Page 147 of The Sixth Fraction

The train squeals as it brakes. The car shudders, and we all sway to adjust to its movement, automatically.

I have to stay focused. I can’t give myself away. The only way I’m going to get through this is if no one realizes I’m not in the simulation’s grip anymore. So when the train comes to a full stop, I walk with purpose out of the train car.

The initiates all line up, so I line up, too, at the very end, like I’m their commanding officer. Then everyone waits, guns in hand, as Eric paces along the line of us.

And then I hear running footsteps on the stairs leading up to the platform. I don’t look to the side to see who it is, but I recognize his voice soon enough.

Will.

“I’ve scouted out most of the council members, sir,” he says. “But I haven’t gotten a location on the council leader yet. I didn’t see him enter his apartment building last night, and his apartment appears to be dark.”

I remember Will’s last fear simulation. The doves dying in the field in a shower of gray feathers. I thought the doves represented peace. But maybe I was too quick to jump to symbolism. Maybe the doves are a simpler image than that: a gray bird, gentle and unremarkable. Just like the Abnegation council members.

“Did you think to check, I don’t know . . . his place of work?” I can hear the sneer in Eric’s voice. “Go to Abnegation headquarters, and if you don’t find him, we’ll go into his goddamn apartment ourselves. He’s the most important player in the game.”

“I—I’ll go scout, then,” Will says, stumbling a little over his words.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Eric says. “You can’t go alone; you need muscle. Good thing I packed something special just for that purpose.”

Eric strides toward me, and I fight to keep my eyes on what’s ahead of me, like the good little puppet I’m pretending to be. I don’t flinch when he sets his hand on my shoulder, but it’s a near thing.

“I thought—I thought he wasn’t confirmed,” Will says. “I thought he was a suspected Divergent.”

“Confirmed yesterday that he’s not Divergent,” Eric says. “We were originally supposed to exclude him, given his relationship to the factionless leader, but I was able to persuade Jeanine that it’s worth the risk.”

Will frowns. “Why?”

“He tells a better story,” Eric says. “Abused son with history of instability goes after the leaders of the faction that caused him so much grief—the news brief practically writes itself.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Go on—give him a command. The program recognizes you as an authority figure.”

“So . . . he can see me?” Will says. He’s standing at Eric’s shoulder now. He waves a hand in front of my face, and I struggle not to slap him away. “He just doesn’t know who I am?”

“He thinks you’re Jeanine Matthews, since the mirroring is still active. So don’t push the simulation’s logic by acting like the nervous little worm that you are.”

“Right.” Will swallows hard enough that he makes a gulping sound. “And where are the boundaries of the signal repeater? Just in case we have to keep searching for Marcus—”

“Should reach to the edge of the Abnegation sector.” Eric taps the strap of his backpack. That’s how the device he’s carrying is so familiar—it’s a signal repeater, like the ones that are in the wall, extending the reach of the Dauntless computer. But this one is portable. It means he can use the Dauntless computer from anywhere he wants. That must be how he’s running the simulation.

“Okay. Then . . . follow me, Four.”

I step out of the line of initiates, and turn to follow Will as he walks down the platform. Behind me, I can hear Eric calling out names of council members to each initiate in line. “Elizabeth Winslow! Ernest Thompson! Andrew Prior!”

I wince at the sound of Andrew Prior’s name. I forgot that it’s not just my father who’s in danger here; it’s Tris’s father, too. And though I know he’s done some things to her she hates, I also know that he was her first thought when she saw Candor headquarters on fire.

I descend the steps behind Will. He glances back at me, like he’s making sure I’m still there, and then focuses on the street ahead of us. I remember how to get to Abnegation headquarters from here: We go straight for two blocks and then turn right.

I also remember how to get to Building A, where Tris’s family lives.

Will doesn’t seem as familiar with the streets. He jogs for a few seconds, then stops, his hands fidgeting at his sides. If I attacked him now, I could try to knock him out, disable him before he does any more damage. But it would take time, and the other initiates are behind me, on their own missions. I’m sure Eric is close behind them.

In the end it’s safer to just slip away.

Right before the corner where we’re supposed to turn right, I duck into an alley and burst into a run.

I have to decide, now, who I’m going to help: my father or Tris’s.

Only it’s not even a decision. I head straight for Building A, for Andrew Prior.

Chapter 52