CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Tris

We huddle in an empty room off the hallway where Uriah and Eric fought. Jeanine, Caleb, and Eric are all conscious now, zip tied to chairs; we can't have them escaping. Uriah lays unconscious, but still breathing, on the floor.

"He needs to get to the hospital," Marlene says firmly. She's right, he definitely does. We've managed to slow the bleeding considerably, but he can't wait all day to receive medical attention, and he can't walk. It appears that Uriah also was hit in the head several times, and he hasn't come to yet.

But I don't trust the Erudite. I shake my head. "No. He can't go to the hospital here. We can't trust the Erudite until this mess gets sorted out. We need to get him back to Dauntless. But we also need to get those three" -I point at Jeanine, Eric and Caleb- "to Candor as soon as possible, and arrest warrants for Max and the other leaders. They need to start truth serum trials as soon as possible to bring down everyone involved in this."

Edward nods. "Candor is close, easy walk, but these assholes might not be so easy. Especially Eric. I say we take the prisoners to Candor, and the girls drive Uriah back to Dauntless." I'm about to protest that there is a gaping hole in his plan- we don't have a car. But just as I open my mouth, Edward feels around Jeanine's jacket pocket and pulls out a shiny set of keys as she makes muffled noises in protest and glares. He tosses them to me. "Here you go. Take Jeanine's car, she won't be using it any more."

Edward describes the car and where I should expect to find it- it's handy having an Erudite with us- then goes to check that everything is clear. It will be harder to run with an unconscious Uriah and three prisoners, should someone find us.

While we wait, I wrap my arms around Tobias, and his automatically encircle my waist. He rests his forehead against mine, as he has so many times before. It's kind of our thing, and I love it. We have been through this too many times- separating, saying goodbye, knowing that it could be for the last time. Any number of things could go wrong for either party. But this is almost over, I remind myself. We just have to make it through a little more, and we can finally have some peace.

Tobias pulls away from me and takes my hand in his. I can feel Caleb's eyes burning into my back, but I don't turn to acknowledge his stare. I follow Tobias to a door near the back of the room and he tries the handle. It opens. "Zeke," he calls out, "knock on this door when Edward gets back." Zeke smirks and salutes with two fingers as Tobias pulls me along into the large storage room.

"Doesn't the small space bother you?" I ask once the door has closed.

He lifts one shoulder. "It's not that small, and I have you here to distract me." As he speaks, he moves closer to me, backing me against the wall. His lips capture mine in a passionate kiss and my hands go to his neck, my fingers twisting and tugging at the short curls at the nape of his neck. Tobias lifts me, his hands gripping under my thighs, and presses me against the wall. As the kiss deepens, my legs wrap tightly around his waist.

Tobias shifts one hand to hold me under my butt and the other roams up and back down my side. His lips leave a trail of heat down my neck and I moan in pleasure.

Then a knock comes at the door and we both groan in frustration. He rests his head against my neck. "I love you, Tris," he says, and I'm surprised to hear his voice tight with emotion. He looks up and we stare into each other's eyes.

"I love you," I whisper back.

"Be safe. Come back to me. Promise me, one more time." I feel his heart racing under my hand that rests on his chest.

"I will," I say. "I won't leave you this time. I promise. But you'd better promise to make it back to me, too."

He nods. "We'll always find each other," he whispers.

A knock comes harder to the door and we hear Zeke's voice. "Hurry up, lovebirds, it's time to move!"

After one sweet kiss, he sets me down and we file back into the room where the others wait, Tobias's arm protectively around my waist. Caleb glares at Tobias. I nudge him with my elbow and smirk. Tobias laughs slightly. "What, are you going to give me the 'you hurt my sister and I hurt you' talk, Caleb? I think hurting Tris is your specialty, not mine, but you couldn't hurt me if you tried. Now let's go."

We made it out of Erudite with so little trouble that it made me nervous- as if it was too easy. I don't stop to question it for long, though- Uriah has come to, sort of, but he is disoriented, pale, and in a lot of pain. We need to get him back to Dauntless quickly.

Zeke carries his brother most of the way while Marlene handles Caleb with me as back-up. When Zeke gets too tired- Uriah is not a small person by any means, and is actually taller than Zeke- Edward hauls him the rest of the way, passing custody of Jeanine off to Zeke in return. All three traitors have their hands bound and tape over their mouths to keep them quiet.

I run to the parking lot, counting on the darkness and shadows, as well as my black clothes, to conceal me. My eyes scan the lot and I see a few blue cars that look like what Edward described; I press the unlock button on the little remote attached to the keychain a few times, and one car's yellow parking lights flash twice. That's the one.

