A.N. Here you guys go. The first chapter of reading insurgent. Thanks for waiting on it. Hope you enjoy it.
We spent most of the morning in the training room. None of us are in a big hurry to get the second book started. We all have been just slow to get going today. But are we if all we have to do today is read? Anyways we just decided it would be best to start after lunch today.
I'm not exactly training the others today either. I'm doing my own thing and occasionally giving them pointers on whatever they are doing. When Natalie calls us to tell us we have thirty minutes until lunch is ready we all disperse.
Tris and I head upstairs to our room. She doesn't say much which tells me that she is in her head. "What are you thinking about? " I ask.
"A lot of stuff." she says as we walk into our room. "There are like a million different things just floating around in my head."
"Understandable" I reply leaning in to kiss her.
She smiles. "I'm going to go take a shower."
Page break
We all sit down and Shauna offers to start us off.
I wake with his name in my mouth.
Will.
"Well that's one way to start a chapter." Uriah states, shaking his head. Poor Tris. This guilt is going to absolutely destroy her.
Before I open my eyes, I watch him crumple to the pavement again. Dead.
My doing.
Tobias crouches in front of me, his hand on my left shoulder. The train car bumps over the rails, and Marcus, Peter, and Caleb stand by the doorway. I take a deep breath and hold it in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure that is building in my chest.
An hour ago, nothing that happened felt real to me. Now it does.
I shake my head. It never feels real until later.
I breathe out, and the pressure is still there. "Tris, come on," Tobias says, his eyes searching mine. "We have to jump."
It is too dark to see where we are, but if we are getting off, we are probably close to the fence. Tobias helps me to my feet and guides me toward the doorway.
The others jump off one by one: Peter first, then Marcus, then Caleb. I take Tobias's hand. The wind picks up as we stand at the edge of the car opening, like a hand pushing me back, toward safety.
But we launch ourselves into darkness and land hard on the ground. The impact hurts the bullet wound in my shoulder. I bite my lip to keep from crying out, and search for my brother.
"It must be weird for you to be around Caleb again." Shauna says thinking out loud. "I mean you guys weren't that close in abnegation and then he chose the enemy faction, It just seems awkward."
Tris doesn't say anything, just nods a little. I'd assume it probably is awkward.
"Okay?" I say when I see him sitting in the grass a few feet away, rubbing his knee.
He nods. I hear him sniff like he's fending off tears, and I have to turn away.
Relatable. I can't handle other people's cries either.
We landed in the grass near the fence, several yards away from the worn path that the Amity trucks travel to deliver food to the city, and the gate that lets them out—the gate that is currently shut, locking us in. The fence towers over us, too high and flexible to climb over, too sturdy to knock down.
"There are supposed to be Dauntless guards here," says Marcus. "Where are they?"
"They were probably under the simulation," Tobias says, "and are now . . ." He pauses. "Who knows where, doing who knows what."
"What a stupid fucking question." Zeke exclaims.
We stopped the simulation—the weight of the hard drive in my back pocket reminds me—but we didn't pause to see the aftermath. What happened to our friends, our peers, our leaders, our factions? There is no way to know.
Tobias approaches a small metal box on the right side of the gate and opens it, revealing a keypad.
"Let's hope the Erudite didn't think to change this combination," he says as he types in a series of numbers. He stops at the eighth one, and the gate clicks open.
"Well we are lucky the Erudite didn't think of that." Marlene states.
"They probably were not concerned with Amity." Max adds.
"How did you know that?" says Caleb. His voice sounds thick with emotion, so thick I am surprised it does not choke him on the way out.
"I worked in the Dauntless control room, monitoring the security system. We only change the codes twice a year," Tobias says.
"Yeah but you actually memorize the codes. I can tell you right now that most people in the control room do not." Zeke says.
"Why don't they?" Will asks.
"Because it isn't completely necessary," he explains.
"Then why do you memorize them?" he asks me. I shrug evading the question.
"How lucky," says Caleb. He gives Tobias a wary look.
"Uh oh the brother doesn't like you Four." Zeke says dying of laughter. His comment makes the rest of us join in. I'm not sure I care if he likes me. I don't trust him. The only reason I would make an effort is for Tris.
"Luck has nothing to do with it," Tobias says. "I only worked there because I wanted to make sure I could get out."
They go silent for a minute. Surprised by this revelation. Even Tris, who knows me better than all of them, looks surprised.
"What?" I ask even though I know what they want.
"Ummm you can't just say that and not explain." Shauna states. Funny. Like I ever even said it. Book me said it, not me.
I roll my eyes. "I don't like feeling trapped so I make sure I always have ways out if I ever need it."
"Did you ever think about using it?" Max asks, seemingly genuinely curious and mildly concerned.
Not that one. "No," I state. It's technically true anyway so I don't have to try to make a lie believable at least. Which is probably a good thing because Tris would read through it.
I shiver. The way he talks about getting out—it's like he thinks we're trapped. I never thought about it that way before, and now that seems foolish.
"See she gets it." I say, shaking my head.
We walk in a small pack, Peter cradling his bloody arm to his chest—the arm that I shot—and Marcus with his hand on Peter's shoulder, keeping him stable. Caleb wipes his cheeks every few seconds, and I know he's crying but I don't know how to comfort him, or why I am not crying myself.
Instead I take the lead, Tobias silent at my side, and though he does not touch me, he steadies me.
"Page break"
Pinpricks of light are the first sign that we are nearing Amity headquarters. Then squares of light that turn into glowing windows. A cluster of wooden and glass buildings.
