Divergent | No War

73 - Free

Tris
The truck bumps over the uneven mud floor. I get thrown against Tobias and then in the direct other direction. My shoulder hurts, my foot is so numb I barely feel it anymore. I look back at the city. We are only a few minutes of drive away and its big buildings shine in the newly risen sun. By now they should have noticed that I am gone. But it will take them a while to figure out where we went. I hope that till then we are out of their reach.
I know that I will miss Chicago. With its broken streetlights, the ruins but most of all the dauntless. The way they act. The way they included me. The way they live. The daunting challenges. Everything. Okay... Maybe I won't miss Eric. But I'll also miss Danny. And my parents and even my brother...
I sigh quietly but no one hears it because the small noise gets lost in the rumbling of the truck. Chicago was my home... but I don't know whether i will ever return to my home. I mean I probably will... but who knows whats out there?
My thoughts distract me from the burning headache I have and from my cut puckering under the bandage. I got the feeling that something about it isn't right but we got more important problems now.
Tobias lays an arm around me and pulls me towards him. I lay my head against his shoulder. "I love you." He whispers in my ear. I smile and snuggle closer to him. "Love you too." I answer and I know he smiles. He softly pecks my head and then intervines our fingers. His long fingers close around my smaller ones perfectly. Its so easy with him. Everything is easy with him. Okay maybe not everything but... close. As if he knew what I was thinking about he smiles wider and pulls me closer to him.
"Are you okay?" He asks. And then after he notices my hesitation. "And remember the deal we made. It still counts. Now more than ever." I nod and brush my small finger over the back of his hand. "My cut kinda hurts. I don't know it's probably nothing..." He frowns. "Your cut should be our smallest problem. Let's see what this stupid thing is doing..." I smile a bit and let him lift my bandage. He sucks in a breath. "I don't really think this is what it's supposed to look like..." I shrug. "It's probably nothing... it doesn't even hurt that badly..." he shakes his head. "You told me you wouldn't lie. And this looks more than 'it doesn't even hurt that badly'." He raises one eyebrow at me and then turns around. "Mar! Need you here!" He calls out to Uri and Mar who still sit in the back and are watching the city shrink behind us. "What is it?" She calls back. "Tris cut is inflamed." Mars frowning face appears behind me and then she starts climbing into the back seat trough the small space. After a few seconds of fight she flops down next to Tobias and climbs over his lap while he awkwardly sits there and let's her do. My cut starts hurting more again and I feel this heaviness in my limbs again. I try to shake it off and not think about it but it doesn't really work. Mar puts on a pair of surgical gloves she got out of the first aid kit and examines the wound. She frowns. "It's a pretty deep cut. Do you remember how you got it?" I shake my head. I glance at Tobias. "I... i guess I passed out pretty quickly after the beating started..." Tobias growls quietly and his muscles tense. "I don't know what they did to dislocate my shoulder either. Or how they broke my ankle..." I add quieter. Mar nods and focuses on my cut again. "I will just clean it with an alcoholic pad. Tobias I guess I will need your help for that..." he nods and closes his hand around mine. I nod at him.
Mar starts roaming through the first aid kid. "Please don't Tell me we already wasted all the antiseptic wipes..." mar says more to herself than anyone else. Tobias helps her search the bag until most of the content is spilled on the seats and my lap. "We don't have any..." Tobias says sounding desperate. He shoots me a scared look and I try to reassure him by looking back at him calmly. He squeezes his eyes shut and then turns back to mar. "What can we do? We need to stop the infection from spreading. It can't reach..." "The baby!" I finish and wrap my arms around my stomach. Tobias nods at me. "Nothing will happen to the baby." Mar says quietly. "We will just clean the wound with some water and a clean cloth." Tobias nods and they start working on the wound. I lay down on the seats and they start the cleaning. It stings and burns a lot but I keep quiet. I don't want to complain. It will only make it harder for them. They take a while to wipe away all the dried blood and more and more sterile compresses go into the plastic bag they use as a bin.
I close my eyes and my thoughts start wandering. I wonder what they are doing in the city right now. They must have noticed everything by now. But what are they supposed to do? They can't do anything. They can only follow us but until they traced all our steps we will have hours of lead.
I notice how I slowly drift into sleep and I welcome it gratefully.
