nature to me, something that continued along their path regardless of what we did inside the city limits, something pulsing and alive and powerful. Now I have met the men and women who operate them, and some of that mystery is gone, but what they mean to me will never be gone—my first act as a Dauntless was to jump on one, and every day afterward they were the source of my freedom, they gave me the power to move within this world when I had once felt so trapped in the Abnegation sector, in the house that was a prison to me.
When it comes closer, I cut the tie around Caleb’s wrists with a pocketknife and keep a firm hold on his arm.
“You know how to do this, right?” I say. “Get in the last car.”
He unbuttons the jacket and drops it on the ground. “Yeah.”
Starting at one end of the platform, we run together along the worn boards, keeping pace with the open door. He doesn’t reach for the handle, so I push him toward it. He stumbles, then grabs it and pulls himself into the last car. I am running out of space—the platform is ending—I seize the handle and swing myself in, my muscles absorbing the pull forward.
Tris stands inside the car, wearing a small, crooked smile. Her black jacket is zipped up to her throat, framing her face in darkness. She grabs my collar and pulls me in for a kiss. As she pulls away, she says, “I always loved watching you do that.”
I grin.
“Is this what you had planned?” Caleb demands from behind me. “For her to be here when you kill me? That’s—”
“ Kill him?” Tris asks me, not looking at her brother.
“Yeah, I let him think he was being taken to his execution,” I say, loud enough that he can hear. “You know, sort of like he did to you in Erudite headquarters.”
“I . . . it isn’t true?” His face, lit by the moon, is slack with shock. I notice that his shirt’s buttons are in the wrong buttonholes.
“No,” I say. “I just saved your life, actually.”
He starts to say something, and I interrupt him. “Might not want to thank me just yet. We’re taking you with us. Outside the fence.”
Outside the fence—the place he once tried so hard to avoid that he turned on his own sister. It seems a more fitting punishment than death, anyway. Death is so quick, so certain. Where we’re going now, nothing is certain.
He looks frightened, but not as frightened as I thought he would be. I feel like I understand, then, the way he ranks things in his mind: his life, first; his comfort in a world of his own making, second; and somewhere after that, the lives of the people he is supposed to love. He is the sort of despicable person who has no understanding of how despicable he is, and my badgering him with insults won’t change that; nothing will. Rather than angry, I just feel heavy, useless.
I don’t want to think about him anymore. I take Tris’s hand and lead her to the other side of the car, so we can watch the city disappear behind us. We stand side by side in the open doorway, each of us holding one of the handles. The buildings create a dark, jagged pattern on the sky.
“We were followed,” I say.
“We’ll be careful,” she answers.
“Where are the others?”
“In the first few cars,” she says. “I thought we should be alone. Or as alone as we can get.”
She smiles at me. These are our last moments in the city. Of course we should spend them alone.
“I’m really going to miss this place,” she says.
“Really?” I say. “My thoughts are more like, ‘Good riddance.’”
“There’s nothing you’ll miss? No good memories?” She elbows me.
“Fine.” I smile. “There are a few.”
“Any that don’t involve me?” she says. “That sounds self-centered. You know what I mean.”
“Sure, I guess,” I say, shrugging. “I mean, I got to have a different life in Dauntless, a different name. I got to be Four, thanks to my initiation instructor. He gave me the name.”
“Really?” She tilts her head. “Why
When it comes closer, I cut the tie around Caleb’s wrists with a pocketknife and keep a firm hold on his arm.
“You know how to do this, right?” I say. “Get in the last car.”
He unbuttons the jacket and drops it on the ground. “Yeah.”
Starting at one end of the platform, we run together along the worn boards, keeping pace with the open door. He doesn’t reach for the handle, so I push him toward it. He stumbles, then grabs it and pulls himself into the last car. I am running out of space—the platform is ending—I seize the handle and swing myself in, my muscles absorbing the pull forward.
Tris stands inside the car, wearing a small, crooked smile. Her black jacket is zipped up to her throat, framing her face in darkness. She grabs my collar and pulls me in for a kiss. As she pulls away, she says, “I always loved watching you do that.”
I grin.
“Is this what you had planned?” Caleb demands from behind me. “For her to be here when you kill me? That’s—”
“ Kill him?” Tris asks me, not looking at her brother.
“Yeah, I let him think he was being taken to his execution,” I say, loud enough that he can hear. “You know, sort of like he did to you in Erudite headquarters.”
“I . . . it isn’t true?” His face, lit by the moon, is slack with shock. I notice that his shirt’s buttons are in the wrong buttonholes.
“No,” I say. “I just saved your life, actually.”
He starts to say something, and I interrupt him. “Might not want to thank me just yet. We’re taking you with us. Outside the fence.”
Outside the fence—the place he once tried so hard to avoid that he turned on his own sister. It seems a more fitting punishment than death, anyway. Death is so quick, so certain. Where we’re going now, nothing is certain.
He looks frightened, but not as frightened as I thought he would be. I feel like I understand, then, the way he ranks things in his mind: his life, first; his comfort in a world of his own making, second; and somewhere after that, the lives of the people he is supposed to love. He is the sort of despicable person who has no understanding of how despicable he is, and my badgering him with insults won’t change that; nothing will. Rather than angry, I just feel heavy, useless.
I don’t want to think about him anymore. I take Tris’s hand and lead her to the other side of the car, so we can watch the city disappear behind us. We stand side by side in the open doorway, each of us holding one of the handles. The buildings create a dark, jagged pattern on the sky.
“We were followed,” I say.
“We’ll be careful,” she answers.
“Where are the others?”
“In the first few cars,” she says. “I thought we should be alone. Or as alone as we can get.”
She smiles at me. These are our last moments in the city. Of course we should spend them alone.
“I’m really going to miss this place,” she says.
“Really?” I say. “My thoughts are more like, ‘Good riddance.’”
“There’s nothing you’ll miss? No good memories?” She elbows me.
“Fine.” I smile. “There are a few.”
“Any that don’t involve me?” she says. “That sounds self-centered. You know what I mean.”
“Sure, I guess,” I say, shrugging. “I mean, I got to have a different life in Dauntless, a different name. I got to be Four, thanks to my initiation instructor. He gave me the name.”
“Really?” She tilts her head. “Why
Similar Books
