Resurgent

Chapter 1

“Is the medicine even working on her?”

 I recognize that voice.

“You said she should be showing signs of improvement within a few months. Well, it’s been more than two years. Look! Does she look awake to you?” I feel a firm hand grab my wrist and drop it, sending a vague tingling down my arm.

“I said it would take time, Caleb.” This time it’s a girl who speaks, her voice strong yet sympathetic. “You know that we can’t just give her all the doses at once…then she would for sure be dead.”

Caleb. The name sounds so familiar.

“Yeah, I know. But if it’s not even—wait…Cara, Matthew! Look at her! Her eyes just moved. I know they did.” Who is he talking about? Who moved her eyes? Why can’t I see anything?

“Caleb, I know you’re desperate for her to recover soon but this kind of thing is going to take a lot of time.” The woman’s voice again. “There is still the chance that she won’t wake up.”

“She survived a death serum! Of course she’ll pull through. She’s just…been stuck in a simulation longer than usual, that’s all. Come on, Beatrice. Fight the simulation. Please come back.”

It’s me. I’m the one they’re talking about. Caleb is my brother and I am Beatrice. No, I was Beatrice.

“It’s Tris.” I shakily manage to form the words. My eyes squint open and feel heavy, just like the rest of me. I try to focus on the three blobs crowded around me but it seems impossible. Why is no one talking anymore? I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can and then open them again, hoping it’ll help everything come into focus. After repeating this about four times with no change, I decide to just stare aimlessly at the figures in front of me.

“It worked. She’s actually awake. My sister is alive again.” Finally, the three blobs turn into three people. I see that the one speaking is Caleb; his eyes are filled with tears. I identify the other man analyzing a clipboard as Matthew and the girl on my right as Cara, who is typing rapidly on a computer.

After pausing for a few minutes, they all start buzzing with excitement, asking me questions and picking up my hands and touching my forehead. It is too much for me to take in and try to concentrate on, so I decide to take in my surroundings, even though I’m still exhausted. My bed has now transformed, shifting me into an upright position, so that it is more like a reclined chair. It’s comfortable to lie on, yet I don’t know why. It only has small, thinly-padded blue circles embedded into its metal frame for cushion, but I feel like I’m lying on a cloud…despite the fact that I feel heavier than lead.  

I’m in a very open, huge room with concrete walls and marble white floors. Everything is crowded closely to my bed and other than that, they room is empty. In front of me is a huge desk, decorated with five computers and countless stacks of papers. Beside it stand two tall refrigerators with clear, glass sliding doors. I notice inside vials containing liquids of various colors—blue, green, purple, red, you name it. Next to my bed are two more computers propped up on tall, skinny stands, each with several wires connected to them. Following the wires with my eyes, I realize that they’re connected to me. They are stuck on my head and in my arms, following all the way down even to my bare feet. I’m wearing a pale green, oversized dress which has buttons down the side. I feel my face flush as I realize how exposed I’ve been. But why? My arm still feels like it doesn’t belong to me, but I’m strong enough now to trace the wires on my head and body. Realizing just how many needles and cables are connected to me makes me start to feel panicky. I need answers.

“Why…what happened?” a stupid question to ask since I already know the answer. I released the Memory Serum so that the leaders of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare wouldn’t discriminate against GDs and would stop their dumb experiments. What I don’t understand is why I’m attached to all these wires and why I don’t remember what happened after I succeeded.

“You did it, Tris. You somehow miraculously survived the Death Serum.” Cara carefully said. “There were um…complications after that though.”

“Right. David.” I vaguely remember speaking with him about my mother. A sudden ache arises in my chest as I think of her. She’s dead, but I saw her and felt her warm embrace. Was it really just a delusion? I thought it was me dying…but yet I’m alive right now. So many questions are swirling around in my head that I can’t think clearly. I’ll just listen.

“Yes! Yes, David was in the room! Wow, it’s incredible how much you remember. The new serum I made must’ve worked better than expected. It’s as if you were just in a deep sleep. It’s so amaz—” Matthew is interrupted by my brother.

“Hey, do you mind? She’s probably still really confused.” His eyes look so much wiser than I remember. “Beatrice, you made it through the Death Serum but then David was in there with a gun. I think what happened was when you lunged to release the Memory Serum, he shot you. You had a nick to your neck and a shot in your leg. We’re lucky that David didn’t have good aim.”

“Yeah. Lucky,” I sarcastically say. This time I’m sure of it: I died. My mother gently tugged me towards death and I accepted it because I knew that I had to. How then am I lying here talking with my friends and brother, whom I know very well, did not die in the attack? “Are you all dead too?”

“No, we’re not.” Cara gently rests her hand on my shoulder. “I know this is all probably very hard for you to take in. Let me try to explain. You died after getting shot. Your body was limp and cold. We took you down to the morgue and had nurses sew up your wounds, as to help your loved ones see you as only sleeping.”

Loved ones. Tobias Eaton. Where is he now?

“After they said their goodbyes, we hid you in this room and immediately tried reviving you. When we hooked you up to a monitor and gave you the first dose of a healing serum, somehow you showed slight brain activity. So, Matthew thought we could keep you alive in hopes that one day you would wake up. We didn’t want to give false hope to your friends, so we took the ashes of a random boy and said they were yours.”

Anger is all I feel at the moment. I should be grateful that they were able to save my life but all I can think is how dare they hide me from Tobias. From Christina. From everyone. How selfish.

Caleb takes over the talking now. “They only told me about their plan because they needed my skill. Every day we were in here checking your vitals, creating new serums, giving you necessary nutrients and water through these tubes. Matthew concocted a liquid that slowly activated parts of your brain so you wouldn’t forget anything. Cara designed a system to send small shockwaves through your body to help you move your limbs and keep them strong. Although the machine was beating your heart for you, I created a serum to slowly wean you off of the machines. All of the technology involved really is amazing.”

“How long have I been out?” I’m still trying to make sense of everything. “A few days? Weeks?” I try to recall the conversation I heard when I first started waking up.

“Tris…Just breathe okay.” Matthew instructs. “It’s been a little longer than you think.”

“Oh yeah? Like how long?” I’m starting to grow impatient.

“It’s been about two and a half years.” The words resonate like a hammer crashing down on my skull, shattering it. I pull my knees tightly to my chest, squeeze my eyes shut, and rock back and forth.

So much can happen in that amount of time. Has Tobias moved on…found someone else to love? I can’t say I’d blame him if he did. What about Christina? Everything must be so different now that there are no factions, no discrimination against GDs. Is it a world even worth going back into?

The room continues to spin when I finally decide to look up. A lot of things still don’t make sense to me, but I know of one thing that always has. “I want to see Tobias.”