Heartless

Chapter 14: High Tensions

Our vehicle shuddered to a stop, and I clutched onto the flimsy metal side for support.

"This is it." Johanna pushed the words out as if they were heavy "the outer limit of the Dauntless patrols."

Surprisingly, it didn't look a limit to anything, just a line of posts which seemed never ending with X plastered on them.

It seemed impossible that no one had ever snuck out past the line, no Dauntless had ever showed their fearlessness by going out into the wide world, but then my brother had told me that Dauntless were smarter than anyone commonly thought, and they had a delicate balance of failsafes to keep everything in check.

"Have they ever gone past the limit?" Tris asked, referring to the patrols, the idea of doing something forbidden was almost irresistible to a Dauntless.

"A few times," Johanna responded "it was our responsibility to deal with that situation when it came up."

I zoned out, more interested in absorbing more of my surroundings than listening about serums, I felt the eagerness to learn which hadn't really surfaced since Initiation, I was practically craving information about this new place I was going to, and it shocked me. 

"Are you okay?" Eric asked, comfortably holding Evie to his chest, all the awkwardness had dissolved from this morning. "You have this look in your eye. One I haven't see in a while."

"I'm okay." I told him, "I'm just... acclimatising."

I realised how some of my Erudite traits could easily reinforce my Dauntless ones.

"Goodbye, and good luck." Johanna said warmly, before turning back to her vehicle.

The buildings were like that in the Factionless sector, dark and dilapidated, we move over to the train for tracks, it was so quiet out here that you would hear the thundering of the vehicle and feel the vibrations in the track of any train ever came. The tracks here were different, the wooden planks were replaced with cross hatched metal, giving it a sleeker design, I stay in the middle of the tracks with Eric, while my brother walks along a rail, his arms sticking out like poles, his gun dangling from his torso.

Unable to resist such temptation, I threw myself into his side, knocking him off the rail with a grin.

Shaking his head, Tobi shoved me back, in response I poked him, so he poked me back, hard. I stuck my tongue out, he copied me, and crossed his eyes.

"What are you, five?" I replied.

Tobi stopped dead "no, I'm Four."  He answered seriously.

We carried on, reaching the trains that obviously ran these rails, huge mirrorlike metal outsides with tinted windows lining the sides, inside these trains were maroon seats bolted to the floor, most of the fabric was torn revealing yellowing foam underneath. It was impossible to jump on these trains.

"I need to stop." Eric called, pausing at a train's open doorway.

"We should keep going, at least for a little longer." Tobias told him.

"Yeah, but I don't need Evie to get nappy rash." Eric informed him.

"Fair."

"Who died and made him president," Eric muttered as he took a swig of water out of his bottle before grabbing a new nappy, I saw Tobias turn and glare at him.

I elbowed him in the side and gave him the wipes and cream "don't start." I warned.

"But I haven't reached my daily 'act like a total asshole' quota." He smirked, undoing the nappy, then wincing. "Fuck, Sash, what have you been feeding her?"