Chapter 22

Tobias

"What do you think Max will say if he finds out that we weren't at work this morning?" Tris asks. She sits next to me in the train car.

"I don't know, but he probably won't."

"How do you know?"

"He doesn't bother looking into things like that. Plus, he's not in charge of us. It may seem that way, but we have our own self-control. It doesn't matter if you miss one or two shifts."

"Yeah but it was my first day. Also, both of us were absent. That doesn't exactly seem like a coincidence."

"Stop worrying. It will be fine."

She sighs. "Yeah, okay. Am I being too paranoid?"

I smile. "A little, yes."

We jump off the train around 12.40 pm. Slowly we walk toward dauntless headquarters.

Out of nowhere, Tris grabs my hand and pulls me with her against the wall.

"Did you hear that?" She whispers.

"No, what was it?"

"Sounded like someone got punched. Wait here." She releases my hand and peeks around the corner. Quickly she turns back. "Oh my god."

"What was it?" I say and turn to look myself, but Tris stops me.

"No, don't. It's Erudite. I think they're doing the Divergent examination."

"On who?"

"I didn't see. It was a boy."

"I'll look."

I carefully stand by the edge of the wall and peek around the corner. About fifty feet away, two Erudite stands hunched over a body lying on the ground. When I see his face, by body freezes. Uriah. His eyes are closed, but he's breathing. One of the Erudite men pulls out a syringe from his pocket. The other one connects an electrode to his temple. They wait for about 30 seconds, then one of them nods. Quickly they pack up their things and disappear around another corner. I wait a while before I sprint toward him. I crouch next to his body and carefully place his head in my lap. "Uriah. Uriah wake up!"

Tris sits down on the ground next to me. "He's going to wake up. I did."

"Tris, he's divergent."

"What? Uriah?"

"Yeah. He was really good at hiding it during initiations."

Tris widens her eyes. "But then… they know."

Suddenly, Uriah twists his head and slowly opens his eyes.

"Uriah." Tris says. "It's okay, you're safe."

I'm surprised by how fast he manages to sit up. "What happened?"

"You were attacked." Tris takes his hand. "C'mon. We'll explain later. We have to get out of here." We help him to his feet, and carefully lead him through the door and into the glass building. By the time we reach his apartment, he can properly walk on his own.

"What was that?" Uriah says, while rubbing his neck.

I look at Tris. She nods. "Uriah, did you see anything unusual before you passed out?"

"No, I don't think so." He sits down on the couch. "Why?"

"You were attacked," Tris says. "By Erudite."

Uriah frowns. "Erudite?"

"Jeanine is seeking Divergents. She wants them all dead."

"What? Why?" He's divergent and he knows he's in danger.

"Because we threaten the system, but listen," I sit down next to him on the couch. "We're going to stop her. The reason you got attacked was because of her. They know you're divergent know. You have to keep a low profile, preferably stay in your apartment. You're not safe."

"But I don't understand. How will she do that?"

Tris takes his hand, and caress it with her fingertips. I'm surprised I noticed. "It's safer if you don't know. Just promise you'll stay here and don't tell anyone. We wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"I guess." He looks tired. Uriah is smart, but sometimes not enough to care.

"Good. Thank you."

We stay with him for almost an hour just to make sure that he's not in too bad shape, and when he's too tired to speak we leave him.

"You think he'll be okay?" Tris asks and slips off her shoes by the door.

"Yeah, he just needs some time. But hey," I put my arms around her waist. "He's Uriah. He'll be just fine."

"You know he's gonna wanna join us right?"

I've known Uriah for a long time now and I know that Tris is right. Even though he seemed shaken up now, he won't let us go without him. He's the kind of guy who wants to take action in everything, to never be a coward.

I heave a sigh and slide my hands into my back pockets. "I know."

"You think we can stop him?"

"Probably not, but that's not our only problem. Natalie will have to approve."

Tris

Wednesday. Tomorrow's it. These past couple of days has been really difficult. There has been more silent attacks in Dauntless. Max called an urgent meeting yesterday in the cafeteria saying that something is wrong with the food and that it is making a lot of people sick, but I know that's not true. I really don't know if Max is going to do something about it. He doesn't know about the Abnegation attacking Jeanine, but as our leader he must be planning something. I just hope it's not earlier than tomorrow; cause then our plan will be compromised.

I look down into the chasm. This is the exact spot where Tobias kissed me for the first time. Whenever I need to do some thinking, I come here. Besides him and me, almost no one knows about this place so it's always discreet, only the roar of water around me.

I hear footsteps behind me. "Tris." I turn around. Christina is slowly walking toward me, watching her every step on the wet and slippery rocks. "What are you doing?"

"Just… day dreaming." I smile at her. "You?"

"Yeah, same." She sits down next to me. "My mom called Max. Apparently my sister passed out in the middle of the road while walking home late from school. She almost got run over by a car. They saw her lying there in like the last second."

"Oh my god, is she okay?"

"Yeah. She said she had felt completely normal and then everything just went black. It sounds really weird."

It would to me too, if I didn't know what really happened.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been really scary for her." I bite my lip to stop myself for saying anything else. If I do I will slip and I can't do that to her. I can't put her in danger too.

"Thank you. I'm sure she would appreciate that."

I nod and look down at the rushing water. When a small wave hits the rocks the water plashes and cold drops land on our ankles.

"We're not actually supposed to be here," she says.

"Why not?"

"There was an attack at the other end of the pit earlier and Max wants everyone in our apartments.

"An attack?"

"Yeah, but I don't know much more. Anyway, Four wanted me to tell you that he's looking for you."

"Why?"

"Probably because of that. Anyway, you should go find him."

I nod and we get up. We climb across the small gaps and over the angular ridges. I'm used to it now so it's not as difficult as it was before. When we reach the top the pit is empty. I look at my watch. 7.38 pm.

"There you are." I look to my right and see Tobias. "I've been looking for you." He sounds irritated and his tired eyes scowl in my direction.

"Um, I'm gonna go," Christina says. "I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah okay," I say and smile. She disappears in one of the tunnels.

I look at Tobias. "It was a witness this time," he says.

"Who?"

"A girl. I don't know her name. She told Max and he couldn't lie again and tell everyone that it was food poisoning. So he ordered everyone to stay in their apartments for the rest of the night while they search the compound for intruders, but I honestly don't think that will do anything good."
"Then how can you be out here?

"I had to find you."

"Why? You don't exactly seem so interested in talking to me?" I say dryly.

"That's because I've been looking for you for a while now. Where have you been?"

"I was down in the chasm. I didn't know what was happening up here?"

"Yeah well you can't just disappear for hours like that. Not now when…" His voice trails of and he looks away.

"I know."

He looks at me, and his eyes stay there. It's almost like he's trying to tell me something. I stare back at him, not really knowing what to say, or if I should.

Then he clears his throat and his eyes lowers. "Anyway we should go. We can't risk Max seeing us." For some reason it felt better to be trapped in his gaze, even if it was just for a few seconds.

See ya'll soon. Be brave! -s