Pyre

Chapter 23

TRIS POV

Tobias leans over the map of the factionless district spread out on the conference room table. His shoulders are tight with tension, which increases in him day after day as we approach the target date for the final takedown of the factionless regime.

In two days, this war will draw to a closing. In two days, either we will have established control over the factionless and captured Evelyn—the most likely outcome at this point—or they will find a way to overwhelm us. It is imperative that this operation is planned correctly.

"If we go with Zeke's idea of surrounding them," Tobias says, "will we have enough soldiers to cover these main blocks?"

After a moment of consideration and staring at the map, the military leader answers, "Yes, but not until we are able to close in. The factionless still occupy the streets outside of that area, and at that wide of a radius, we will be spread too thin."

"Then we block off the streets. We force them toward the center in massive groups, and then we worry about filling in the gaps when we're close enough," Mike contributes.

Tobias nods. "Okay, then I want snipers positioned at these buildings." He draws the spots on the map with an orange marker. "But they have to be in groups of three at least. It wouldn't surprise me if they ran into factionless guards on the way up to those rooftops."

I pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to force out the building headache. "How much of our army will we send?" I ask. Somehow, I must have missed it. Everything seems to be speeding to end not just this meeting, but this entire war; it worries me, like we could be missing something.

"The vast majority. We still need to defend every faction, especially ours, so there will be about 150 left behind, not including all of the leftover women who will probably help out," Zeke replies, crossing his arms. "But we will be sending the bulk of our force."

"Then we won't have enough guards for the traitor factionless," I point out. We can't allow them to roam free and potentially turn on us in the middle of the battle. I think we can all agree that they aren't even slightly trustworthy.

Uriah interjects, "We could spread them out between Dauntless, Erudite, and Candor. The Erudite and Candor could help us watch them. That way, if they did manage to escape, there would be fewer of them."

Mike immediately likes the idea. "We will move most of them from Candor tomorrow morning. We will reach out to the leaders to cooperate with us," he decides.

The planning continues on as each person gets an opportunity to express their concerns and every tiny detail gets worked out. We discuss the distribution of gas masks—since we still don't have enough for every soldier—and we figure out which groups will be tasked with clearing buildings or rounding up civilians.

And then it is concluded that all of the leaders should be present at this battle.

"Mike, Zeke, and I all took a vote before this meeting, and we unanimously decided that if for any reason some of us or none of us return, Tris will be a substitute leader by default," Tobias announces.

Maybe it is the notion that any one of them could easily be killed in action that opposes me to the decision. Maybe it is my constant need to be involved, to be on the front lines and not cowering in the shadows. Maybe I just hate that Tobias is desperate to protect me sometimes—and not himself, it seems—but either way, I am unhappy with this transfer of power.

With a stubborn stare fixated on my husband, I tell him, "No."

"This isn't up for debate."

I grit my teeth. "Four—"