Insurgent: Four

Chapter One

|| CHAPTER ONE ||

Something was off about Tris.

She was quiet and in her own mind, not saying anything. A nagging feeling was tugging behind my head, something that she had done. But of course, she would've told me if anything happened. Tris wouldn't lie to me.

Would she?

I shake my head and mentally slapped myself for thinking like that. My left hand squeezes Tris's shoulder slightly as I crouch in front of her. The train car bumps over the rails, and Marcus, Peter, and Caleb stand by the doorway. The silent was disturbed by Tris's shallow breathing.

"Tris, come on," I say, my eyes searching hers. "We have to jump."

It was dark outside, too dark to see where we are. I help Tris to her feet and guide her toward the doorway. The others jump off one by one: Peter first, then Marcus, then Caleb. Tris takes my hand.

I hated Marcus being here. His presence makes me feel uncomfortable, but with Tris next to me I felt better.

The wind picks up as we stand at the edge of the car opening. After a few moments, we launch ourselves into darkness and land hard on the ground. I brush a dead leaf off my shoulder and look over to Tris. She looks concerned toward Caleb, even after what he did. How can she forgive him that quickly?

We landed in the grass near the fence, several yards away from the worn path that the Amity trucks travel to deliver food to the city, and the gates that lets them out - the gate that is currently shut, locking us in. The fence towers over us, too high and flexible to climb over, too sturdy to knock down.

"There are supposed to be Dauntless guards here," Marcus's voice rings out.

I grimace in the dark. "They were probably under the simulation," I reply dryly, "and are now..." I pause. "Who knows where, doing who knows what."

We stopped the simulation, the weight drops off my shoulder. But the aftermath still scares me. What happened to our friends, our peers, our leaders, our factions? Even if I want to know, there isn't a way.

I approach a small metal box on the right side of the gate and open it, revealing a keypad.

"Let's hope the Erudite didn't think to change this combination," I say as I type in the passcode of numbers. I stop at the eighth one, and the gate clicks open.

I smirk slightly as Caleb asks, "How did you know that?" His voice thick with emotion.

"I worked in the Dauntless control room, monitoring the security system. We only change the codes twice a year," I explain.

"How lucky," says Caleb as he gives me a wary look. I stopped myself from throwing him knowing Tris would kill me.

"Luck has nothing to do with it," I say instead curtly. "I only worked there because I wanted to make sure I could get out."

We walk in small pack, Peter cradling his bloody arm to his chest - the one that Tris shot - and Marcus with his hand on Peter's shoulder. Caleb walks silently behind me, stifling at times.

I take the lead with Tris, who is silently at my side. I sense not to touch her so instead, I quietly walk besides her.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pinpricks of light are the first sign that we are beating Amity headquarters. Then squares of light that turn into glowing windows. A cluster of wooden and glass buildings

We have to walk through an orchard before we can reach them. My feet sinks into the ground, and above me, the branches grow into one another, forming a kind of tunnel. The sharp, sweet smell of rotting apples mixed with the scent of grass and dirt evades my nose.