We all slowly rise from our seats at the table. Our shell-shocked expressions mark us out as we tiredly make to follow Zoe. But there in the doorway all of a sudden is Mathew. His scrubs still have some remnants of blood on them and he looks even wearier than us. He runs his hand through his hair and looks at us with his exhausted eyes. Then he smiles.
"She's going to be ok."
Well thank the Universe… I feel as if a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I lean my head backwards and whisper my thanks for medical knowledge and science. Cara is going to be ok. The others all looked relieved as well and Caleb even puts his head in his hands.
Mathew was still talking. "She won't be conscious for another couple of hours but I'll call you lot if there is any change."
Zoe beams at him. "Thanks Matt. I'm about to show them to dorm 5."
Mathew moves into the room towards Nita but I don't catch any of the conversation before we all file down the hallway with Zoe. We take six flights of stairs down before coming to a floor marked with a huge red five on the door.
"Up on the top floor is the refectory so you'll have to go up there for food. On this floor is our set of dorms with hot showers and warm beds."
A hot shower. I can't even imagine how good that is going to feel in another five minutes. Then I can rub off all the blood and dirt from today and start fresh again. I hope.
"Oh also," says Zoe, turning to face us so that she's walking backwards down the hall, "We're having a movie night tomorrow, it's one of our favourites. It's in the refec at eight."
"Movie night?" asks Christina.
"Oh, of course, sorry. We found a hard drive when we moved into this base that had files way back from the early twenty-first century on it. Pretty much all of it was useless and not very helpful to our cause but we do enjoy watching what's on there. Except the Porn folder… that way darkness lies. Honestly two terabytes of the stuff. I don't understand why or how…" Zoe trails off realising that we're all staring at her quizzically. I vaguely wonder what 'porn' is.
She clears her throat. "Anyway, movies were a form of entertainment back then. The Matrix is what we'll be watching. We'd love you lot to come along. It'll be fun to get to know you more."
Zoe smiles again and shows us the dorms and the bathroom before leaving. There are piles of the same type of purposeful clothing Nita and everyone else in the base are wearing and I pick out a shirt and some pants my size.
The shower was pure bliss. I let the water run over my damaged body, the bruises from the day, dirt, and grime all wash down the drain. I try not to dwell on everything that we've been told but it keeps encroaching on my mind.
I find it hard to believe that my mother was born out here. Out in this dangerous world, she was born a slave and she escaped only to be sent into the city to be a different kind of slave. She never gave up, she sacrificed everything for the resistance including her live and while I feel a desperate sadness in my chest I can't help but let it mingle with a warm pride.
And Prior's video too… maybe she was my great, great, great grandmother or something and though she got captured and forced into a memory wipe she still had the courage to try and stop it. I think about my family. It seems all of us were involved in this war with different roles to play. My brother is a traitor, my mother and father both died to save me and give me freedom and my grandmother is possibly one of the first members of the Resistance. I wonder what my part in all this will be. Zoe and Nita, they need me for something, and I need to find out what. I turn off the hot water and put it out of my mind for now.
As I put the new clothes on I feel infinitely better. More alive and desperately, desperately hungry. I had completely forgotten that the last thing I ate was soggy crackers more than ten hours ago…
Tobias, Uriah, Christina and I claim beds close to each other and as far away from Peter and Caleb as possible. We may have all made it here together but that doesn't mean I am about to forgive or forget what both of them did to me.
We all decide the best course of action at this time is to make our way to the refec and eat as much food as we can.
We got lost twice in the warren of concrete hallways before Christina managed to nab someone in the hallway to give us directions to the glorious food.
And glorious it was. Hot chicken soup and bread is thoroughly satisfying. The refec is half-full at this time, being only around seven in the evening, but people file in and out constantly so I begin to think it might be like this most of the time. I spot the blonde-haired Reggie who picked us up in the drop-ship and motion him over. He walks to us with a slight hesitation but gives up and sits next to Tobias.
"So, you're part of the resistance? What do you do?" I ask.
"I'm mainly part of the recon teams sent into Minneapolis each week to try and extract the survivors. It's hard… most of them are more terrified of the war outside than their small war inside their city."
I wonder what will happen if we try to extract people in our city. If we try to tell them the truth. Will they except it or reject it? Will they fight for freedom?
"Were you born in a city?" asks Christina.
"Nah, thank-god." Reggie pauses before he realises who we are, "Sorry, it's just that I think the City people find it difficult to adjust and after I saw the carnage of Milwaukee I'm glad I wasn't part of that. But no, I was born into the resistance below the Scar. I wasn't a Divergent so they sent me up here to train to be one. Took me ages but I managed it in the end."
"Train?" Christina latches onto the word, "What do you mean? You can learn to become Divergent?" Her eyes are wide at the implications of this. My heart is suddenly speeding up as well. They know what Divergence is.
"Of course you can learn it." Reggie says this with a grin, "Divergence is just an answer to how we think, a different mode I suppose. Some people get caught up in one value too much and, we think anyway, that this is what lets them be susceptible to the simulation. But Divergence is being able to alter your thoughts. That was why the factions were implemented into the cities, they conformed people to one mode of thinking so Divergence manifested much faster. Fundamentally, people don't want to be controlled."
I think about this. About the day of my aptitude test. The day I was supposed to know where to belong, how to be controlled. Maybe I knew all along that I didn't fit into just one category and I thought this meant something was wrong with me. I can't help but smile. They will never control me.
Christina is grinning as well. "Good. I am going to learn this Divergent thing all of you have going for yourselves. I will not be controlled again."
Uriah grins at her, "then we can all be happy Divergents living in a simulated world."
Reggie snorts, "Yeah, about that. I think the Resistance is beginning to pick up speed. If we extract Chicago that means David could probably begin the shutdown sooner."
"Who's David?" asks Tobias.
"The leader of the Resistance. I'm surprised Nita didn't tell you. But then I suppose she must have told you a lot of other stuff."
"Yeah, about Nita. What the hell is her problem?" asks Christina.
It was the wrong question because I see Reggie's eyes harden and his voice is suddenly tight. "I think you should ask her that. She's been through a lot and it mustn't be easy for her to continue extracting people up here when the real war is being fought below the Scar."
"So why doesn't she go there?"
"Because she's not a Divergent and we can't afford to lose good soldiers to the simulation."
Reggie finishes his soup and bread and gets up to leave. "Look, I know you guys are all Dauntless soldiers with tonnes of training or whatever, but if you want, I can show you something you may not have seen before?"
"Like what?" asks Tobias somewhat suspiciously.
"Like fully functional Exos." Reggie grins again, "If you guys are up for it I have a free afternoon tomorrow and we could start some training in them?"
"Exos, those exo-skeleton armour things Zoe told us about? Hells yes I am in!" Uriah says and I nod my head enthusiastically. Tobias reserves his judgement for later.
We finish up dinner and decide to try and see Cara but she's still sleeping and Matthew turns us away. I feel comforted knowing he's keeping a watchful eye on her.
AN: Ok, so in the next few chapters I may have gone a little bit crazy with the advanced technology, but I did put this in the science-fiction genre. Trust me though, Exos are awesome! :D