Thanks for the review DreamPatronus! No, I haven't read Allegiant yet, but a friend gave me the basics. I don't believe that the story has to have a martyr in order to save everyone, and while I may use some of her ideas about genetic manipulation - she owns the story and the characters, after all! - I don't necessarily share her point of view on what about it is dangerous or where it takes us.

Soon after, we jump on the train that will take us to the end of the line, sitting on the floor so we won't be visible. Tris has her body pressed into mine, from her shoulder to her ankle, as we lean up against the metal shell. I lace my fingers between hers, very deliberately not looking at Inez, though I can feel her frown from here. No one says anything, but we probably wouldn't be able to hear each other, anyway. Sections of the walls and ceiling have rusted out, even the floor in some places, and the wind pounds and howls through the compartment. I can't believe this thing is still working at all, in fact.

We don't have all that far to go, and everyone jumps out after me once the train slows. The drop is a little longer than I'd like, but they all make it to the ground unharmed. Mostly. Fernando scrapes his knee and elbow, but nothing too serious. The whole train stops completely ahead, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to go all the way. After all, Evelyn knows I want to explore the perimeter, and it's possible others heard me ask her about it, back when we were still in Erudite. If there's someone watching for us, the end of the train lines is a logical place to be.

We pick our way silently through the crumbling brick and concrete shells of the scattered, weed-choked houses. We are north of our hideout, and considerably north of the factions, according to the map. Linus believed there were at least 5 monitoring stations, and he had looked at this one, near what he referred to as the last purple line station. We're relying on his map to get us there - and the compass Fernando is carrying.

"Where in the world did you get that?" Tris had asked him, when he offered to use it to help us plot our course.

"I've always had it." Fernando shrugged. "Well, almost always. My father gave it to me when I was little. I used to get lost all the time, and he said this would help me find my way."

"And did it?" Tris asked him.

"No. Not really," he smiled. "For a compass to be of use, you kind of have to know where you want to go."

After about 30 minutes of walking, there are no more houses. Sometimes, faint outlines of foundations, but that's it. I'm uneasy about the fact that we are basically out in an open field with no cover at all.

"What's that?" Inez whispers, squinting at the horizon.

"It's a fence," Tris says calmly.

As we get closer, there's no question that it's a metal fence, probably 10 feet high. Closer still, and we can see the lethal-looking barbs all along the top. It's at the crest of a berm, so we won't be able to see much beyond it until we're right up next to it.

"Time for the masks," I say. We all reach into our packs and take out the breathing masks I found in Linus's belongings. I know from his notes that the fenceline and monitoring station are mined in places with neurotoxins, some kind of poison that causes paralysis if you inhale it. It may all be gone now, but I don't want to take any chances. According to Linus, it can take days for it to fully wear off.

When we reach the top of the rise, I can see there are signs on the fence every 50 feet or so, but they all face the other way, so we can't tell what they say. It's open fields on that side, too, for as far as we can see, but there is a small, concrete house a few hundred yards down the rise and to the right. It has to be the monitoring station.

"How do we get through?" Tris asks, face nearly engulfed by the mask.

"There should be a gate in the fence somewhere around here," I comment, as we trail along the fenceline, looking for the opening. We eventually find it; one side has vertical metal bars that line up, with no locking mechanism visible. The other side has some hinges that protrude onto our side of the fence.

"How do we get through that?" Tris asks.

"With this," Fernando is a little breathless from walking up the hill, but he manages to whip a large screwdriver out of his pack.

"This has a battery attached," he says. "It's a power pack - it turns the driver so you don't have to crank it by hand. We can take the hinges off."

"Wait," I warn him.

"Yeah, I know," he says impatiently. "I read the files, too, remember?" I roll my eyes, as Inez scowls at both of us.

"What's the problem?" She asks.

"It's electrified," I note. "We have to find one of the control boxes - they're buried along the fenceline. Mostly on this side of the fence."

"Why would they be on this side?" she wonders.

"They wanted to keep people out more than they wanted to keep them in," Tris says quietly.

