A/N: This chapter skips back in time a bit- and then forward again to where the previous chapter left off. I just want to make that clear in case the way I notated that in the chapter is at all confusing to anyone- I had a little trouble figuring out how to do that very gracefully. On another note, we're getting pretty close to the end! Just a few chapters left! So I just want to say thanks, once again, to those who have reviewed and encouraged me throughout this story- it means so much to me! xoxo
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Tris - picks up where last Tris POV left off in Chapter 28:
Just as I reach for the lever, 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.
Someone shifts their grip, and my legs are no longer restrained. I can't see, so I can only hope to actually hit someone when I kick- and I succeed, based on the satisfying "Oof!" a deep voice grunts out. However, I'm still no closer to getting away. I'm stunned by a hard slap to my face. "If I had known someone this small could be such a little hellion, I would have made you carry her, Charlie," a voice near my head says.
Someone else laughs. "We'll be there soon enough." I don't give up, I keep trying anything I can to get out of their grip, to run, to hide, to get back to Candor and find Tobias... but it's useless. Soon the journey ends, and my hands are tied together with rope. Something pulls my hands upward until I am stretched so I am standing with my whole body, fingertips to feet, in a straight line perpendicular to the ground. My heels don't even touch the floor, though I can put a little weight on the balls of my feet.
Once they are satisfied that I am secure, the blindfold is removed, and then the tape is ripped from my mouth; it stings, and I scream through my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. When I open them I first glance upward to see that the rope tying my hands goes straight up to the ceiling, which several stories high, to a pulley- I can see which direction the rope leads from there, but not where it ends.
Now aware of what is holding me in this position, I look around me. I am in some sort of factory- one where they do something with metal, making machines, perhaps. There is scrap metal everywhere, there are big machines with conveyor belts, and across the giant room a big vat that glows something reddish-orange. It boils and steams and sizzles.
And in front of me is a woman I would have prefered never to see again: Tobias's mother, Evelyn Johnson. I narrow my eyes and scowl at her. She just chuckles. I suppose I'm not very intimidating on a normal day, and even less tied up this way.
I haven't met Evelyn, this time around, so I'll have to pretend not to know her. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" I spit.
"I am the leader of the Factionless," Evelyn informs me, "and you are simply a bargaining chip. I need information, and I will not let you go until I get it." I just glare at her and she pauses, glaring back. "I saw what you did with my son in that movie theater. You certainly aren't the good little Abnegation girl I remember, Beatrice." I gasp. I knew I heard someone in that cinema! Evelyn was watching us… fool around? What a sick freak! Oh, right, I recall. I should be reacting to the fact that I went to this woman's funeral nine years ago, and now she's standing here in front of me.
"You look good, Evelyn," I say flatly, "for someone who has been dead for nine years. Does Tobias know you're alive?" If she saw us in the cinema, I'm sure she heard me call him Tobias, but it's probably best to make her think he wouldn't care enough about me yet to give her what she wants, and I need to do whatever will help me keep my promise to Tobias and come back to him alive.
"What makes you really so sure that he even cares enough about me to put me above whatever is keeping him from giving you this information?" I ask. "We've only been dating a few weeks, you know."
Evelyn is pacing back and forth, standing tall, almost regal looking, with her hands folded together behind her back. I swear there's an evil glint in her eye. "I have my ways, and I am quite sure that Tobias cares enough for you that he will do what I ask of him. I will do what I must in order to accomplish my goal."
I can't believe Evelyn is doing this to him. For once in his life, he has found some happiness- and she's threatening it for her own selfish gain. Her own son! I shouldn't be surprised. I feel the blood rush to my head as my face gets hot, and I stand on the tips of my toes to lessen the pull on my arms. I'm sure it's unwise to express my thoughts, but I am too angry to hold back.
"So you don't care about Tobias at all? What kind of mother are you? I already knew you didn't deserve that title after leaving him with that monster. Did you even bother to check in on him and see if he was okay?! And now that he has someone that cares for him- me- you're threatening that as well! He'll never forgive you for this, Evelyn!"
Evelyn grimaces at me as she takes a few steps forward. We are less than a foot apart now, though even with me standing on my toes, we are not quite eye level. "Oh, you naive child," Evelyn hisses. "I am his mother; you are simply a silly teenage infatuation. He will forgive me, and he will forget all about you. You are temporary, and I am permanent." Without waiting for a response, she turns and stalks out of view, and I am left alone, other than a factionless guard sitting across the room whittling a piece of wood. I suppose that you learn to do things like whittle wood when you're sitting around all the time with nothing to do.
It isn't the first time she has told me that- that she is permanent and I am temporary. And how can I be sure that she's wrong? The fact is… this Tobias has known me just a few weeks. Nothing is as certain with us as it was before, when we had been through so much together. All I can do now is hold up my end of my promise, do the thing I came back here to do, and that is to choose life- because choosing to live is choosing Tobias.
