I need to see you. Midnight. Please take care of the cameras.
Also, it's in your best interest if something happened to the truth serum supply of Dauntless.
At breakfast, Alex slipped the little note she had written to Jack's mole. She tried to make the message sound as cryptic as possible to make sure that Jack's interest was piqued and that he appeared on time.
Her interaction with Eric had kept her up all night. She had always dismissed the dispute between the two of them as a foolish rivalry, but Eric's reaction wouldn't let her go. She had the feeling that she was caught between the fronts of something much bigger. She had to know what had really happened between them. For that, it was worth taking the risk and sneaking out of Dauntless at night.
Eric didn't show up to practice today, which wasn't necessarily unusual but still made her nervous.
"Are you okay?" Kylie asked as they practised new fighting techniques with each other while Lucas stood on the side and tried to observe sources of error.
"Just tired. I feel like my whole day is taken up by practice and detention", Alex answered with a tired smile.
"Yeah, I get that. We haven't really seen you outside of the practice room for a few weeks now. I almost miss you", Kylie winked.
"Almost?" Alex gasped. "I thought you were my friend. You should be devasted by now."
"I could accuse you of the same thing!"
Alex smiled. At least the three of them got to spend some time together during practice today.
"How's your project of annoying Eric out of detention going?" Lucas asked from the sideline.
"Since I still have to go every day – not great," snorted Alex. "He usually just escorts me to the archive room and then comes back an hour later to tell me my detention is over."
Alex smiled. "What he doesn't know though is that I finished last time I was there. I think I'll just relax a few more days before telling him."
"Ohh, so we could come and visit you there! An hour of us time and maybe afterwards we can finally get into one of the bars! We don't have practice tomorrow, so the curfew doesn't stand in our way." Kylie was jumping up and down in excitement.
Alex bit her lip.
"That – that sounds really nice but I'm not sure if I can go."
"What, why not?" Kylie stopped.
"Yeah, come on! You always say you're too tired after detention to go out but today you can just chill for an hour until Eric releases you from your duty."
For a moment Alex just blinked at them, unsure whether she should make up a lie or trust them with the truth. But she had lied so much lately.
She gestured for them to come closer and then whispered: „Okay, you obviously can't tell anyone, but I actually thought about sneaking out tonight. You know, to see someone."
„What? Who's that mysterious person I'm just hearing about for the first time? Your partner?" Kylie asked.
"Oh, no." Alex shook her head.
"Ex-partner?" Lucas asked.
"God no, we never dated."
"But?"
"But what?"
"You never dated but … you did other things?" Kylie finished Lucas' question with wiggling eyebrows.
Alex chuckled at the sight of their excitement.
"Let's leave it at I'm meeting someone."
"Okay, okay. Stay mysterious all you want, I'll get that out of you one day", Kylie whispered.
"One day", Alex repeated with a smile.
The day seemed to take forever. Although she spent most of it working on her plan to get in and out of the Dauntless building unseen. Fortunately, she had already done that before. Unfortunately, back then no one cared if she made a mistake and was seen by a guard.
She even went through her plan or at least parts of it with Kylie and Lucas as they visited her in the archive room that evening.
So, after Eric came to release her from her detention, she made her way back to the dorm where Lucas and Kylie already waited. Alex quickly changed into clothes that looked as if she joined her friends at a bar and together, they left the dorm again.
Alex carefully observed the cameras on their way until they finally stopped blinking.
"Alright, have fun!" Lucas said while Kylie playfully slapped her butt as a goodbye.
Then she ran through the now unmonitored corridors, stopping at every corner to listen for guards or other Dauntless members and finally reached the roof with the little elevation she used to calm down a few weeks ago. From there she made her way over the roofs and then climbed the side of a rarely used building. More importantly, she had placed a motorcycle near the entrance to said building. Well, with a little help from Jack.
She put on the helmet that she hid in a bush nearby, glad to cover her face before driving away. When she reached their meeting place, she parked the motorcycle and entered the building. Only when she entered the elevator did she take off the helmet. It was an abandoned skyscraper that the Factionless had taken over the maintenance. It was dirty and run down but at least the elevator still worked and a few apartments were kept clean. On the 18th floor, Alex got out and after a rhythmic knock, the door finally opened.