Becoming Determinant - Tobias' Story

Divergent Chapters 29 & 30 - Final Exams

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie, and to BarbaraK2U, who has kindly agreed to help with the review process too, since my schedule can be more than a little difficult to accommodate. I really appreciate the help from both of you!

"Divergent" Chapters 29 & 30 – Final Exams

It's a mystery to me how the population of Dauntless can possibly expand so much on initiation day. People fill the Pit and the pathways surrounding it, flooding through the dining hall and the Pire in such numbers that it's virtually impossible to move without being tripped or rammed into or knocked off a narrow path.

I have to assume my most intimidating instructor presence and bark, "Out of the way!" periodically simply to get lunch and then navigate to the Fear Landscape room afterwards. Almost everyone I pass is drunk.

My official role today is minimal, since the leaders will be the ones who observe the landscapes, but I still arrive early and set everything up. They'll consider it to be beneath them to do that, and by doing it myself, I can make sure it's done right. And that Eric doesn't somehow mess with the system.

Lauren arrives next, looking almost nervous. I wonder if she has any particular initiates she's worried about, but it's too loud for discussion, so we just exchange nods and wait.

The leaders begin trickling in ten minutes later. Not surprisingly, Eric is the first of them. He gives me a malicious smile before making a show of taking his seat in one of the observation chairs and beginning to hook himself up to the computers. It's his way of proclaiming that he's more important than I am.

The crowd quiets a little when Max arrives, toting a box in his hand. "Four, Lauren," he says loudly enough to be heard over the remaining noise, "I have something for you."

As we look at him curiously, he opens the box to reveal a set of syringes that are filled with an orange-brown fluid. It's not the right color for the landscapes.

"We've had a problem with members going missing," he states, "so we're injecting everyone with a tracking device."

Something freezes inside me, and I can't help but think this must be related to the upcoming war. Do they know that I discovered their plans, or that I warned Tris? Are they trying to track my whereabouts to see if I go to Abnegation?

"I'm not worried about getting lost," I tell him coldly.

He gives an irritated grunt. "It's standard procedure. We're injecting everyone, thanks to your initiate – you know, the one who wandered off to Erudite. We can't lose anyone else like that."

"That seems like an absurd overreaction," I state flatly, but I can feel the tension increasing even more inside me at the mention of Tris.

"Oh, come now, Four," a voice murmurs smoothly beside me, and suddenly Maria's hand is on my arm. With all the noise, I didn't even hear her approach.

She gives me the false smile she always does, and I can feel my stomach turning. "How are we supposed to get our newest members to comply if their trainers don't?" she asks, as if it's the most reasonable question in the world.

"That's your problem," I snap. It's a bad idea to speak that disrespectfully to a senior leader, but I can't help it. There are few people I distrust more than Maria, and her presence makes me even more desperate to find a way out of this.

For the first time since I've met her, Maria's face loses its seductive mask, and I see anger flash behind her eyes. "It's a direct order," she hisses. And I know I have to either obey or risk being kicked out of Dauntless.