap against sharp rocks and drag me with them.

I come up for air and gasp, searching for Tris. I see her a couple metres away from me, struggling to stay afloat.

I swim as best I can towards her, but another wave crashes over me, sending me tumbling through the water again.

I begin to panic (! at the disco) I can't breathe, and I'm sinking fast. I kick as powerfully as I can to escape this prison.

I come to the surface to find Tris scrabbling on the sharp rocks. I swim as fast as I can, before another wave can hit me.

I'm almost to the rocks when something scratches my leg. I look down. The point of a rock has pierced my jeans and made a long cut on my leg. Great.

I push myself onto the nearest rock, wincing at the edges poke my stomach. I get to my feet and see Tris fall back into the water.

I run over to her and extend my arm. She grabs it, and hauls herself up out of the water, determined.

I wrap my free arm round her waist and pull her up, and fold her into a hug.

We don't say anything. We just wait for the next fear to show itself. I can feel Tris' heartbeat, strong and fast and I focus on it, until I feel her being ripped away.

I look up sharply and see her tied to a pole, with that asshat Peter lighting a fire beneath her feet.

My feet are frozen to the ground. I try to shout, but no sound comes out. I watch tears slide down Tris' cheeks and I wish I could help her. I'm Divergent, why can't I move?

Peter says: "Smell that, Stiff?" and I tense up. She's not a Stiff anymore!

Tris replies with "No." like nothing is bothering her.