Page 145 of The Sixth Fraction

Everything I’ve learned over the past few months swirls in my mind like rainwater going down a storm drain. The factionless stealing weapons from Dauntless wall guards. Evelyn saying My dream is about to come true. Erudite releasing propaganda about Abnegation. Someone hunting down the Divergent. It might all be related; it might not. Tonight I’ll get closer to figuring it all out.

There are a lot of people with power in this city, and each of them might have a different purpose in mind, a different goal. I used to think people were content with the system as it was, Abnegation at the top because they’re determined to put themselves at the bottom. I used to let my father’s warnings about people’s endless hunger for power brush right over me. Now I can see how wrong I was.

Everyone wants power. Sometimes they want it because they want control, like Abnegation. Sometimes they want it because they think they know best how to use it, like Jeanine Matthews. And sometimes they want it because they’ve never had it, like Evelyn. But regardless of the reason, the craving is the same.

I’m so sick of it.

At ten minutes to three, I creep across the main hall of the Museum. I can see stars through the skylights above me. I cross the room to the tunnel that will take me to the train yard, waving to Trip, one of my fellow newcomers, who’s sweeping the floor.

I walk down the dark tunnel, one hand on the wall to feel where I’m going. The end of the tunnel comes into view, obscured by weeds. No, not weeds—hemlock. Deadly poison.

The flowers are a reminder: Tonight I’ll be closer to danger than I’ve ever been before.

I push past them, and see dark figures gathered next to one of the picked-apart, broken-down train cars. My breath catches.

This is it.

As I draw closer, familiar faces materialize, some expected and some not. There’s Evelyn, of course, all in black with her hair pulled back; Sly, leader of the Foxes, her expression so grave I barely recognize her; Boots, Sly’s right-hand man, spinning a knife on his palm; Jove, former head of the Rookery, checking the time on her wristwatch; Gretchen, who refused to teach me to fight, bouncing on her toes to keep warm; and last, tall and surprisingly sedate, is the Mender, leaning against the busted train car. Tobias isn’t here.

Everyone stares at me, and I suddenly feel like a child. My insistence on joining this group must have sounded so ridiculous to Evelyn. No wonder it took promising restoration with her son to get her to agree to it.

“Well, this is interesting,” Sly says, sounding amused.

“You can’t be serious, Evelyn. She’s sixteen,” the Mender says, pulling away from the wall.

It stings a little, hearing him dismiss me like that. I thought I’d proved to him that I was more than just some sixteen-year-old. His dark eyes find mine.

“You’re too young to take this risk,” he says to me. “That’s all.”

“I’m aware of her age,” Evelyn says. “I’m also aware that what’s coming will affect everyone in this city, whether they’re of age or not. There’s no room to pick and choose, not anymore.” She focuses on me. “Where is he?”

“He said he’d meet me here,” I say. “He’s not usually late.”

It’s an understatement. Tobias is usually early. If he’s not here yet, that means something must have gone wrong. A situation with his initiates, maybe.

Jove checks her watch again. “3:05.”

“I know, I know. There’s no time.” Evelyn sighs, and looks over my head at the end of the alley, as if hoping Tobias will turn the corner. “Maybe it’s better this way. He’ll be safer. Let’s go.”

“But—” The objection slips out. I bite it back. “Where are we going? I thought you said . . .”

She led me to believe this meeting would just be an introduction. But judging by the way Jove is looking at her watch, and Gretchen’s fingers are drumming on her thigh, and the Mender is checking the buttons on his gloves for the third time—they’re about to go somewhere.

Somewhere that makes them nervous.

“Now is the time for you to decide,” Evelyn says to me. “I won’t ask you again. Are you in?”

I don’t want to leave here without Tobias. But if it’s now or never, I know what choice I have to make. For my answers, for this city, for everything I’ve worked for.

“I’m in,” I say.

Chapter 51

Four

Once all the initiates are on board and the train starts moving, I know what to do. I go to the front of the car, where there’s a crate waiting for me. It’s big enough to fit a person inside it, but when I lift the wooden lid, there are weapons inside. Well, of course there are, a voice in my head says. They’re for the training exercise.

That sounds right to me, so I grab one and pass it to Edward, who’s standing close to me. The others line up behind him, and I give each of them a gun when they step forward, until we’re all armed. Eric, at the back of the line, refuses a gun.