"Actually," Fernando says, frowning, "let me try something." He picks a handful of dry, brown grass and walks close to the fence before throwing the grass at it. Fernando grunts when it just blows through. He cocks his head and stares at the fence for a minute.

"What are you..." I start to say.

"Shhh," Fernando cuts me off, waving his hands at me.

I cross my arms and stare at him.

"Well," he says, looking back at us with a mischievous grin, "here goes nothing..." and he reaches forward to grab the fence with one hand. He lets out a terrible shriek and a wild tremor shakes his body. Tris gasps and clutches her throat, and I lunge forward to pull him off the fence.

"Just kidding," Fernando says with a wink. "It's not electrified anymore."

"Dammit, Fernando!"

"That wasn't funny," Tris growls.

"Oh come on," he laughs. "It was at least a little bit funny - I mean, look at chuckles over there." Inez has not budged an inch, a scowl fixed on her face. "And anyway, you're lucky it wasn't live, Four. You should never touch someone who's getting electrocuted unless you want to get electrocuted, too. The human body is a pretty good conductor."

"Okay, thanks for that, Professor," I say, probably a little more coldly than I should. "Just take out the damn screws."

We finally get through the fence, though it takes longer than I would like. The screws are tight in the hinges, and we have to climb the fence to get to the last two. It's already early afternoon, and I do not want to get caught too far from the headquarters in the dark. There should be enough moonlight to see by tonight, but that means we can be seen, too. I also want to get Inez back to her brother before it's too late.

Finally, we get the hinges off, and we're able to pry the fence open a few feet. I let everyone else go first before I squeeze carefully through. They're all standing still, staring back at the fence. At first, I think they're just waiting for me, but when I look back over my shoulder, I realize they're looking at the signs. They all say the same thing, in big red letters: "Danger: Do Not Enter. Radiological Contamination Zone." Then, in smaller black writing underneath, it says: "This area condemned by order of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Unprotected exposure beyond this point can result in sudden death. Ingestion of any food or water from the surrounding area may result in injury or death. Trespassing in a radiological contamination zone is subject to fines and prison."

"Fines and prison," Fernando snorts. "Is that supposed to be worse than death?"

"Do you think," Tris says thoughtfully, "that's why we have so few old people in the factions? Because we all get sick and die, from whatever this means?"

"No," Inez responds, after thinking that over for a moment. "It's scare tactics. Keeps people out of their precious experiment."

We make our way down to the concrete house. There is a red and black lettered sign here, too: "Monitoring Station 5: Authorized Entry Only."

"That doesn't exactly tell us much," I grumble. "Except why Linus thought there were five of them."

Fernando moves to the metal box next to the door and wrenches open the cover. Inside is a keypad of numbers and letters, with a small circular pad at the bottom.

"He never figured out the code," I explain to the others, "but he thought there might be another way in."

Fernando nods at me. "I think Tris is our best bet; she's the most Divergent."

"I agree," I turn to look at her, only to see she's eying me suspiciously. 'It's no big deal," I reassure her hurriedly. "Linus just figured the sponsors would want Divergent to be able to find them. He couldn't test his theory since he wasn't Divergent."

"What do I need to do?"

"Prick your finger and press some of your blood into that circular pad - he thought it was something he called a biogenetic scan."

"And if that doesn't work?" Inez says skeptically.

"We'll try to break the code," I respond.

I always carry a Divergent test kit with me, so I take one of the needles out of it and hand it to Tris. She doesn't hesitate, stabbing her finger without so much as a wince, and pressing it to the keyboard.

Nothing happens. The door doesn't budge. I only realize I was holding my breath when I exhale with disappointment.

"Look," Inez whispers urgently, grabbing my arm.

Off to our right, a crack is appearing in what appears to be a smooth and solid wall, and as we move closer, a section of the wall sinks slowly away and into the structure. Warm, stale air that smells of decay wafts out.

We all look at each other.

"After you," Fernando says, with a flourish and a bow in my direction.