PETER
THE HALLWAYS ARE dim—the explosion shattered all the lights. I trip on my shoelace.
"Peter, stop being an idiot and save your friends."
Great, now I'm talking to myself.
I don't know where Four is, but there is a large empty spot in the dust where a body used to lay. I don't know which direction to head in, so I start with the collapsed wall. I step over the rubble and find the nearest door. The handle has been shattered, probably beat with the butt of a gun.
I push the door open and sunlight streams in. Tire tracks curve through the dirt outside the Dauntless compound, one set leading to the building and another leading away.
Wherever Four is, I can't help him now.
Shouting comes from further down the hallway. I can hear Christina yelling something. The pounding footsteps grow louder and five or six people round the corner, pulling up short.
"What the hell happened?" shouts Christina.
"I can only assume the men from the church. They blew up the wall." I pause. "And they took Four."
"Those filthy, low-life, nothings—" she rushes at the door, more than ready to chase after the van on foot, waving her arms in front of her like she needs to hit something.
I grab her shoulders and swing her around, wrapping my arm across her body. She struggles against me, yelling obscenities. She's strong, but I'm stronger.
"Christina, there's nothing you can do to help him. We don't even know where they took him, or who for that matter."
She tries to bite my hand.
"Christina, listen! You're just going to waste precious time. It's more important to get some weapons, or at least a car, before we go chasing down these mystery kidnappers."
"Peter's right," says Justin behind me. "We need to keep our heads clear if we're going to find him."
She stops fighting and I release her. She falls to her knees in the dirt. Justin walks over and places his hand on her shoulder. They sit like that for a while before I clear my throat to get their attention.
She rises and we all head inside, back to the dormitories. The three of us stand at the front of a room, filled with worried fringe transfers, policemen and other ex-Dauntless members, gathered here with the same questions. My gaze travels over the faces, some of them familiar. There's Amar, George, and Shauna. I see some newer faces as well, like Annie, Carmen, Arian and Tenley, who all came from the fringe.
Christina raises her hand for silence and the dull roar weakens to a few whispers.
"Only a few minutes ago, somebody decided to blow up the wall outside the Pit. We don't know why they came, but we think it was because they wanted to capture Tobias. And they succeeded."
The talking erupts again, some people angry, others fearful.
"Quiet! To efficiently address this event, we need to send out a search party. People who are good with guns and aren't afraid of what we might find."
Amar is the first to speak up.
"I'll go," he says. "Tobias is a good friend of mine. If we can't find him, I want to make sure that I've tried everything in my power."
"Us, too," says a younger boy, about seventeen. The tall guy next to him nods. I don't recognize either one, but George looks at them with approval, so I assume they're policemen.
"I'll go," I say.
If we find Tobias, I need to warn him about what I overheard. He's the only one I trust with the information. Christina's hostility keeps me from confiding in her and I don't know anyone else too well, even though I've been around them for a few years. And as nice as the fringe transfers are, I don't know their whole story or who they're loyal to.
"Great, and I'll be going, too," she concludes. "Everyone keep an eye out for suspicious behavior and let us know if you find something that could help. This meeting is dismissed."
She walks down the middle of the room to the two boys who I don't know. Amar joins them. Christina is in the middle of giving instructions when I walk up.
"—tomorrow at ten. Bring a gun and be prepared. I'll have a car ready so we'll follow the tracks as far as we can and then hope for the best. We don't know where or why they took Tobias, but we're going to find out." Christina leaves it at that, and joins a group with Justin, Tenley and Carmen.
"This is Oliver and Eli," says Amar, gesturing to the two boys in turn. Oliver has light brown hair with a blonde glint to it, almost slightly golden. The light reflects off of it whenever he turns his head. His eyes are brown and his face is dappled with freckles. Eli is the opposite. He's tall and broad, unlike Oliver's small body, with black hair. It spikes in the front and he's got a tattoo of a tiger over his left bicep. He must have been Dauntless before.
"Where are you guys from?" I ask.
Eli speaks first. "I came from Dauntless and didn't want to give up the life, so I joined up with the police force."
