Chapter 26: That's the idea.
Sydney: Hello People! How are you guys?
Roxas: A little upset. You've been gone for so long.
Sydney: Well, I'm back with a new chapter. I don't own anything except for myself.
Roxas: Enjoy, favourite, review, etc.
"We can't leave yet." Sora said as he crossed his arms over his chest. We had been arguing about leaving Chicago and staying for the past ten minutes.
"We've done all we can here Sora. We gotta go now." Roxas said.
"If we leave now, everything here will fall apart. The faction system is already collapsing, Erudite is in charge of everything and every single person in this city has a target on their back. We have to stay, at least until Tris and Four make in onto the train that is heading to Amity." I said as I placed my hands on my hips. I wasn't in the mood to deal with their bickering when something more important was going on outside.
"Can we just go with Sydney on this one?" Donald asked as he ruffled his feathers.
"I think that settles this debate." Goofy said.
"Right. Now we have to sneak into Dauntless headquarters and get to the computers." I explained as I pushed some of my hair behind my ear.
"I thought the idea was to find Tris." Sora said.
"That is the idea. With any luck, Tris will be heading that way right now with Caleb and her father." I said as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail.
"So the idea is to head to Dauntless Headquarters and hopefully run into Tris?" Roxas asked, sceptical of my plan.
"Yup, that's pretty much the idea unless you have a better plan which by all means, tell us." I said sarcastically. I was getting annoyed by the fact that he didn't believe me.
"Nope, no better plan besides leaving in my mind." He said. I just turned around and walked out. I didn't want to put up with his leaving thing anymore. As I walked out, I checked to make sure that the area was clear before I started sprinting in the direction that I knew Dauntless HQ was. There was sounds of footsteps behind me so I could only assume that the others were following behind me.
"So where are we going exactly?" Donald whispered as the five of us quietly ran towards the train that would lead us to the building that was just before the jump into Dauntless.
"What time is it?" I asked as we neared the tracks.
"Three eleven." Roxas answered my question as I heard the slight hum of the wheels of the train hitting the tracks.
"It'll be here any second. Get ready to jump." I said as I saw the faint light of the train coming towards us.
"Jump where?" Sora asked as the first car of the train flew past us.
"On that!" I yelled as I pushed off from the ground towards the railing on the side of the train. With my left hand holding onto the rail, I use my right hand to hit the button to open the door for the car. Once it was opened, I turned my body towards the others and held my free hand out for somebody to grab. Donald grabbed it first and I pulled him inside of the car. Sora had already jumped inside and was helping Goofy in when Donald let go of my hand. Once my hand was free, Roxas grabbed hold of it and use it to pull himself up and inside. Once we were all in, I closed the door. Donald was curled up against one of the walls, complaining about getting run over. Goofy and Sora were standing by one of the windows talking about something.
"So this is what you've been doing all this time? Jumping from trains?" Roxas asked.
"Besides shooting guns, battling my inner fears and beating up the others. Pretty much." I said with a small smile on my face. I hit the button to open the car door to allow Tris and her group inside. A few seconds later, Tris appeared with her blond hair flying around inside her ponytail.
"Hey Sydney." She said as Caleb jump inside and turned around to help Marcus.
"Hey Tris." I said as Tris's father jumped inside.
"Prepared for a jump?" She asked and all I did was smile.
"I assume the two of you now regret choosing Dauntless." Marcus said as he came up to the two of us.
"No." I said, answering for the both of us. The Train was passing the Erudite compound which was now dark. Tris shook her head as I gave our answer.
"Not even after your faction's leaders decided to join in a plot to over throw the government?" Marcus spat at us.
"There were some things that we need to learn." Tris answered.
"How to be brave?" Her father asked.
"How toe be selfless." Tris said.
"Brave and selfless tends to be the same thing." I told him with a smile on my face as I looked over at Roxas.
Sunlight reflected off the glass building above the Pit as we neared the roof we need to jump onto.
"When I tell you to jump, you jump as far as you can." Tris explained.
"Jump? We're seven stories up guys." Caleb asked before pointing out the obvious.
"Onto a roof genius." I said.
"That's why they call it a test of bravery." Tris explained after seeing the stunned look on his face.
Dad, you go." Tris said as the two of us stepped back from the door so he could stand at the edge. Tris was trying to time it so him and Marcus had the shortest distance to jump.
