Damaged

Chapter Four

Tobias POV

I walk into the lab to find Caleb, Cara, Christina, Mathew, Zeke, Hanna and Peter standing around a large screen. As I come closer, I see what they are watching. They are looking at the security monitors for the city. 

I still find it odd that the people here spent their time watching our lives, as if it was just some show meant for their entertainment. When we first arrived, it was like the people here had known us their whole lives, and some of them had.

I look back to the screen. The one they are all looking at is showing footage of inside the Hub. Watching this now, I feel disconnected to my old home. It seems like all of this is happening in a different place, far away from here.

The scene playing out on the screen is awful. Members of every faction, hiding in the building from the Factionless, trying not to get caught. They must have taken refuge in the Hub when the Factionless took over the factions headquarters.

The Factionless members are storming the building, a blur of colors rushing past the camera, completely unaware that they are being filmed. They grab anyone they can find, men, women and children, and drag them out of where they are hiding.

I see a mother in Amity clothing, hiding under the stairs, clutching her infant to her chest. I hold my breathe as I see a Factionless man jog past her. I see him glance down and spot her immediately. He grabs the woman by the hair and drags her out, grabbing the baby from her arms. The woman cries out, flailing her arms helplessly as she is dragged away, desperately trying to grab onto anything she can.  

Something shifts inside of me. How long has this been going on? If we leave the Factionless in control in Chicago, who knows what could happen? I have to put an end to this.

"We're going back." I say firmly, making everyone turn around, most of them only just realizing that I am standing here. "We are going back, and we are going to put an end to this."

Christina nods her head, looking as shaken as I feel. "Agreed, we can't let this continue. With the Factionless in control of the city, this is most likely happening everywhere and we are only just seeing it now."

I look around the room, everyone is nodding their heads in agreement, until I see Caleb. He is staring at me with the look that I have seen too many times. The look that means 'Think.'

"We have to think this through." He states, as if someone put him in charge. "We can't just rush into things like this. We have to make a plan and consider everything that could go wrong. If we don't do that, going back to the city is a suicide mission."

For once, I agree with him. Dauntless are trained to fight and act on instinct, but he is Erudite and they are trained to think, to use their heads no matter the situation. "And I think there's something we're forgetting." He continues. "What about Tris? I mean, in the state she's in now, there is no way she will make it back to the city and we can't just leave her here."

How could I forget Tris? She is the biggest part of this team. She is the only reason we made it here, she kept hoping when we all thought that hope was lost. If she isn't able to leave, then I'm not leaving either.

Caleb has an annoyingly knowing look on his face. It makes me want to punch him as hard as I can in the nose, see the satisfactory look of pain on his smug little face. Instead, I think of Tris and how she would react if I punched her brother, no matter how much of a traitor he is. So I use my words instead.

"You know Caleb, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this position right now." His expression changes immediately from smug to shocked. It isn't the satisfying feeling I would have gotten from punching him, but it's still something.

"You mean it's my fault for saving Tris's life?" He replies. "My fault that she is still alive and causing this minor inconvenience. Are you saying that it would be easier if I had left her? I'm so sorry that I kept your girlfriend alive Four." He spits the words at me, shifting the blame to me.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." I growl, trying to hold back the anger, but he never knows when to stop. "Oh yeah, then what did you mean?" He says it tauntingly, as if he wants me to explode.

"YOU WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO SAVE HER IF YOU HAD JUST WENT INTO THE WEAPONS LAB AND DIED CALEB, LIKE EVERYONE WANTED!" He asked for it. And the worst part is that I don't even feel guilty. I may not be Candor, but I know that it's the truth.

"Fair enough." He says in a monotonous voice. The expression on his face shows hurt, but it's fake. He doesn't care about Tris. If he did, he wouldn't have helped Jeanine torture her. I know Tris forgives him, but that doesn't mean that I do.

I storm out of the lab, not stopping to think about where I'm going, just letting my legs carry me away. Away from the lab, away from Caleb and away from the urge to beat the life out of him. The further away I get, the calmer I am. My breathing returns to normal and I can think clearly again.

My feet stop in front of a metal door and I look up. There is a gold plate with the black numbers 27 printed on it, and a rectangular glass window. I push the door open gently, slipping through as quietly as I can. Tris glances up from her book as she sees me walk in, a smile on her pale face.

I try to keep my face mutual, but she seems to sense that something is wrong. She has a way of knowing how I feel when no one else does. "Hey." She says simply. trying to keep it casual. The croaking in her voice is gone, replace by her old soft, sweet voice.

"Hey." I reply, scratching the back of my neck. "How're you feeling?" She marks the page on her book and places it down in front of her on the bed. "Better, thanks. I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself." She gestures with her hand for me to sit on the bed next to her. 

I lower myself onto the bed, careful not to move the mattress too much. "Something wrong?" She asks, her voice laced with concern. I know what she'll say when I tell her. "Well...I was just talking to everyone in the lab. Things are bad back home Tris. The Factionless have taken it too far, and we all agree that we have to go back and do something."

I pause, looking into her eyes for a minute. She looks back with understanding behind the brilliant blue of her eyes. She glances down at her hands before looking back up at me. "But you don't want to leave without me.

"You know I won't hold you back." And that's the problem. I know that she won't hold us back and that she will tell us to go no matter what. I look away from her, unable to look her in the eyes any longer.

"Tobias, look at me." I glance up, meeting her eyes. "If things are really that bad in the city, then go back. There is no point in leaving hundreds of people in the hands of your mother and the Factionless just to stay here with me. We both know well that I'll be fine here."

I don't know what to do. Deep down, I know she's right. She has been healing rapidly, and the hardest part of her recovery is over. Now we're just waiting for the wound to close up. Part of me wants to wait, wait for her to get better and be able to come with us. But I know that even at the rate she is healing, it will be at least two weeks before she can walk by herself.

"I know." I murmur. She will be fine, but that doesn't mean that I will be. Leaving her would be like leaving a part of me behind. She looks at me, but it's not pity or sympathy that I see in her eyes, it's determination. She is not going to be the reason we stay, and she will make sure of that.

I lay down on the bed beside her, stroking her hair. She stares at me with intensity that I have missed. She is almost back to herself again, but yet she s further than she has ever been. There's something missing in her expression, but I just can't put my finger on it. We lay there together until eventually, she falls asleep in my arms. If I close my eyes, I can almost pretend that it is before the war, before everything was so difficult.

A/N

CHAPTER 4!!! I'm off school now so I can start updating more. Hope you are enjoying the book so far. And also I changed the name and made a new cover for it. My amazing photo shopping skills came in useful. I used Pixart for the cover. Shout out to Billie Eilish for having amazing music to listen to while writing.