Finally, after what felt like years the dust cloud of the truck came into view. Levi and Issy exchanged a look and laughed, adrenaline pumping through them. The truck pulled up in front of them and Mark got inside with their rifles. She heard Bulldozer mutter her name in exasperation as she and Levi tightly gripped the hand-bars running along the sides of the truck.

They laughed and whooped as Bulldozer sped over small hills in the road. Issy could see Bulldozer grinning in the wingmirror and his reflection winked at her before looking back to the road.

A few days went by and they were all settling in nicely. After her first patrol, the other members seemed to welcome her with open arms. The younger squaddies could mostly be found creating havoc, challenging each other to races around the track or lounging about while creating a running commentary to piss of their older colleagues. Issy had connected with the Blackburn brothers (Tate, Finley and Jordan), Eva, Asher, Freyah and of course Lunatic Levi. Along with Uriah and Hec, they stirred quite a bit of trouble up when they were all together.

While none of the squaddies had any opportunity to have a lazy day, they tried to take advantage of the hours free time between their shift times. Issy was stretched out across one of the sofas and watched Jordan, Hec, Eva and Geek play scrabble. Jordan, who was struggling with the game, had his back to the sofa and Issy helped him out with a few words. Tate, his older brother and eldest of all three of the Blackburn brothers, was sat on a nearby chair. He smiled softy as he watched the game unfold. Finley, who was the second oldest Blackburn brother, was currently out on shift.

The brothers were all Dauntless borns and had only a few years in between them. Tate was in Hugo's initiation. Finley was only a year younger and Jordan was the year above Issy. They all had dirty blond hair and light green-blue eyes, though Tate had a longer jawline and Jordan had sharper cheekbones out of the three. Finley's face was somewhere in the middle of that. They were all easy to get on with. She had sometimes completely forgot who she was talking to and had called Tate Dec instead… While Issy's cheeks were red with embarrassment, Tate had simply laughed it off. Though, now she's made that mistake, Tate seems to be channelling his inner Declan. Finley was the loudest; always laughing or shouting about something. He and Uriah got on like a house on fire, sometimes too much as Issy and Tate would guide them away from irritated elders. Jordan was the quietest, often watching his brothers fuck around with shit and offer a snarky commentary.

They were all pulled out of their bubble when there was a knock on the front door.

Issy stood up immediately, alert and her hand ghosted over where a knife was hidden. Issy threw a curious look to Tate and he shrugged his shoulders back. Duncan strode through the room then, putting his hands up and smiled at them.

"Guessing I should have warned you guys that Amity were coming 'round?"

"Maybe." Jordan snorted. He was crouched, almost ready to start sprinting, towards where a rifle laid on the counter.

"Sorry 'bout that."

Their little group followed the captain through the sitting room and into the open plan kitchen and living room. Her captain – Clark – was already stood in the centre with a small group of Amity standing near the door and a few other squaddies stood nearby. Two males and two females dressed in red and yellow stood with grins on their faces. Issy choked back a laugh when she remembered Four having an identical smile on his face when he was dosed up on peace serum. Rainbow walked over to her with a smug grin on her face.

"An old friend is here."

Issy frowned; the words felt familiar somehow but she couldn't think of why… "What?" But Rainbow didn't need to answer her question as Issy spotted the answer. "More like an old ex." Issy smirked. The answer in question turned ever so slightly, his eyes widening as he spotted her.

"Issy." He breathed in surprise.

"Hello Demetri." Issy walked forward towards Clark and the group.

"Um, hi." Demetri glanced down to his shoes, a blush on his face, and the guy next narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. Issy bit down on her lip at the clear look of jealousy on the other guy's face.

Clark, being the awesome person that he is, chose that moment to move on. He motioned to the small group of Amity while talking to the squaddies present. "If any of you actually looked at the pack properly, you'll notice that these people are some of the Amity that will be coming to the cabin every Sunday and Monday at 12:30." Issy's eyes widen a fraction. Shit… "These people are here to show us how to use the some of the equipment in the kitchen and around the house as it is strikingly different to what we are used to in Dauntless." Clark nodded his head to the Amity. "Demetri? If you will?"

Demetri nodded and shuffled through the crowd until he was in the kitchen. Issy lagged behind the group as they crowed slightly around him. It wasn't long until someone stepped up next to her. The guy from Amity kept his head forward even as Issy turned to him. The guy had a soft face with brown hair and eyes. But he was frowning slightly even as he stared on; he didn't even turn to her when he started talking in a low voice.

"What's between you and Demi?" He jutted his chin in Demetri's direction. Issy raised her eyebrows. She got the feeling he was Candor once upon a time.

"I'm not interested in him, if that's what you're asking."

"I don't care if your not, there's a possibility you could be." Very straightforward. Definitely Candor…

"Nah, I'm interested in someone else and nothing could sway me from him." Issy lowered her head as she closed her eyes. Eric immediately surfaced in her mind's eye and she sighed, missing him a whole lot more. "Even if I tried, I wouldn't want to…" She shrugged, opening her eyes and looked up to him, only to find him staring back. "If it makes a difference, I think I made him realise he was gay…?"

He chuckled quietly from beside her, his eyes bright and weightless. "Yeah, that helps." He watches her for a moment before holding out his hand. "I'm Koda."

Issy took his hand. "Issy. Nice to meet you."

They were silent for a while as Demetri carried on explaining things in the kitchen area before Koda started taking again, a curious but pleased expression on his face. "So this guy… you must really like him, huh?"

Issy nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do."

"So why aren't you with him?" Her head snaps to Koda to see an innocent expression on his face. "If you like him so much, then what's stopping you? Does he not like you back?"

"No, he does… It's just with our jobs, we wouldn't be able to see each other much and at first I wasn't ready for a relationship…"

"And now you are. Are you seriously stopping both of you from being happy purely because you think you won't be able to see each other much?" Issy simply stares at him in shock, her jaw dropped and he continues to rant quietly. "I'm pretty sure you'd both make the time to see each other. No matter what. I would have thought a Dauntless would have known tomorrow isn't guaranteed for them so once you find someone, you grab them and hold on. You only live once after all."

Issy could have been slapped throughout that lecture and she probably wouldn't have noticed… A shot of realisation went through her. Had she really been wasting time they could have spent together? She frowned, saddened by her own actions. Issy hadn't even thought of the idea that they might not have tomorrow. Living in Erudite for eighteen years was like a safety net compared to Dauntless. Death rates were only due to old age and the occasional cancer patient. In Dauntless, they weren't given that confidence of knowing how they'd die or even when… "Shit." She hissed and ran her hands through her hair.

Koda watched as Issy's confident façade slowly cracked open. "Now you understand." He whispered softly and Issy could only nod her head in response.