The Way Back

Chapter 4

1 YEAR LATER

TOBIAS POV

Zeke steps into my office, closing the door behind him, and I briefly glance up at him before returning to my work. The papers laid out in front of me are mostly maps, and I trace different areas with a marker to mark places within a twenty mile radius that I want searched.

"Anything?" I ask hopelessly.

I expect the normal answer: no. No leads, no verification, nothing. For a week now, I have sent search parties composed of armed Dauntless guards outside the fence, and they all came back empty-handed. Maybe a year ago it would have been successful, but I am afraid it is too late to find any information that would help me locate Tris.

The reason it took so long to send out groups is that it was prohibited by the rest of the Council until very recently. Andrew Prior and I were the only members eager to let people outside the fence, and therefore we were outnumbered. I don't necessarily blame them; if my wife and child weren't outside, then I would be hesitant to open it.

But my wife and child are out there and could be in grave danger. Hell, they could be dead for all I know, though I immediately shove the idea to the back of my mind every time it makes an appearance. Tris is strong and I believe in her, though sometimes that isn't enough, and I end up getting chills down my spine even though I like to think the possibility is absurd.

"Four," Zeke says solemnly, which grabs my attention. If they found nothing out there today, he would have come out with it the moment he walked in. He would not be stalling with an apologetic expression.

In a split second, I am on my feet. "What is it? What did you find?" I demand. My heart pounds while my mind runs a million miles a minute.

He sighs and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Four. We found Natalie Prior's body out in the forest we swept through today."

My knees become weak, and I sink back down into my chair, letting the news set in. My mother-in-law, the one who has always treated me with nothing but kindness, is gone.

And it feels wrong, but I don't linger on her death for long. I didn't know her well—faction before blood meant that Tris and I didn't have many visits with her—so it is not front and center in my mind to mourn her. Instead, I contemplate what this means for Tris.

The party must have thoroughly searched the area after finding Natalie's body, so that rules out Tris dying in that area. However, that does not mean that she isn't dead elsewhere, especially since those chances are heightened with her out there alone.

"How did she..." I trail off.

Thankfully, Zeke knows what I am asking. "She was shot twice in the back. The medical examiner said the body is around a year old."

Great. So Tris had to survive a year by herself, wherever she is, and the resources out past the forested area seem scarce. Even if she did manage to stay alive on the bare minimum, it is likely that the baby didn't make it because of malnutrition. If Tris did succeed in delivering, then that means she is now wandering around with a six-month-old. On her own. In the middle of nowhere.

I am not liking these odds.

Especially with the evidence of somebody hostile out beyond the city. They clearly wanted both Tris and her mother dead, and maybe they are still in pursuit. Or maybe they achieved their goal.

There are too many unanswered questions, and that is the major problem right now. If I was positive that Tris is alive, then I would be the first one charging out that fence and into the unknown. But with no certainty, unreliable vehicles, possible enemies, and a city depending on me, there is not much else I can do.