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.
Issy jolts up from her bed as her alarm rings on the other side of the room. Groaning, she flings an arm over her eyes, wishing it wasn't so early. Issy stumbles as she clambers out of her duvet and her feet catch in the covers, nearly making her faceplant the floor. Gathering her bearings, Issy untangled herself from her covers and turned off her alarm before she woke anyone up.
Just over a week had gone by and these hours were killing her. Sure, shifts were only for four hours at a time but on the mornings where she had a shift starting at 03:40, she had to get at two to be organised and at the sector in time. Much like today unfortunately. There was a knock on her door and she groaned loudly to notify them that she was awake.
"C'mon Beta, up and at 'em!" Calvin called through the door. Issy glared at the door, flipping her middle fingers up. Last night some of the squaddies including her had decide it would be a good idea to start some drinking games… None of them thought about the next morning. "Don't make me come in there Beta; I've already had to wake Uriah up with a bucket of icy water and I'll do the same to you if I have to!"
"Alright! Alright! I'm up!" Issy shouted back before immediately wincing from the oncoming headache. Deciding to play Rumi was an excellently bad idea. To win the game someone had to get a set of four and a set of three cards that are either ascending in the same suit or a group of the same number. The trick last night was that those that lost had to take shots but the number of shots that they had to take depended on how many cards they needed to complete their hand. For some of them, Issy wouldn't be surprised if they were absolutely dead as most had to take seven shots of whatever the winner decided… More often than not it was straight vodka… It took Issy longer than normal to get ready before she sluggishly climbed downstairs in search of something edible.
The kitchen was a sight in itself. It was easy to tell which had been drinking the night before. They were all leaned over their breakfast, chewing slowly with pain and regret in their eyes. Calvin, who would be captain on her shift this morning, grinned at her and she knew something hatefully cheerful was about to exit his mouth. Instead, before he had the chance to do so, Issy shot him her most ferocious glare but to his credit, he didn't falter. Thankfully though, Uriah seemed to be in as much pain as Issy was. He fell over more than he was actually stood up but he was soon wide eyed and somewhat alive after a few coffees and a large plate of food.
It didn't take long until a group of them where moving slowly outside and into the truck. This time, Issy didn't have any energy to cling onto the side of the truck, so instead she sat comfortably in between Uri and Hec. With her head of Uri's shoulder, her eyelids began dropping until she fell blissfully into the darkness.
All too soon Issy was being shook awake. She blinked away the darkness to see Calvin frowning down at her.
"Come on Beta. Four hours and then you can go back to bed." Before she could protest, Calvin pulled her up and carefully pulled her out of the truck.
They were patrolling Sector D today, which was on of the shorter routes. The sun had yet to rise but the morning was already warm with a slight breeze. Calvin had Uri and herself walking spaced out in a line and whenever they started talking, they had to raise their voices slightly to be heard. They quickly fell silent; their small talk wasn't important enough to start shouting at each other.
Issy quickly entertained herself with her own thoughts while keeping an eye on her surroundings for any activity. The patrols weren't so bad after she got her head into them and she could almost pretend she was with the rest of Squadron 226 as they patrolled the factions. Currently, the levels of Factionless were low but there were still more out and about than normal at such at time. Issy glanced at Calvin, who shrugged back.
As the group of factionless start to become closer, Issy tightens her grip on her rifle. There were a few females amongst the group but there were mostly males. The trio of squaddies eyed the Factionless up, even as one of them gasped and pointed straight at Issy.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion.
Issy's rifle fell from her hands.
Uriah and Calvin's rifles came up ready to shoot if necessary as a Factionless began running forward.
And then Meg collided into Issy, arms wrapping around each other's waists.
The former Dauntless was whimpering slightly and Issy's arms tightened around her. Issy was shocked beyond belief; she never thought she'd see any of those that initiated with her but ultimately failed. Meg had her head against Issy's shoulder and was muttering something that Issy couldn't make out.
