Sorry my last chapter was really short. It's just I had nothing to say, really. So, I hope you liked it. Was it exciting? I don't know! So as I write this, (once again) I don't have a plan. I have a plan for some of the story but don't know when what's gonna happen.
Long Chapter!
Chapter theme song: Warriors by Imagine Dragons & The Words by Christina Perri
"I see it!" George said excitedly.
"That's it! The Lion headquarters!" Carly exclaimed.
"Shut up. You guys will not be coming, remember? All we need from you guys is where they store their laundry." Sam said.
"It's at the back. It's a really smelly place. This one time, I was dared to go roll around in it. It was so gross. But you've got to be careful. Sometimes, people are inside cleaning. There are lots of piles of clothes, though, so you can hide behind those." Carly smiled.
"Got it." I said.
"Oh and stay away from silver tissue boxes. Those are actually security cameras. I don't think they have any in the laundry room, though. The door to the laundry room is around that corner." George said pointing. "Don't go through the door that says Hygiene. That's a trick. Go through the door that says 8 2 14 5. Those are the numbers of the letters that spell Hygiene. Make sure it is in that exact order because they have doors that are fake that have the numbers jumbled up. Good luck."
"Okay. Enough blabbing." Mikayla said impatiently.
"Repeat the numbers 2 14 5." George said. We repeated the numbers until we knew them by heart. It took a while to find the door. Surprisingly, no one was around the door. We turned the doorknob. The door swung open. Inside were piles and piles of yellow clothes.
In case you didn't know, I edited Chapter 1 to say what colours the factions wear. Lion wears yellow for courage. Sharp wears white because it is an empty canvas (opportunity). Factionless wear black because they are nothing.
The yellow sort of hurt my eyes.
"Wow. I've never been here, before." Jake said.
"I thought you've been on plenty of missions." I said.
"I have but I never actually entered from the laundry room." Jake replied.
"Enough chit chat. Everyone go behind a pile and change into something." Mikayla said.
"Yeah. We want to get the information, ri-" Winston began.
"Don't." Mikayla said. It's times like these that I realize Winston is practically controlled by Mikayla. When everyone was changed, Sam repeated the instructions. Jake, Sam and I were supposed to go hunting for the information. We set out greeting people who walk past us with a wave like actual Lions do. A few raised their eyebrows at us suspiciously.
"Look." Sam said. In front of us was a giant pit. There was an arrow shaped sign pointing to the right that said The Chasm. We went in the direction the arrow was pointing to. There was the noise of splashing water. It was a river of some sort.
"This way." Jake said. Everyone was too in awe to speak. Someone was coming towards us. He seemed distracted by something that he didn't notice until it was too late. He bumped into Winston. Winston's screams echoed as he fell in to the roaring water.
"No!" Mikayla whispered a gasp. I felt a few tears come to my eye. Life is so precious. It can be grabbed from you just like that. Those few tears quickly became sobs. Mikayla was just silent.
"I can't believe what I just did." The man said. "I want to throw myself off. I can't live knowing I killed someone. But committing suicide is not selfless. I can't do this anymore. I'm so sorry. How can I ever repay you?"
"You killed my best friend." Mikayla said holding back a sob. "You killed my best friend. And you think you can say 'I'm sorry' and everything's good? I don't think so. Throw yourself."
Jake gave Mikayla in that 'bad move' look. She ignored it.
"You heard me. Throw yourself. It won't be selfish. You'll be helping me feel better." Mikayla whispered in his ear.
"Don't. I understand it was an accident. I'll always miss him but you didn't notice until it was too late." I said through tears.
"We need to get a move on, guys." Sam said. He was either ignoring the fact Winston died or was trying to hide his feelings.
"Yes. You're absolutely right." I said my voice cracking. We were well away from where Winston fell when we heard another scream. The man had killed himself.
"I didn't let him finish his last words." Mikayla whispered. I patted her on the back.
"We need to focus on our main goal." Sam said.
