Free Four: Insurgent [Book 2] (ON HOLD)

8.

We follow the train tracks to the city, and I walk on the rail like a balance beam.

I hear a moaning noise and I know Tris hears it too. She bends down and puts her hands on the rail, and I can't help but smile a bit. Always so smart.

"It's coming," she says, standing back up. "I think we should get on." No matter how much she's trying to hide it- and she's doing well- I can tell her legs are begging for a break. I admit that I'm tired too.

"Even if it's run by the Erudite?" asks Caleb.

"If the Erudite were running the train, they would have taken it to the Amity compound to look for us," I say. "I think it's worth the risk. We'll be able to hide in the city. Here we're just waiting for them to find us." And its true. We may be ahead of them tonight, and we may have the cover of the dark, but in the morning, a little drive in the sun will point us out from miles away because the land here is flat.

We step off the tracks and Caleb starts to explain to Susan how to get on a train. I wonder if Caleb's ever even done it himself, but I figure better him than me to explain. The most a Dauntless will ever tell u is to run and jump and if you don't get in no one's stopping.

The first car goes by, and we break into a run. Caleb helps Susan, then jumps himself. Caleb pulls in Tris, and I swing in.

I've just dusted my hands off on my jeans when my breath is pulled out of me. Standing against the walls are a group of factionless.

They all appear to be armed. And according to the look in their eyes- dangerous.

A man with an eye patch pulls his gun and points it at me.

"I've never seen the Amity armed before," a factionless woman says, a dull knife catching the glint of the moon. I look back at the person behind the gun. I press my lips together. It's Edward. Once my most promising initiate.

"They aren't Amity," he says. "They're Dauntless."

"Hello, Edward," Tris says, her voice sounds like it's full of ghosts, but the memories in her head are only a few weeks old.

He nods to her, but keeps the gun up. "Tris."

"Whatever you are," the knife-wielding woman says, "you'll have to get off this train if you want to stay alive."

"Please," says Susan, and I can hear her cries in her voice. "We've been running... and the rest of them are dead and I don't..." she breaks into sobs. "I don't think I can keep going, I..."

This was not the time for Susan to chime in. The factionless are not the type of people to pity others.

"We're running from the Erudite," Caleb says, taking over. "If we get off, it will be easier for them to find us. So we would appreciate it if you let us ride into the city with you." He sounds to cordial. I wonder if they know anything about the factionless' grudge towards those who have always been nestled safely within community.

"Yeah?" Edward says, mockingly considering him. "What have you ever done for us?"

"I helped you when no one else would," Tris says. This was the right move. Remind him that he owes something. The factionless do have a type of honor when it comes to owing one another.

"You, maybe. But the others?" says Edward. "Not so much."

I have nothing to offer by way of honor. I didn't stop Peter from stabbing Edward. It was my responsibility, and looking at his eye patch now I remember the wave of guilt I felt upon hearing about his injury. But I have something else to offer. Someone else's honor to live off of. Edward puts the gun to my throat and I figure I have to force my hand.