"Ready?"
I look up at Tobias, and nod my head. We hop the train, and I say a silent prayer that everything goes smoothly. When we arrive in the Factionless sector, everything looks as it always does, which is a good sign. Nobody stops us -even Edward- when we enter the old warehouse and make our way up to see Evelyn.
"Tobias. Beatrice," she says with a nod to Tobias and a glare to me. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"The gun production," Tobias starts.
"I delayed it like you asked."
"I know. But what we need now is for you to finish it, so we can arm Dauntless." She looks between the two of us, and I immediately feel uncomfortable; there's something about her cold demeanor that just sets me on edge.
"Beatrice, could you please give Tobias and I a moment?" I look over to him, but he just nods.
I walk halfway down the stairs and sit, not really wanting to get any closer to Edward. I watch the Factionless go about their business while I wait, when a girl with long blonde hair catches my eye. For a moment I think it's Myra, but the woman is too old. My curiosity gets the better of me, so I stand and walk down the stairs.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?" Edward says, clearly irritated.
"How's Myra?" He makes a noise in his throat that sounds like a mix between a laugh and a scoff.
"How the hell would I know?"
"She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"
"She was. Bitch was too clingy, so I told her to get lost. Haven't seen her since." My face twists at the thought.
"How could you?" I say. "She loved you. She left her faction for you -twice- and you just tossed her aside because she wanted to be with you?"
"That was her choice," he says with a shrug. "She didn't have to make either one."
I shake my head, wondering if there are more cruel people in this city than not. It seems that the more people I meet, the more I dislike everything about them. This isn't how it's supposed to be, and a part of me immediately lays the blame on the faction system; without it, we could live however we want. I silently vow to do everything I can to make sure this works. Myra, in the very least, deserves to be somewhere she's loved. I stomp back up the stairs and throw the door open.
"Enough private time," I say. "What's the plan?"
We make contact with each faction and arrange a meeting for this afternoon. The train ride back is quiet as Tobias and I are each lost in our own thoughts about Evelyn and the guns and everything else. All the factions agreed to have a small amount of Dauntless escort us to Erudite as a precaution. When we arrive back at Dauntless, we finalize that last part with Will, Scarlett and Harrison.
"Stop!" a voice yells out as we approach Erudite. We hold our hands up in surrender -all of us- and wait for the voice to show itself. We hear footsteps from the buildings above, and behind us as a few Dauntless guards approach us.
"This isn't your faction," the guard says. "Turn around now."
"This isn't your faction either," Christina says from behind me, and I wince as the guard points his gun at her.
"Enough!" Johanna yells, getting the attention of the guard. "We came to speak with Jeanine, peacefully. They are simply our escorts. Will you please let her know we are here?" The guard narrows his eyes at her, but turns to speak to another one.
"Wait here," he says as the other heads towards Erudite. We wait as patiently as we can with an unknown number of guns pointed at us, until we are given the go ahead.
As we approach the entrance, Jeanine comes out, along with a few other Erudite.
"I hope you didn't come all this way just for me," she says with a smile. "It's an awful waste of your time."
"We just want to talk," Johanna says. "All of us, together."
"I don't think so. We have tried that many times before, and it does not work." Jeanine says. "Now if you will excuse me."
"Jeanine, wait," Marcus says. "We know you have some of our people in there. If you would at least consider releasing them, we can consider making a deal with you."
"A deal?" she says, turning back around. "There's no deal to be made."
"Jeanine," Jack says. "Max? The Dauntless? The attack plans? Yes, there is a deal to be made." Jeanine rolls her eyes.
"Oh, Jack. It's all circumstantial, and you know it. Good luck proving anything in that court of yours." Her eyes land on me, taking me in slowly. A wave of uneasiness comes over me when she smiles- it's as if she can see right through me, right into my deepest secret. As she turns, another wait is called out; we all turn to Evelyn.
