Allegiant Alternate Ending

(WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU FINISH ALLEGIANT!)

Chapter Fifty-One: Tris

I shake my head.

 “I didn’t come here to steal anything, David.”

 He frowns, his dark eyebrows drawing together, mouth pressing into a firm line. I notice that he has slowly wheeled himself up to me all the while I’ve been speaking. “Then tell me, why did you come here.”

 I bite my lip, letting my eyes wander the chamber. I am so close.

 He lets out a long sigh and shakes his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. All I know is this has gone too far.” Grunting, he rises from his chair with some difficulty and with most of his weight on his good leg, leans forward, pressing the barrel of his gun against my throat. I feel the cold circle of metal sharp and certain against my prickling skin and suck in a short breath.

“You know Tris,” his mouth puckers and he narrows his eyes. “I really thought that you were different. I thought you understood. It pains me to do this, but you have left me with no choice.” The gun digs deeper, the metal rim of the barrel pressed right up against my trachea. “Any last words?” he whispers, his index finger hovering over the trigger. This is it. With no gun and no way to defend myself, I came all this way for nothing. And I am about to lose everything.

It’s over, a voice says. You’re finished. I almost believe it.

But there is another voice. It comes from deep inside my chest, in the pit of my heart. It is the voice of every sacrifice I’ve made- every loss I’ve suffered that has led me here. It starts as a small spark of fire, the warmth spreading to each part of me until the flames grow larger, billowing up inside me- the hot yellow-red flames licking the walls of my soul with a burning passion, yearning to break free. Its whispers start as a soft hush, but become louder and louder with each echo.

 I am not done yet.

 David waits a few moments, holding the gun steadily in place, his eyes hard and cold. I open my mouth like I am about to say something- a clever remark or maybe a prayer of some sort. Instead I clench my fingers, slowly letting my hand creep up to my hip.

 In one swift motion, I bring up my arm, slamming it into the side of his wrist so that the gun is off of my throat, the aim askew. At the same moment, he pulls the trigger and the gun goes off, the bullet lodging into a large vein in my forearm.

 The pain sears through me as the warm sticky blood spews from my arm, my vision going black at the edges. I scream through clenched teeth and drive my knee into his groin. He groans and crumples to the floor, his gun still in hand.

I break away, and in a series of stumbling steps reach the device just as the gun explodes again, and I feel a sharp pain race through my body. I don’t even know where the bullet hit me. Spots of color swirl before my eyes, clouding my vision. I can still hear Caleb repeating the code for Mathew. With a quaking hand, I type in the numbers on the keypad.

 The gun goes off again. It burns with excruciating pain, cutting through every part of me. I feel the thick warm liquid oozing from my arm. My sleeve is completely drenched. The spots of color crowd closer together so that I can barely see a thing, and I feel myself slipping away.

Come on, think. Think.

I hear Caleb’s voice speaking in the back of my mind. The green button.

So much pain.

 I start to fall, and slam my hand into the keypad on my way down. A light turns on behind the green button. I hear a beep and a churning sound.