Born to be Dauntless

Chapter 37

"The doors open from the outside. We stop short of stampeding Jack Kang and the group of Candor that followed him here.

"What have you done?" he says. "I was just told that Eric is missing from his holding cell."

"He was under our jurisdiction," says Tori. "We "gave him a trial and executed him. You should be thanking us."

"Why . . ." Jack's face turns red
" should I be thanking you?"

"Because you wanted him to be executed, too, right? Since he murdered one of your children?" Tori tilts her head, her eyes wide, innocent.

"Well, we took care of it for you. And now, if you'll excuse us, we're leaving."
"Wha—Leaving?" Jack splutters.

In that moment he realizes that if we leave ,he won't be able to fulfill two of three things Max wanted him to do. The thought obviously scares him.

"I can't let you do that," he says.
"You don't let us do anything," says Four. "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?" Jack scowls. "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," says Tori. "We're Dauntless."

Everyone shouts, and somehow their screams pierce the haze in my mind. The entire crowd presses forward at once. The Candor in the corridor yelp and dive out of the way as we spill into the hallway like a burst pipe, Dauntless water spreading to fill the empty space.

I run down the stairs, chasing the heels of the Dauntless in front of me, ignoring the jostle of elbows and all the shouts around me. It's like the beginning. The adrenaline feels amazing and I almost smile.

Almost because I think of Will and how he would enjoy this. And right then a thought strikes me. I never told him I was Divergent.

I stop running, putting my hands on my knees and gasping for air. I need to keep going. Will would want me to.

I rise up and continue running until we reach our destination.
.
"Shut up and run!" Says Christina.

A few nights after we reached the headquarters and painted the cameras so no one would see us. After Tris told me Four made an alliance with the faction less .

We run to the Pit, and the roar of the river follows me up the paths. The last time Christina pulled me out of bed, it was to see Al's body lifted out of the chasm. I grit my teeth and try not to think about that. It can't have happened again. It can't.

I gasp—she runs faster than I do—as we sprint across the glass floor of the Pire. Christina slams her palm into an elevator button and slips inside before the doors are fully open, dragging me behind her. She jabs the DOOR CLOSE button, and then the button for the top floor.

"Simulation," she says. "There's a simulation. It's not everyone, it's just . . . just a few."
She puts her hands on her knees and takes deep breaths.

"One of them said something about the Divergent," she says.
"Said that?" Tris says. "While under a simulation?"

She nods. "Marlene. Didn't sound like her, though. Too . . . monotone."

The doors open, and we follow her down the hallway to the door marked ROOF ACCESS.
"Christina," I say, "why are we going to the roof?"

She doesn't answer me. The stairs to the roof smell like old paint. Dauntless graffiti is scrawled on the cement-block walls in black paint. The symbol of Dauntless. Initials paired together with plus signs: RG + NT, BR + FH. Couples who are probably old now, maybe broken up. I wonder how life at Dauntless was back then. But I have more important things to focus on now.

The night air is cool; it gives me goose bumps on my arms. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness by now, and across the roof I see three figures standing on the ledge, facing me.

One is Marlene. One is Hector. One is someone I don't recognize—a young Dauntless, barely eight years old, with a green streak in her hair.
They stand still on the ledge, though the wind is blowing hard, tossing their hair over their foreheads, into their eyes, into their mouths. Their clothes snap in the wind, but still they stand motionless.

"Just come down off the ledge now," Christina says. "Don't do anything stupid. Come on, now . ."

"Christina,they can't hear you " I say,chewing on my bottom lip nervously. We could each try to take one of them. But it would be hard to get Marlene. It would need two people to get her or the person with her would fall.

I shake my head. We have to risk it. I look at Tris and Christina " you two stand by Hector and the girl ,I'll take Marlene " I say boldly .

I never was quite abnegation. But I think I have to do this tonight.

"I have a message for the Divergent." Her voice sounds flat. The simulation is using her vocal cords, but robs them of the natural fluctuations of human emotion.

I look from Marlene to Hector. Hector, who was so afraid of what I am because his mother told him to be. Lynn is probably still at Shauna's bedside, hoping Shauna can move her legs when she wakes up again. Lynn can't lose Hector.

I step forward to receive the message.
"This is not a negotiation. It is a warning," says the simulation through Marlene, moving her lips and vibrating in her throat. "Every two days until one of you delivers yourself to Erudite headquarters, this will happen again."

Marlene steps back, and I throw myself forward. It may sound stupid . But I could actually feel the moment happen in slow motion.

I dive forward as she steps back. I desperately reach to grab her shirt. For a second I get a handful of it. But it's not enough. The movement is gone and before I know it she is on the ground.

I look down . Even though I thought I wouldn't be able to. My brain makes me look. Memorize every detail. I can't stop it. It's what my brain does .So that it can haunt me forever.

That I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't fast enough.

I couldn't save Marlene .