Truth (a Divergent Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty

“Time to escape,
The clutches of a name,
No this is not a game,
(It's just the beginning),
I don't believe in fate,
But the bottom line,
It's time to pay,
You know you've got it coming,

This is war.” ~ Escape, 30 Seconds to Mars

*****

Around midnight, as planned, the door clicks open, and Cara pokes her head around it, blue and all. She squints through her glasses, pushes them further up on her nose and runs to me, pulling me into a massive hug. Me, I’m still shaking from earlier’s fear landscape; the images keep coming back, but I’m trying to be brave.

“Amber! I was so worried about you!” She frowns. “You’re taller than you were last I saw you.” It’s true. I used to be an exact inch shorter than her, but now, I’m that inch taller than she is, taller in the thick soles of Callie’s combat boots. “And this must be Callie.” My best friend smiles shyly and waves as Cara scans her up and down, an analytical eye passing over Callie’s blue-purple eyes and untameable frizzy honey coloured hair. I take her by the arm, leading her away. Cara’s nice, but she’s a bit… a bit in-your-face. And that’s not what Callie needs right now; she went through the fear simulation loop as well and for the past couple of hours she hasn’t really said much - she’s been quite subdued. I can’t help but wonder what she saw.

We sneak out, every movement sounding super-loud, because this is our one chance at escape - by this time tomorrow I’ll be dead if I stay here, and I’m not loyal enough to Jeanine to lay down my life. Cara peeks into every jail cell we pass, even though most of them are obviously empty. I ask her why.

“It’s my brother, Will.” she explains. “He’s Dauntless, and I don’t think he’s Divergent - I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed - but I can’t locate his tracker in the serum so maybe it’s not working or he didn’t get the shot or something.” She looks close to tears - I put my arm around her shoulders. “I’m just… really worried about him, you know? It’s like my responsibility to make sure he’s alright.”

I quiet her before she starts to cry. “It’s gonna be okay, Cara. I’m sure he’s fine.” But inside, I’m not so sure. The trackers don’t work if you’re Divergent, true, but they also don’t work if you’re dead. And Will, bless his soul, is most likely the second.

In the computer room, we meet up with the Amity fish boy, the other half of this operation, who apparently also has magical technical fingers. He smiles encouragingly at me, and I wonder how I could’ve dismissed him as boring and selfish so easily. Sometimes you just don’t know people, I guess. He even shuts up for once as we walk the rest of the way out.

Somehow, we make it out of the compound alive, leaving behind a disabled alarm system and a couple of unconscious guards. The Erudite are complacent; they assume they don’t need manpower, because they would never think that anyone could hack into their database. Hubris and pride are their true hamartias. How could people so smart be simultaneously so stupid? 

And the walk back to Candor with Callie and Cara and Harry (fish boy) feels strangely lonely without Julian, who was always the fun one with something to say. With all our issues and with all our broken parts, we’re lost without him.