Baby Girl Chapter 1, a divergent trilogy fanfic

I have always hated the emptiness that winter brings, the blank landscape and the stark difference between sky and ground, the way it transforms trees into skeletons and the city into a wasteland. Maybe this winter I can be persuaded otherwise.

We drive past the fences and stoop by the front doors, which are no longer manned by guards. We get out, and Zeke seizes his mother's hand to steady her and she shuffles through the snow. As we walk into the compound, I know for a fact that Caleb succeeded, because there is no one in sight. That can only mean that they have been reset, their memories forever altered.

"Where is everyone?" Amar says.

We walk through the abandoned security checkpoint without stopping. On the other side, I see Cara. The side of her face is badly bruised, and there's a bandage on her head, but that's not what concerns me. What concerns me is the troubled look on her face.

"What is it?" I say.

Cara shakes her head.

"Where's Tris?" I say.

"I'm sorry, Tobias."

"Sorry about what?" Christina says roughly. "Tell us what happened!"

"Tris went into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb," Cara says. "She survived the death serum, but she . . . she was shot. I'm so sorry."

Most of the time I can tell when people are lying, and this must be a lie, because Tris is still alive, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed and her small body full of power and stregth, standing in a shaft of light in the atrium. Tris is still alive, she wouldn't leave me here alone, she wouldn't go into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb.

"No," Christina say, shaking her head. "No way. There has to be some mistake."

Cara's eyes well up with tears.

It's then I realize: Of course Tris would go into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb.

Of course she would.

Christina yells something, but to me her voice sounds muffled, like I have been submerged underwater. The details of Cara's face have also become difficult to see, the world smearing together into dull colors. I feel like I have no conscious control of my own body, so I barely register that my knees have given way beneath me and i'm crashing to the floor, my knees colliding with the floor in such a way that normally would've been painful, if my whole body hadn't felt completely numb.

It takes me a long time to make myself focus on anything but that numb sensation, flooding my entire being, to make myself remember the tiny person that had been growing inside of Tris for the past eight months.

I make myself look at Cara, or at least the blur that looks most like her. "What about-"

I think Cara tries to smile at me. Her lips definetely curl, trying to make her muscles form the action, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to try and smile at a time like this, when Tris is dead.

"Tobias . . ." Cara says. "The baby's fine. Do you want to see her?"

What I want is to tell her is that it shouldn't be like this, that i shouldn't have been able to see my child for another month, but I would have been able to see Tris, who would be exhausted but happy, her eyes bright and alert.

"What baby?" Christina asks, looking between me and Cara as i slowly get to my feet. "Wait, Tris was pregnant?"

Amar glances over at her as I feel Zeke's eyes burning holes in the back of my head. "You didn't notice?"

"I thought she was just getting fat," Christina says, her Candor upbringing showing.

I decide not to comment, mainly because I'm pretty sure I dont have the strength to, and allow Cara to lead me away from the others.

I expect her to be screaming when i walk in, but she's not. She's lying silently, wide awake, her blue-gray eyes full of life as i follow Cara. Her eyes seem to catch and hold my own as I walk towards the clear plastic box that she's lying inside.

I run my finger across the plastic as I stop beside it, watching her tiny, premature body as her head turns slightly to look at me.

I take a deep breath. "Will she make it?"

Cara lifts a shoulder. "She's a month premature, Tobias. But she's strong. I think she'll pull through."

I try to imagine a life without Tris, raising a child on my own. I realize that I would rather live a life with one more connection to Tris, other than Caleb, than to live the rest of my life completely cut off from her.

*16 years later, Kamryn Eaton's P.O.V*

For the first three years of my life, my dad didn't talk. But I remember the day he spoke like it was yesterday.

It was late, and Daddy was sitting on the couch, watching TV, speechless as ever. I walked up to him. His eyes flicked to me, and I asked, "Daddy, why don't you ever talk?" It was barely a whisper, and I had'nt expected him to answer, and he didn't, for a minute. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "Baby Girl, I just miss your mother. Her name was Tris." I took his hand and pulled myself onto the couch and snuggled up close to Dad. "I love you, Baby Girl." He had whispered to me. He pushed my brown hair behind my ears.

"I love you too, Daddy."

For those first three years, my aunt Christina took care of me. She said I started singing around the time I could talk. Then Dad started to get more evolved in my life. At the same time, my uncle Zeke and aunt Shauna were raising their baby boy, Jonah. For the first ten years of our lives, we kind of hated each other, but then we started to bond. He had been playing guitar since he was seven. When we were fourteen, we came up with the idea of starting a band.

First, we had two other band members. Jasmine, Jonah's twin sister, was our bassist. And then there was Blade.

We met him at school. He was always tapping things to make different beats. So, we gave him some drum sticks and he was awesome. So he joined the band, but the last thing we had needed was a name. My dad actually picked the name we went with. I don't know where he thought of it, but it was great. So we went with Dauntless.

We've been playing at the pizzeria a couple streets over for a year now. Almost weekly, actually. And that's were we are now. Prepping for the next show.

I wing my eyeliner and apply mascara. I shrug on my hooded leather jacket. Jonah walks up and places a hand on my shoulder. "You ready Kamryn?" He asks, his brown eyes glinting. I nod and smile. He smiles back at me and we check up on Jasmine and Blade. Jasmine is tuning her bass, whereas Blade is fixing his black hair. As usual. I roll my eyes. "Show time, guys!" The owner, Dante, walks up smiling at us. We all walk on the stage and are met by cheering. I smile brightly and say into the microphone, "Hey, how are you tonight guys?!" I am met by a few small cheers and a couple nods. "Great, great. Now, this song is called 'Ignorance". Hope you like it!" I glance at Jonah and nod. They all start to play as I start to sing.

If I'm a bad person, you don't like me
Well I guess I'll make my own way
It's a circle
A mean cycle
I can't excite you anymore
Where's your gavel? Your jury?
What's my offense this time?
You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me
Well sentence me to another life

Don't wanna hear your sad songs
I don't wanna feel your pain
When you swear it's all my fault
Cause you know we're not the same (no)
We're not the same (no)
Oh we're not the same
Yeah the friends who stuck together
We wrote our names in blood
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (hey)
It's good (hey)
It's good

Well you treat me just like another stranger
Well it's nice to meet you sir
I guess I'll go
I best be on my way out
You treat me just like another stranger
Well it's nice to meet you sir
I guess I'll go
I best be on my way out

Ignorance is your new best friend
Ignorance is your new best friend

This is the best thing that could've happened
Any longer and I wouldn't have made it
It's not a war no, it's not a rapture
I'm just a person but you can't take it
The same tricks that, that once fooled me
They won't get you anywhere
I'm not the same kid from your memory
Well now I can fend for myself

Don't wanna hear your sad songs
I don't wanna feel your pain
When you swear it's all my fault
Cause you know we're not the same (no)
We're not the same (no)
Oh we're not the same
Yeah we used to stick together
We wrote our names in blood
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (hey)
It's good (hey)
It's good

Ignorance is your new best friend
Ignorance is your new best friend
Ignorance is your new best friend
Ignorance is your new best friend

Cheers erupt from the crowd. I scan the crowd and find Dad, Aunt Christina, Uncle Zeke, and Aunt Shauna smiling at us. Dad gives me a thumbs-up and i smile.\

*Page Break*

"Thank you guys, and good night!" I hop off the stage and run towards Dad. He engulfs me in a hug. "You did good, baby girl." I smile and we leave and go home, where I fall asleep on the couch.