As the days grind on, we quickly realize how lucky we were to find three eligible Divergent on our very first day. We only find one more, the entire rest of the week. One. Not only that, but it turns out we didn't even have to look to find him: he's Inez's younger brother.
"You could have just told me," I grump at Inez, as we walk to the Merciless Mart, "instead of pretending to hunt all week with no new leads."
Inez just laughs at me. "And miss this? it ain't easy to get a rise out of you, Toby."
"Why, exactly, is that so important to you?" I say, exasperated. Admittedly, I am also kind of amused. It's been a frustrating week, not finding anyone, and I've come to appreciate Inez's emotional self-sufficiency and oblique approach to almost everything. She's easy to be around, especially on the days when Tris stays behind to work with Cara. I hate to admit it even more, but I even kind of like her hazing. Inez is a serious person, but she doesn't take herself too seriously.
"Man, I have so little to look forward to, you know?"
"Yeah, I do," I say quietly. She looks at me, the laughter gone now, and nods briskly.
"Well. Let's go get Jose. He's a good kid."
"What if he doesn't want to join us?" I ask, as we head up to the dining hall.
"He does," she answers.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Well, you know Toby, there was only one way to be sure about people."
"Yeah?" I say impatiently, knowing Inez is batting me around like a cat toy.
"You have to talk to them. You know, out loud. I went to see him a couple of days ago when you were moping around, waiting for your girlfriend. He's in."
"You're really irritating, you know that, right?"
"Only to someone who's really irritable."
I roll my eyes and just stop talking. Inez pumps her fist in the air and gives me a smug half smile.
"I win," she says. "There he is," she adds, before I can respond.
The dining hall is crowded, and the sound of all of those loud people who feel compelled to express their opinions all the time gives me an instant headache. Only one more Divergent, and it had to be a Candor.
When we get to Jose's table, though, I see right away that he's not your typical Candor. For starters, he isn't talking. He rises from his seat, short and slight, and looks me in the eye when Inez introduces me.
"Good to meet you," I say. "Let's get going back to Dauntless, okay? Do you have anything you need to bring with you?"
Jose gives me a familiar lopsided smile. "Yeah," he says, "but not things - people. I've been recruiting."
He turns and holds his hand out toward the six other people sitting at his table. "These folks are all Divergent, and they're ready to help."
I look at Jose skeptically. "What makes you think they're Divergent?"
"The blue dart didn't work on them. These are the people Erudite was going to execute." He points down the table at a woman with a long pony tail. "In fact, it was Cyd's little boy, Joe, who was shot in the head." She unflinchingly returns my gaze. "There are others, but these are the kind of people I think you're looking for."
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Inez has one of her rare full smiles.
"Okay, then, let's do some tests and see if you're right. Is it safe for us to do this here, or should we go back to Dauntless?"
"It's safe," Jose reassures me. "Most people here were very angry about the attack. They know you saved us." Now that he mentions it, I realize that a lot of people in the dining room have been turning to watch us.
"I certainly didn't get that impression from Jack Kang at the time. He was ready to turn us over."
"There's a reason Jack is not our leader anymore," a deep female voice booms behind me. It's Rowena, the new Candor chief. I nod at her warily.
"You'll get everything you need from Candor, Tobias," Rowena adds. "Even from my own family." She pats the girl she has with her on the shoulders. "This is my niece, Elsa. She's probably a little young for your purposes, but she's smart and she's a hard worker." I look at the girl, who can't be more than 13, and try to look grateful.
"That's very thoughtful, Rowena..." I begin.
"And we can use her help," Inez cuts in. I frown at her, but she ignores me and smiles at the girl, who steps up close to my face.
"Tris saved my life," she says fiercely. "I want to help her now."
I nod slowly and try not to back away from her. "Okay..."
"Elsa," she supplies.
"Right. Elsa. Well, let's just test you and then we'll get going."
