I wonder how long I have been away for, I slept through most of it. I must've been in Amity for four or five days, I'm not sure.
As soon as we step through the entrance of Dauntless, I can feel my smile widen. It's good to be home. Although, all I want to do is lie in my apartment- next to Tobias, I know I have to find Christina first. It is lunch time, she will probably be in the dining hall.
When I walk in, I spot Christina, sharing a table with Lauren, Zeke, Shauna, Zoe and her boyfriend. None of them notice me and Tobias though, so I decide to surprise them. I sneak up behind them, as quiet as I can with my crutches. Still nobody notices me. I decide that Christina should be the victim. I move right next to her ear.
"Boo!" I scream.
She shrieks loudly, which makes everyone turn round and laugh. She turns towards me, obviously furious. Her scowl is replaced with a huge grin when she realises it's me.
"Tris!" She exclaims. She jumps out of her seat and give me a bone-crushing hug. Over Christina's shoulder, I can see that my friends are hysterical, they try to say some sort of greeting to me but it just gets interrupted by giggles. In the end they settle for feeble wave. I smile back; I'm pleased to see them again.
Christina is starting to get aggravated at our friends, they are still laughing at her. She throws bread at them until they stop mocking her. They settle down in the next minute and keep quiet.
She turns to me and asks, "Where have you been?"
"You weren't told?" I ask.
"Nope. There is a rumour that you have been in hospital." Christina says.
"Yeah, it's true. After search and Destroy, we went to Amity. We were only going to stay the night, but I got injured and to be hospitalized for a bit."
"What happened to your leg?" She glances at the crutches.
"I was being stupid and I cut it open." I say vaguely.
"Yeah, but how?" Says Zoe impatiently.
I take a deep breath and explain the story.
"We were climbing a tree, I was climbing fast; Four was a few branches below. There was a small house at the top- wooden with vines wrapped around the frame. When I got to the top, there wasn't any branches strong enough to support my weight. Instead there was these wooden blocks, which were nailed down, leading up to the entrance of the tree. I started climbing them, but they were soaking wet. I managed to climb about ten blocks. I moved to the next one, but it was too wet and I couldn't grip onto it. I feel off the tree, thinking I was going to die. Somehow, Tobias caught me. Unfortunately, my leg hit the branch. Split it open. Four got hurt too, when he caught me, his arms were really bad and-"
I'm interrupted by Zeke, "So how did you manage to get the hospital?"
"Four shouted for help, but nobody was could hear us. Then I passed out, so ask him."
We all look at Tobias, he's surprised that he has to talk, maybe even nervous. He hides it well but I can tell he is tense and scratches his neck. Even so, he talks with a voice that demands attention, one of the few things he learnt from Marcus.
He carries on the story. "I picked her up and climbed down the tree, which was difficult- even for a Dauntless. I almost fell myself."
I never realised how hard it was to carry me down the tree. It must have been terrifying, my unconscious body barely balancing on the branch. He risked his life, so many times for me. I feel like I owe him something, but I can't think of anything that will repay the debt.
"Anyway, she's bleeding a lot by the time I get to the bottom of the tree. I sprint to the hospital, which inconveniently is on the other side of Amity. I think I passed out too. The last thing I remembered was them taking Tris away from me. So I must've made it to the hospital. Then I woke up in my hospital bed."
"You seriously carried her all the way to the hospital?!" Zeke shrieks.
We both nod, "Impressive."
"You could've died," Christina says.
"Yeah I know, but luckily we didn't," I say
Christina gives me another hug.
We talk for a bit-but I'm not really listening. Zoe and that boy have made friends with the group. I haven't really spoke to either of them before, so I try to make conversation.
"Hey Zoe, who's this?" I ask.
"I'm Tom," he says. His blonde hair falls naturally on his pale face. He is looks about as strong as Zeke.
"So, where did you meet?" I question.
"In school, we were in the same group, so we went to all the factions together. We all got invited to his party, the day before our aptitude test. We played paintball, girls vs boys. There was Thomas and another boy called George playing against me. He let my team win by shouting where George was, I shot them both straight away."
"That's very selfless of you. I hope you get to stay here." I say genuinely.
If they get cut, they get sent to another faction or go to the Bureau or go to another experiment. It is believed if you fail, you don't belong in this faction and should move to a place where you can fit in better.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we stay?" Tom asks.
I get out of my seat and go to Christina. How couldn't she have told them that? They must've been ranked by now. Maybe they have changed the rules. But even I doubt that, some people have to leave and it makes you more determined to be a true Dauntless.
I tap Christina on the shoulder, "I need to speak to you."
"Okay. One minute." She says.
"Now!" I shout at her.