Aberrant

Thirty-Eight: Brooke

"Didn't Isaac tell them to go for me?" 

We're alone in the simulation room. Amar deliberately called my name last, and the Dauntless leaders left immediately after my simulation, while Amar made me stay, on the pretext of wanting to talk about the simulation with me. 

The simulation was centipedes. Lots of them crawling all over me. I let myself panic for a few minutes and then calmed myself down to get out of the simulation. Just like we'd practiced. They hadn't even noticed that I was a Divergent. I'm safe. 

Amar shrugs, "He couldn't. There's only a couple of Dauntless leaders who work for the Erudite. If he'd told them to take you, it would have messed up everything." He sighs and slumps down in his chair, head in his hands, "Brooke, they took everyone."

"Everyone?" I repeat. 

"All the other Divergents." He says despondently. 

"Even April?" I ask. The words just come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and the moment I've said it, I realise how silly it sounds. 

He looks at me tiredly, stress lines clear on his face, despite him being so young, "Yes Brooke. 'Everyone' includes Dex." He's snappish, but I can't blame him. Anyone would be cross in this situation. 

I nod vaguely, already picturing them dragging her off, screaming and shouting. My vision begins to blur. Poor April. She never deserved any of this. 

Amar groans, "I'm the worst Dauntless Instructor ever." 

"No you're not." I say to him angrily, "We can still fix this Amar. We have to."

"How?" he asks bleakly. It strikes me as odd that our positions have been reversed. I'm the one taking charge here, despite the fact that Amar, my instructor, should be the one commanding me. 

"Where did they go?" I ask, a plan forming in my head. 

Amar points vaguely, "Out the back door. It's white, just like the wall, so you can't really see it-"

I cut him off, "No Amar. I mean, where were they taking them? They must have talked to one another? Mentioned a place?"

Amar frowns in thought, "The supply room."

"Right," I say, "And where is that exactly?"

"It's right next to the Pit," He begins, and then his eyes widen as he realises what I'm about to do and he says, "Wait, Brooke, you can't go there."

"Why not?" I ask, crossing my arms, "You told me I had to protect April. This is me protecting her."

"I said within reason!" He protests, "Look, the place will probably be heavily guarded-"

"Then I'll catch them by surprise-"

"And locked." He finished. 

I raise an eyebrow, "How do you know that?"

Amar stares at the floor, his voice almost a whisper, "There was someone like me last year. That's where they took him. I tried to save him but I couldn't. I failed."

I put a hand on his shoulder, and crouch on the floor so that his eyes meet mine. "Well this year we'll succeed." I say confidently, "Nothing beats a well-made plan." I pause, considering, "It's locked you say?" He nods once. "Then I'll just have to steal the keys off them once I've knocked them out."

Amar shakes his head in thought, "No, there's no need for that."

"What then?" I ask. 

"There's a room where they keep all the keys," he says, "You'll have to go and get a set there."