Chapter 21:

Natalie's Perspective

    I jump over a log, and Dad jumps over it too. I have tears streaming down my face. I don't want to go, but this seems like the only choice. I don't even know where Mom is or if she's even alive. The thought brings a terrible noise gurgling from my mouth.

It sounds like a moan and a scream at the same time. I don't look back at Dad. I thought I could push through all of this, but it just keeps getting more difficult and more people are dying. I don't know if any of my other family is alive. The men are interrogating people to see if they have seen me before, and if they say no, they die. All of those people's deaths. My fault.

I am running to one of the men that's in the woods to turn myself in. I don't care if I die, or if I'm a hostage. If it means keeping more people from dying, then I'll do it. But Dad doesn't want me to go. I see why, though. Mom said I am his whole world. I scream at myself, and Dad is panting. I'm crying to hard to be able to see where I'm going. I feel something grab at my foot, and I fall to the ground.

    "No!" I shout. I blink tears from my eyes, and see that a thorny vine caught my foot. Dad comes up to me, and grabs me by the arm and lifts me onto his back. "No, put me down!" I yell. "NO!" he yells. He's running, and my nose keeps hitting his shoulder because he's bouncing.

My eyes are filled with tears, and I'm too tired to leap from his arms. "Mom" I croak before I fall asleep into Dad's shoulder.

    I wake up in a bed next to somebody, but I don't know who. I'm laying on somebody, who I assume is Dad. I look up, and see Mom hooked up to breathing tubes and sleeping. I hope she's sleeping. I sit up from Dad's arms and lay closer to Mom. She wakes up and sees me.

    "Natalie" she croaks. Tears run down my face as I hug her as tight as I can. I cry into her shirt and Dad wakes up. I see Dad's tired blue eyes and he's staring back at me. "I didn't know if you were alive." I say sniffing.

    "Me either." she says crying. "Would you like to tell your Mom what you tried to do?" he says. She looks down at me and I bite my lip. "Just let me go." I say. "Where?" she says. Dad whispers in her ear, and Mom looks horrified.

    "Why would you-" she says, but starts to cry before she can finish her sentence. Why would they let me go? I need to go. But Dad will keep a close eye on me. "Mom, I'm sorry. It's just that, this is a better way for things to happen." I say.

She looks at me with a horrified look on her face, and lets out a moan that sounds like she's throwing up, and yelling at the same time. Why did I tell Dad about this? I should have lied, and left the cave that night. But, something held me back that night. Mom's words racing through my mind. Dad's advice. "You are his whole world." she said to me that night.

 No, I can't think of that. I'm doing this for a reason. To protect them. Dad cries loud enough that the doctors in the hall hear him, and I see them peeking through the window. I stop crying, and remember that I have to leave. I'm going to leave tonight. Lie.

    "Mom, I'm sorry. I can't leave you. Please let me stay with you tonight. I don't want to be locked in a room by myself." I say pretending to wipe a tear. I should be crying.

    "Fine, but if you pull anything..." she says drifting off. Dad stares at me. Hard. He knows I'm lying. He knows I'm lying. Busted. "I won't." I say. 

    We fall asleep after we eat dinner, and I'm pretty sure Dad is going to stay awake all night to watch me, but when I look over, he's cradling Mom in his arms.We ate dinner pretty late, and we all fell asleep at about eight. I wake up again at three in the morning.

I wait for a few extra minutes, and slip from the blankets. I open a window, having no idea where I am, and jump out. I soar through the air, and land on my butt, hard, in mud. It feels cool from the night air, and smells like earth.

I'm pretty sure we're at Amity Headquarters, so their won't be any guards. I lift my self up on my arm, but I slip and my arms jerks forward, sliding across the mud. I dunk my ear in the mud, and groan. I look around me, and see the Amity Market, and some lanterns hanging from posts.

The moon light helps me see a little bit. I crawl to the grass and feel the cool blades of green grass, and stand up. I am caked with mud, and I look like Dauntless Cake. I light my hand as a torch, and see where I am. Underneath a tree. Shoot.

The tree branch catches on fire from my hand, and I gasp, and immediately blow it out. I wipe my feet on the grass so no one can see my footprints, and follow me. I try and look for the branch I caught on fire, and feel around in the dark for it. I feel leaves between my fingers, and feel ashes. I grasp hold of the branch, the outside layer tickling my skin, and I pull down. It won't budge.

