“Why do they leave me all by myself?
Why do they use me and bring me down?
Why do they hurt me?
Why do they leave me?
Why doesn't anybody stick around?”~ Porcelain Doll, Megan McCauley
*****
We find the rebels in the computer room. Tris isn’t there as far as I can see throughout the crowd, but I spot Cara immediately, even without her glasses. She is at the centre of the whirlwind of panic and activity, the calm and calculating eye of the storm. She wears a blue and black plaid shirt that fits her snugly, and is lightly too tight over her shoulders, straining. Sure enough, her fingers are flying away at the keyboard, and her lipsticked mouth is barking orders left and right. It’s just as well someone’s taking charge, because the place is in a state of absolute chaos.
Callie and I fight out way through the hackers and the techies, past the workers, the cruisers and the people who wouldn’t know a firewall if it shot them in the head and make it next to my old friend.
Her eyes are dark with circles and tearstained red, but she’s still that same strong leader that I used to know. Something on the computer screen catches my eye, and I lean forward to see it. There’s a countdown of thirty seconds on her screen, and it’s to access Jeanine’s computer. They’ve got it all wrong; they’re getting it all wrong. I shout out a question to Cara, and she signs permission back to me, vacating her seat. I pull it towards me in a smooth motion and launch my fingers straight onto the buttons. They fly frantically - Cara’s team have made a right mess with this hack job - and if I don’t stop it in under half a minute, a virus will attack the computer, rendering it and all Cara’s research so far useless.
It’s a little nerve-wracking I must admit, and I haven’t done any hacking under time pressure in years. I’m so close, and now there’s only the ten-digit passcode to input - and when I was trying to get inside Jeanine’s computer for kicks with Tobias two and a half years ago, I cracked it. I type it in as I remember it, cautiously. I hesitate for a second on the ninth digit, before the memory resurfaces. But the last number… it’s either a 3, a 9 or a 7, I remember that much; I just don’t know which one.
The dreaded countdown is teasing me from the screen, the descending numbers flashing up one by one. Fourteen, thirteen, twelve. 3,7,9. Which one? Ten, nine, eight. I slam my clenched fist against my head, squeezing my eyes tight shut in an effort to jog my memory. Six. My mind won’t work. Five. My eyes flash from side to side but the answer isn’t anywhere to be found. Four. Why can’t I remember? Three. It’s too late. Two. It’s too late. One. My eyes are closed; it’s too late it’s too late it’s too late. The time should be up - something should have happened by now. But all I can hear behind me is Callie’s squeal of absolute delight. Confused, I open my eyes, where an arm intercepts my vision. Tobias.
Tobias smiles down at me, his finger still on the keyboard, pressing that crucial key. We did it. The firewall is disabled - Cara’s data is saved, and we’re inside the computer. I laugh, and the tension is released. And, fumbling in my jacket pocket, Callie produces Eric’s envelope and hands it over to Cara, explaining everything.
*****
Callie and I eventually decide to leave Cara in the hands of Tobias, because he obviously knows what he’s doing and to be honest, we’d rather spend time alone. As we walk together, Callie doesn’t let go of my hand. I think she’s trying to make up for all the time that she stayed away from me, by being ever close. I don’t mind, but I wish I could reassure her that I’ve forgiven and forgotten everything that happened then. All that matters is now.
“Hey, you!”
Callie turns around and stares up at Elecia, who is walking loomingly behind us and who’s mouth is twisted up into a gruesome smirk; it’s the kind of smile someone wears when they know they will win - the victor’s smile.
“Me?” My girlfriend asks, and her tone is innocent and polite, but I know that strong, rebellious glint shining in her almost violet eyes better than anyone else. She’d been paying more attention to me than she’d care to admit in those three weeks; she knows exactly who Elecia is and what she’s done to me - and she’s getting ready to kick ass. Callie, I warn her in my mind, leave it, she’s not worth it, and we both know this can’t end well for you. But I haven’t got any better at telepathy since I last tried, and she doesn’t hear because she doesn’t want to. In my mind, I know Callie is incredibly capable of taking down pretty much anyone, but Elecia’s tall and strong and meaty and she’s spent her Dauntless childhood fighting and stabbing people with knives - I just don’t want Callie to get hurt because of me. And I want to lose her even less than I wanted to lose Julian - which was not at all.
But I’ve seen her up against Eric. I’ve seen her up against Christina. Maybe when I’m the one in danger, or being teased, I shouldn’t worry, because she’s faster than a lightning bolt when it comes to defending me.
“Yes, you.” She sneers. “The little faggot’s girlfriend.”
Callie takes a step forward, releasing her grasp on my hand. “What did you call her?”
Elecia laughs. Possibly because she’s so much bigger than Callie, so the idea of having to defend herself against her seems absurd. “A little freak - a girl-liking freak of nature that needs to be dealt with because she’s sick and wrong and so are-“
She doesn’t even finish the sentence before Callie’s fist slams into her temple. It makes a sickening whack as it connects, and Elecia staggers backwards.
The fight itself only lasts about a minute before Elecia’s on the floor and Callie stands over her, kicking at her stomach in a frenzied rage whilst the taller girl cowers beneath her, screaming. And I pull her away because the fight is over and she’s won already, but if she doesn’t stop it now someone’s going to get seriously hurt - and I can’t stand to see that, even if it is Elecia. And Callie’s knuckled are bloody and her head’s all banged up and her face is furious. But I lead her to our room to clean up the blood and the injuries, and I kiss the scowl right off her face.
*****
Callie lies sprawled on the bed, sighing. “Why do they have to be so hurtful, Amber? What did we ever do to them?”
“We love each other,” I tell her, sitting on the bed just by her shoulder and stroking her tangled hair. “And some people are so full of hatred that that is enough.”
“I still don’t understand.” She mutters, angrily. “Why would you do that to someone? Don’t they know what it could do? How much it hurts?” I see the pain on her face and the raw anguish in her voice and I know she’s thinking of Selene. I lie down beside her, and slip my hands around her waist. We lie like this, just lie there, a mess of tangled limbs and raw feelings, until I hear something that I wasn’t expecting - the alarm bell rings. I know it’s only for emergencies, so what could have happened?
I’m immediately confused, my brain flying through all the possible scenarios. I turn to Callie. “What’s that?”
Callie has shot straight up into a sitting position and is pulling her shoes back on. “The alarm bell - the rebels must have broken through.” She rushes to the door, peering outside, and then curses. “It will be at Erudite, all the commotion will be at the Erudite compound, dammit. I want to know what’s happening - but there’s no way we can get there in time.”
Now it’s my turn to jump up, because I know the Erudite compound’s system and I know how to break into it. “The computer room,” is all I say, and Callie understands.
And we run.
YOU ARE READING
Truth (a Divergent Fanfic)
Romance"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Amber Rose is a Candor initiate, an Erudite transfer and a liar. Struggling to fit in in a place she doesn't belong, how can...
