Her Dauntless [2] //Divergent// Eric Coulter

Vanessa Hayes

TWENTY-THREE✧

Throwing the sponge in the sink, I stared at myself in the mirror in the bathroom.
Cleaning was a pain but at least I felt like I was pulling my weight, I finished polishing the mirrors of my last apartment for the day. Mrs Squires smiled widely, giving me a chocolate biscuit and a pat on the head for the troubles.

Walking through the familiar black marble corridors, I was back at the place we now called home. In the corner, we had set up a small school area, each one of us took turns in taking a class so at least the kids caught up in this madness had some normality.
Charlie, however, was a mess – he distracted himself by keeping watch by the main doors with a few of his co-workers from Security, it worked during the day but at night, the unknown whereabouts of Maddie were getting to him.
On the other hand, Christina was no better, she stood around hoping Will would walk through the door or she would hear at least some news on his welfare.

The members in Candor were kind enough, kinder than even I thought possible. They gave us clean sheets and fresh clothes, we were invited to eat with them and work with them, it was generosity that we could never repay and I think Jack knew that.

Sitting on my bed, I ran a hand through my hair, shaking it out at the roots. The unknown was killing me, the worry that if we settled down, we would be kicked out or the rest of Dauntless would find us. Angel sat next to me on one side and Ronnie on the other, the three of us curled up, the unspoken support we both wanted.
"Just like old times huh?" Angel smiled as we looked around," It's almost like the dorms all over again."
I let out a laugh," As if we want to remember those times."
"As if that didn't teach us a lesson," Ronnie rolled her eyes," We then had to move in with each other."
Angel rolled her eyes," Like it was a bad thing."
"The only thing bad about it was your cooking," I smirked.
Angel threw a pillow at my head, a smile on her face," Bitch."

Loud laughter filled the space, a large group of kids ran in, Sophie and Hector where at the front followed by a few of the children from Candor and Dauntless. We all stopped to watch them play tag, the joy on their faces made this all worth it, just knowing we kept them from a place of hatred made it worth it.
Behind them, the familiar face of my Gran walked in with a large crockpot, and a ladle, behind her was Mr and Mrs Thomas and several other Candor officials with seventy bowls between them.

"I thought you would like some proper food, none of that canteen rubbish" Gran spoke, slamming the pot onto a table," God knows you need it."
Standing up, I wrapped my arms around her," Abuelita, no tenías que."
She hit me with a white napkin," Me da tiempo lejos de la perra y eres demasiado flaca Vanessa."
I nodded, rolling my eyes," Gracias Abuela."

Uriah raised a hand," Who are these people, what did she say?"
"Everybody, this is my Abuelita," I gestured," and behind me is George and Bianca Thomas –"
"My parents," Angel spoke up, smiling at the two.
Uriah nodded, looking at the support the faction were giving us," That's good enough for me."
"What's in the pot?" Lynn asked.
"De la Cruz chicken stew." Gran smiled lifting the lid," I took the alcohol out for the little ones, help yourselves."
Bianca smiled, turning to Harry and me," Jack and Doctor Hayes thought you would want to stay together rather than going down to the diner this early into your stay."
He nodded," Tell him thank you for us."

George and Bianca took the bowls from me after most everyone had been served, the two parents were just glad to have a few unexpected days with their daughter and her girlfriend, even under the dire circumstances. Around the edge of the room, Elizabeth Coulter kept her distance from me as she handed the blankets out to the children. She glanced over every few minutes, either she was trying to place me or work up what to say, but when I saw her eyes; I couldn't help but see her brother.