A/N: Sorry it's been so long. Life sometimes gets messy and has to be dealt with. Here's a new chapter with another one soon to follow sometime this weekend. I had to go back and re-read my story to make sure it flowed correctly and didn't have continuity issues. It drives me nuts when writers forget even the little details. Anyway, I have some typos to correct and some rewording in my older chapters but no major changes or corrections, so it won't be necessary to re-read those chapters unless you want or need to to remember the story. I have to say, as I was reading, I got so lost in the story, I forgot I was the one who wrote it. I can't believe I was able to come up with it. Anyway, I'm back and will hopefully get two chapters out a week. Unless/Until life gets messy again. Thanks for all the reviews!
Cara's POV
We finally heard back from the leaders in Dauntless. They can't promise a place for us in Dauntless, because of the current leaders, but they've agreed to meet us at Navy Pier, and have a safehouse where we can stay. The meeting is tonight at 12:30am. That was really all their email said. Obviously, they'll want to discuss further details in person. I immediately deleted the email account right after reading their message. Navy Pier is a good place to meet as it's one of the few areas in the city that doesn't have surveillance. Now it's just up to Fernando and I to sneak out of Erudite without being seen. We've decided to make it look like we're dating, so it will just look like we've gone for a walk or romantic tryst. It would look suspicious if we left around the meeting time, so we're leaving with a picnic basket at 6pm. We must walk there anyway, so it will take us a while.
Meeting Fernando for our "date" reminds me of Xander. I haven't seen him since the day before my Choosing Day. I told him I was choosing Erudite and he smiled. It made me wonder if he was also planning on choosing Erudite. He's brilliant so it wouldn't surprise me. Now I may never see him again. I won't be in Dauntless until this mess is sorted, and he may choose Erudite in five months. I miss him! We grew so close during school. We'd go to Millennial Park every day after school. We talked about everything. We'd lay in the grass watching the clouds pass. We kissed... I really miss him. Unfortunately, I had to decide whether to wait and see what choice he makes or take a stand against Jeanine's evil plots and the monstrosities she's committing against the factionless and Divergent.
The only person I confided in, was my father. He's in agreement that she needs to be stopped. My mother is too brain-washed by Jeanine's manipulation. It breaks my heart to leave my family, especially my little brother, Will, but I had to make a choice to save lives over my own needs. Dad and I set up a way to communicate when we have a plan. There will need to be someone on the inside to assist in stopping Jeanine. I'm hoping whatever plan Dauntless comes up with, includes having their own plants in Erudite. The loss of life if Erudite is invaded will be vast and I know in my heart the majority of Erudite are unaware of Jeanine's activities. Granted, some have been questioning our government because of the articles Jeanine has had put in the newspaper, but also because of Marcus Eaton's conviction for attempted rape. I may not want an all-out revolution, but every faction should have a say in decisions that affect us all.
Fernando and I are walking through the factionless sector, about halfway to Navy Pier, when three factionless approach us. Two men and a woman with her arm in a sling. Fernando and I look at each other and nod. I know we're both grabbing the stun guns in our pockets. They're a new weapon Fernando dreamed up. Non-fatal, but they can incapacitate an attacker.
The woman glares at me and haughtily says, "What are two Erudite doing in my factionless sector?"
The two men are staring at us menacingly. I decide to display a confidence I'm not really feeling and say, "That's no concern of yours. We don't answer to factionless miscreants."
Her lip curls cruelly. This woman won't hesitate to harm us. One of the men is eyeing our picnic basket. Maybe it can be a peace offering?
She approaches me and reaches toward my neck, that's when Fernando and I both strike. He stuns one of the men, and I stun the woman. They both fall to the ground while the man who was eyeing our picnic basket takes it and runs. Fernando and I run for our lives, running in the most complicated route we can come up with at the moment. Hopefully that will keep them off our trail. I'm thankful Will and I memorized maps of the city for fun. We keep running until we hit the outskirts of the city and can see the Ferris wheel in the distance. We weren't followed.
Fernando grins at me and says, "Well, we're trying to join Dauntless, I guess we should prepare ourselves for more confrontations like that."
"Oh Fernando, it would take more time than we have, to make you Dauntless." I chuckle and smirk at him.
He laughs. Fernando never takes anything personally. He's so easy going, yet highly intelligent. I suspect he's Divergent, with aptitudes for Erudite and Amity. His kindness is how I knew I could trust him. When we both saw Jeanine inject death serum into a factionless child, we both saw the guilt and fear in each other's eyes.
We finally arrive at Navy Pier. It's almost 9pm. We find a clear spot on a merry-go-round, where we can sit and wait for the Dauntless arrival. Fernando's stomach is growling loudly. Our dinner was in our lost picnic basket. He smiles regretfully, but we don't speak. We seem to have unconsciously agreed to remain silent as we wait. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night.
