And then the screaming begins.
People around me are shouting at one another, at the blue screen projected on the wall above the faded outline where Jeanine's portrait used to hang. Obscenities flow from Dauntless mouths. A group of men in Erudite blue jump to their feet and begin to argue, while factionless guards point their guns at them and command them to sit back down.
Then a gunshot rings out above the clamor.
I look away from Tobias, over my shoulder, and see that Evelyn holds a smoking pistol above her head, a faint snow of plaster falling on her head and shoulders from a bullet hole in the ceiling.
Everyone falls silent.
"What is this?" She looks directly at Tobias, somehow knowing he was involved. Evelyn's voice is low and dangerous, like his can be, and I know what this means.
"Tobias," I whisper. "We have to leave."
"What is this?" Evelyn shouts. She scans the room, pointing her gun at the Erudite. "Which one of you helped him to create this lie? This filth."
No one speaks. No one moves. Evelyn's face begins to turn red. She turns back to Tobias and I, pointing her gun at me. My heart leaps into my throat as Tobias swiftly pushes me behind him.
"Tell me what this is, or so help me, I will kill her," Evelyn says, her voice like a growl.
"It's exactly what it looks like," Tobias says evenly as he slides a hidden gun from his waistband. "It is the secret Jeanine wanted to hide from everyone. What the Abnegation thought we all had a right to know. And if you ever threaten Beatrice again, I will not think twice about killing you. Goodbye, Mother."
Tobias grips my hand and leads me from the room, out the front doors of Erudite headquarters and into the street. I look behind me and see that Harrison, with Tori on his back, Uriah, and Christina have followed us. Uriah carries Lynn's body in his arms.
"Where did you get a gun?" I ask Tobias. "The factionless –"
"You really have no faith in me, do you?" he asks, a small smile playing across his face. "You think I only brought one gun?"
I don't know what to say. And he thinks I'm the perceptive one.
I walk across the Pit floor toward the chasm. Tobias hasn't let go of my hand since we left Erudite headquarters. We carefully descend the hidden staircase into the chasm, where Uriah, Christina, and Tori wait. Tori leans on the rock wall for stability. I feel a twinge of guilt for hurting her injured leg even more.
At Uriah' feet rests Lynn's body.
"She wanted to be here," he says, choking on the words. "I couldn't leave her in Erudite."
We all nod in agreement, and I feel hot tears flowing down my cheeks. I stop pushing away the flashes of Lynn that keep popping up in my memory, and I see her laughing as Uriah shoots a muffin off Marlene's head, her face red and windblown after zip lining.
"I loved her too," she had said. I finally understand why Lynn was so unhappy with Uriah and Marlene's relationship.
"Does anyone want to say anything?" Tori asks. "I don't exactly like the idea of celebrating right now, and I certainly won't be giving a speech like Eric's."
Uriah chokes back sobs as he tries to speak. "Lynn…" he says. "I've known you since we were six years old. I always thought of you and Shauna and Hec as my other family. I'll…" he chokes again. "I'll take care of them for you."
He leans down and kisses Lynn's forehead, brushing her hair away from her face.
"I miss you already," he whispers, just loudly enough for me to hear over the roar of the nearby river. Then he stands, wiping tears from his cheeks with the heels of his hands, takes a swig from a flask in his pocket, and looks at me expectantly.
"I…" I look up at Tobias. "I don't know what to say," I whisper.
"Just say how you feel," he says.
I turn back to Uriah. I can't talk to him. His tear-streaked face and repetitive swigs from the flask flood my mind with too many emotions. I look down at Lynn. She looks peaceful. She wears a more gentle expression than I ever saw on her face in life.
"I thought you hated me when we first met," I say. "I'm still pretty sure you did. But in the target practice room, you stood near me and talked to me like I was one of you… Like I was already Dauntless. That…" My voice catches in my throat, which feels about as wide as a stirring straw. "That meant a lot to me."
I want to thank her for being my friend in Candor headquarters when no one else seemed to want me. I want to tell her how beautiful I think she looked with her hair buzzed short. I want to say so much more, but all that comes out of my mouth is a strangled sound, and Tobias clutches me to his chest.
I don't expect anyone else to speak, but Christina steps forward.
"I know Lynn always thought of me as an annoying Candor," she says, "and she was right. I don't know when to shut up most of the time. But she was honest too. And brave. And smart, and loyal, and funny, which I would never have guessed." She looks down at Lynn's body. "Thanks for taking care of Tris while I was working things out," she says. "Be brave." I feel a surge of gratitude toward Christina for saying what I couldn't.
"Be brave, Lynn," we all repeat.
"She told me once that she didn't want to be buried," Uriah says. "This is where she wanted to be."
He bends down and puts one arm under Lynn's shoulders and one under her knees. He gently places her into the calmest section of water in the underground river, and Lynn floats gently under the rocks and out of sight.
I can't be here anymore. I need to run. To get away from this. I push away from Tobias, past Christina and Tori, and rush back up the stairs, trying not to slide on the damp rock. I run across the Pit floor and to the dark tunnels I've only been in twice before. I race along at breakneck speed until I reach the platform, then climb it, fall into the net, and sit in the very center of it.
It begins to rain as I turn, hearing someone else climbing the platform stairs. In the early morning light, I see Tobias gently crawl onto the net, with Christina behind him.
They don't say anything. They just make their way over to me and sit on either side of me. Tobias wraps his arms around my body and I lean into him, while Christina places her head in my lap and holds my hand. We don't speak. We just sit there in silence for what could be hours, until the tears stop streaming down my cheeks.