I wake up to Tobias softly shaking my shoulder. "Tris. Wake up." I sit up and rub my eyes. The sun has risen high up into the sky and now shines onto a strange landscape. It's like a city but also so different. There are old train tracks that lead into the no where. On the sides are big boards showing big letters. Coca Cola. One of them reads. The red colour is peeling of. There are some small houses here and there but it doesn't look like they are any people around. "Come on. We ran out of gas." I nod and Tobias helps me out of the car. The others already taking our things from the truck. Tobias helps me over to a shadowy place at a wall. My legs feel like they are mad enough out of jelly. "We want to rest for a few minutes. Eat and drink something." I nod. Just now I realize how thirsty I am. Soon all my friends sit around me and we pass around food and water. I am sweating a lot and lean my head against the stone wall behind me. The voices of the others sound distant to me. I hear a loud noise and snap back into reality. "Tris!" Someone shouts again. I look around confused. "What?" I ask dizzily. "We tried talking to you. You didn't hear us." I nod. "Okay." I just answer. Uri holds an apple towards me but I shake my head. I am not really hungry. "Then at least drink something." Tobias insists and puts a bottle full of water at my lips. I obey and slowly drink the Luke warm liquid. It helps a bit against the dizziness but also not much. I feel like the sun is still burning on my head although that is impossible. "Could I maybe get something cooling for my head?" I ask and even I notice how weak my voice sounds. I hate that. Chris nods and gets up to full fill my wish. Tobias shoots me a another of those worrying looks and I try to smile steadily at him. I don't want him to worry that much. "I am fine." I say with a more steady voice. He nods and squeezes my hand before he gets up and discusses something with Uri. "How long did I sleep?" I ask Lynn who is the only one that is still sitting next to me. She shrugs and sips from the water. "About two or three hours. We drove the whole time. I am wondering... if there was something out there - wouldn't they have tried to get to us?" I shrug. "How should they know that we left. I mean unless they have some cameras or some people in the city to inform them. But they also have to get to us. We don't know how far away they really are after all." She nods her head and leans it against the stone wall as well. "True enough." I smile a bit.
Chris soon returns with a cool pack and we strap it to my head with a gauze. It helps a bit. Uri laughs. "Fancy hat Trissy guurl." Uri teases and I stick my tongue out at him. "Whatever Uricorn the Pansycake. You're just jealous." He chuckles along with the others. "Okay... I gotta admit. It's pretty awesome." I smirk. "See? I knew I was right." Everyone starts laughing.
After a few more minutes of rest we all get ready to get going again.
Tobias wants to take me on his back again but this time I protest more. I don't want to be a burden for everyone. "Nonsense." He just answers. "I won't risk that your body is overly exhausted." I roll my eyes and start walking. "I am perfectly fine. I have a nice hat and my foot isn't hurting that badly anymore. Really." It is kinda half true. It hurts less than before but still so much that I can't put it on the ground properly. But I'll try at least.
So we all start walking. Tobias is carrying mine and his bag while I just have a big stick that Mar found for me which bares most of my weight.
The sun is burning down on us and we all miss the cool truck. It was loud and dirty and also shaky, yes. But we didn't have to walk under the hot sun and we didn't have to walk at all. Tobias is next to me and gives me water in constant periods.
The land we pass is like none of us ever imagined. There are a few broken down houses. We still are following the train tracks and every now and then there is an old train laying next to the rails or standing upright on them. The windows are mostly broken and they are not empty like the ones back home. They are filled with seats. Rows and rows of seats. I don't think those train were jumped on. There are nice stairs that lead into the different waggons. "What happened here?" Chris asks and walks over to one of the trains. She skims the surface with her hand and flicks of a broken piece of glass. She leans down and takes a look at the bottom of the train. I walk over the tracks over to her and we all start to examine the train. Uri steps inside it through a broken window. We all follow. Only Tobias still stands outside - watching the landscape nervously. We walk over the former walls of the train and have to avoid the broken windows. "Guys look at this..." Lynn calls out from one corner of the train. I carefully walk over to her. She holds a small object in her hand. It's rectangular and thin. "What is this?" Uri asks and takes it out of Lynns hand. They are two buttons on the side. One is small and the other is longer. The thing also has a screen that is broken in multiple places. "Guys!" Tobias suddenly calls out from outside. All of our heads snap to him. "There is something coming!" He calls again. "Come on hurry up!" We all start scrambling towards the window we came in again. Uri is behind me and has one hand on my back to steady me. He climbs out first and then easily pulls me up by my healthy arm. As soon as I am outside Tobias pulls me to his side and I lay a hand on his arm.