Tobias - in meeting with Evelyn, resumes where Chapter 30 ends
I sigh. I expected it to go this way, but I had hoped it wouldn't. One more try… "Evelyn… you understand that you lose me as a son forever if you make me choose between my faction and Tris?"
Evelyn huffs. "She's a silly infatuation, Tobias. I am your mother. I am confident that eventually, you will see that what I want is best for everyone." In that moment I hate her. I hate her even more than Marcus, if that's possible. Marcus doesn't love me, Evelyn doesn't either, and now she is holding the one person who ever truly made me feel like I mattered.
"Fine," I spit. "Give me a pen and paper."
Evelyn's eyes glint and the corners of her lips turn up slightly as she hands me a scrap of scratch paper and old ball-point pen. I stare at the paper for a moment before I begin writing. I can't betray Dauntless this way. I have to come up with something else. I have to help Tris another way. But I also need to leave this option open for later, in case all else fails, because I have to help Tris. I need her like I need air to breathe.
Finally, I begin writing. I hand the paper to Evelyn, and she frowns as she reads it. "This is only part of the information I asked for," she says, an edge of anger in her voice, her eyes cold.
"That's right," I reply. "I need Tris back, safe and with me, before I give you the rest." It's not enough information for her to do anything with- just a part of the shift schedules for the weapons storage- just the daytime schedule. "Think of it as a show of good faith. Right now, I have no way of knowing if Tris is even safe and well." Evelyn just scowls as she tries to decide what her next move is.
I toss the pen on the desk and check my watch. It is about seven in the morning. I haven't slept at all, just running on adrenaline. "I will meet you back here in… eight hours," I inform her. "Three this afternoon. Give us each a little time to think about the other's offer." Her jaw literally drops- she clearly did not expect me to stand up to her ultimatum. I leave her office without glancing back.
When I return to the abandoned building the others are waiting in, all of them are asleep except Lynn, and Al has not yet returned. I quietly update Lynn on the meeting.
"It's now almost eight," Lynn says. "Al isn't back, and we don't know where Tris is yet. What if we can't find her in time?"
"I guess I'll have to give her fake information and warn Dauntless, then," I reply, "but if I do, we will need to find Tris fast, because Evelyn will be very, very angry when she finds out."
A few minutes pass in comfortable silence before Lynn and I begin waking everyone up. As everyone rubs sleep from their eyes, I hear heavy footsteps on the stairs. Lynn goes to check it out. "It's Al!" I hear her call.
Soon we are all gathered around a mixed pile of clothes from all different factions, picking through to form disguises. Once we sit down, all eyes turn to Al.
"I found Myra," he says, and a wave of relief washes through me. "She knows where they're holding Tris. Myra is staying in the area to keep watch in case they move her. Tris is in a working factory- one that Evelyn runs- in the southwest part of the Factionless sector. I can lead us there once we have a plan." I definitely have to find a way to help Al and Myra out of this crappy life- they've done so much to help Tris, and once Evelyn finds out they have gone against her, they won't be safe here. They will need to get away from the Factionless.
"Hopefully Myra will have some idea what we're up against, since she has been watching their movements," I start. "I think it's best if one or two of us come in after the first few, with the mission of helping Tris. The rest, fight off any factionless who are trying to keep us from Tris."
We spend about half an hour refining the details of our plan. The first few to go in will be Lynn, Zeke and Edward. Christina and I are to focus on Tris, and the rest- Al, Will, and Shauna- will follow us in and join the first three in holding back Evelyn's people.
By nine-thirty, we are all disguised as factionless, our guns hidden within our clothing, and beginning our trek across the factionless sector. Hold on, Tris, I think. I'm coming. We won't let you down.
Tris
There are people working the machines around the factory, none of them paying me the slightest bit of attention. When Evelyn left, she had three guards keeping an eye on me, but a while ago, two of them left, telling the third to keep watch. He agreed… and maybe fifteen minutes later, fell asleep.
So here, I am, tied up, no one really watching me. All I need is a way to cut this rope.
A couple of yards behind me is a sturdy looking table. I turn, slightly twisting the rope, and push off the floor with my feet. My shoulders practically scream in pain as my full weight is supported only from above, but I lift my feet as high as I can and successfully plant them on the table. I stand, finally giving myself enough slack in the rope that I can relax my stiff arms.
From this angle, I see something I couldn't before. A pillar a few yards away, on the side completely opposite where I was first standing, has metal brackets sticking out of it every foot or so- like a ladder. At the top of the pillar is a metal catwalk, which winds throughout the factory a couple of stories up. If I can just get myself to that pillar, I can climb the ladder to the catwalk, and maybe I'll find something to wear through this rope.
I take a deep breath, bracing for the pain I know I will feel again in my shoulders, and get a running start on the table top, swinging hard in the direction of the concrete pillar. I can't separate my hands, but I stretch out my legs, hooking the right around the pillar and using it to pull myself flush against it. My joined hands scramble for a metal rung, and make contact.
