Revelation | ✓

Chapter 22

I crouch lower behind a wooden crate, sliding my gun out from my jacket.

Who is it? Jack mouths.

Factionless. I mouth back.

A look of grim determination settles over his features, and he pulls out a handgun.

Maiya, Milla, and Celeste do an impressive roll across the car and kneel down in front of me. Celeste is Milla's twin sister, and it's obvious- they look exactly alike. "What should we do?" Maiya whispers.

"Lay low and wait for instructions." Ryde snaps. "Didn't you pay attention in training ever?"

"Dude, chill," says Destiny, Ryde's cousin. "I don't know what put you in a bad mood, but chill." Destiny has two sisters- they're triplets- a younger sister, and one older brother. He's nineteen and a Dauntless, and he sits on the other side of the car with his parents and two other sisters, both of which chose Dauntless two years ago along with Des.

"Alright, whatever." Maiya says. "But don't expect me to not smack you as soon as we're out of here, Ryder Pedrad."

"Ever heard of kindness?" Jack raises his eyebrows.

"Kindness and politeness are deception in pretty packaging."

At this I roll my eyes- this is something that Christina says all of the time, something that her Candor mother taught her.

The three roll back over to their side of the truck.

"Alright," Harrison says, "I'm going to count to three. When I hit three, you open fire. No excuses. Understood?"

We all nod.

"And try not to hit anyone." Cara adds. "That would be...unfortunate."

I shiver, my head jerking to the side. I don't know why, but for some reason this always happens to me. Jack looks at me as if to ask if I'm alright. I nod once and aim my gun.

"One." I click off the safety.

"Two." I try to steady my shaking hand.

"Three." I aim at the black figure farthest away and pull the trigger. There's a loud bang!

The person goes down, and I duck.

I take aim again, fire, and hide. I repeat this until all thirty or so of our pursuers are down. My heartbeat starts to slow down, and the full shock of what just happened hits me.

I did it. I killed four people.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

By the time we reach the edge of the city's reaches, I've come to terms with what I did. I had to do it. I had to sacrifice their lives so that my friends, my family, and I could live. They initiated it. They asked for it. They were almost begging to be shot. This is stuck in my head on repeat, but it helps.

I stick my gun back into my coat and jump out of the truck, expecting to hit the ground. Instead I'm caught by someone.

"Did you really think that I would let you hit the ground when there's ice everywhere?" Ryde smirks, setting me down.

"Uh, yeah."

"Well you were wrong. Like usual." I smack his arm. "Some Divergent you are." He says quietly in my ear.

My blood turns to ice in my veins. "What- how would- who-?"

He laughs. "Who told me?" I nod. "Your parents. Pretty impressive that you got that."

"Do you know the details?" I ask, looking at the ground.

He nods. "Yep. I wasn't surprised, of course. It fits you."

I'm thankful for the scarf I have around my face. I can't imagine how red my cheeks must be.

The adults- Ryde's cousins included- talk with Johanna and Cara for a few minutes. It seems like they're formulating a plan of action, which makes sense, but why exclude us? "Are you guys ready to see what's out there?" Maiya whispers.

I shake my head, butterflies rising in my stomach. I'm terrified. What if there's nothing? Or what if everyone is dead? I shudder at the thought of rotting corpses everywhere.

"It'll be fine." Ryde whispers, wrapping his arms around my waist. My back presses against his chest. "We'll be fine. Worst possible thing is that we have to come back into this hellhole, right?"

I nod, swallowing hard. "Right."

My dad gestures for us to follow him through a small patch of dying trees. Ryde holds one of my hands, and Maiya takes the other. Jack follows behind us, silent.

What waits beyond the trees doesn't surprise me- run-down, abandoned buildings, a torn up road, flickering and broken streetlights.

What does surprise me is what sits in the middle of the road- an old, army-style cargo truck, big enough to fit our whole entire group in the back and comfortably seat a few more. A man stands next to the truck.

Dad sucks in a breath. One name follows it as he exhales- Amar.