In the distance we can all now see a dust cloud coming towards us. But not from the direction we came from but from the exact opposite. Tobias, Lynn and Uri draw their guns and we all hide behind a big broken out piece of the concrete wall. There is a graffiti on it but I can really register what it says.
By now you can see that the dust cloud actually is a truck that is driving in our direction. They all load their guns and I pull mine out as well now and load it. Mar and Chris get out two knifes and get into a fighting position.
The truck nope is clearly visible against the plain landscape. The silver metal reflects the sun and the big wheels swirl up dust. "Get ready." Tobias says quietly. I nod along with the others. The truck is only a few meters away now and then stops. It's even bigger than it seemed before. A man and a women step out of the truck. Tobias gasps at the sight of the man. So does Uri. I frown. They both lower their guns but I don't and neither does Lynn. The man and the woman have their hands over their heads. "Hello everyone. My name is Zoe. This is Amar. I believe some of you already know him." She shoots Tobias and Uri a look who still stare at Amar. "Tobias. Uriah." Amar now starts. "I know that i have a lot of explaining to do and I will do all of it. I promise." Tobias is still frozen and I slowly slide my hand into his and softly squeeze it. He doesn't react. I have no idea why he freaks out so much. Zoe steps towards us and I raise my gun higher. "Not one more step." I command. She stops. "Tris, there is no need to worry." I steady my shaking right hand with my left so both of my hands now hold the gun. "How do you  know my name?" Zoe nods. "I've known you longer than you think. I don't mean to sound creepy." She laughs a bit but she is the only one. I still point my gun at her.  She nods. "Okay I understand that you don't trust us. But I have a reason for you to trust us. Can I just get something out of my pocket." Lynn and I make automatic eye contact. I slowly nod. I somehow trust them. Lynn nods as well but also keeps her gun pointed. Uriah and Tobias still haven't moved. "Okay. You can get it out."   Zoe nods and slowly slides her hand into her back pocket. She gets out an old photography and holds it towards me. "You should take a look at this." I bite my lip and step out of the safety of the rock. Tobias holds me back by my arm. "No." He says. I softly free my arm out of his grip. "I'll be fine. Trust me." Hesitatingly he let's go of my arm and let's me step out completely. I approach Zoe with my gun still pointed. She holds the photography out for me. I snatch it from her and look at it. It shows a crowd of people - standing in front of the high fence that surrounds our city. I scan the people and my eyes stick to a face I know. I gasp and stumble backwards. Tobias quickly is by my side and steadies me. He looks on the photograph. "Is that...?" He asks quietly. I nod. "Yes... that is... that is my mum." My hands are shaking and i feel like i can't breath. She is young on this picture. Maybe 18. not older. "How? Where?..." I can't really finish my sentence. Zoe nods. "I will explain everything as soon as we reach the bureau." "The what?" Christina asks and steps out behind us. "The bureau of genetic welfare. We will explain everything on the ride. Come on in now."
I turn around and  we all exchange glances. Should we go with them? They are what we came here for after all... I lower my gun and Lynn slowly does the same. "Okay. We will come with you." I decide. Zoe nods and smile widely. The freckles on her nose wrinkle. She is very pretty with her mocha skin and freckles and she is so tall... I shake my head. Whatever. We need to move.
I take the lead together with Tobias. Uri and Lynn behind us and in the end Mar and Chris.
This Amar guy doesn't stop looking at Tobias, while Tobias can barely look at him. I wonder how on earth they could know eachother.
A few minutes later we all sit in the back of the truck. Zoe and Amar got into the front and we all sit in the back on uncomfortable benches. I still lean against Tobias. My head feels much worse again and I am warm. Why is it so warm in here? Am I the only who bothers that? My foot throbs from the walking we did and my shoulder also hurts but my cut is the worst by far. It puckers in the rate of my heart beat which is pretty fast. I feel the baby moving inside of me. I hope he or she is okay. I squeeze Tobias hand.