Page Break
"There it is. The room. Watch and learn, guys." Sam said straightening up. He approached the lady behind the desk. "Hello. Is Edgar here?"
"Edgar… yes I believe he is. Would you like me to get him for you?" She asked.
"Yes that would be great." He said. The woman went inside the room behind her desk. "Only you come with me." He pointed to me.
"Edgar gives you permission to enter." The lady said coming out of the room. Sam and I went inside. The room smelt like old and dusty papers. There was a computer on a desk. There sat an old man. He was smoking a cigar. If you see someone in their 90's, make them younger because I see the guy from the "I don't always" meme.
"You were sent here?" He said. He sounded like he was a heavy smoker.
"Yes. By the-"Sam began.
"Not here." The man (who I assume is Edgar) suddenly lowered his voice. "What are you looking for?"
"Where the government is watching and how." Sam said.
"The government? Kids, let me tell you a story. A hundred years ago, we were freed from factions. We were put in to them as an experiment. You see, some of us were genetically damaged; others were genetically pure, or Divergent. They wanted to test how genetically damaged would act. Then our heroes, Tobias Eaton and Tris Prior freed us. Poor Tris died before she could see our new city. Omg then who did Tobias get with? Dun dun duuuun! Drum roll please… Christina! You see, Christina would comfort him so eventually, they got married. Eventually, genetically damaged were no more because we were all Divergent. The government of those times got so angry that everyone was equal, that they kept only the government genetically pure and would alter people to be genetically damaged. Eventually, everyone who acted a certain way started to fight with the people who act a different way. So, the factions were reintroduced. People 'loved' them so much, they decided it was illegal to leave the city. Of course, those feelings were influenced. Every now and then, a genetically damaged family's DNA code starts to go back to normal which is why you can only have 1 child; to slow down the process. What they used to make people genetically damaged isn't as strong as what they used in the past. The information on how to alter people was completely destroyed when the city was freed. " What a chatterbox.
I was too shocked. This city has experienced so much injustice. I want to be like that Tris and Tobias.
"Unbelievable." Sam whispered.
"Let me fully introduce myself. I am Edgar Eaton. I believe you met my cousin, Richard?" He smiled. I nodded. "I'm sorry but you won't find the information you want here. However, I may have some information that would interest you. They've been keeping track of the population in all the factions, even the factionless. You can find out who your parents were. I just need the numbers you were called."
"7498." I said. He pulled up something on his computer.
"Come." He said. I stared at the screen. He started to read it out loud.
"7498, born 2283 (Age 16), Divergent, being watched
Parents: 5482/Ruby Wright (Lion, No faction), Unknown
Faction chosen: None"
My jaw dropped. I'm Divergent. I'm being watched. But that wasn't the information that shocked me the most. My mother is Ruby. My name is Free Wright. I went over what I just learned in my head. Sam looked just as shocked as I did when we read my file.
"Free, remember when they took a sample of our blood last year? That must be how they find out if we're Divergent or not." Sam said. Everything made sense. What's wrong with being a good society and being equal?
"Found it." Edgar said.
"7500, born 2283 (Age 16), Divergent, being watched
Parents: 5714/Wanda, (Sharp, Executed), 5732/Kyle (Sharp, Executed)
Siblings: (Twin sister, Executed)
Faction chosen: None"
Sam was just silent. So it's true. They kill the family if they have more than 1 child.
"Thank you for your help. Could you please print a copy of our files for us?" I asked. Edgar nodded.
"There they are! The intruders!" Someone pointed at us when we stepped out of Edgar's office. Mikayla and Jake were pinned down by someone.
"No! They are children here to take a tour of the Lion headquarters to see if they should choose Lion on choosing day!" Edgar said from behind us.
"How come they're wearing yellow?" A woman asked.
"They wanted to fit in and not stand out from the crowd." Edgar said. The people let go of Mikayla and Jake. The crowd quickly disappeared.
"Leave." Edgar said.
We went back to the laundry room and snuck out completely unnoticed.