Divergent | No War

77 - Flying

Tris
While the others all settle down in the seats - everyone trying to get a window seat - I walk over to Zoe. "Hey, I just wanted to ask... you know, is this flying dangerous for the baby?" She smiles. "No, not at all. You shouldn't do long flights but since we will only be up there for about an hour you and your baby will be fine." I nod and smile widely. "Awesome! I can't wait!" She grins and sits down. I walk back to Tobias and sit down next to him. He saved me the window seat. He looks pretty nervous and I know he is debating whether he should leave while he can. I take his hand in mine and softly squeeze it. "Do you want this?" He glances at me. "I do. I want to." I smile and turn his head so he is looking at me. I put my hands on both of his cheeks and pull him down to me. Our lips are only inches apart. His eyes dart to my slightly parted lips. "I know you can do this." He nods and a small smile starts building on his lips.
I lean up a bit more and our lips meet. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pull him even closer.
After a while the plane suddenly starts rumbling and then a constant noise fills it. Tobias and I pull away and he smiles. "Now I am not afraid anymore." He whispers against my lips. I lean my head against his shoulder. "You know, I could get used to this kind of travel. You have a bit of privacy and your own personal space..." he laughs. "We are not even flying yet, Tris." I laugh along with him and turn to look out of the window.
The plane is still driving. It is rolling onto a long field. "Good Morning Everyone. It is a beautiful morning for this observation flight. My name is Ara, I'll be your pilot today. Please buckle your seatbelt and lean back. We will departure soon. Enjoy the flight." I see Zoe turning to us and giving a thumbs up. I smile and give her one back. Uri and Mar start arguing about something and Lynn curses, "How do these stupid things close?" I have to chuckle but then look down at my own seatbelt and have no idea either. "Hey, I think I got it!" Chris calls out. A loud cracking noise is heard. I frown and kneel on my seat to see what happened. Lynn and Uri burst into laughter while Mar and Chris try to repair the seatbelt. I have to grin. Zoe comes over and has to stifle her laughter. "Guys! You have to do it like this..." She takes both of the ends and clicks them together.
Meanwhile the plane still rolled but now stops. The rumbling of the engine gets louder and some weird claps at the wings open. Are they supposed to open?
Matthew and Zoe start buckling all of us up quickly. Matthew comes over to us. "Come on, let's get you strapped in tightly. We don't want none of you flying around here." I laugh and he reaches over Tobias lap to buckle me up but he holds him back. "Stop. I'll do it. Show me how to." Matthew stops and leans back again. He flushes. "Sure..." he shows how to do it with Tobias seatbelt and then Tobias wants to do it for me but I hold him back. "I got it." He frowns but takes his hands back. Matthew watches me buckle myself up and then grins. "Everyone ready to go then!" He shouts over to the open cockpit door.
He and Zoe sit back down on their seats. Uri behind us mumbles something and Mar bursts out laughing. I nudge Tobias side. "What was that with Matthew?" I ask him as the engine roars up. He shrugs. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Just didn't want him to touch you." I sigh and turn his head so he is looking at me. "Tobias Eaton. Don't even think it." I smile a bit and peck his lips. Then I turn to the window.
The plane picked up speed and we are speeding over the field. And then suddenly you can feel the plane leaving the ground. None of us can suppress a small squeak of surprise. I start laughing from disbelieve. "We are flying!" Mar calls out. I turn to her and start laughing along with her. "Oh my god we are flying!" Uri exclaims and we all laugh again. Zoe and Matthew laugh about our excitement. "Yes, didn't I tell you so?" Zoe says and we all nod.
We all are watching the ground shrink and shrink beneath us. Some kind of giddiness fills me up and bubbles in my stomach. I squeeze Tobias hand. "Tobias, we are flying! We are really flying!" I exclaim and kiss his cheek. He smiles a bit himself. "Yes we are!" He breaths. He still sounds nervous. "We are fine, Tobias. Nothing will happen to us. I am sure." He smiles tightly and softly pecks my lips. "I know. I am not really nervous anymore." I smile as well and turn to the window again. "Look at this..." I look out at the snow white clouds and the bright sun that shines at the bright blue sky. "It is all so beautiful. And look how small everything is. So tiny... Imagine... we are such a small part of this world..."
I turn to him and he is already looking at me. I look at him thoughtfully. "What do you think is there? Apart from the bureau? More wasteland?"
Zoe seemed to have overheard my question because she clears her throat and starts explaining. "We call it the fringe. It's mostly wasteland. The people who live there are mostly genetically damaged. There are a few more places like the bureau. Clean areas. And of course the other experiments." My head perks up. "Other experiments? There are more?" Zoe nods. "Yes. But none of them was as successful as yours. Chicago is the most successful one by far. By the way, we will be flying over Chicago soon."
We all immediately turn to the windows but you can't see anything but clouds.
"I am afraid you can't see the city from here. We are to far over the clouds. We never fly to close to the city so that they won't notice us. Maybe I can go and talk Ara into flying just a bit closer down. Maybe you'll then see that so called 'Hancock building'. Would you like that?"
We all nod. "Yes!" Uri exclaims. I know that he is thinking of Zeke, just like me.
For me the Hancock building and Zeke are connected ever since the das I went ziplining with the dauntless born. It was such a beautiful experience. It was like flying. Even more than this because I could feel the wind on my face, in my hair and closing around my body. I could smell the fresh air and felt all that energy running through my veins. So much energy. Adrenalin filled my body in a split second and i was vibrating. And i was flying. Like a bird I flew over my hometown. And then my faction, my family, caught me. I remember all the bones squeezing into my back but I didn't care. In that moment I didn't care about anything but the adrenaline and my new friends. It was thrilling.
And then suddenly the top of it shows through the clouds. I see myself standing on top of it. All that time ago. So much had happened but even more hadn't. It's weird how at that moment all these things were important to me and now they are my past. Peter, Molly, Drew... I have to contain a shudder at the thought of them. Well at least peter tries to change.
As if sensing my thoughts Tobias wraps an arm around my shoulder as we watch the Hancock Building grow smaller beneath us. It's nice that he understands without words. We don't have to talk and we know what is going on. I don't have that with anyone else. Not even my parents. My mother.
I lean my head against his shoulder. He smiles. I feel it and I have to smile to. I know that no matter what I will have him. He will always be there by my side to help  me through everything. I let my hand slide down my stomach.
And the same we will do for you little guy. You will just fit into our family perfectly. I just know it.