I've never driven a car before, and neither has Marlene. I'm lucky that Jeanine backed into the space- I don't have to try and reverse when I've never even driven forward. I put the key into the ignition and turn one way, then the other. It takes a couple tries to get it, but eventually the engine begins to quietly purr. Edward told me that the left pedal is the brake and the right is the gas, so I hold down the brake as I carefully pull back the shifter until the 'D' lights up, just like Edward told me.

When I tap the gas pedal for the first time, the car lurches forward and I yelp as I slam my foot down on the brake. After a deep breath to calm my nerves, I press the gas again very, very gently, and this time it smoothly begins to accelerate.

By the time I have gone around the block and reached the spot where Marlene and Uriah wait behind a dumpster, I've got the hang of it well enough that I'm confident I won't kill the three of us before we can get Uriah medical care.

Once I have helped Marlene lift Uriah onto the backseat and she has positioned herself so that his head lies in her lap, I carefully head toward Dauntless. As I drive, I gain confidence and speed up a bit.

Just at the south end of the Factionless sector, about halfway to Dauntless, there's a bump, a loud popping noise, and the car begins to thud and shudder as it moves. I ease down on the brake pedal. "What's going on?" Marlene asks frantically. I shake my head, indicating that I don't know. She kisses Uriah on the forehead and we both climb out of the car.

"I don't see anything wrong," Marlene calls to me from the passenger side. I, however, do see what is wrong. The front driver's side tire is flat as a pancake, and the rear one is gradually losing air.

"Flat tire," I call back. "Well, maybe two flat tires." I groan as I open the trunk. There is one spare. I guess we just have to figure out how to change the really bad tire and hope that the other has a slow enough leak to get us back to Dauntless.

Marlene finds a manual for the car in the glove box, and we begin to follow the instructions for changing the tire, but it's kind of confusing and neither of us have done this before. We're having trouble even figuring out how to jack the car up off the bad wheels. "Oh!" I say, pointing at the diagram. "We're missing a piece of this. I'll be right back." I walk round to the trunk again to search for the lever.

Just as I reach for it, wedged under the carpet, a hand covers my mouth and a cloth covers my eyes. I scream into the hand. Not again, I think as I begin to panic. No no no, not again, this can't be happening again. My mind flashes back to that night at the Chasm. I smell Al's lemongrass and sage, I feel Peter's hand slide under my shirt, I hear the roar of white water rushing over rocks, and I see nothing but darkness.

I try to kick, I try to scream, I try. Tobias is nowhere near. He won't be able to save me this time. Who wants my life now? How did they find me?

I manage to kick the car hard just as I am carried away to hopefully get Marlene's attention, though I pray she isn't taken as well. However, I have a feeling that they just want me. They always want me, all of them. My promises to Tobias ring in my ears. I will play this smart, and I will make it out of here alive. I will make it back to him.

Marlene

I hear a thump against the car and I don't think too much of it since Tris is back there looking through the trunk, but it does put me a bit more on alert. Then I hear shuffling feet, a muffled sound like someone screaming through their teeth, and I stand. "Tris?" I call, but I don't see her anywhere.

Then I see it. A shadow disappearing around a corner. I run to the alleyway the figure disappeared into and catch a glimpse of Tris, blindfolded and struggling as she is carried away by four factionless men. My breathing quickens and I look back and forth between the place Tris and the men were just a moment ago, and the car that contains my seriously injured boyfriend. My hands go to my head, and I press the palms firmly against my skull as if holding it together, because I feel like that's exactly what I am doing.

I can't just let them take Tris- who knows what they'll do to her! But I can't leave Uriah, either. He could die, and soon. But then, I don't even know how I'm going to get Uriah back to Dauntless.

A sob escapes my throat. I don't know what to do.

If I chase after them, am I already too late? And if I catch up… do I have even the slightest chance against four men? Some could be former Dauntless, and who knows what the factionless's resources are, or what motivation they have for taking her.

If I get back to the car, I can figure out how to change that shredded tire and rush Uri back to Dauntless. Then I can get help to come back and find Tris. I feel awful leaving her, but I don't see any choice.

I turn quickly at an unfamiliar grinding sound and see the car jerking oddly, kind of gradually tilting. I run back, glancing at Uriah through the window- he looks okay, and his chest still rises and falls- before running back to the driver's side.

