Allegiant - nerdyfangir1 Ending

Chapter 50 - Tris

"How did you inoculate yourself against the death serum?" He asks me. He's still sitting in his wheelchair, but you don't need to be able to walk to fire a gun.

I blink at him, still dazed.

"I didn't," I say.

"Don't be stupid," David says. "You can't survive the death serum without an inoculation, and I'm the only person in the compound who possesses that substance."

I just stare at him, not sure what to say. I didn't inoculate myself. The fact that I'm still standing upright is impossible. There's nothing more to add.

"I suppose it no longer matters," he says. "We're here now."

"What are you doing here?" I mumble. My lips feel awkwardly large, hard to talk around. I still feel that oily heaviness on my skin, like death is still clinging to me even though I have defeated it.

I am dimly aware that I have left my gun behind me, sure I wouldn't need it if I made it this far. If I could just distract David for a second, I could grab it.

"I knew something was going on," David says. "You've been running around with genetically damaged people all week, Tris, did you think I wouldn't noticed?" He shakes his head. "And then your friend Cara was caught trying to manipulate the lights, but she wisely knocked herself out before she could tell us anything. So I came here, just in case. I'm sad to say I'm not surprised to see you."

The longer he talks, the longer I have to live. I begin to calculate a plan. But that plan relies on David being distracted for just a fraction of a moment. I am just about to respond when a gun fires.

I duck instinctively, sure that the bullet is meant for me. But no pain comes. I look up cautiously. David is clutching a bleeding arm. This is my chance.

I twist around and begin to punch in the code Caleb gave me. I hear David fire two shots at his attacker, then the thud of a body falling. Just the sound sickens me, and I can taste the bile rising in my throat. I slam my fist on to the green button. I hear a hissing, which can only mean that the serum is being deployed. Then I reach for my gun. The second my fingers close around the gun, I spin around a shoot at David. He shoots back. A splitting pain rushes through my left arm, blossoming from my elbow. I shoot again just as David does. His bullet only grazes my side. But my bullet hits David square in the chest. He slumps over. I step forward, checking to see if David is dead. Then I remember that someone shot him before I did. But who? I look to the side to see David's original attacker. My heart stops. I can't breath.

It's Caleb.