"For those of you who don't know, my name is Evelyn Eaton, although I prefer to go by my maiden name, Johnson now." Every head turns towards Marcus when she says her name. "I am the leader of the Factionless."
"The Factionless have no leader," Jeanine says. Evelyn smiles. It's all too cruel and familiar, and I shudder involuntarily.
"They do now. Edward!" she calls out, and a small rustling noise becomes louder as Factionless emerge from each direction. My eyes widen as I realize they're all armed. The Dauntless guards aim their guns too, but don't do anything except look around in confusion- they're surrounded and vastly outnumbered.
"Evelyn!" Tobias yells, turning on her. "What are you doing?
"What I should have done a long time ago. You have forty-eight hours to sit down and comply with my demands, or this wont be the last you see of me. Or my army." She hands a piece of paper to Marcus, and Tobias snatches it out of his hand.
"You do realize these are all the things Tris has been trying to accomplish, don't you? I told you this, Evelyn."
"You think they'll listen to her?" Evelyn scoffs, "She's nothing and a nobody; she holds no power. You and I on the other hand..." she trails off, looking over to me with that sour look of hers. "You'll realize how temporary she is soon enough, and when you do, my offer will still stand. Now, I believe you all have some things to discuss." She turns and walks away, Edward sneering at us as he joins her, giving a command to the Factionless who recede back into the shadows.
"This," Jeanine says, "Is why they can never assimilate back into society. This is why the vermin must be eradicated." She turns quickly, leaving the rest of us staring at each other.
"What now?" I ask Tobias, staring up at the building in front of me. My family is in there, somewhere.
"We go home."
"No, there has to be another way," Will says.
"My parents. Zeke. Uriah. My brother. Who knows how many people they have in there that are innocent. We can't just kill them all. We'd be no better than her," I say, tears forming in my eyes.
Sheer force has been the discussion at hand -taking Jeanine by any means necessary- and it's the worst thing I can imagine happening. I feel responsible for every last one of them- I seem to have inadvertently kick started all of this, after all. I hold my head in my hands while Tobias rubs my back.
"I agree. We will not stoop to their level. We are not killing any innocent people," Tobias says through gritted teeth. "I have an idea though, but I'm going to have to do it alone."
"What?" I say, a wave of panic racing through me. "Four, no."
"Tris, please. You're going to have to trust me." I look up into his eyes, and can see the hurt he's feeling. "She hates you, but she trusts me. I have to get in there and stop it from that end." I don't want to agree, but I do, because I know he's right. Her hopes of having him in her life might be her only weakness.
"I'll go with you," Will says, standing up. "That way you're not completely alone, and we'll take a tablet so we can stay in contact. I'll be your personal bodyguard." Will grins and Tobias gives him a nod.
"Better?" he asks, and I nod, giving a slight laugh. While Will's no weakling, it's amusing to think of Tobias using him as a bodyguard.
Christina and I walk them out to the trains when it's time for them to go.
"Be careful, smart-ass," Christina says to Tobias before tackling him with a hug. He stands rigid for a second before giving in and patting her on the back.
"And make sure you keep an eye on Will for me, too," she adds as she hugs Will. "And don't do anything stupid just because you want to look cool or macho or whatever, because if either of you do anything unnecessary, Tris and I are going to kick both of your asses-"
"Hey, smart-mouth," Tobias interrupts, "We get it." She smiles, and Tobias offers her one back.
"Candor," he whispers, shaking his head. He leans down to kiss me, and I let myself get lost in it. With everything that has happened, I feel like I need to hold on to every moment as tight as I can. I don't want to be afraid of it being the last, but that thought is always there in the back of my mind, fighting to make itself my priority; fighting to consume me. I pull him even closer, gripping his shirt tight in my fists. It's deep and loving and passionate, but best of all, it really doesn't feel like a goodbye.
"I love you," I say through heavy breaths.
"I love you too. I'll see you soon. Be brave, Tris."
