Infallible

Chapter 8

Rae leaned far over the roof's ledge, wind rustling through her hip length black hair. She was trying to take in every inch of the view from the top of the Hancock building. She had never been this high up before, and it was breathtaking. Most of the initiates (both the Dauntless-born and the transfers) were there as well, along with a handful of Dauntless members. Everyone was chattering and hollering excitedly.
Rae realized that the crowd had begun to gather in one spot near the ledge to her right, and she walked over to join them. A heavily pierced man with short, spiked hair was tightening the straps of a harness around someone. Rae saw it was attached to a cable that ran down through the city, slicing right through the middle. Rae's heart thumped.
A zip line!
The Dauntless member that occupied the harness turned to give a thumbs up just as the spikey-haired guy shoved him hard and he disappeared quickly, lost in the city lights. Rae watched a few other initiates follow suit, some looking nervous and others looking thrilled. She felt a little of both. She wondered what would happen if she chose to not go, but before she knew it, it was her turn. Swallowing hard, she tied her hair back and allowed herself to be guided into the harness.
"You ready?" The man asked, and Rae swallowed before nodding. "Don't forget to pull the brake at the bottom." He pointed to a handle hanging above her head, and she nodded again. The next thing she knew she was flying.
She was almost positive that her heart had stopped beating, and her lungs had stopped working. A exhilarating chill ran through her body and she felt electrified. She spread her arms out wide, and looked from side to side taking in the view. She could see everything. The whole world as she knew it was laid out before her.
The zip line eventually became steeper, and Rae saw people standing at the bottom. Holding tight to the brake, Rae slid smoothly to a stop above the crowd. They cheered for her, and helped her back down to solid ground. Her heart, which had felt like it stopped just minutes ago, was now crashing against her ribs.
She made it.