Before we can reach them, we have to walk through an orchard. My feet sink into the ground, and above me, the branches grow into one another, forming a kind of tunnel. Dark fruit hangs among the leaves, ready to drop. The sharp, sweet smell of rotting apples mixes with the scent of wet earth in my nose.
"That seems awful." Marlene says wrinkling her nose. Which makes Uriah laugh.
When we get close, Marcus leaves Peter's side and walks in front. "I know where to go," he says.
"How would he know where to go?" Shauna asks venomously.
I give her a semi answer because it's clear she is directing the question to me. "How the hell would I know?" I rarely had a decent encounter with him. Let alone know much about him other than that he is a monster.
Natalie gives an actual answer "He is a leader he has had to go to amity on occasion. He is also friends with Johanna."
"He is friends with Johanna?" Shauna says shocked. I roll my eyes. He is a leader they see each other often, and just because they know about my past doesn't mean anybody else does.
"Yes" Natalie states.
"How fast do you want to bet that would end if she knew what he did." Tori says. I don't know. Probably quickly. I don't really care. Hopefully it won't come out.
"Have you been to Amity like Tris has?" Will asks.
"No I haven't" Thankfully. They drop the subject after that and Shauna continues reading.
He leads us past the first building to the second one on the left. All the buildings except the greenhouses are made of the same dark wood, unpainted, rough. I hear laughter through an open window. The contrast between the laughter and the stone stillness within me is jarring.
Marcus opens one of the doors. I would be shocked by the lack of security if we were not at Amity headquarters. They often straddle the line between trust and stupidity.
I snort "Couldn't have said it better."
In this building the only sound is of our squeaking shoes. I don't hear Caleb crying anymore, but then, he was quiet about it before.
Marcus stops before an open room, where Johanna Reyes, representative of Amity, sits, staring out the window. I recognize her because it is hard to forget Johanna's face, whether you've seen her once or a thousand times. A scar stretches in a thick line from just above her right eyebrow to her lip, rendering her blind in one eye and giving her a lisp when she talks. I have only heard her speak once, but I remember. She would have been a beautiful woman if not for that scar.
"That's not very nice." Uriah teases her.
She rolls her eyes at him. "Never said I was."
"Does anybody know how she got that scar?" Will asks. We look around at each other but none of us have an answer. I doubt we will get one either. I can relate to her in that aspect. I hide and don't talk about my scars. Hell, I tattooed my entire back to hide them.
"Oh, thank God," she says when she sees Marcus. She walks toward him with her arms open. Instead of embracing him, she just touches his shoulders, like she remembers the Abnegation's distaste for casual physical contact.
"The other members of your party got here a few hours ago, but they weren't sure if you had made it," she says. She is referring to the group of Abnegation who were with my father and Marcus in the safe house. I didn't even think to worry about them.
Well you had bigger things to worry about.
She looks over Marcus's shoulder, first at Tobias and Caleb, then at me, then at Peter.
"Oh my," she says, her eyes lingering on the blood soaking Peter's shirt. "I'll send for a doctor. I can grant you all permission to stay the night, but tomorrow, our community must decide together. And"—she eyes Tobias and me—"they will likely not be enthusiastic about a Dauntless presence in our compound. I of course ask you to turn over any weapons you might have."
Not surprising. None of our members willingly go to amity. Our factions just avoid each other.
I wonder, suddenly, how she knows that I am Dauntless. I am still wearing a gray shirt. My father's shirt.
I don't know. It could be the way she holds herself, or maybe it's just because she is near me. Who knows?
At that moment, his smell, which is an even mixture of soap and sweat, wafts upward, and it fills my nose, fills my entire head with him. I clench my hands so hard into fists that my fingernails cut into my skin. Not here. Not here.
Tobias hands over his gun, but when I reach behind me to take out my own concealed weapon, he grabs my hand, guiding it away from my back. Then he laces his fingers with mine to cover up what he just did.
I know it's smart to keep one of our guns. But it would have been a relief to hand it over.
"Then why didn't Four keep his gun then." Andrew asks.
Tris answers "Out of the two of us it is infinitely more likely for him to have a gun."
"My name is Johanna Reyes," she says, extending her hand to me, and then Tobias. A Dauntless greeting. I am impressed by her awareness of the customs of other factions. I always forget how considerate the Amity are until I see it for myself.
"This is T—" Marcus starts, but Tobias interrupts him.
"My name is Four," he says. "This is Tris, Caleb, and Peter."
A few days ago, "Tobias" was a name only I knew, among the Dauntless; it was the piece of himself that he gave me. Outside Dauntless headquarters, I remember why he hid that name from the world. It binds him to Marcus.
"You are the only one allowed to use it." I whisper as she smiles a small smile.
"Welcome to the Amity compound." Johanna's eyes fix on my face, and she smiles crookedly. "Let us take care of you."
"Page break"
We do let them. An Amity nurse gives me a salve—developed by Erudite to speed healing—to put on my shoulder, and then escorts Peter to the hospital ward to mend his arm. Johanna takes us to the cafeteria, where we find some of the Abnegation who were in the safe house with Caleb and my father. Susan is there, and some of our old neighbors, and rows of wooden tables as long as the room itself. They greet us—especially Marcus—with held-in tears and suppressed smiles.
I cling to Tobias's arm. I sag under the weight of the members of my parents' faction, their lives, their tears.
One of the Abnegation puts a cup of steaming liquid under my nose and says, "Drink this. It will help you sleep as it helped some of the others sleep. No dreams."
The liquid is pink-red, like strawberries. I grab the cup and drink it fast. For a few seconds the heat from the liquid makes me feel like I am full of something again. And as I drain the last drops from the cup, I feel myself relaxing. Someone leads me down the hallway, to a room with a bed in it. That is all.
"End of chapter"