Christina woke up with a start, panting violently. She sits up hastily and pulls her knees to her chest. “Will?!” she cries. He was the first thing that came to her mind after her nightmare.
The initiates in the room have woken up, moaning groggily. Tris’s voice comes from the top bunk opposite from Christina’s bunk. “Christina, are you alright?”
“Will. Where is he?” Christina presses.
“I’m right here. Don’t worry.” Christina heard footsteps against the stone floor. The small window allowed in enough moonlight for her to see Will’s figure. He sat down on the edge of her bed and placed a hand on her leg. “Are you okay?”
“I’m going back to sleep,” Tris says, falling back onto her bed. A couple other voices agree with her and settle back into their beds.
Christina ignores them and only looks at Will, although she can barely see him. “I—I had a—a nightmare and you—“
“Shh,” Will says, moving closer to Christina. “I’m here. Whatever happened in your dream wasn’t real, alright?” Will moves his hand from Christina’s leg to her waist and pulls her close to him. He realizes that Christina is trembling. He kisses her cheek to comfort her. “Go back to sleep, okay?” Will holds Christina’s hand and rubs it with his thumb. Christina relaxes and lies down on her bed again. “Night, Christina.”
Will starts to stand, but Christina abruptly puts a hand on his arm. “Please, don’t go,” she whispers.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just be up in my—“
“No. I mean, I want you to stay here,” Christina says as she gestures towards her bed.
“Are we allowed?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t care,” Christina says. “Please.”
In the dim light of the room, Will saw fear in Christina’s eyes. Whatever happened in her dream must have been terrible enough for her to act like this. “Okay,” he says. Will lies down next to Christina, taking her hand. “Do you want to talk about the nightmare?”
“Never,” Christina mumbled.
“Alright. Let’s get some sleep,” Will says. Christina moves in closer to him, putting her head on his chest.
“Night, Will.”
“Night, Christina,” Will murmurs.
—-
The last thing Christina remembers is falling asleep next to Will. She wakes up, feeling like she’s been sleeping for a long time; longer than just one night.
Her head aches as she sits up. Her body is stiff as she tries to move it. When she rubs the sleep out of her eyes, she looks around her. Simple buildings surround her. Limp bodies that wear plain, gray clothes lay in the streets.
How am I in Abnegation? Christina thinks to herself. She feels something cold and heavy in her hand, and looks to the side, finding a gun.
She gasps, letting go of the gun. A young man in gray clothes lies in front of her. His eyes stare sightlessly to the sky, a bullet hole in his forehead. Christina shudders at the sight, scooting away from the body hastily.
Did I do that? Christina thinks to herself. I must have. I’m the only living person here. She starts to sob and covers her face. Christina realizes there’s blood on her hands and she takes in a ragged breath.
She stands up from where she is, trembling. Will. Besides the dead bodies lying on the street, Will is the next thought on her mind. He’ll make everything feel better, she thinks to herself. Only if I could find him…
Christina looks down to the gun she left on the ground. She hesitates on taking it with her, but what if she’ll need to defend herself? She picks up the gun, putting her finger on the trigger in case she has to shoot.
Christina wanders through the streets with bodies lying all around. She realizes that she is running now, looking down every alley, eager to find Will. Next thing she knows, Christina starts calling out his name, but there is never an answer.
After about half an hour of wandering through Abnegation, Christina sees a boy at the end of an alley, wearing black clothes and not gray. A surge of relief flows through Christina, and before she knows it, her legs are running towards the alley and to the boy. “Will!”
As she gets closer, Christina sees Will’s blonde hair and his familiar green eyes. She has tears in her eyes now as she stands right next to him. Will’s head turns slowly to face Christina. She kneels down and hugs Will, but when she does, he groans painfully.
“What, are you hurt?” Christina asks as she pulls away from Will. She scans his body for any injuries, and that’s when she sees a bullet wound in his chest. “Oh, god, Will. I’m sorry,” she says. Tears fill her eyes and fall down her face.
“None of this is your fault,” Will says in a hushed tone. His chest rises and falls rapidly, and he winces as he tries to sit up.
“Then whose fault was it?!” Christina yells as she sobs.
Will places his hand on Christina’s cheek and smiles weakly. “I don’t know whose fault it was. I don’t remember anything.”
“I don’t remember anything either. Why are we in Abnegation?” Christina asks.
“Shh,” Will says, rubbing Christina’s cheek with his thumb. “We don’t need to worry about that right now.” Will’s breathing becomes slower and his eyelids start to become heavy.
“Will,” Christina says as she squeezes Will’s hand. “Will, don’t go.”
“I think you and I both know that I’m not going to be here any longer than a couple minutes,” Will says in a low voice.
“No, don’t say that,” Christina says, her voice wavering. Her lip quivers and her breaths become uneven.
“Before I go,” Will takes in a deep breath, “I want you to know that I love you.”
Christina starts to cry again. She wants to say, I love you too, but her voice won’t work. So instead she nods and lies down next to Will. She puts her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around him.
Will slowly moves his arm so it’s around Christina. “Christina,” he whispers. She looks up at Will, her breathing becoming heavy. He moves his face closer to Christina’s and presses his lips to hers. Will’s lips are dry and cold. He pulls away from Christina and gives her one last smile, and then his arm becomes limp around her. His eyes slowly shut and his head rolls to the side and onto Christina’s head.
“Will,” Christina says, her voice breaking. She sits up, and puts his head in her lap, knowing he’s gone. “Will, I love you too.” She leans against the wall behind her, sobbing. “Bye, Will. I’ll miss you,” Christina murmurs as she bends down and kisses Will’s forehead.
**I DO NOT OWN DIVERGENT IN ANY WAY. VERONICA ROTH DOES**
