TOBIAS POV

Some part of my mind is here, on this train, but a predominant part is yearning to turn back.

The more clicks I hear signals that we have moved farther from where I want to be. Sighing, I watch the city pass, expecting to see fights broken out on the streets that are not there. At least, not yet.

I loathe the way we left things, the way I left things, as if I haven't learned my lesson. Tris is obstinate; she stands her ground no matter what, and sometimes I love her for it. But we cannot afford to leave on a hostile note in times like these, when there is no certainty that either of us will return safely.

I do not believe that anything will happen to Zeke and I today. We are taking the Dauntless-run train in broad daylight—though I suppose that does not mean much anymore. If this was not worth it then I would not risk it, but there is too much at stake to not try.

"Four?"

Zeke snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I say.

"We're here."

I nod and turn to face the doorway. He smacks his palm on the button that makes the doors slide open, revealing the rows of gray buildings and dull neighborhoods that made up my childhood.

As soon as a patch of dead grass appears, the train decelerates, allowing us a chance to jump. He goes first, and I follow right after. For the first time in a while, a pang shoots up through the back of my leg at the impact. I stumble almost unnoticeably.

"You good?" Zeke asks.

"Yes," I confirm, clicking the safety off of the gun tucked away in my waistband. "Let's just get this over with."

It is quite disconcerting that the factionless have not yet overrun Abnegation. I expect to run into them at each corner we turn, but there are only the occasional women going about their chores or children chasing each other despite the fact that they might be frostbitten. Even more frightening, they seem oblivious to the fact that Zeke and I carry semi-automatic rifles on our backs. Abnegation's trust in man's goodwill is borderline stupid.

"Every time I come here, I get a bad feeling," he comments. "And I have only been here twice."

I agree. For me, this place holds memories of being invisible and my mother's pleas and sobs and nights of clutching onto anything within my reach as my father's belt came down on my back. Naturally, I have a sinking feeling each time I return, but I didn't know it was something that others felt.

"Tell me about it," I say.

Abnegation headquarters was always a large building to me, with my sheltered experience. Now, as an adult, I note just how cramped and short it looks from the outside as we approach. I can't imagine it is much better inside; I confirm that when we walk in.

Several government officials are gathered in the main discussion space, neatly sitting on each bench. A council member at the podium leads them, and his placid face is vaguely memorable, but like the rest of the faction, I can't place his name.

"Gentlemen, this is an Abnegation leaders' meeting," he says calmly. "I must politely ask you to leave."

Oddly enough, as soon as he talks, I notice Marcus himself sitting in the front corner of the room. Anger flares up inside of me when I recall the things he said to Tris about her parents. I point him out.

"Then why is he here?" I retort.

I receive a menacing glare from my father that is only apparent in his eyes, and I laugh in my own head. The councilman at the podium passively explains, "Mr. Eaton was a council member for a long time. We often rely on his expertise."

"Well that's great, but we're not here to talk about that," I state impatiently. "We're here to warn you."

Everyone in the room eyes our weapons in fear. It occurs to me that these men have nothing to defend themselves or their families with. If Zeke and I had a desire to take over the government by ourselves right now, we could.

They need protection.

"Look, Mr..." He must recognize me; most of the city does. Either he is unsure of which name to use or is being very careful not to agitate me. I suppose that is all he can do to protect himself in his situation.

"Four."

"Four," the lead councilman says. "We appreciate your concern, but I can assure you that nobody in this city poses a threat to us."

"Including the factionless?" Zeke chimes in.

"Abnegation and the factionless have always been on good terms with each other. They have no reason to harm us in any way."

I cross my arms. "You are going to be the last thing in their way from taking over the city very soon," I state. "They are conquering each faction one at a time, and they are going to come and take away your government positions before you can blink."

Something in Marcus's face twitches. He must agree, though it is because he recognizes that with factionless control, he will never have authority again. Evelyn would not allow it.

"You need to ask the Dauntless leaders for soldiers."

Every council member seems uncomfortable with the idea. Mutters circulate the room, and the councilman at the podium voices their unanimous opinion. "We do not need to burden the Dauntless with—"

"That's not what this is about," Marcus interrupts sharply. "We are not going to go crawling to the Dauntless for aid. Quite frankly, the idea is pathetic."

