Finding The Courage

Part 57

The airplane was much bigger than I had expected it to be.

"How does this stay in the air?" Uriah asked from beside me behind Tris. We all followed Zoe up a set of stairs and threw a hole in the side of the plane. Four was still missing but I didn't blame him. Tris chose a seat near the front of the plane, Peter and Caleb headed to the back of the plane and sat close to each other. Cara sat behind Tris, while Uriah and Christina sat next to Tris. That left me to decide where I wanted to be. I sat behind them, I could still hear them but I wasn't "with" them.

"If Dauntless knew about this, everyone would want to learn how to drive it." Uriah commented. Christina scoffed.

"No, they would be strapping themselves to the wings. Don't you know your own faction." We all giggled a little as he poked her cheek in response. I glanced back to find Peter and caught his eye, I smiled at him and he smirked back at me.

"Buckle your seat belts and don't stand until we have reached cruising altitude." Zoe yelled back to us. The plane started to move backward at first then forward with such momentum that we were all forced against the back of our chairs. Then the rise of the plane. By the time I looked out the window everything was just colors below us. Zoe directed us to look to the left to see remnants of the Purity War. The buildings were black, charred. Some of them were flattened.

"Oh look, there's Chicago!" I couldn't look at it and wonder where Wayne was down there.

"How big is it compared to the rest of the world?" Peter called from across the plane. "Our city, in terms of land area, what's the percentage?"

"Chicago takes up about two hundred and twenty seven square miles, the percentage is very small compared to the rest of the world." Peter was silent at that and I turned to catch his face again. This time he looked like he had taken a punch to the gut. The rest of the flight was silent.

"How big is it compared to the rest of the world?" Peter called from across the plane. "Our city, in terms of land area, what's the percentage?"

"Chicago takes up about two hundred and twenty seven square miles, the percentage is very small compared to the rest of the world." Peter was silent at that and I turned to catch his face again. This time he looked like he had taken a punch to the gut. The rest of the flight was silent.

The rest of us left Tris in the dorm as we went to dinner. She had been silent since we had learned how insignificant our city was compared to the rest of the world. Uriah and Christina were the first to leave dinner.Caleb followed shortly after them. However I stuck next to Four the entire night and when he left to meet with Nita I followed him.

"Wasn't sure you'd come." Nita said as we came into view before turning to lead us wherever we were going. Four and I noticed she had a tattoo on her spine.

"You get tattoos too, here?" He asked,

"Some people do. The one you're looking at is of broken glass." She turned to look at us. "It suggests damage. You know, it's sort of a joke." She turned back around and continued to lead us down one of the tiled corridors that were bustling hours before. We headed down a set of stairs that led us to a tunnel. It was wide and dark with only a strange purple and red light to guide us. The floor felt grainy with dirt despite being tile like the rest.

"This part was the first to be redone when they moved in here. Everything was underground to keep it safe after the war in case of attack. Now it's just us support staff down here."

"Is that who you want us to meet?" I asked. Four looked a little startled that I had been behind him this whole time.

"Almost all of us are genetically damaged. Pulled from the outside, or from failed experiments. All of the scientists and leaders are genetically pure. There are some exceptions but I could list them all right now for you." We kept walking and neither of us asked her to list them off. "I think your girl is right for the record, about nothing having changed you just have a better idea of who you are now. Every person has limitations, even the pure."

"So someone gets to put a cap on my compassion or my conscience? This is ridiculous, Why do you or they get to determine my limits?"

"It's genetics." Nita responded to Four.

"No it is not. It's more than genes and you know it." I piped in. Four was radiating anger and I had only seen him like this handful of times. At the end of the tunnel we reached a heavy wooden door. Nita pushed it open, the room was light and alive. It was covered in small bright lights on strings packed into a web of yellow and white on the ceiling almost like stars. There seemed to be a bar on one end of the room and to the right side was a group of people with musical instruments. Music filled that air. Four and I stood there gaping as we took in the room around us. Nita moved toward the bar but a small boy ran into the room.

"It's verdict time!" Half of the room was suddenly rushing past us.

"Whose verdict?" Four called out.

"Marcus's." Nita replied and Four took off running.

I chased after Four as he weaved through the gaps in people as we made our way back up the tunnel. Nita was behind us as we took the steps three at a time yelling at us to stop. Four and I had always been strong runners and she was finding it hard to keep up with us. We followed the flow of people headed towards the control room which allowed us to continue to weave through the crowd of people with ease. Four pushed his way to the front when we arrived and I was right behind him as Nita finally caught up to us. There on the screen were Four's parents. Someone turned up the volume so everyone could hear their voices.

"You took your time, savoring the moment?" Marcu's voice played across the speaker. Four stiffened beside me and out of instinct I placed a hand on his arm.

"Of course not Marcus, you have served the city well for many years. This is not a decision I or any of my advisors have taken lightly." Evelyn replied. "I and the former representatives of the factions have had a lot to consider. Your years of service, the loyalty you have inspired among your faction members, my lingering feelings for you as my former husband." Four snorted.

"I am still your husband. The Abnegation do not allow for divorce."

"They do in cases of spousal abuse." Four shifted uncomfortably. Evelyn had just openly admitted to everyone that Marcus was in fact abusive.

"She's going to kill him." Four mumbled beside me.

"The fact remains that you have committed egregious crimes against this city. You deceived innocent children into risking their lives for your purposes. Your refusal to follow the orders of myself and Tori Wu the former leader of Dauntless resulted in countless deaths in the Erudite attack. You betrayed your peers by failing to do as we agreed and by failing to fight against Jeanine Matthews. You betrayed your own faction by revealing what was supposed to be a guarded secret."

"I did not-" Marcus cut her off.

"I am not finished. Given your record of service to this city we have decided on an alternative solution. You will not unlike the former faction representatives be forgiven and allowed to consult on the issues regarding the city. Nor will you be executed as a traitor. Instead, you will be sent outside the fence, beyond the Amity compound and will not be allowed to return. Congratulations. You have the privilege of beginning again."

The shock on Marcus's face said it all. Four however had a blank face. When he turned to leave I followed.