He seems almost hungry at the idea of holding a gun and I take a small step away, hoping he doesn't notice.
"I was in the factions, too," says Oliver. "But I came from Amity." That explains the freckles. "We were both born into Dauntless, but I transferred out because I had a feeling that nothing good could come of it. And it turns out I was right."
I can see a small sun tattooed on his ankle. It's like he was forced to be a part of the customs while he was here, but he rebelled in his own little way by putting a sun, a recognized symbol of Amity, on his body instead of flames or Dauntless-like tattoos.
Eli scowls at Oliver, disapproval pushing his eyebrows together.
"Maybe, but you could have been helping save the factions, brother, instead of peacefully watching from the outside, driven by nothing to help."
"I stood with the faction of my choosing. What about all the times you enforced the belief "faction before blood"? If you had transferred from Amity to Dauntless, would you not have stuck by their side? Think, Elijah. It's where I truly belonged."
"If you felt so comfortable among Amity, then why did you join the police?" I ask.
Oliver turns to me. "There were so few who volunteered in the beginning, I felt it was my responsibility, given that I already knew how to handle a weapon. But I will soon return to the farmlands since our numbers have grown, and I am no longer needed."
His eyes don't have the same shine as they did a few minutes ago, though, like he's upset at the idea of having to leave a place where he's made friends and has family.
"Well, I'd better go and get ready for tomorrow. See you guys then." He walks out of the room and Eli follows him.
Amar watches them until they disappear from sight, and then heaves a sigh.
"It's really too bad that he feels so strongly about leaving," he says. "Oliver is one of our best members: he's quick, calm-headed, and not to mention has nearly perfect aim."
I find it hard to believe that Oliver is as amazing as Amar makes him out to be, until I remember Tris and how she used her small body to her advantage. The memories are fuzzy, though, more like I've heard them then actually experienced them, and the effort makes me dizzy.
"Hey, Peter," says a high-pitched voice behind me.
It's Carmen. Her red hair curls in front of her eyes and over her pointed nose. Freckles adorn her face, just like Oliver, and her smile is unbelievably optimistic. She giggles for no apparent reason. Her sister, Tenley, whispers something in her ear. Both of them laugh.
"Hello, Carmen. Tenley."
They look at Amar. "Hi, what's your name?" Tenley asks. Her blue eyes are curious.
"Amar," he answers. "Are you guys from the fringe?"
"Yeah. We were members of the church and we performed on weekend nights," Tenley says.
"We were actors, singers and dancers," clarifies Carmen. "For as long as I can remember, Joseph let us practice in the church and when we became old enough, we performed plays and songs to help raise money. Eventually Joseph insisted that he didn't need the money to help the church, he just needed the beautiful life and hope that our music brought to the faces of its members."
"Joseph was like a grandfather to us…" Tenley says.
"I'm sorry," says Amar, "I hope you can find a life here as satisfying as the one you had."
"Oh, we didn't exactly enjoy our life…conditions were harsh, meeting somebody kind was a chance in a million. The few who actually came to the church were the ones we trusted and loved," recounts Carmen.
The sisters are quiet for a moment. Tenley garbs Carmen's hand and they sit for a while, buried deep in their memories. When Tenley speaks again, it's barely a whisper.
"Do you know why we performed at the church?"
I already know, but Amar shakes his head.
"Because people didn't really have anything to live for, especially those who were Joseph's age, and we wanted to give them something. So we gave them art; a little piece of what we knew to keep people on their feet until the next weekend when they would hear music again."
Carmen looks likes she is about to break down, so Tenley nods to Amar and I before leading her from the room and back to their dormitories. It's wonderful, what they did for the people back at the fringe.
Tenley was right: many of them feel like there is nothing to live for, that their lives are over. The sisters are both young. Tenley's long brown hair and bangs only emphasize her age, where her wide smile and sparkling eyes do not. Carmen is only seventeen, just a few years younger than Tenley.
Maybe the addition of these selfless transfers will help this city and all the ruthless people I know are hiding within it.