To Try Again | Divergent (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 19

Tobias POV

I awake to a knock on the door. As I open my eyes, I see Tris laying between my arms. I smile at the sight, as the knocking continues.

"Open up!" The voice yells. At this, Tris opens her eyes.

"Tobias," she says, her voice scratchy. "Who's at the door?"

"I'll see," I tell her. "Go back to sleep."

"Four!" The voice yells and the knocking continues.

"I'm coming!" I yell. I stand up, kiss Tris' head, and open the door.

I see Zeke in the hall looking nervous.

"Zeke," I say, yawning. "What's your problem? It's the middle of the night."

There's a line of sweat on his forehead, and he's out of breath. He must've run here.

"I was working the night shift in the control room," Zeke says. "Something happened in the transfer dorm."

Then it hits me. The whole reason Tris is here, is because Edward got stabbed. Why didn't I think of it sooner? I look back and see that Tris has fallen back asleep.

"What?" I ask, hoping that the situation had changed. That maybe Christina had stopped it, and I'm just jumping to conclusions. "To who?"

"Walk and talk," Zeke says.

I put on my shoes, pull on my jacket, and follow him down the hall. The whole time, I'm really hoping that he doesn't notice the small blonde sleeping in my bed.

"The smart-mouth Candor girl," he says.

That wasn't what I expected. Maybe Christina was successful. "Molly?" I ask. As soon as the word leaves my mouth, I stop.

Why would Peter attack Molly? He wouldn't. That means...

Zeke speaks, interrupting my thoughts. "No, the other one."

"Christina." The word leaves my mouth slowly, hoping that it isn't true.

"Yeah. Christina. She was attacked. Stabbed."

She protected Edward, but got hurt in the process. How much damage did it do? I can only hope that it isn't as bad as Edward's. Maybe this won't make her factionless.

"Dead?" I don't know why I ask, but I have to make sure.

"Alive. Got hit in the arm."

I stop, relieved. "In the arm?"

Zeke nods.

"Thank goodness." Zeke raises an eyebrow. I try to find a cover. "I mean, at least she's alive." He nods, buying it. "Who did you tell?"

"Night supervisor. He went to tell Eric. Eric said he would handle it."

"Sure he will." I veer to the right, away from the transfer dormitory.

"Where are you going?" Zeke asks.

"Christina's already in the infirmary?" I walk backward as I talk.

Zeke nods.

I say, "Then I'm going to see Max."

~~~

I decided to leave Tris a note, telling her where I was. I told her to stay in my apartment. I have food and anything she needs for an hour or two.

Max's apartment is buried deep in the underground corridors of the compound, exactly where it was last time. I march towards it, following the blue emergency lamps.

I pound on the metal door with my fist, waking Max the same way Zeke woke me. He yanks the door open a few seconds later, his feet bare and his eyes wild.

"What happened?" he asks.

"One of my initiates was stabbed," I say.

"And you came here? Didn't someone inform Eric?"

"Yeah. That's what I want to talk to you about. Mind if I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, I walk past him and into his apartment. This time, I am determined to make a change. And I know a way. I might also be able to stop the war.

He flips on the light, and it is exactly how I remember it. Messy. Used cups and plates are strewn across the coffee table. The couch cushions are in disarray, and the floor is covered in dust.

"I want initiation to go back to the way it was before Eric made it more competitive," I say, "and I want him out of my training room."

"You don't really think it's Eric's fault that an initiate got hurt," Max says, crossing his arms. I've had this conversation once, and I don't mind having it again. This time it will go my way. "Or that you're in any position to make demands."

"Yes, it's his fault, of course it's his fault!" I'm shouting now. "If they weren't all fighting for one of ten slots, they wouldn't be so desperate and ready to attack each other! He has them wound up so tight, of course they're bound to explode eventually!"

Max is quiet. He's annoyed. It's obvious. But, like before, he isn't calling me ridiculous. That's a good sign.

"You don't think the initiate who did the attacking should be held responsible?" Max asks. Does he not get it? "You don't think he or she is the one to blame, instead of Eric?"

"Of course he-she-whoever should be held responsible," I say, even though I know exactly who it was. "But this never would've happened if Eric-"

Max cuts me off. "You can't say that with any certainty."

I scoff. "I can say it with the certainty of a reasonable person."

"I'm not reasonable?" His voice is dangerously low. But that doesn't scare me. Even though, he was working with Jeanine to plan a war, he wanted me for a leader.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," I say.

"Maybe I did, but you should be careful to communicate exactly what you mean," Max says, moving closer to me  "Or someone will start to think you're insulting your superiors."

I don't respond, but he continues to move closer.

"Or questioning the values of your faction," he says, and his bloodshot eyes drift to my shoulder, where the Dauntless flames of my tattoo stick out over the collar of my shirt. But I continue to keep eye contact with him for my own benefit.

"You had your shot to become a Dauntless leader," he continues. "Maybe you could have avoided this incident if you had not backed out like a coward. But you did. And now you have to deal with the consequences."

Here goes nothing, I think.

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," I say. "I would like to except your offer and become a Dauntless leader."

A/N: So there you have it. I can not take credit for the idea of Tobias excepting the job offer. I got the idea from Imperfect-BlackAngel on fanfiction.net. She gave me an amazing idea on how to stop the war, and I plan to use it. Also, the majority of this chapter came directly from Veronica Roth's Four.

As always feel free to spam. (That was for alohafourtris 😉😂)

Bye Pansycakes and Laila.
~Bree