The Unlucky Ones

[16] - Train

[Tobias]

I STAND BESIDE THE TRAIN TRACKS, feeling the rush of a speeding train zoom towards us. I lean close to the tracks, sure that I'm safely testing my skills. I want to look dangerous and intimidating and standing this close to a train will prove that. The train zooms into proximity and I lean closer. If I leaned any closer than I am now, I'm sure my nose would be taken with the train car.

" What took you so long? " Will shouts over the horn.

I turn my head, spotting Christina strolling towards him. Tris is limping forward, wincing with every step. I'm sure it sends a shooting pain through her ribs and every step is an agonizing pain. Her eye is black and her lip is split. Her nose looks red from the impact earlier yesterday. She looks better than when I carried her into the Infirmary. When I dropped her off, it was a wonder how she hadn't been killed. Someone so small and lanky usually couldn't take that kind of a beating so well. But she did. And she kept getting back up.

" Stumpy Legs over here turned into an old lady overnight, " Says Christina, jutting her finger into Tris's shoulder.

Tris smacks her arm off, probably to get it off of an unwanted bruise.

" Oh, shut up. " She says.

I step back, allowing some of the others to jump on first. Will hoists himself into the car with some difficulty, landing first on his stomach and then dragging his legs in behind him. I grab the railing, climbing in quickly and smoothly. The faster I climb in, the quicker I can help others who haven't made it on yet. Christina climbs on, and so does Al. Tris runs beside the train, an ache spreading through her ribs, obvious by the look on her face. Al reaches down, hoisting her up by her underarms. She winces quickly and quietly, then sits on the floor of the train car. Al was only trying to be nice, but Peter is right behind him with Ammunition of his own. He doesn't need to steal any from Al as well.

" Feeling okay there? " Peter asks, giving Tris a look of mock sympathy--his lips turned down, his arched eyebrows pulled in. " Or are you a little… Stiff? "

He bursts into laughter at his joke, and Molly and Drew join in. Molly has an ugly laugh, all snorting and shaking shoulders, and Drew’s is silent, so it almost looks like he’s in pain.

" We are all awed by your incredible wit, " Will says.

I turn to look at them.

" Yeah, are you sure you don’t belong with the Erudite, Peter? " Christina adds. " I hear they don’t object to sissies. "

I'm standing in the doorway and cannot take another dumb retort from any of them. I speak before Peter can retort.

" Am I going to have to listen to your bickering all the way to the fence? " I ask.

Everyone gets quiet, and I turn back to the car’s opening. I hold the handles on either side, my arms stretching wide, and lean forward so my body is mostly outside the car, though my feet stay planted inside. It is a little less than a six-foot drop. I know that if God forbid, I fell, I could easily recover. The wind presses my shirt to my chest. I look for out into a sea of crumbling, abandoned buildings that get smaller as we go, keeping an eye on the burning sensation of eyes on me. Every few seconds, Tris' eyes shift back to me. First, she is looking beyond me at the buildings, then her eyes are on my skin. I don’t know what she expects to see, or what she wants to see if anything. But she seems to do it without thinking.

" What do you think is out there? " Tris asks, nodding to the doorway. " Beyond the fence, I mean. "

Christina shrugs.

" A bunch of farms, I guess. " She replies, uncertain of her answer.

Tris nods then shrugs her shoulders as much as she can without wincing. It isn't a lot.

" Yeah, but I mean… past the farms. What are we guarding the city from? " She asks.

Christina reaches towards Tris, wiggling her fingers rapidly.

" Monsters! " She exclaims.

Tris rolls her eyes.

" We didn’t even have guards near the fence until five years ago, " says Will. " Don’t you remember when Dauntless police used to patrol the factionless sector? "

Tris nods.

" Yes, " She says. 

I also remember that her father was one of the people who voted to get the Dauntless out of the factionless sector of the city. He said the poor didn’t need policing; they needed help, and we could give it to them. But I would rather not mention that now, or here. It’s one of the many things Erudite gives as evidence of Abnegation’s incompetence.

" Oh, right, " He says. " I bet you saw them all the time. "

She cocks an eyebrow.

" Why do you say that? " She asks, a little too sharply.

I don’t want to be associated too closely with the factionless. And I'm sure she doesn't either.

" Because you had to pass the factionless sector to get to school, right? " Will says.

Christina cocks an eyebrow.

" What did you do, memorize a map of the city for fun? " Says Christina.

Will nods.

" Yes, " He says, looking puzzled. " Didn’t you? "