I'm shocked at what I see. A large factionless man about my age is jacking the car up to change the tire. He looks familiar, but it takes me a moment to place him. "Hand me that wrench, will ya?" he says, and his voice is soft and kind. I keep studying him, but I just can't figure out how I know him.

"Do I know you?" I finally blurt out.

"Not really," he says as he unscrews the last nut off the wheel. "I don't think we ever spoke to one another, anyway. I'm Al, I was cut from initiation at the end of stage one, along with Myra." He pulls off the wheel and I roll the spare to him.

As he begins to secure the spare tire, I ask, "Why are you helping me?"

He's silent for a moment, then glances at me before answering. "Well, because you need help. I know the guy in the car is friends with Tris, and he doesn't look like he can wait much longer to see a doctor." He checks the tightness of the nuts and stands, checking the other tire as he speaks. He must deem it driveable, because he doesn't say otherwise. "And because if we get you back to Dauntless, we can find Four and some other people to help Tris. I can't go up against them by myself."

I nod and sigh in relief. We quickly decide that he should drive since he actually knows how. Once we're in the car, I check Uriah's leg, which is soaked in more blood than before. He's groaning, though, so I know he's breathing, and somewhat conscious. After a couple of minutes, Al tells me, "I didn't want to say this out in the open and put her in any danger, but Myra is following them to see where they took Tris."

I nod, relieved that we will have a way to locate her. Al agrees to help me get Uriah into the infirmary and wait while we find help. We hope the car will still be in condition to drive back to Candor to find Four; if not, we'll have to take the train.

As we pull up to the Dauntless compound and Al comes around to my door to pick up Uriah, I take a deep breath. We got Uriah here, in minutes he'll be with doctors, and he still seems stable, but we can't relax until we've found Tris.

Al jogs next to me through the Pit with Uriah in his arms. Luckily, his shirt is Dauntless black and his pants are a dark blue, so most people don't notice that he's factionless, but those that do stare- he's really not supposed to be here, but i don't care. I can't carry Uriah on my own.

Lynn quickly spots us and runs to catch up. "Where the hell have you been? What happened to him?!" she yells, her eyes wide and panicked. Lynn, Uriah and I have been best friends since lower levels, and I feel guilty for not including her in this, but Four insisted we keep it to as few people as possible.

"Long story," I say through slightly labored breaths. "Get Shauna, Christina and Will. Meet me at the infirmary." Lynn nods and speeds off the other direction without questioning me further.

Al pushes the infirmary door open with his shoulder and rushes in with me trailing behind. The purple-haired receptionist at the front desk gasps and rushes away for a stretcher, bringing doctors with her. As one doctor and a nurse push the stretcher down the hall, I can no longer hold back my sobs- this has all been too much. The doctor that stayed behind begins to ask Al questions but he doesn't have answers. He bends down to my level with his hands on my shoulders, softly and soothingly saying my name, reminding me to breathe, and as I calm down slightly, he says, "Marlene, I know this has been a really hard day. But we got him here, okay? The doctor just needs to know what happened. Can you help Uriah by answering some questions?" I realize he's talking to me like I'm a five year old, but it seems that's just what I need right now.

I begin to explain what happened, how long ago, everything the doctor asks as Lynn and Shauna stumble into the waiting room followed by Christina and Will. I feel on the verge of another sobbing fit, but I need to hold it together a little longer. I fill them in on the part the doctor didn't need to know- Uriah's divergence, why Jeanine wanted him- and that Zeke, Four and Edward are at Candor turning in the culprits.

Then I meet Christina's eyes as I tell the last part- the part I need her help with. "We got a flat tire on the way back here. We were trying to figure out how to change it, but neither of us had driven a car before today, let alone change a tire. Tris went to get something else out of the trunk and I heard a noise, so I looked up, and she was gone. I- I followed where I saw someone, and down the alley, there were four factionless men carrying Tris away, blindfolded! I wanted to- I couldn't- Uriah would've died! And I can't go up against four men!" Tears begin to stream down my face again and Shauna pulls me against her chest.

Al takes over for me, explaining how he got involved and what our plan is from here. Christina and Will look confused when we mention needing to get Four from Candor, but let it go, probably assuming it's just because he's responsible for her as her instructor and he's good in a fight. I decide to wait here with Uriah. Shauna runs to find a friend who works as a Dauntless mechanic, and he quickly changes the tire with the slow-leak while Lynn manages to round up some weapons. Soon they have all rushed out to Jeanine Matthews' car on the road to Candor, and I am left alone, silently praying that Uriah comes through all this okay… and that he still has his good friend left alive when he does.