After twisting myself around the pillar, I begin to climb. It's slower than when i climbed the ferris wheel during capture the flag, with my hands bound as they are, but at least I am not stuck in that spot completely helpless.
I am about twenty feet off the ground when I hear an angry scream and a commotion. Evelyn has returned, and she is screaming at the guard, who is no longer asleep. I climb faster as the guard rushes off into the factory and Evelyn glares up at me. I keep climbing; why is she just watching?
I am almost to the top when I begin to notice something, and glance up at the pulley to confirm. Are you kidding me?! Someone is pulling in the slack on the rope, and when that slack runs out, they'll pull me right off the catwalk with it. I still have hope that I will be able to get free, I just need to break the ties before they are able to pull the rope tightly enough to pull me.
As I reach the place it connects to the catwalk, I find that the triangle-shaped piece of metal that connects the pillar to the metal pathway above is thin enough, sharp enough, for my purposes. I balance with one foot on a ladder rung, the other leg wrapped around the pillar to make sure I don't fall. I rub the rope that binds my hands back and forth, as fast as I can, over the sharpest part of the support, and it begins to fray. The slack in the rope shrinks and shrinks and I work even faster- soon the rope will be taut again and I will be pulled along with it.
Just when the slack completely disappears and I begin to feel a slight pull on my wrists, the rope snaps and I wrap my arms around the pillar. I look around and see guards on the ground level looking up at me- I can't go down. That only leaves up- the catwalk.
My arms and shoulders are so sore, it takes every bit of determination I have to push through the pain and pull myself over the edge of the catwalk. I sit for a moment, panting and heaving, then look up. Navigating the cat walks across the room, nearer the other ladder, is Evelyn. Shit.
It is so hot in here… and suddenly there is a lot more noise. Evelyn has paused and is looking down, so I glance downward too. My mouth drops open when I see first, that a fire has caught near the bottom of the very pillar I just climbed; second, a handful of people who appear factionless at first glance are fighting the guards. But then I see- it's my friends. I have to get to that ladder. I look around to locate it again- and see Tobias beginning to climb it. Good, he spotted me.
As I begin toward Evelyn- and Tobias- I feel the catwalk beginning to sway. The fire, it has to be the fire, and I have to get away from it- this pillar soon won't hold the weight. The fire is quickly spreading, and it could affect the integrity of this entire catwalk- we have to get down from here. I have to get to Tobias.
When I reach Evelyn, she pushes me. I grab her wrists- I don't want to push her off and kill her. I just want to make her let me by, I want to leave, I want to be safe and I want Tobias to be safe. But it isn't that easy, and we struggle. Parts of the catwalk have begun to fall. Tobias is at the top of the ladder, coming toward us, when Evelyn loses her balance, and pulls me with her before she lets go of me.
We both grab the edge of the catwalk with both hands. I glance down and my eyes widen.
We are hanging over a big vat of something very hot, glowing red-orange, bubbling. My mind searches for the word and eventually comes up with lava, like I've read about before, like volcanoes have inside of them. I suppose it is used to melt metal- this is a factory, after all.
Tobias
"Tobias!" my mother screams, and that's when Tris turns her head and makes eye contact with me. One by one supports for the walkway are crumbling as the fire spreads, and soon, the metal path that my mother and girlfriend are barely keeping hold of as they hang above the vat of bubbling, melted rock will give way as well. I can't believe I'm up here, the height is dizzying. I love Tris too much to watch her fall to her death- enough to overcome my fear.
As I rush toward them, I look back and forth between Tris's eyes and Evelyn's. This will fall, we don't even have a full minute by estimation. By the time I pull one of them up and move to safety, I won't be able to go back for the other, not unless I want to die as well.
Evelyn and Tris both hold on with just their fingertips, and Tris's face twists in pain. She looks so tired… she won't be able to hold on much longer.
"Help me, Tobias!" Evelyn cries. "Please! I am your mother! Don't let me die!"
I look from Evelyn to Tris. With tears in her eyes, her voice expressing such a self-sacrificing love, she calls out to me, "It's okay, Tobias. I love you. It's okay." She loves me so much that she is giving me permission to save my mother, sacrificing a future with me, sacrificing her life. And I know I would do the same for her. My choice is made.
An instant later, my calloused hands grip her smooth wrists. I pull her swiftly up, she is light as a feather. With Tris in my arms, bridal style, I make a run for it as the catwalk sways and shudders. Glancing back, I see Evelyn hanging by one hand- really just three fingers, and the catwalk begins to fall. She loses her grip entirely and lets out a scream as her body disappears in the molten lava.
I force myself to keep my eyes forward and just keeps running. The bottom of the ladder is surrounded by flames. I glance around, panicked. Then Tris shouts, "There!" She is pointing to a concrete pillar like many of those that have now crumbled in the fire, in a corner that it looks like we can get to, and for now, it looks sound- the fire has not yet reached that corner. I set her on her feet and we both run as fast as we safely can. She lets me go down first, and I am relieved- that height is terrifying even if the ground weren't about to fall down around me- and follows me down to ground level.