The Iron Soldier: A FourTris Divergent Story

Chapter 35

A/N: Let me know what you think of this chapter. I love getting comments from my readers.

Thanks again to Eunice339 for the beta work.

Eric sits with his feet up on the table, laughing hysterically at the end of my story. "He really said that?"

I snicker before downing a mouthful from the bottle of whiskey we are sharing. "Do you really think I could make this shit up?"

"With that pea brain of yours?" Eric snorts, loving every insult aimed at me that I let roll off my back.

"Seriously, though. What did you give her? She looks like a friggin' Easter egg. I've never seen a serum do that before."

"Oh, you're gonna love the irony of this. It was designed by Erudite about six months ago. It's supposed to save lives, but if the anti-serum isn't administered, it literally makes your insides blow up."

"How the hell does it do that?"

Eric stands, steadying himself with the help of the table, before taking several wobbly steps to join me on the bench I'm sitting on. He wraps his arm around the back of my neck, resting his wrist on my shoulder. "Get this. The serum takes the place of a blood transfusion. You know how we never collected enough blood during our blood drives? Well, this stuff clones your blood cells so you won't need a transfusion. The more you need, the longer you wait to administer the stalling agent. But..." He struggles to keep his head up and his eyes on mine after he guzzles another few ounces of alcohol. "It won't stop on its own. It just continues to clone the cells. So if you don't stop it, you literally overload your organs. One of the first signs that you have too much blood running through your system is the pinking of the skin. Oh, and did I mention how painful it is?"

The fact that this serum is only six months old puts me into a cold sweat. "So, you are still working with Erudite?"

"Why wouldn't I? They have the best toys."

I clench my fists by my sides, praying Eric doesn't pick up on my disgust. "That's it? You're just going to let the serum kill her? Doesn't really sound like you."

"No way. You know I have to pull the trigger myself. I'm just letting her suffer a little bit first. I'll stop the serum before any vital organs blow." Eric lets out a throaty laugh.

"Then you have the anti-serum?" I ask, trying to sound like it makes no difference to me.

"Of course. After I give it to her, she'll be back to normal within an hour or two. Once she is no longer hoping for death, then I'll kill her."

"God, you are brutal." I raise the bottle over my head. "To the end of the Wright bloodline." I take a quick sip and pass it back to Eric. There is very little left now, and I know he will chug the last of it.

Just as I thought, Eric tips the bottle back, and gulps until the bottle is empty. He belches louder than I thought humanly possible and judging by the way his pupils bounce, he's pretty shit-faced. I don't have time to wait for him to pass out, nor do I have the ability to drink much more before I'm useless. At the first chance I get, I stand and slam my elbow into his face. He falls backward off the bench, out cold.

"Sorry, brother." I kneel down beside him, searching his pockets frantically, but to no avail. Of course he doesn't have the anti-serum on him. That would be too easy. It could be anywhere. I don't have much time and I'm worried about Tris. I have to check on her before I start what could be a futile search. Maybe the quickest way to get my hands on it, is just to beat the answers out of Eric. Considering how hard I hit him, I should have plenty of time to check on Tris before he comes to.