It didn't last long. It was a Thursday, I believe, when I plated up our simplistic meal of the evening that consisted of mashed potato, peas and a single sausage. I led the warm white china to the table and placed a plate in front of each parent before returning to pick up mine and Tobias'. My father hurriedly said a short verse; something a bit like Grace but not quite there. Then we tucked in, our forks and knives clattering loudly against our emptying plates. My parents spoke about many things; work, the house, their friends… but never Erudite. Never Caleb. I had this overwhelming feeling that his name had not been mentioned since the Choosing Ceremony, and that it would never be spoken again. I wasn't about to break the silence. However as I gazed at my mother, and saw the longing, pining look in her eyes I just wanted to yell his name for the world to hear; yell it from our rooftop so that it attracted everybody's attention. Yet I would never, ever dare. So I swallowed the thought alongside my forkful of potato. Suddenly, and without a single warning, the door fell under the attack of angry knocking and the screaming of voices. My head flashed upwards instinctively, Tobias' a only a second quicker. It didn't take long for the light wood to curve under the consistent punches and kicks, causing the door to keel over dismally. We flew from our chairs, Tobias' hand instantaneously wrapped around mine as he pulled me as far from sight as possible. My father stood too, his eyes darting with urgency as his mind thought through the possibilities. He was working it out. Logics. A tactical way to fight. My mother was quicker though, setting her mind onto the only clear path; escape. Her arm extending to the top of the fridge swiftly as she yanked down a set of keys and threw them at Tobias. He caught them with one-hand, instantly knowing what to do with them. As the dozens of Dauntless soldiers finally arrived in the dining room, Tobias and I were long gone; our shadows galloping into the distance with a fearful pace. Gunshots echoed through my ears and I longed to turn back, my heart pounded at me to turn back but I couldn't. I was too much of a coward to turn back. So instead I continued to run; just as I always had done.
It was hours before our swift and urgent jog finally slowed to an inconspicuous walk. We were in a part of the city that I had little knowledge off, as I had only been here twice. Tobias meanwhile, walked through the streets with a something of a confident swagger. He knew this place off by heart. He could recollect their exact location in under a second. It was obvious from the soundless way he led me around and to the watchful and understanding gaze his eyes held. I smiled brightly in the inky blackness; it was nice to seem him like this. Not sad Tobias, not angry Tobias, not happy Tobias, just… Tobias. The man hidden beneath layers upon layers of masks.
"This way," he murmured lowly, dragging me from my thoughts again as he took a sharp right down a barely visible alley. He turned right again and I jogged to catch up with him, only to find my feet at a complete standstill as I gazed around. He stepped into an abandoned house, furniture still intact. However that wasn't the most surprising thing there. The most surprising thing by far was the huddle of people who sat by the firelight, their weary faces craving more heat and light from the slowly dying embers. I washed over their clothes and hair, at the room and the scarce possessions.
"Welcome to the factionless," smiled Tobias, glancing at me with warm eyes and a worried smile.
"What are you doing here, Tobias?" asked one boy, ignoring my lack of comments as he stood, his lanky figure filling the whole room. His hair lay slung over his mysterious green eyes as he spoke, the tips of it stroking his nose. He was sort of handsome, in one of those bad-boy type ways. I glanced at the other people; all children. This boy was clearly the leader.
"We need a place to stay, Matt, Dauntless has thrown us out and now its just us two," explained Tobias with a leaded sigh. Matt watched me from the corner of his eye, observing my every move.
"I do owe you, don't I?" he finally said, stepping back into his place amongst the circle slowly. I frowned at Tobias; I'd have to ask him about that later. Now however, Tobias broke out into a broad smile, the warmth and size radiating through the room.
"Thank you," he breathed, his eyes meeting mine in the half light, We held the gaze, and ever so slightly I felt the corners of my lips twitch. Here we'd be okay. Here we'd be safe… for a bit…
The factionless, I soon discovered, weren't at all what they were portrayed to be. They weren't dumb, weak… they weren't feral. They were just like the rest of us; maybe even smarter than us. The way they walked through their hidden allies with controlled expertise, the way they lithely leapt over walls in their pursuit of food… I could never imagine one of us doing that. We were too regimented for that, our lives were too easy for us to learn that sort of behaviour. And that was why these people were factionless; they didn't conform to society's demands; they rebelled against the regime. I had always thought of these people as simply dumb and uneducated but that wasn't the truth. By a long way. These people were too educated and they'd been thrown out for being too clever. I felt like one of them. It was a strange feeling; one I didn't dare voice, not even to Tobias, but as we sat around the evenings fire with an empty tin can in our hands, I felt at home. Our conversations flowed easily; our topics in abundance. It was all to easy to fall into the life of the factionless. Society taught me that the factionless were dumb animals. I was teaching myself that they were bright intelligent creatures, and that society was the dumb one here. I liked thinking of myself as factionless; it held off the overwhelming feeling that threatened to break free. I wasn't Dauntless. I was Divergent, and for that, I was on the run. Only in the mists of half-sleep half-awake did it occur to me that I was no longer on the run, but that I was safe. That they couldn't find us here. I never bothered to realise that the last time I had thought like that, they had found me.
