I’m bearing down on a woman in gray, an Abnegation. I don’t know how but I know that this woman is evil, that I must protect the city from her. I raise my gun and take aim, flicking the safety off mechanically, lightly touching my finger to the trigger.
“Please!” She begs me through her sobs. “We have done nothing. Why are you doing this? I don’t understand!”
I have no response for her as I draw in a breath, steadying myself so I can squeeze the trigger. I blink rapidly, taking my finger off the trigger and pointing my gun at the ground. It’s like awakening from a fog. I look around perplexed, my fellow Dauntless and I are in the Abnegation section of the city. I see Abnegation bodies lying in the street, Dauntless soldiers standing over them, most of them looking as perplexed as me.
I look at the woman I was about to kill, I want to apologize, I want to tell her I didn’t know what I was doing when I hear a gun go off. The woman’s blood splatters onto me and I turn to see that one of my Dauntless brothers has killed this woman. I raise my gun, training it on his torso. “What are you doing?” I ask as I see other Dauntless choosing sides between me and the Dauntless boy.
“Come on Erudite,” he identifies me by my born faction. “Your family didn’t tell you? The Abnegation cannot be trusted with power.”
I don’t understand. The Abnegation are the most selfless of all the factions, they offer no resistance and yet my brothers and I are killing them. For what purpose? Erudite power? “When did the Dauntless become Erudite puppets?” I growl angrily. Dauntless are trained lethal weapons but I want my lethality to be my choice.
The boy doesn’t answer me, instead he shoots me. The bullet collides with my shoulder and I bite my lip so hard I can taste the blood as I raise my gun and open fire. I take cover behind one of the abnegation houses, glad to see that I am not the only one staying true to our faction. Then I realize that my hands are shaking, the adrenaline leaving my system makes me more acutely aware of the pain in my shoulder. I look down and see that my shirt is soaked with blood, and I hope that all of it isn’t mine.