The other Factionless eyed them with a fair amount of distrust but sat and waited for their friend out of hearing distance. The two Dauntless somewhere behind Issy watched their surroundings instead of meeting the gazes of the Factionless, who were intent on staring the Dauntless down.
Meg pulled back suddenly and Issy took in the differences since nearly a year has passed. "Goddamn Issy! You've changed so much!"
Issy looked over her old friend. Her clothes were slightly ripped and stitched up in some places and she was slightly grubby too. These were the type of changes that Issy expected to happen. Though, she tried not to think of those who had been cut during initiation but each time she did, it sent a stabbing pain through her. Those were the laws of her faction and she couldn't change them.
"How are you?" Issy breathed, not really sure of what she can say.
"Issy, I'm still the same person. Just because I'm Factionless it doesn't mean you can't ask me how things are or how the Factionless are treating me."
"I know – I just…"
"It's not your fault." Meg paused rubbing her hands up Issy's arms. "Anyway I'm glad I found you. I've been looking for someone from our initiation class for a long time…"
Issy frowned at Meg's darkening features. "What?" Issy grabbed onto Meg's forearms and shook her lightly. "Meg what happened?"
"Crystal died." The breath vanished out of Issy and she staggered back a few steps. They were still family, even if some were Factionless. Issy didn't know what to say… She didn't know if she could say something… Meg carried on though as tears welled in her eyes. "What most people don't know about the Factionless is that there are those who group together and protect each other no matter what. Then there's those that only group together because they share the same level of hatred for the factions; those are the ones that normally attack people in factions. Some of these people took Crystal from one of the areas we were living in and raped her, killing her once they had no more use for her. They bragged about it for weeks…"
There was a sharp intake of breath and Issy glanced back to see Uriah pale and shaking. He had known Crystal, grown up with her around too. Issy couldn't imagine what he was going through. Calvin stood slightly away from them, a serious look on his face while he clenched his jaw. Issy could tell that he wasn't pleased with it either.
"What happened to the fuckers that did it?" Uriah whispered.
Meg shook her head slightly. "Nothing." Uriah's jaw clenched and he looked away. "The Factionless have now split into two groups. They – we – try to keep as much distance from each other as we can. There's been rumours that the group of Factionless are being led by two women, both of whom are fucking ruthless."
"How'd you get a hold of these rumours?" Calvin asked suspiciously and Meg glared at him.
"You really think I'd be a part of the group that caused my best friend's death?" Calvin muttered an apology. "The fuckers get very loose-lipped when pissed out of their faces. Apparently there was meant to be something big going down against one of the factions but it got held off due to Visiting Day."
"Visiting Day has already been?" Issy spluttered.
"Yeah. It was a couple of days ago."
Issy had wanted to see her family badly but she shook her head. "What about the others from our initiation?"
"From what I've heard Zara, Jess and Tom went to Amity but no one is really sure. Charlie is alive, thankfully. He lives with me and a few others –" She gestures to the Factionless behind her. "And Ollie… Ya remember Ollie right?"
"Yeah. Bit of a dick during Stage One but then again, so was Kayden and look how he turned out."
Meg hummed. "Yeah, well, he's turned really viscous actually. Like awfully so… He was also a part of the small group that killed Crystal…" Issy's grip on her rifle tightened. "thankfully though, he's a part of the other group now so we don't see him."
Issy nodded, glancing to Calvin. "Will you relay this onto the Captains?"
"As soon as we get back." He looks to Meg and smiles at her. "Thank you for telling us this. It'll definitely gives us an advantage."
She nods solemnly in response. "There's a storm brewing. You should at least know what you're up against." Meg takes a step back. "We really need to leave though; our time slot is almost up."
"Say hi to Charlie for me!" Issy shouts to Meg as her friend walks away. "And stay safe!"
"Right back atcha Golden Eyes!"