After about an hour the bureau comes back into vision. The clouds have cleared off a bit and now you can see the huge masses of land again. I still can't believe it. My whole life I knew that the world was big but this big? What is out there? I mean the other people... on the other 'continents' how Zoe called them.
I will ask her as soon as we have a minute alone.
The nose of the plane goes down slightly and Tobias squeezes my hand. I stroke my thumb over the back of his hand. I watch the ground become bigger and bigger beneath me. I can't turn my eyes away. I can see the houses far away from the bureau. The clean, structured bureau and the rotten, old houses not more than a few miles away. It's absurd. The fringe. What Zoe calls it. I would really like to visit it. See what the people are like in there. From what the bureau says those people are insane. Mostly GDs and because of that aggressive. I'd like to make my own picture though, see what they are like myself.
The ground comes closer and closer until the wheels hit the ground and a shudder goes through the plane. "Lady's and Gentlemen, we successfully arrived back on the ground." Our pilot announces.
Someone starts clapping and we all join in. "Back in the old days there were huge planes with multiple levels. Those brought the people over the oceans and back." Zoe explains while the plane rolls back into its parking position. "But no a days we don't need planes that big anymore. We mostly use them for surveillance of the experiments." I nod and let my thumb move over the back of Tobias hand. "See? We made it back on the floor safely. " he nods and let's his hand glide over my stomach. "Yeah. All of us."