Devious | Eric Coulter

3

Charlie

He was climbing up the metal bars like it was an everyday thing.

"Why aren't you climbing yet?" Uriah asked when he realized I wasn't following him, stopping his movements. His tone was so genuinely confused that it made it hard for me to explain why.

"Because I can't." Was what I settled to say instead, and it came out like he should have known the answer to his own question.

I remember hearing someone from Candor saying this expression to one of her companions before, "Duh."

It was said in a condescending manner, and it sounded mean.

Uriah rolled his eyes. He seemed familiar with my tone of voice. "Just grab a bar and pull yourself up. Make sure your feet follow. It isn't that hard, Charlie. It's literally like climbing a ladder."

"That's the problem," I grumbled, struggling to do as he said, "I've never climbed a ladder."

The laugh that Uriah released only fueled up my frustration. I huffed, blocking out Uriah and concentrated my thoughts on climbing. Before I knew it, I was higher than him.

I didn't realize I was so far up the ground. 

"Oh, shit." I said, and when I realized what word I used, I released one bar to cover my gaping mouth. I never cussed. Then, I remembered that I wasn't under Marcus' roof anymore, so I smiled and I shouted in a loud voice, "Oh, shit!"

Uriah was now back on the lead. When he heard me, he looked at me like I was crazy. "That's nice. Come on, the train's coming by soon."

I did as he told, hoisting myself up faster. With the help of Uriah, I was able to step on the platform and see the view of the city. I couldn't enjoy the view that much though, since the train started coming towards us accompanied with blaring horns.

Uriah started to run. I stayed rooted to my spot.

"What are you doing?" I shouted against the harsh winds nipping at my face, "Why are you running?"

Uriah looked at me like I was crazy once again, and he shouted back, "You idiot! The train's not going to stop! We need to catch it!"

Fear settled on my bones. Catch a moving train?

I broke into a run.

Up ahead, I saw Dauntless and people from different factions reach to grab the handle protruding from the train and used it to get inside. 

Before long, Uriah hurled himself inside one of the cars.

"Shit," I exclaimed, feeling like now was the right time to say those words, "Shit!"

Uriah poked his head out of the train, and surprisingly, a familiar face did, too. Beatrice and him reached their arms out for me, and with all my power, I ran like my life depended on it.

I reached my arms out, Beatrice immediately took hold of one while Uriah grabbed the other. I jumped, and both of them pulled me inside the speeding train. 

I was positive that my heart would jump out of my chest at how fast it's beating. My hands were clenched around Beatrice's  grey dress and Uriah's black shirt. I continued breathing heavily, looking at both of them with wide eyes, "I'm not doing that again."

The three of us laughed until there were tears on our eyes.

* * *

"I didn't expect you to transfer," I told Beatrice quietly. We had the same appearance: Long, grey dress matched with brown sandals, both our hairs tied up in a neat bun.