Christina puts an arm around me as the boys jump, and we watch the train until it disappears.
"They're not going to do anything stupid are they?" she asks.
"I hope not."
Scarlett and Harrison ask me to stay in Dauntless, since I'm "Basically a member now," and I'm grateful; I don't think I could go back to Abnegation alone, knowing that both my parents and Tobias are in potential danger.
With nothing left to do but wait, I decide to do something I should have done a long time ago- start writing my proposal. Scarlett gives me a tablet since Tobias took mine. I stop by the cafeteria to grab some food before heading to Tobias' room. I sit at his small table and open the program, creating a list of things I want to address before getting started. There's a small knock at the door.
"Want some company?" Christina asks, and I open the door wider for her.
"Thank you," I say.
"Well, I know you're pretty comfortable here already, but I thought it still might be a little odd without Four." I don't want to tell her that I'm more comfortable than she thinks I am, so I just nod. Besides, I'm sure she doesn't want to be alone either.
I sit at the table and push the tablet in front of her so she can look over what I have so far while I eat. She gives me an encouraging nod and pushes the tablet back, and I get to work.
She's surprisingly quiet as I type, looking over my shoulder every now and then to see which point I'm working on. She offers up a few words when I ask her, but she mostly leaves me alone. I don't know how much time has passed, but I hear a noise and look up to see her crying.
"Oh, it's these damn hormones," she says when she notices me staring, and smiles. Hormones?
"Christina, are you-"
"Oh! No! I'm just PMSing!" she says, laughing. "That's not on the table yet."
"Oh!" I say, blushing. I'm not sure why my mind went there first.
"It's okay. It's just, I do miss my parents. And my little sister. If this were to happen, Tris, I could see them whenever I wanted, instead of just on visiting day. We could have Sunday dinners again. They could come to my wedding," she says as she stares out the window. "I don't know why people thought taking those things away was a good idea in the first place."
"Me either," I say softly.
I think about the life Tobias and I could have. I wouldn't have to become Factionless to be with him, and we wouldn't have to stay in Abnegation or Dauntless. We could live in Amity if we wanted to, and work the farms. I smile as I think about having a family dinner with my parents and Tobias, and of Susan marrying Caleb. Christina lays her head down on the table and I continue on, determined to have this done tonight in case things don't go as expected with Evelyn.
At some point I must have laid my head down too, because I'm opening my eyes to a soft dinging.
"Answer it, would you," Christina says groggily as I lift my head. There's a blinking light on the tablet, and my heart jumps that it might be Tobias and Will. Christina rubs her eye, smearing her makeup as I excitedly click the message button. The message has the title WARNING on it, and my heart immediately drops.
A video pops up of a hallway intersection, and I see a Dauntless guard walk past. A loud bang happens off screen, and I see another Dauntless run the opposite direction.
"Zeke!" I yell, recognizing his crazy hair. I grab Christina's arm and drag her next to me. I can hear some yelling, followed by another bang. My heart races as I see Zeke walk into the frame with my mother.
"Which one?" I hear him ask, and she shakes her head.
"He was to the left of me, but they moved him when they figured out we were communicating. He might not even be on this floor anymore." Zeke turns in frustration and walks down the other hallway.
"This way!" I hear him yell, and my mother takes off after Zeke. The video changes to a different camera and a different intersection. Zeke and my mother -who seems oddly comfortable- both have their guns drawn, and are making their way towards the camera. My eyes widen when I realize what's about to happen.
"No! Stop!" I shout, but they can't hear me. I can only look at the Six Dauntless guards that are waiting to ambush them.
I stare on in horror as Zeke crosses the intersection, realizing his mistake too late. The guards open fire as Zeke freezes, his body jerking as he falls to the ground. My mother turns to run, firing back over her shoulder, but it's too late and there are too many of them. My mouth hangs in a silent scream as I watch her body convulse; bullet after bullet piercing her, the ground turning red beneath her.