"Jump." Tris shouted as the train tracks curved to line up with the edge of the roof. Her father launched himself forward. I grabbed Marcus' sleeve and pulled him towards the edge where Tris tells him to jump. That was the routine that we had going for the few seconds that we had before jumping ourselves. Donald and Goofy had gone after Marcus. Caleb, Sora and Roxas all walked up to the edge and jumped once the pervious ones had jumped. With a small amount of time left, Tris and I leaped out of the car at the same time just before the train reached the end of the roof.
"This next part is why you shouldn't be here if you had a fear of heights." I said as Tris and I walked toward the edge of the roof. I looked down into the darkness of the hole in the ground and pictured where the net should have been.
"There's a net at the bottom." Tris said as I looked over at the guys. The wind rushed up the side of the building, lifting our shirts up slightly. They all looked confused besides Roxas who seemed to have realized what we're asking of them.
"Don't think. Just jump." I said as Tris fell backwards, towards the hole. After a few minutes, I followed behind her, loving the wind rushing around me. I relaxed my muscles as I hit the net. I grind my teeth together as I rolled of the edge of the net, feeling the stings of pain still left in my skin from where I hit the net.
"How many times…have you…done that?" Caleb asked between breaths once he had his feet on solid ground.
"Including this time, twice." I said as I held my hand out for Donald to grab hold of. When Tris' father hit the next, Caleb helped him across it. Tris and I had already started descending the stairs when Goofy hit the net. When we reached the bottom, Marcus' groan echoed through the stairwell.
The cavern was empty and the hallways stretched into darkness. Jeanine made it sound like there was no one left in the compound except for the soldiers that she sent back to guard the computers. If we find any Dauntless soldiers, we can find the computers.
"So this is the Dauntless compound." Marcus said as he looked around.
"Yes, and?" Tris asked.
"And I never thought I would get to see it," He replied, his hand skimming a wall. "No need to be so defensive, Beatrice."
"Do you two have a plan, Beatrice?" Tris' father asks.
"Yes." She replies although I'm not sure when she actually developed it. Once we were sure that everyone was down, we started to head towards the pit. There was a strip of light every ten feet down the hallway. As we walked into the first patch of light, gunshots went off and we dropped to the ground. I crawled into the next dark patch. The spark from the gun flashed across the room by the door that leads to the Pit.
"Stay here Sora, Roxas." I told the two as Tris and I ran to the side of the room. The lights protrude from the wall; so directly beneath each one is a slit of shadows. The two of us were small enough to hide in it if we turned to the side. The two of us could creep along the edges of the room and surprise whatever guard was shooting at us before he gets the chance to fire into our brains…hopefully.
"Whoever's there, surrender your weapons and put your hands up!" A voice shouted. I didn't have much time to do anything before Tris had his gun in her hand and pointed at his head.
"How the hell are you awake?" I moved into the light. As I got closer, I saw that it was Peter.
"The Dauntless leaders…they evaluated my records and removed me from the simulation." He said after Tris clicked the bullet into its chamber.
"Because they figured out that you already have murderous tendencies and wouldn't mind killing a few hundred people while conscious. Makes sense." Tris said.
"I'm not…murderous!" Peter shouted, defending himself.
"I never knew a Candor who was a such a liar." She said as she tapped the gun against his skull.
"Where are the computers that control the simulation, Peter?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"She won't shoot me."
"People tend to overestimate my character. They think that because I'm small, or a girl, or a Stiff. I can't possibly be cruel. But they're wrong." Tris said as she shifted the gun three inches to the left and fired.
His screams filled the hallway as blood spurted from the wound. He continued screaming, pressing his forehead to the ground. Tris shifted the gun back towards his head.
"Now that you realize your mistake, I'll give you another chance to tell us what we need to know before I shoot you somewhere worse." Tris said.
"They're listening," he spited. "If you don't kill me, they will. The only way I'll tell you is if you get me out of here."
"What?" Tris asked out of surprise.
"Take me…ahh…with you." He said, wincing.
"You want us to take you. The person who tried to kill me…with me?" She said.
"I do, if you expect to find out what you need to know." He groaned in pain.
"Fine." Tris and I had said at the same time. Soon there were footsteps behind us, signalling that the others were coming.
"Was it really necessary to shoot him?" Tris' father asked as he was trying to stop the bleeding. None of us answered him. In a way it was necessary for us. He wouldn't have believed that we would have if Tris didn't.
"Let's get going." I said as Caleb helped Peter get up.