The word pathetic snaps through me, a reminder of when he used to aim it at me. I narrow my eyes, finally understanding his reasoning. He wants security from the Dauntless, but he is unwilling to go to them; he wants them to see a need and help regardless, which is why he tried to convince Tris and I to step in.

He is so prideful that he would rather be slaughtered than ask for help.

Shaking my head, I say, "They have guns, and you don't. They are going to march right in here and take you over, and you will not be able to stop it. If you don't approach the Dauntless, then you might as well invite the factionless here now and let them finish their tyrannical pursuit."

The faces around the room are as dull as the color of the walls, the color they wear. By their submissive expressions, I can tell that they have already yielded.

"We will take this into consideration," the middle-aged man at the front of the room says. "But it is likely that we will not bother the Dauntless with our possible complications."

Disappointment and frustration blur together as I clench my jaw at the scene before me. Before I came to Abnegation today, I vowed that I would not let this happen again. The last time I tried to warn my father about the Erudite's overthrow through the use of Dauntless, he believed that the information was fraudulent and refused to do anything. I was supposed to ensure that the Council would do something to obstruct another massacre, but as it turns out, I am wasting my time.

If there really is going to be a war, I was hoping that a preventative measure such as this would save innocent lives. They are not even going to entertain the idea.

"I have never seen a group so opposed to defending the people they care about," I scoff. "That is as selfish as you can get."

And I walk out of Abnegation headquarters with Zeke trailing, counting on my next stop to save the people that they will not fight for.

"You were right," Zeke remarks. "I thought the Abnegation at least cared about their own people. I guess they don't."

I watch the city pass as the train shifts further into the heart of it. The dilapidated buildings become more frequent as we near the factionless sector, the tracks dipping to ground level.

"They would rather remain ignorant and sweep things under the rug," I reply with a frown.

The vast majority of that faction knew something was not right in the Eaton house. They knew I only exited to go to school and would not join my father for dinners. They saw my bruised face and accepted my lame excuses of how I clumsily tripped and banged my head yet again. They would not dare speak against their leader even for the sake of a child; Abnegation has been corrupt for years, and their actions today should not surprise me. And I should not feel bad.

But there are people like Tris's parents that still exist in the faction, who are genuinely moral people even though they remain unknowledgeable about what is happening around them. Above all, there are children that are incapable of defending themselves. I cannot pretend that I don't care about the fate of my former faction.

Zeke takes a deep breath. "What are you going to say to Evelyn?"

I shrug, not knowing the clear answer to that myself. "I was hoping to convince her with some bullshit about being her son. She used it on me multiple times," I say as I turn to face him. "If that doesn't work, then I hope I can at least talk her out of murdering the entire city with her suicide gas."

He is quiet for a moment, scraping his boot against the metal floor of the train car.

"Think about how messed up you have to be..."

I sigh in agreement. The mother I knew when I was a child could not have committed such warped atrocities. The mother who took the occasional beating for me is now raging war with a serum that makes people kill themselves. I have no idea how I plan to bargain with someone as unpredictable and sadistic as her, but one fact is certain.

"We can't let this go on any farther than it has," I tell him.

"No, we ca—"

A heavy blast suddenly shakes the train, followed by a horrible screeching sound. There is no time to react; as soon as the floor vibrates underneath me, there is only a second in which I am able to catch a glimpse of the front of the train being projected off of the tracks by an explosion as we turn.

With nothing to hold onto, gravity slams me against a wall so forcefully that the wind is knocked out of me. The next uncoordinated roll comes. I am flung into one wall, and the next, a helpless body suspended in the air until the next blow comes.

My arm takes some damage as I reach out to prevent the next inevitable hard fall. My head hits something; it is painful enough to momentarily blind me. The disorientation causes me to give up the fight and let the train car toss me around wherever it shifts.

It is jarring when the movement stops, and I crash down next to a deformed piece of sharp metal that juts out, narrowly missing it. For a second all I can do is gasp out breaths and cough on smoke in between them.

