Finding The Courage

Part 49

The training session ended and I found myself taking a nap after I showered in Wayne's apartment. I woke to the sound of his heavy footsteps as he tried his best not to wake me as he made his way into the shower. I ignored him in an attempt to allow him some privacy and kept my eyes closed until he addressed me.

"I heard you set up a training time for people who felt the need to have some type of scheduling in their life."

"I thought it would help Uriah deal with some of his pent up feelings before we set out on this new mission. I thought we should sharpen our skills a bit. The others just heard us fighting and it felt like something normal and joined us."

"I'm not mad at you kiddo, you were going to be offered the open leader position from what everyone has told me. I think you would have been a great leader." I smiled at him. "Now come get some dinner with me. You have somewhere to be soon and I don't think anyone will thank you if your stomach gives you away." We both laughed and left the apartment. Dinner was a short affair, Melissa had decided to join us and I was unwilling to watch her flirt with my brother. I found myself crossing the chasm and making my way to Eric's apartment. I tried the knob and to my surprise it opened. I made my way into the room and noticed that the files I had seen the last time I was here were no longer there.

I moved silently through the room and began looking through whatever was left of Eric in this world. My throat tightened at the life I was finally seeing for the first time. There were books scattered across the room, I gathered them up and put them away on a shelf. I found the weapons he had stashed and took them. Evelyn would never trust me with a gun if she knew I had one but it seemed like no one knew these were here. I found myself rummaging through his clothes and taking a few shirts and sweaters with me. I found a spare key and much to my surprise a present with my name on it. My guess was he had meant to give it to me when he brought me back to Dauntless with him. I ran my fingers over the bird on my necklace and sat down with the box in my lap. It was small and as I opened it I found a piece of paper, which I picked up and read.

"If you're reading this then you have ventured into my apartment and I am no longer alive. Wren I am sorry, for the way I acted towards you and your friends. I realize that I will only have the chance to be honest with you if Jeanine fails but that might also cost me my life. Keep this with you and think of me fondly. I am sorry. If it suits you, keep my apartment as your own. You were meant to be a leader and you should have your own space once everything is settled."

 Inside the box lay two items. One was a dainty silver chain with an opal sitting in the middle. The stone rested in the base of my throat, the other was a knife. This knife was not the standard knife that I carried around in my boot, this one was made to be carried on my person. I slipped the knife into my waist line and closed the box with the note still inside. I made my way out of the apartment and locked the door behind me. I paced in Wayne's apartment after changing my shirt to a cropped black t-shirt. I wanted to be Dauntless tonight. Wayne was in bed as I waited to leave and finally it was time. Uriah and I met by the train and rode in together. We met Christina and Tris as we got off the train and once we arrived at Candor we met Four and Zeke. We made our way silently into the room where we had stood trial and waited. Soon the room was filled with familiar faces. Johanna and Cara among them. 

"You're here for the same reason we are." Johanna started talking in a hushed tone. "You don't trust Evelyn Johnson to determine the fate of the city." We all nodded our heads at the same time. "We have come up with a general plan. We wish for some of our group to head outside the wall. Tris, Wren this is where you come in. The plan is to leave tomorrow night, we will stay behind to reinstate the faction system and overthrow Evelyn."

" Who else is on the team besides Tris and I? Is it volunteer based?" I glanced at Johanna.

"I assumed your friends would go with you seeing as how they have trusted you to lead them up until this point." I nodded my head. The rest of the meeting consisted of where we would meet up to get out of the city and who would collect the gear since Tris, Four, nor I could without suspicion. We parted ways with Tris and Four trailing behind us. I strained to hear what they were talking about.

"I know he did horrible things but he's my brother I can't just leave him to die." I heard Tris whispering.

"Don't worry Tris, I'll get him out. I promise." Was Four's response. I left them to join Uriah as we headed back to Dauntless.

The rest of the night was spent sleeping, I crashed on Wayne's couch in a fitful sleep, I woke several times panicked that the group had left without me. Uriah came to find me later that morning asking to train. I followed him to the training room and to my surprise Tori, Peter, and Cara were already there. Tori took us to the roof and we taught Cara how to shoot a gun. Once we were all satisfied with our own shooting we went back to help Cara learn to fight. She caught on quickly but was weak. Tori left us as the day went on in order to get the supplies we would need for our trip. Peter went to the dorms while Uriah and I went to our brothers' apartments.

I showered and changed into all black tight cargo pants, tucking the ends into my boots. I pulled on a tight cropped black tank top and a cropped black jacket over it. I quickly braided my hair into two tight french braids before I grabbed a bag and threw a couple pairs of pants, underwear, and shirts into it. I tucked a knife in each boot, my knife from Eric onto my waist band and two guns into the back of my pants. I loaded the pockets on my pants with extra ammo.I left a note for Wayne, I explained that we were leaving and I didn't know if I would be coming back. I told him I love him and thanked him for everything.

I met Uriah and Peter at the train while we waited for the others. First was Tris, the Chirstina and Clara. Tori was the last to arrive as we waited for Four and Caleb. Finally as the sky began to turn black Four and Caleb joined us. We all got into one train car as the train began its journey out of the city.

"I'm really going to miss this place." Tris said as we watched the city go by.

"I'm not." Four said, shaking his head. "I'm happy to leave behind so many bad memories." The rest of the train is silent as we speed towards Amity.