DISCLAIMER: I do not own Divergent; Ms. Veronica Roth does. : )
Chapter Forty Eight: Gunfire
Tobias's POV
From the distance, I've found the view of the fences which are about forty feet high. This makes Tris angle herself straight from leaning sideways on the door. She knew that we have arrived.
"We're here," she mutters.
I peek over my shoulder to announce that we're going to jump. Will and Christina are, like us, standing by the doors while the rest are having a chit-chat.
"Get yourselves ready." I told them. "We're jumping."
This makes them pause from what they are doing and approach the door closer. They got excited—but not through the way kids do. All eyes are on the surface that we're going to land at, all minds focused on the count of three.
I stole one last look at Tris before the train passes the fences to tell her quickly, "You jump first." She gives me a small nod and readies herself. Everyone is ready, either. When the train gets on its perspective, Zeke begins to jump at the first place, followed by Shauna, then Lynn, and so forth.
Tris jumps a second after Shauna did then I jumped after her. I landed right on the surface with hands on the sides as well as the others. Tris stumbles a little due to her knee but I instantly caught her on my support before she falls.
"Thanks," she releases the hold with my arms to rub the dusts away from her jeans. "Is this really the place?"
She looks from left to right, sensing if this is the same place that she has been to before. As a matter of fact, nothing much has changed in here. It's still the same scenario: Grass, trees—really several trees, especially those which are outside the fences—buildings that are capable in sight even from afar. And well, of course, the fences. If there's something that's different now, I think it's the duo of guards standing by the gate.
"They changed the guards." Will observes.
That's a fact. Before it was two Dauntless women; at this time, a pair of Dauntless men on an all-black attire. Both of them have shooting weapons on the holsters of their slacks. They're standing straight like soldiers as though doing any motions is prohibited. The more disturbing thing about this is that their eyes are only focused to each other like what brain-washed people do.
"Do they ever blink?" Christina asks with crossed arms. "How can they afford to stay that way for a whole day?"
"And what if somebody attempts to pass by the gate?" Shauna inserts. "They're just going to stare?"
"No," I answer. "They're usual. They're only doing that to make people think it's easy to overcome them but they're going to surprise you."
"Oh," Christina says.
"Let's approach them."
The first guard is tall and lean, possessing a clean trimmed hair and a mole near his chin. On the contrary, the second guard is a few inches smaller than the first guard and he has the impression of a person who hasn't combed his hair in a week. I decided to talk to the first guard while Zeke and the rest are with the second one. I even caught Uriah waving a hand before the short guard's vision, checking if he could tolerate the act of not blinking. Funny guy.
"So… Arthur Coleman." I refer to the plate I.D. of his uniform. "How's the job in here so far?"
He remains steady. When he answers, he would only swing his eyes on my direction for a second then would go back to front view.
"Good," he says. Even his voice sounds so manly. "But most of the time it's hot."
It's been reported to me before that they're going to switch the prior women guards with men. Initially, I didn't give much focus with the reason why that has to be done. This might be my chance to know.
"When did you begin?" I inquire.
"About four weeks ago," he says. "They hired me and Thomson for the trade since there were kids from Candor who attempted to pass by the gate under the two women's supervision."
And by kids—I knew they aren't literally kids. They must be teenagers aged sixteen who're curious of what's on the outside.
"Well," I thought of ending the subject. I saw Tris and Christina, about inches away from me, staring into absence, talking. "Good luck in here. I hope it won't happen again."
He gives me one straight nod before I go to approach Tris and Christina. I didn't actually stand beside or in front them. I chose to stay behind them in order to eavesdrop on what they're busy talking about.
"Can you see that building, Chris?" Tris says.
"Where?"
"That one." She pointed a finger. "Don't mind the trees. I know you can see it."
"Well… yeah." Christina stands on her tiptoes. "Just a bit of it. W-what about that building?"
Tris shrugs. "This might sound sort of silly but… I think that might be coming from the outside. I mean… you know… the outside world. What… what do you think?"
Christina observes the building for a longer moment. I did too. That building must be really tall since despite of the trees blocking the view; you could still spot a bit of it—even just a bit of it.
"Is that possible?" Christina turns back to Tris. "We're inside these fences. We're far away from the outside. That could only be a random building here in the city."
I chose this moment to enter the conversation.
"Christina's right, Tris."
They both turn around and were surprised with my sudden presence.
"The city doesn't reveal anything about the outside." I stand next to Tris. "Even tidbits of what's in there. I would say that that building just happens to be that tall and far but it has nothing to do with what's outside the fence."
"But… what if—"
"I know, Tris." Christina says with a small laugh behind her voice. "I'm also curious about the life in there. I'm curious about the people and their existence. But as you can see… that's why we have guards guarding the gate. We aren't allowed to get out." Then she rolls her eyes. "That sucks."
As they keep the subject about the outside, I turn to check on the others. It kind of stunned me when I found them talking to the duo of guards who seem as though they have no interest in entertaining any word. Will, Zeke and Uriah are with Arthur, the first guard, while Lynn, Marlene and Shauna are with Thomson, the second guy. What are they doing?
"I like it here." Christina comments about the place which makes me turn my attention back to the two of them. "I like the air."
"And the trees. Don't forget about the trees and the fields." Tris says.
They both laugh.
"Right."
But I'm not focused on what they are saying. I'm looking at the guards' direction every once in a while to see if Zeke and the rest are still conversing with them. At once second they were still there, doing the same thing. But the next moment that I turned, I tilt my head back in surprise on the three guys' absence.