There is an odd period of quiet where the contorted train car settles with creaks, and I try to recover with my body so rattled. Without daring to move my head, my eyes shift around, searching for any sign of immediate danger.

Fire crawls across the rubble, but it doesn't seem like there is anything flammable in its path for it to be a concern right now. Besides, finding Zeke is a much bigger priority.

"Zeke, where—" I groan, rolling onto my back to find him. Everything aches furiously on the inside.

Crawling onto my knees, I flinch when a split wire sparks across the car, emitting bursts of electricity. My arms are still trembling from adrenaline and barely keep me upright. It does not help that my ears are ringing and I can't figure out which way is up or down.

"Zeke!" I call again.

"Over...here," he says, his voice muffled.

Figuring that he must be to my left, I move in that direction. I find him near an upside-down doorway looking about as battered as me.

"We need to move," I urge him breathlessly.

Pushing myself onto my feet is a bad idea. The blood rushes to my head in a whirlwind of dizziness, and I stumble outside the door onto the cement. With a frustrated grunt, I sit up and reach back into the car. Zeke takes my hand before I yank him out of the mutilated train.

"You okay?" I ask.

He collapses next to me with a nod, heaving out a cough. My hands shake as I reach into my waistband and remove my pistol; my rifle got lost somewhere during the crash.

"What...the hell..." my friend mumbles.

"I don't know."

It must have been the factionless. That is the only logical explanation, that they planted some sort of explosive to trigger when the next Dauntless-owned train came through their sector. We were very unlucky to be here at this time.

I skeptically watch the area around us in case anyone comes to finish us off. Somehow Zeke's backpack landed in the doorway too, and I pull it out to remove the gas masks we brought along with us.

"Put this on," I order, tossing it to him. I strap mine on right after.

Finally, he is able to sit up. A loud groan sounds, and we watch as part of the front train car collapses in. This is not a safe area.

But nowhere is.

It dawns on me that this is never going to stop. This coordinated attack will be one of many, including the one that already murdered our leaders. Evelyn will drill her influence into every faction until they abide by her, through the use of her guns, her suicide gas, and now—apparently—explosives.

I was senseless to believe that I could somehow prevent this war. She will get her message across no matter what. My hands are tied, and Tris was right.

"Now what?" Zeke rasps.

There are two options. We can return to the hotel, gather everybody, and wait for our time to bolt for Dauntless. We can hope and pray that Tori and the other leaders will make the right choices, and we can remain isolated from this fight.

But what kind of life is that? Constantly cowering indoors, pretending that the city is not falling apart around us. It sounded ideal when Tris and I discussed it, yet it is unrealistic. We are supposed to remain oblivious to the fact that train tracks are being blown up, that our faction members are being shot at for stepping outside?

I am not the kind of person to ignore the awful truths. I am not the kind of person to sit back and let my faction be demolished, either.

And I come to the realization that this incident has left me in a favorable position. This train crash easily could have killed me, and it would certainly be an acceptable explanation to everyone. I could disappear right into the heart of the enemy that keeps their faces covered with no questions asked. I could destroy the place where they make the suicide serum. I could unravel them from the inside...

This second option is certainly a one-time opportunity. But it involves leaving behind the one thing that matters most to me, and breaking her in the process.

Is protecting her worth letting her believe such a woeful lie? Can there even be a better future for us if I do this?

I can't believe I am about to do this to her.

I close my eyes and swallow hard. The decision is made before I contemplate further, and a heavy feeling stabilizes my unsteady body. I think of how horrified she will be, how her blue eyes will dim and fill to the brim with tears; I think of how many people will be coerced to murder themselves if I don't act.

Torn between being selfish and being the solution, I choose the option that is somewhere in between. Where I can wage war in an effort to stop them from advancing to the people I care about.

"Four?"

I'm so sorry, Tris.

"Zeke," I say, handing my gun over to him. "I need you to do something for me."

End of Part 2

And that's a wrap for the second book! The next book is called Pyre, and it will be up soon!

Thank you so much for following along and commenting and liking (even when you thought Tobias died haha)! Stay tuned for Pyre, I'm excited for you guys to read it!