Fire and Ice

Free Falling

I made it up the ladder and made my way around the top of the building as everyone else climbed the ladder. The wind is so powerful I hear and feel nothing else. I have to use all the strength in me to keep from falling over.I look around at the city and at first, all I see is the marsh, wide and brown and everywhere, touching the horizon, devoid of life.I look in the other direction, which is the city, and in many ways it is the same, lifeless and with limits I do not know.

Uriah points to something. Attached to one of the poles on top of the tower is a steel cable as thick as my wrist. On the ground is a pile of black slings made of tough fabric, large enough to hold a human being. Zeke grabs one and attaches it to a pulley that hangs from the steel cable. I follow the cable down, over the cluster of buildings and along Lake Shore Drive. I don't know where it ends but I intend to find out.

"Oh my God," says Uriah.

I smirk as I look at him nodding, the excitement growing in me.

Shauna is the first person to get in the sling. She wriggles forward on her stomach until most of her body is supported by black fabric. Then Zeke pulls a strap across her shoulders, the small of her back, and the top of her thighs. He pulls her, in the sling, to the edge of the building and counts down from five. Shauna gives a thumbs-up as he shoves her forward, into nothingness.

The members and I whoop and pump our fists and form a line, sometimes shoving one another out of the way to get a better place. I successfully make it to the next in line spot.

I jump in the sling face first just like Shauna and Zeke smirks at me making me chuckle "Enjoy this freedom Jade you need a break" I nod as I give him a high five and he releases me quickly as I hurdle down the line making my adrenaline rush.

I forget Eric, I forget Jeanine, and family, and all the things that could malfunction and lead to my death. I hear metal sliding against metal and feel wind so intense it forces tears into my eyes as I hurtle toward the ground.

I feel like I am without substance, without weight. Ahead of me the marsh looks huge, its patches of brown spreading farther than I can see, even up this high. The air is so cold and so fast that it hurts my face. I pick up speed and a shout of exhilaration rises within me, stopped only by the wind that fills my mouth the second my lips part.

I throw my arms out to the side and imagine that I am flying. I plunge toward the street, which is cracked and patchy and follows perfectly the curve of the marsh. I can imagine, up here, how the marsh looked when it was full of water, like liquid steel as it reflected the color of the sky.

I feel everything as I take it all in, every vein and every fiber, every bone and every nerve, all awake and buzzing in my body as if charged with electricity. I am pure adrenaline. I am free.

The ground grows and bulges beneath me, and I can see the tiny people standing on the pavement below. I should scream, like any rational human being would, but when I open my mouth again, I just crow with joy. I yell louder, and the figures on the ground pump their fists and yell back, but they are so far away I can barely hear them.

I look down and the ground smears beneath me, all gray and white and black, glass and pavement and steel. Tendrils of wind, soft as hair, wrap around my fingers and push my arms back. I sail parallel to the ground, like a bird.

When I slow down, I run my fingers over my hair. The wind teased it into knots. I hang about twenty feet above the ground, but that height seems like nothing now. I reach behind me and work to undo the straps holding me in. A crowd of members stands below. They grasp one another's arms, forming a net of limbs beneath me. In order to get down, I have to trust them to catch me. I have to accept that these people are mine, and I am theirs. It is a braver act than sliding down the zip line.

I release myself and fall into arms as raise my fist and let our a yell of excitement as everyone else joins me as I'm set down. I feel arms arouns me shoulder and I see Shauna with a bug smirk on her face like me

"Did this help you?" I nod and lean into her "Definately, thank you"

+++++++

When we got back inside Dauntless, I watch Tris run up to her friends. I smirk as I tell everyone night and as I was passing Tris' group, I hear Al speak "Well, you missed Christina almost punching an Erudite," I freeze up, what??

"He was here asking for opinions about the Abnegation leadership, and Christina told him there were more important things for him to be doing."

"Which she was completely right about," adds Will. "And he got testy with her. Big mistake."

I walk up to them, gaining their attention "Who was he here with?" I ask Will looks at me "Jeanine Matthews" I feel my stomach fall as I take off in a fast walk to leader hall.

+++++

I make my way to outside Eric's room as I see his door open and Jeanine walk out adjusting her shirt. My breathing stop as I watch what happens next.

Jeanine smirks as she notices me and turns around, grabs Erics' shirt and kisses him passionately. I go to fall back in shock but I'm caught by someone.

I turn around hug the person knowing who it was instantly.

My rock.

My best friend.

Four.