"Who is Amar?" I ask quietly. Uri and Mar talk quietly in the other corner and Lynn and Chris play some kind of game with their hands. "He was... he was my initiation instructor. He saved me from being discovered as a Divergent. He showed me what it meant and told me all about it. All he knew anyways. And then one day after a test we both had to do - that Janine Mathews supervised - we found him at the bottom of the chasm. He was my only connection tongue Dauntless back then. Zeke became my friend that day. We met on a game as a remembering for Amar. Well everyone thought Amar tripped into the chasm drunk. Happens sometimes as you know. Well apparently he didn't die. I just..." he ruffles his hair. "Meeting someone who you thought was dead... it's kind of weird... you know?" Immediately I have to think of Al. What if he didn't really die? What if his death was faked as well? I wished it was that way. I forgave him a long time ago. He was scared and I think he deeply regretted what he did. I should have forgiven him. I should have. Everything he did was my fault. Well at least everything after the attack...
As if he read my mind Tobias softly presses his lips to my forehead. "Please don't keep your hopes up... I know that you're thinking of Al but I don't... I don't really think he is here." I nod and then shake my head. "I wasn't... I wasn't thinking that." Forming words suddenly feels weird but the sluggish tone they have to them gets lost under the roar of the truck. I am glad about that. We have bigger worries now.

About twenty minutes later the truck stops. Through the small window I see a gate and beyond that... perfection. There are trees. Planted in straight rows. There are clean houses and neatly cut grass only about 50 meters away from dry old earth...
There are also two big fences. We stand in front of the first one. It has barbed wire on top and every now and then a blue light jumps from the wires. It's electrified.
The second fence is only slightly smaller. This one isn't electrified but it also has barbed wire on top and there are security cameras every second meter. I frown. "What is this place?" I mumble more to myself than anyone else. The others are just as petrified from this change from waste land to neat grass and perfectly build houses.
The houses are all draped around a main building. It is huge. It spreads to the sides and the facade is shining and reflecting the sunlight.
The truck rumbles to a halt and the front doors open. Only seconds later the back door gets opened from outside. Lynn and Chris sit closest to the door so they climb out first. Uri and Mar follow and then Tobias and I are the last. My legs feel like jelly but I force myself to keep walking. Soon I will be able to rest. I know it. I will lay down somewhere and just sleep twelve hours straight. This imagination keeps me walking towards the entrance. The others got our bags from the truck and now follow me. I stumble over my own feet but pretend like it was a stone. Tobias shoots me a worried look but I flash him a hopefully reassuring smile. I doubt that it is especially effective. If anything he looks only more worried.
I follow Zoe and Amar into the entrance hall. The floor is clean and everything is tidy. There is a weird thing in the middle of the room. It's like a doorway in the middle of the room. I am kind of to tired to really care about it though. I slump towards it. "I'll need you to leave your guns here. You can get them back when ever you leave this building. You are free to leave at any moment. I promise." I hesitate but then Tobias starts off with his gun and we all follow suit. I lay the gun into a padded suitcase next to Tobias's. I also want to hand over the knife I have in my back pocket but Tobias holds me hand back and covers it by taking my hand.
Zoe smiles kindly. "Before you try hiding any weapons please notice that this..." she points to the doorway thingy "Is a metal detector. It is specialized in finding weapons." Tobias let's go of my hand and I take the knife out of my back pocket while Tobias gets out the one from my boot. Zoe nods knowingly but still kindly. "Okay. I'll go first. It's completely easy." She steps into the doorway and after a second a green light blinks up and she passes through. She puts on her jacket again - that was looked through by one of the guards.
Lynn is the next one to walk through the metal detector. She also gets a green light. In the end only Tobias and i are left. He squeezes my hand and then walks through the thing. He gets a green light and then passes through. Now everyone looks at me. I force my legs to move although I am only tired. So so tired. I take a shaky step and another one and another, until i stand under the machine. It makes a small beeping noise and then I am waved through. I take two steps. Suddenly the dizziness is overwhelming and I start seeing everything twice. Two Tobias's who start towards me. Two Uriahs that yell my name far away in the distance. My knees give in beneath me and crash on the floor. I don't even feel the pain. I am numb. Everywhere. Nothing hurts anymore. It is relieving.
The last thing I notice is Tobias catching my head before it hits the floor and then I am out.