Insurgent: Four

Chapter Three

|| CHAPTER THREE ||

"Toby go get me a pound of carrots and ten ripe tomatoes," an old Amity man orders me as he stirred the soup. He gave me a dubious look when I didn't budge from my spot in the kitchen. "What are you waiting for Toby? We ain't got all day."

I scowled under my breath, clenching my teeth together to restrain myself from cursing at him. "My name is Tobias, To-bye-us. Not Toby." Before the old man can whack me with his wooden spoon, I escape into the storage room to get some the ingredients he told me. I roughly dropped the box of vegetables next to the old man's kitchen table, oblivious to his annoyed facial expression.

"Now that I've gotten the things you asked me, I'm leaving." I ripped the white apron off my body and let it fall onto the floor as I existed the kitchen without his consent.

     I made my way to the dining hall, looking provoked as I headed to the table Tris was sitting at.

     "What happened?" Tris says as I sit down next to her.

     "In their enthusiasm for conflict resolution, the Amity have apparently forgotten that meddling creates more conflict," I say. "If we stay here much longer, I am going to punch someone, and it's not going to be pretty."

     Caleb and Susan both raise their eyebrows at me. A few of the Amity at the table next to ours stop talking to stare.

     "You heard me," I say to them. They all look away.

     "As I said," Tris says, covering her mouth to hide her smile, "what happened?"

"I'll tell you later."

I grabbed the silverware on my right and start to eat the chicken soup. The Abnegation sit at our table, but not right next to usーa respectful distance of two seats away, though most of them still nod at us. They are people I've never seen before in my life, but I'm pretty sure Tris is familiar with them from the way she's looking at them.

Everything was going swell until I noticed someone standing behind Tris. Blood started to bubble in my body, my face turned a tint of red from anger. I go completely still when a hand falls on Tris's right shoulder, sending prickles of anger down my body. She clenches her teeth from groaning.

"She got shot in the shoulder," I say without looking at the man behind her.

"My apologies." Marcus lifts his hand and sits down on Tris's left. "Hello." Hello yourself you demented son of a prostitute.

"What do you want?" Tris says. Atta girl.

"Beatrice," Susan says quietly. "There's no need toー"

"Susan, please," says Caleb quietly. She presses her lips into a line and looks away. There are times where I just wanna throw Caleb into an active volcano but there are rare moments where I just want to bake him a cake. Which is right now.

Tris frowns at Marcus. "I asked you a question."

"I would like to discuss something with you," says Marcus. His expression is calm, but he's angryーthe tenseness in his voice betrays him. "The other Abnegation and myself have discussed it and decided that we should not stay here. We believe that, given the inevitability further conflict our city, it would be selfish of us to stay here whole what remains of our fraction is inside that fence. We would like to request that you escort us."

I removed my eyes from the table and glance quickly at Tris before focusing back on the table. She looks taken back, as if she did not expect that. Questions ran through my mind. I relax a little, but I keep my eyes focused on the table.