***

  Rae stayed in the Pit with her friends, and they all danced. She was two drinks in and dancing with both Deidra and Jackson. Zeke was nearby dancing witha girl named Shauna, along with several other initiates. They were all having a great night, laughing, dancing, joking and teasing each other. There had been talk of getting tattoos, but they were all lost on the dance floor. Eventually Rae watched as Jackson slipped an arm around Deidra's waist and pulled her closer to him, and led her slowly away through the crowd. She shook her head with a smile and turned around. Finding herself alone, she suddenly felt self-conscious. She decided to go get another drink. Downing the one she had and throwing it away, she headed towards the bar. She was waiting in line when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Turning, she found herself facing none other than Zachariah.
"You look lonely." He said, holding out a small shot glass. She noticed he had two. She accepted the shot, and hesitantly thanked him. This seemed a little strange to Rae. Zachariah had been consistently rude to her since the very first day when he shoved her on the rooftop.
"You want to dance with me?" He asked, making Rae nearly spit out the foul tasting liquid he'd given her. She managed to swallow it, and then abruptly answered,
"No."
Zachariah smiled widely at her, too widely, tilting his head to one side. He let his eyes travel down her slender figure, and laughed lightly. Eric looked at her like that sometimes, but for some reason when Zachariah did it, the knot that formed in her core was not a pleasant one. "Walk with me then? I think you'd agree that I owe you a pretty big apology for what an ass I've been to you. It's a bit loud here, can we please go somewhere a little quieter, so I can explain?"
Rae shrugged her shoulders, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She really didn't want to go but she couldn't think of a good enough excuse not to at the moment. She wasn't a good liar, especially when put on the spot. Before she knew it he was handing her a beer and leading her firmly by the elbow out of the Pit. They made their way up to a tunnel that Rae hadn't entered since her arrival. It led to the initiates entrance to the Dauntless compound. Rae took a few deep gulps of the beer he had handed her.
Once they were alone, his pace quickened significantly and his grip on her elbow became uncomfortably tight. They were headed toward the net, but before they entered the large courtyard that housed it Zachariah turned right, pulling her up a flight of stairs.
"Where are we going?" She asked, her words slurring. She was breathing hard, her chest feeling slightly constricted. She also felt her head begin to swim and struggled to make sense of it. Had she really drank that much?
"We're going to go have a talk." He said without looking at her, or slowing his pace.
"Ahhh, Zachariah that hurts... Let's talk here." She gasped out, her speech even more muddled than it was just a moment ago. Her chest was starting to ache now, tighter than ever and she desperately wanted to stop moving so fast.
Why are we moving so fast? She tried to understand what was happening to her. She was having trouble concentrating on anything other than the pain in her chest, and how loudly her pulse sounded in her ears. Her vision suddenly blurred a little as her head swam again violently. She lost her balance. The drink she held crashed to the floor, and Rae landed on her elbows and knees right in the middle of it. She didn't try to get up. She didn't think she could.
What the hell was in that shot? She asked herself as she rubbed her temple with a beer soaked hand.
Zachariah yanked her roughly to her feet by her hair, and wrapped his arms around her in a way that made her unable to move her own.
"Shhhh, quiet baby. I'll help you." He muttered in her ear. She then felt a sharp pain as he bit down hard on her neck.
"Zach... no.... stop. Please, stop." She feebly tried to free herself but quickly gave up. She was too weak, fighting the darkness that was rapidly clogging her consciousness. Tears streamed down her face and she cried loudly, helplessly.
"Shut up!" He yelled at her through gritted teeth. He then pulled a knife from his jeans pocket. It looked like one from the training room. He smiled sickly at Rae, dragging the tip of the blade less-than-lightly along the right side of her jawline, drawing a small amount of blood as he went. He then grabbed the front of her shirt and cut it straight down the middle, tearing it off of her and carelessly cutting across a few inches of her abdomen. Feeling her own blood trickle down her body, she screamed. She screamed as loud as she could, before she was blinded by Zachariah's fist colliding with the side of her face. He hit her once, and then again, and then once more.
She would have fallen, but he grabbed her arms and slammed her back up against the wall. Her head thudded harshly against the rock, making her ears ring. She desperately clung to her consciousness, but felt herself slipping. Years of practice getting beaten up by her father was the only reason she was still miraculously still semi-coherent.
His hands shook now as he tried to unbutton Rae's jeans without dropping the knife. He succeeded, yanking them down to her knees. Turning her around so that her face was pressed hard into the rock, he asked her breathlessly, "What's the matter Amity? Don't all you hippies practice that free love shit?"
"P-please stop." She groaned miserably, barely able to form her lips around the words.
He's going to rape me. How could I have been so stupid? She thought, conceding to her fate.
Zachariah began to pull down her underwear and Rae gave a defeated, desperate cry.
"Last time I checked, this was not the Amity compound, initiate." Said a deep voice calmly.
Zachariah whipped around, holding the knife ready to protect himself. Unable to support her own weight, Rae slid down the wall and landed on the floor in heap. Eric smirked as he looked from the knife to Zachariah's panicked face, but his expression hardened instantly when he saw Rae's barely conscious figure crumpled on the floor.
She stared up at him and he saw how distant her gaze was, her eyes unfocused and full of pain. She lay still, tears staining her cheeks and mixing with the blood that fell from a thin slash along her jaw and covered the rest of her beautiful features. Her chest rose and fell, rough and uneven. He quickly took in the ripped shirt lying next to her, and the way her legs were tangled in the jeans around her knees. The intense fury surged through him instantaneously like lightning.
"What the fuck did you do to her?!" He shouted, stepping closer to Zachariah. The blade of Zachariah's knife being a mere inch from Eric's chest didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. He was fearless in his rage against this child with a knife.
"I didn't do shit. She's just trashed and she didn't want to go back to the dorm. She said she wanted me to take her...somewhere more private."
Eric grabbed Zachariah's wrist before he could react and twisted it unnaturally. The knife clattered to the floor as Eric heard a popping sound as the bone broke. Kicking the blade away from them, Eric brought his fist slamming down into Zachariah's jaw. Zachariah buckled, falling to the ground. Eric kneeled, his knee digging into Zachariah's spine and twisted both of his arms up behind his back.
"I said what did you do to her?!" Eric roared again, slamming his skull mercilessly into the concrete floor. "Tell me and I might consider letting you live past the next 5 seconds. And I swear to god, I won't need that knife to end your miserable existence."
"I fucking spiked her drink, alright?! I don't even remember the name of the serum. The vial is in my pocket."
The words poured out of him frantically now, finally accepting the fact that his life was now in Eric's hands. Eric reached his hand into Zachariah's front pocket and read the label of the vial.
"How much of this did you give her?" He asked, glancing over at Rae, who now looked completely unconscious, and frighteningly pale.
"All of it." He spat angrily. Eric stood at once, releasing him roughly. With one last kick to his head, Zachariah fell limp. Eric kneeled quickly next to Rae and checked her pulse. Just then, Four came running around the corner.
Of course, thought Eric. He must be working the control room tonight.
"What happened?" Asked Four.
"This dipshit drugged her and from the looks of things... I'm sure you could guess his intent. Looks like he stole a knife from the training room. He had this in his pocket." Eric tossed the vial to Four then scooped Rae gently off of the floor. "Her heart is racing. Get Max and take care of this piece of shit."
"He gave her all of this?!" Exclaimed Four, but Eric didn't reply. He was rushing to the infirmary with Rae clutched tightly in his arms. Four shook his head, and hurried to find Max. He was fairly sure that, by the looks of it, the unconscious initiate wouldn't be waking up for awhile.

It's finally up!!! Sorry guys. I hope you liiike iiit. I think I'll have the next chapter up fairly quickly.