INSURGENT: Tobias

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The Dauntless crowd erupts in chaos. Harrison, carrying Tori on his back, starts toward the door, the sea of people following after him in silent acceptance of his leadership.

I tuck the gun in the waistband of my jeans and move to follow the flow of bodies. Tris wanders aimlessly among them, and though I can't see her face, I know she's in her own world, lost to her thoughts and oblivious to her surroundings. My feet carry me to her, her gravitational pull drawing me in. I place my hand on the small of her back, leading her through the maze of people.

As we make our way to the front of the group, the doors open. Jack Kang and his entourage of Candors fill the door's frame, anger and disbelief coating their features.

"What have you done?" Kang asks, his tone incredulous. "I was just told that Eric is missing from his holding cell."

"He was under our jurisdiction," Tori starts, still hanging onto Harrison's back. "We gave him a trial and executed him. You should be thanking us."

"Why ... ," color fills Jack's cheeks and his eyebrows pull together. A snarl forms in his lips as he addresses us. "Why should I be thanking you?"

Tori props herself up from Harrisons back and focuses her eyes on Kang.

"Because you wanted him to be executed, too, right? Since he murdered one of your children?" She tilts her head at him, eye wide and innocent. "Well, we took care of it for you. And now, if you'll excuse us, we're leaving."

"Wha—Leaving?" Kang mutters, almost unable to get the words out. Living in Candor for so long, I doubt he's felt the need to be deceitful until now. And it shows all over his face.

"I can't let you do that," he says. His face has drained of color.

"You don't let us do anything," I say, stepping forward. "If you don't step aside we will be forced to walk over you instead of past you."

"Didn't you come here to find allies?" Kang says with a scowl. "If you do this, we will side with Erudite, I promise you, and you will never find an ally in us again, you—"

"We don't need you as an ally," Tori interrupts him. "We're Dauntless."

As if her words are a trigger, the crowd of Dauntless scream their agreement and surge forward, filing through the doorway and past Kang. The Candor behind him fail to hide their shocked faces and quickly jump out of the way of the wave of Dauntless storming past them.

I lose contact with Tris in the commotion. My hand grasps through the empty air but she's gone for now. She may even be gone for good.

I shake my head to clear it and follow the Dauntless down the stairs and to the black and white lobby. Small crowds of Candor and Erudite wordlessly watch the Dauntless chaos, unsure what to do.

We stream past them and through the glass doors. Rain falls in slow succession and darkens the light pavement. The Dauntless run, stomping in puddles and wetting the bottoms of my jeans.

The Dauntless run as if they've finally been let off their leash, angry and free at the same time.

I run with them, not entirely one of them but unsure of where else I could possibly belong. Instinctively I scan the crowd for a hint of blonde hair. And I see her, running at the front of the group, her hair swaying behind her.

I wonder what she's thinking. I wonder if she thinks of me at all anymore. I wonder.

The first thing we do when we reach the Dauntless compound is work to render the security cameras useless. Boxes of paintball guns are unloaded and distributed. After receiving a pack of paintballs, the Dauntless roam around the compound and shoot the cameras with paint.