Fire And Ice

Chapter 18

Tris POV: 

When Four told us to kill him now, I was so overcome with love and gratitude. He wouldn't be in this position if weren't for me. "We need to come up with a new plan quickly if we want to get out of here alive." I inform the group as I turn on the Holo to find the pods. The room glows with the light of the device, there are pods everywhere. "We're too exposed here. There could be more pods than what we know about. It's a death trap." I say as I look at our surroundings. Pollox signs something to Homes. Everyone looks at him expectantly. "There might be another way to get around." Homes says. "Pollox knows his way around the underground. The only thing we'll be surrounded by is the train tracks." That's going to be our only chance to survive. We all nod in agreement. "We should get some rest before we move out. I'll take first watch." I say, surprising myself and the others.

After only a few minutes everyone is asleep apart from me and Four. A pang of guilt hits me. It will always be my fault that he is hurt and was put in danger. I turn to look at him. "Four, I am really sorry that you're in this position because of me." He shakes his head and chuckles. 

"It's not your fault. I came up with the plan to save you. I didn't care much about myself. It was always about you. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I told you I regretted helping you. I'm sorry for hurting you and I'm sorry for trying to kill you." His apology is so sincere, it makes me want to cry. Instead of speaking I just nod at him.

"You should get some rest before we move out." I hope that that's the end of the conversation. I'm wrong. 

"Tris?" He asks. I nod for him to continue. "Will you cuddle with me?" I look at him warily. "I'll keep the handcuffs on if it makes you feel better." I get up and wake Katniss for her shift before lying down next to Four. "Thank you." He whispers before falling asleep. 

In the morning, after everyone is up and has eaten, we move out and go to the underground train tracks. At first it's okay, we follow Pollox, who we're told, basically grew up down here. I feel sorry for Pollox, he spent his life helping people but got his tongue cut out for it. President Snow must really hate him for some reason. That's when the first train comes and we're forced to hide behind a wall, away from the prying eyes of the President. "We good?" I ask Lieutenant Jackson whose at the end of the line. 

"We good." She replies. I focus my attention on Pollox.

 "We're still too exposed here. Is there any other way out?" He nods and uses hand gestures to follow him. I look at Finnick. 

"Is Four going to be okay with this?" I ask him, full of concern. He nods. 

"I'll keep an eye on him." I nod my appreciation and follow Pollox. He takes us to the sewers, I use the Holo as a light to guide us through the darkness. I have to keep it above my head because the sewer water is up to my chest. 

Just as my arms begin to ache I spot an alcove where we can sit and rest. The darkness is deceiving because I have no idea what time it is. "Lets take a break. I'll take first watch." Lieutenant Jackson says, I sit down between Four and Katniss, Finnick sits opposite me. I rest my head on Four's shoulder and fall asleep quickly. I feel at home with him, nobody else matters when I'm with him. I don't know how many hours I sleep before Jackson wakes me up to take my watch. I get up and swap places with her on the other side of Four. I stare into the pitch black surroundings , I must nod off again because Four is nudging me awake. "What is it?" I ask him. 

He looks at me bewildered. "Tris we're not safe here. I hear a mutt. They're coming for us." Other people start to waking up now, I get up from my position and check our surroundings. I see nothing but hear the screams of torture. I venture back into our resting spot and take in the faces. 

"I see nothing but I hear screams. We might as well get out of here now anyway." We gather up our belongings and move out quickly, the screams getting louder. Pollox leads us with me close behind with the light. We focus on moving forward. Silence. And then one of our team screams. We all turn to see who it is. Bradley. And he's being mauled by a mutt. Our attention turns back to survival and we run to find safety, the mutts trailing behind us. A small tunnel is our only option of escaping. Calmly, we pass through our weapons and crawl through. Lieutenant Jackson is the last one left, multiple gunshots go off and I know she's dead. 

"We have to keep moving." Finnick says. Pollox gets back to leading us. We're surrounded by water once again, multiple tunnels and one lone ladder. I take a moment to take in the surroundings. Just as I'm about to ask what to do we are ambushed by mutts. A fight for safety breaks out, Finnick uses his sword, me and Katniss use our bows, Peeta uses his gun but Four is unarmed. My focus now on keeping him safe. I shoot at any mutts that come near us and try to move towards the ladder. I turn and see Four being pinned down by one of the mutts. I watch for a minute. He uses the mutt to break his handcuffs. Once his hands are freed, I shoot an arrow at the mutt and kill it. I hand him my knife. "Use it well." Is all I manage to get out before being slammed to the ground by a mutt. As it pushes me underwater, I see Four stab the mutt and haul it off me. I shoot an arrow at it to make sure it's dead. 

Eventually we're up the ladder waiting for Cody, Homes and Cressida to join us. Cody tries to climb the ladder but mutts pull at his legs. Deep down, I know they aren't going to make it. I hear their screams and I can't take it anymore. "Nightlock. Nightlock." I throw the Holo down the ladder. "Nightlock." The Holo blows itself up, killing both mutts and team members. I take few deep breaths before seeing how many we have left. Four, Peeta, Katniss, Finnick, Belle, Pollox and Castor are the only ones left with me. "You guys okay?" I ask, more for myself than for anyone else. Four comes over to me and sits in front of me. 

"Tris are you okay? You're shaking." I look at him but can't quite meet his eyes. 

"I'll be fine." I say. He hugs me briefly before letting me go. "We need to get out of here and back onto the streets. It's less safe down here than it is up there. We'll have more chance of survival." We agree and start moving out. All of these deaths were because of me and my need to kill Snow. 

Word Count: 1254