Will, Zeke and Uriah are gone; Lynn, Shauna and Marlene are entertaining the guards. What is going on?
"Hey," I call out. "Where are they?"
This caught Tris and Christina's attention.
"Who?"
I look sternly at them. "The guys are missing."
"Will," Christina mutters. "Will is…"
Then we heard a sound. A sound as if somebody has fallen on the surface. I was hoping to get a clue from the girls but they just stood there by the gate, acting like they have no idea where their friends go.
And again, there was a sound. But this time we know what that is.
"We've made it!" a male voice says.
This is the moment when we have figured where those three guys are. Will and the brothers have jumped on the other side of the fence.
On the other side of the fence.
On the other—
The guards were alarmed with their voices. Instantly, they turn around with the pistols taken out from the holsters and they were quick with detecting where the guys are.
Arthur raises his gun and shoots a bullet on air. This is when we began running. Tris and Christina are on the frontline; I am behind them, and behind me are Lynn, Shauna and Marlene.
"Meet us at the other way!" Zeke is shouting as they are running at the opposed side of the fence.
The guards have separated ways. Arthur's the one catching us while Thomson passed by the gate to get the drift of the three guys. And although we know that this is trouble, I could still hear a sequence of laughter every after a gun has been fired. If I'm not mistaken, that laugh comes from Uriah.
The firing continues. This drives us to run, run, and run faster.
However, at the midst of running for dear life, Tris suddenly pauses before me to bend down and hold her knees. She's panting. So I stop too. I pat her back as I search for her expression. She looks flushed.
"C'mon, Tris. We have to keep running."
"You can go now, Tobias." She gasps hard for air. "I'll catch up."
"What are you saying? I'm not leaving you here."
"But you should—"
"Arms up!" somebody commands.
When I turn to my right, I find Arthur pointing his weapon to us. "I said arms up! You've broken a rule."
Tris tries to settle down as I've decided to handle this myself for the two of us. I told her to stay where she is, relax, and take her breath back. She tries to protest but I ignored it. Gradually and casually, I take a step closer to Arthur and align my face to the barrel of the gun.
"Put your arms up or I'll shoot you."
This time, he doesn't act as a robot as before.
"Do I have to repeat my—"
"No, you don't." I raise my arms up. "Take me."
"Tobias," Tris calls out from behind. "What are you doing?"
Arthur keeps the gun pointed at me as he approaches to do what I said. He was just few inches apart left in order to grab me—just few and he could shoot me anytime he wants to. Yet, just when he's about to seize my arm, I make a quick switch of events. I steal the weapon from his hand then kick his stomach hard that he flies back to the ground like the wind.
I left him lying there and take Tris by surprise when I grab her on the wrist to run away, to find where the others went.
"Did you see which path they used?" I ask between breaths.
"I-I didn't notice."
Then at the midst of running and wondering where they have gone, somebody calls out our names.
"Four!" a female voice says.
"Tris! Guys, over here!"
"There they are." Tris gestures to an area hidden by a cluster of trees. "Let's go."
She laces our fingers together as we take the last few steps toward them. Will stands next to Christina while the brothers crouch on the grass. They've climbed back.
"What happened to the two of you there?" Marlene asks.
Tris decided to squat too so she'd be able to calm down after the exertion. "I paused for a while to catch for my breath. Then one of the guards has reached us."
"But I've jolted him down and I got his gun."
"Phew!" Christina says. "That was close! It's good you have surpassed it."
"Yeah," I agree. "But what really happened back there?" I stare from Zeke to the others involved. "At one second you were only talking with the guards then the next thing I knew… you three were gone. Then we just figured that you have climbed down the other side of the fence."
"We were just… trying to see if those guards are alert or whatsoever." Will answers. "And well… to have a better look of what's in there."
"It's almost accomplished, guys." Zeke comments. "But not until Uriah made a sound and—shoot! Trouble, trouble."
"I even heard him laughing while they're being fired at." Shauna says.
"Okay," I say. "But how did you do it? How did you climb there without the guards knowing?"
Zeke switches his gaze from me to Uriah, then to Lynn and Shauna.
He chuckles. "We told the girls to entertain the guards so we could move with our plan."
"Yeah," Marlene says in unison. "We tried to distract them by saying non-sense things. It worked, didn't it?"
Uriah bursts into laughter. "Yes it did. But I just can't afford to think that Lynn did the flirting too."
With this, Uriah was joined in laughing; even more when Lynn pushes him from where he crouches and he falls his butt on the grass, still laughing.
"That wasn't flirting!" Lynn protests.
"Isn't it?" Uriah teases.
"Okay guys, enough, enough." Zeke says between laughter. "So… where do we go next?"
The laughter has subsided within a minute as they begin suggesting places. Christina says the carnival would be a good idea; Marlene goes with the zip line, while the others prefer to linger for a moment.
Then as we wait for nothing in that area, we heard a vehicle roaring as though it's coming in our way.
When we turned to see what that is, we found a truck.
A truck from Amity.
A/N:
I have a song for the scene where they were running away from the guards and the guards were firing at them. It's titled as "Frontline" by Pillar. (I think the music and some lyrics suit that scene.) You could search it on Youtube. : )
So…. That's all for today! Thanks to everyone who spared time to read this, also the guests… thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :'D
Till the next time,
Iris Molefoursted