Xander's POV
We're sitting in the infirmary waiting room, waiting for word on how Tris is doing, when my father comes in with Zeke and Charlie in tow. He smiles slightly at us and goes through the double doors. He's only gone a moment before he comes back and orders Brax, Uriah and I, to follow them out. I don't know what's going on, but he doesn't say a word until we're back at our apartment and the door is locked.
"We're going on a mission tonight." my dad says, seriously. I can tell he's worried.
Charlie incredulously asks, "What?! You can't take them; they're not even initiates!"
Dad shakes his head, looks her directly in the eye, and blows out a heavy breath saying, "I have no choice. This is a top-secret mission, and I need people I trust. You're all trained as well as any new initiate or better. I'm down a man with Four being injured and refusing to leave Tris' side. It needs to be this way, and it has to be tonight."
We're all standing around with our mouths agape. I can't believe this is happening. Brax walks over and stands shoulder to shoulder with me. It's a twin thing we do when we need to draw strength from one another. It's been happening a lot lately. Oddly enough, my quiet brother is the one who speaks.
"What's the plan?" he asks confidently.
Dad looks us each in the eye, takes another deep breath and quietly explains, "There are major things happening in the city right now. Too many to explain right now, so I'm just going to give you the information you need for tonight's mission. Our goal is simple. We're picking up two Erudite defectors from Navy Pier at 12:30am. They have important information we need. We're going to break up into two groups. I'll be the leader of the first group and Zeke will be the leader of the second group. The first group will consist of Charlie, Uriah, Brax, and myself. The second group will be Zeke and Xander. Team one will go to the agreed meeting spot at Navy Pier. If all goes well, we'll get our two defectors and be on our way. Otherwise, if things go wrong, team one will go on offense while team two, who were waiting in the trees at the end of the pier, will sneak in, grab the two defectors, and run as fast as they can to Yellow House. Team one will cover their rear and try to keep any others from following team two. If all goes well, we'll all meet up at Yellow House by 2am. Only the three members will have real guns. The rest of you will have knives and pellet guns. If you need to shoot someone with a pellet gun, aim for their eyes. Any questions?"
We all shake our heads no. He then leads us to his office where he has guns, ammo, knives, and pellet guns. We arm ourselves as directed. He then gives each of us a paintball gun. We're all looking at him quizzically.
Dad gruffs out a short laugh, "If anyone asks what we're doing, we're having a family paintball outing."
Realization has us all nodding and chuckling. It doesn't last as we're all nervous and quiet, which is rare for most of this group.
Uriah, always the voice of humor, smirks and says, "Alright! Who's ready to go pick some noses? Err... I mean pick up some noses. Hey? See what I did there?"
Dad smacks him upside the head as the rest of us groan and roll our eyes. We immediately head out toward the train tracks.
When we arrive at Navy Pier, it looks abandoned. We go through the overgrown trees at the park and dad signals for Zeke and me to stay there and to remain alert. He then leads team one towards the merry-go-round. They're almost to the merry-go-round, when we see they're being surrounded by dark figures. We can't hear what's going on from so far away, but we know this isn't good. We start cutting through the woods to get behind the merry-go-round. When we get closer, we can tell it's factionless that have surrounded team one. Zeke and I remain quiet, in the shadows, until it's time for us to sneak forward and grab the two Erudite. The factionless move in and dad fires a warning shot in the air. Suddenly there's hand to hand combat going on between our team and the dozen or so factionless. As much as we want to help our family right now, we have a mission, so we spot the two Erudite on the merry-go-round and sneak behind them. I tap the girl on the shoulder. She turns and gasps, but I put my hand over her mouth and signal for her to be quiet. It's Cara! We motion for them to follow us.
We seem to have managed to make it to the train tracks without being followed. We give them both instructions on how to board the train. Neither of them looks particularly pleased with that prospect, but there's no time to walk all the way to Yellow House and if we did, the chances of our being followed is higher. The train is coming when I hear a noise behind me. I turn to see a factionless woman with her arm in a sling. She has a gun, but I doubt she can shoot it with much accuracy with only one hand which may or may not be her dominant hand. Zeke shoots the gun out of her hand, and she screams. The train is almost here, and we need to start running. As I'm about to push Cara to run, the factionless woman spits out, "Tell FOUR, this isn't over!"
Zeke and I board the train, and each reach out for Cara and the guy with her. We watch to make sure no one else boards the train. It's clear, so we all sit on the floor to catch our breath. We don't talk. I want to speak with Cara alone. What's she doing with this other guy? Are they together? Did she forget about me? I have so many questions, but right now we just keep quiet. We still need get safely to Yellow House. We don't even know if our family is okay. The factionless woman had a gun, what if other factionless had guns too?
We finally make it to the place we jump that's close to Yellow House. We're not followed as far as we can tell. We make it there in no time and head for the back door. We turn on the generator and head inside but keep the lights off.
"What should we do now?" Zeke asks worriedly.
I respond, "The only thing we can do. We wait."
I grab Cara's hand and lead her to one of the bedrooms. I think this night just got longer.