I hold on, and dangle from my arms jerking myself around. Leaves fall into my hair, and tickle my face. I hear a loud snap, and fall to the ground, landing flat on my butt. Ouch. My butt springs with pain, but what worries me more, is that somebody heard that snap.

I stand up, clasping the branch and drag it over to an area that looks like woods, and toss it. I needed to get rid of any evidence that I was here. The mud! I squint in the darkness, and soon enough I slip and fall into mud. I'm such a freaking clutz! I spring forward, and start to smooth out the mud. Okay, I think it looks good. I stand up, my hands covered in mud.

My hair feels heavy, and smells bad. I ignore it, and look up to make sure there aren't any trees above me. I walk over to the patch of woods I saw, and remember exactly where I am. Mariah and I snuck around over here millions of times. I just wish she was here by my side. I step as fast and quietly as I can. Mom and Dad....This is to save them.....Don't think about it....Don't think about it.....

I remember the day Dad was playing with me in the Pit when I was 6. He was holding me underneath my arms, and swinging me around. Wait......What if I just kill them all at once instead of turning myself in? Ohhhh.....that sounds better. MUCH better.

 I've been learning different ways to use my powers. I'm gonna kill them all. By myself? I'm only twelve, how am I gonna go un-armed, up against a bunch of creepy-masked men? Oh well, sounds better than killing myself. I didn't think this through very well.

 No! Don't have second thoughts. You came here to do this. They just think I'm killing myself....I step over a pile of fallen tree limbs. I have nothing with me, except myself. I might die trying to do this.....I can't die.....I have too many people that love me, and I love them. 

A gust of wind sweeps my long hair across my face, under my nostrils. I smell mud. I blow my dirty hair from my face, and move it out of my face with my hands. I can do this...I am brave...I hope. 

    I have been walking for a long time. I see the sun rising and the sky has an orange-pinkish look to it. I have lost my mind. I am thinking about killing these men only armed with myself. I have to do this. I am very tired, and hungry. I may have eaten dinner, but I snack quite often.

I can't stop doubting myself. I bite my lip, and begin to run. Instead of going to one of the men to turn myself in, I am going straight where the men go. I come up to edge of the woods, and hide behind the trees. I see a huge building with air-planes, and others roaming around.

I look closely to see where everybody is. Okay, there's a clear path over there, the men are off looking in the woods. I've found out something more about these men. They are all Dauntless traitors, and possibly different people. I run from the woods looking cautiously around me.

My heart is pounding, and nobody notices me. I hide behind a big metal dumpster, and see an air plane landing on the freeway, I just ran across from. Dang. I turn around, and see a set of double doors. I try to open them quietly, but it's locked and I jerk it. I see a key code above me, where you're supposed to type in a code. I don't dare try a code, in case an alarm goes off when you get it wrong. Instead, I light my hand and melt the hinges.

The door comes crashing down in front of me. I clench my fists ready for the loud bang its gonna make. It makes a super loud noise, and I run inside. I'm in a hallway, that has many different colors, but mostly white. The hallway is kind of narrow. I try and run as quietly as I can, but see two men dressed in pure white in the hallway next to me as I look over into a hallway that turns left.

 Uh-oh. They aim their guns at me, and I fall to knees, and flameshoot them. The smell is very potent, and smells like singed hair and....barbecue? Ewwww.......I am NOT a cannibal..... I look up in the corner, and see cameras aimed at me, and I run down the hall the men were, and step over their bodies holding my breath so I don't smell the barbecue. Why barbecue?

When I turn the corner, I see more cameras. Great.... There is NO way I'm gonna make it out alive. I need to find the leader Peter was talking about. I am about to turn a corner, but somebody grabs me, and pulls me into a room. I try to scream, but a hand is clamped over my mouth. They turn me around, and I face him.

    "Who are you?" I ask. "More importantly, who the heck are you?" says the man. "You dragged me into a closet, I think you need to tell me who you are!" I say. "You just look extremely familiar." the man says. "Uhhhh....I'm Natalie." I say.

The man's mouth drops open. "Eaton." I add. He clamps his hand over his mouth. "Tris." he says. "Yeah, that's my Mom. Who are you?" I say. "I'm Caleb. Your uncle." he says.

Caleb's in the picture now! But he's working for the Bureau! EEEKKKK...... I was going to make Natalie go and turn herself in, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it! So, instead of dealing with it like an Abnegation (Doing it for the sake of her family), I made her want to fight back like a Dauntless! Hope you like it! Don't forget to vote and comment! :)