Chapter 36: Tobias – Alarm

I follow Marcus back the way we came, in the direction of the stairwell where we met earlier. We walk faster than we should for our disguises, but it doesn't really matter. With the security cameras down, we're less likely to be seen now, whereas speed is more important than ever. Even if no one heard our gunshots in the lobby, it's only a matter of time before some of the other guards in the building make their way there to see why the cameras aren't working. And Caleb won't be able to keep their suspicions at bay forever.

We slow down temporarily as we pass each group of cleaners we walked by earlier. They seem less interested in us this time, now that we're more familiar to them. I'm glad. My father would undoubtedly shoot them if they stared at us too long – even the children. Maybe especially them.

When we pass Christina, Marcus gestures for her to join us. She gives me a cold look as she does so, following us in silence.

We reach Margot next, and this time my father stops so we can all hold a whispered conversation.

"Tobias, where are the other guards in the building?" he asks, apparently trusting that I made the appropriate observations before taking down the security cameras earlier. It's probably the first time he's ever trusted me to do something right, but this isn't the moment to dwell on it, so I simply answer.

"There are a lot more guards than Dan Miter was thinking about in his broadcast. There are the two we knew about, stationed outside the room with the Control Computer, but there are also four others who patrol that floor and another four who patrol the building at large. And there's a grouping of ten soldiers on the twentieth floor. They seem to be guarding something else, so it's possible they won't leave that floor, but we obviously don't know that for certain."

Dead silence greets my words as the others realize there are potentially twenty guards between us and our goal.

My father finally speaks. "Collect Uriah and Peter," he tells Margot firmly, "and go up the stairway at the northern end of the building. Your goal is to clear the eighteenth floor of guards as quietly as possible. If you are unable to eliminate them all, Uriah should attempt to reach the computer while you and Peter lure the remaining guards up that same staircase. Make it look like you're attacking the twentieth floor, to focus attention there."

I can't help but stare at him at those words. What he's suggesting is a suicide mission, but Margot just nods grimly as she says, "Understood." She knows what's at stake.

Marcus glances at me and Christina before he adds, "We'll climb the southern stairs and wait ten minutes for them to succeed before we head to the Control Computer." His eyes move briefly around the group to verify that we all understand and will obey. Margot nods again, her face determined; Christina and I do too, though less emphatically.

"Remember," Marcus hisses, "the mission is to get Tobias to that computer. If we fail in that goal, Uriah must reach it. Everyone else is expendable." The words are like a slap in the face. Margot already agreed to follow his orders to her death if needed; what else does he want? A flat-out statement that the others should gladly die for my worthless hide? But then I realize that he's looking at Christina. He wants her commitment too. The thought makes me sick.

She glares at me for a second before turning back to Marcus, anger radiating from her entire face. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. But just so we're clear, I'll do it for my mother and sister, and for Tris. Not for you. Not for douche bags who beat up girls half their size."

The comment freezes everything inside me, but I certainly can't respond. She's right.

My father, of course, isn't willing to admit that. He glowers at her, and his expression sends a chill up my spine. I know from far too many experiences over the years how he'll respond to her attitude. Abruptly, I feel the need to protect her from those consequences. It seems like the very least I can do.

"Dad," I say firmly. It's the first time I've used that title since my choosing day over two years ago, and it catches his attention. His eyes shift to me as I continue. "She's just a loudmouthed Candor. Ignore her. We have a mission to complete."

Beside me, I can practically feel Christina's eyes boring holes into me, furious that I just insulted her on top of everything else, but I focus only on my father. After another second, he nods.

"Go," he tells Margot simply, and she obeys immediately, heading off to find Uriah and Peter. I try not to wonder if this will be the last time I ever see her alive.

Marcus turns his back on Christina without another glance and begins walking toward the southern stairway. I follow instantly, and shortly afterwards I hear Christina's footsteps joining us. I don't look at her.

We don't run into anyone on our way to the eighteenth floor. Technically, that's a good thing, but realistically it means the tension has time to build without any form of release. By the time we've been waiting in the stairway for five minutes, a headache is pounding up from my stiff neck, and I can barely restrain myself from firing at even the slightest noise. But I stay in control. I suppose that's the benefit of having lived under Marcus' thumb for sixteen years and under Eric's for another two. I'm used to having the constant urge to kill someone – and used to finding a way to suppress it.

It's obvious when Margot and the others make their move. We can hear the gunshots through the heavy metal door that separates the stairs from the eighteenth floor. They're followed by the sound of pounding feet and shouting. I'm pretty sure I hear Uriah's voice at one point, but then the noise begins to retreat, and I don't know if he's okay or not. He has to be. I can't tell my best friend that I listened and did nothing as his brother died. I've already destroyed the most important relationship in my life. Zeke is all I have left.

We wait tensely as more gunshots sound, but they're farther away now. I look at my father, gesturing toward the door and cocking an eyebrow. It seems like time for us to move. He nods – and then motions Christina forward. My jaw clenches, but I don't say anything. It wouldn't help the mission for me to go first, not when I'm the one who has to reach the Control Computer, and Marcus is making his point by sending her.

Christina gives him a sour look but slips through the door anyway, holding her gun in front of her. I'm sure it's less than a minute before she returns, but it feels like years. When she opens the door again, Marcus and I both aim at her instinctively before shifting our weapons to the side as we follow her onto the floor.

We're in a narrow, carpeted hallway that is lined on both sides with cubicles. It looks so ordinary it's difficult to believe that anything as evil as the broadcasts could be transmitted from this location every day.

We move forward, looking for a hallway on our left. The Control Computer is near the southwest corner of the floor, so we'll need to head in that direction at the first opportunity. We listen intently as we go, but it's silent now. I don't know if the others are simply out of earshot on this huge floor, or if they're now leading guards up the stairs, or if they're all dead.

We see a body as we enter the second hallway. It takes an agonizing thirty seconds to get close enough to see the form clearly, as we check all directions to make sure the coast is clear. It's no one we know, but I stare for just a moment at the twisted form spilling blood onto the clean carpet. It looks grotesquely out of place.

I tear my eyes away as we move past. Christina is still leading, and Marcus has taken up the rear, the two of them guarding me between them. But the problem is that I'm the one who knows the way. I was able to receive the broadcast much more clearly than either of them, so I have a mental map of this floor that they lack.

I'm stepping closer to Christina, trying to indicate that I should take the lead, when the alarm begins. It sounds incredibly loud as it echoes through the silent floor, causing us to jump violently in reaction.

The three of us quickly gather back-to-back, guns facing outward as we scan for any movement. There's nothing, and again I'm left wondering what's happening with the others. Is the alarm because they're attacking the twentieth floor, or because they failed on this one? Or has Caleb been discovered? There's no way to know.

The volume of the alarm makes it difficult to be sure, but I think I can hear the pounding of footsteps in the distance. I look around again, trying to figure out where they're coming from, and if they're getting closer or farther away, but it's impossible to tell. Maybe it doesn't matter. The alarm doesn't change our goal.

I gesture to Marcus and Christina as I begin moving rapidly toward the Control Computer. They race behind me, trying to flank me again, but I don't give them the chance. I've done enough following for today. It's time for me to lead.