Chapter 18
Christina got up early and found me awake. Tobias was still in a deep sleep so I decided to slowly leave him be. Lightly, I kiss his cheek and then run over to the next train car where Christina is. Im not as cold as I was earlier in the morning so I left Tobias's jacket with him.
"So Tris, how'd you sleep last night." She asks.
"Oh, really I didn't sleep at all. I wasn't tired." She scans my face.
"Well, that explains the bags under your eyes."
"What!" My face is already ugly as it is. I don't need bags under my eyes to make it worse.
"Don't worry! I'm just kidding with you." She chuckles at me. I soflty chuckle back.
"Gosh," said Christina in a stunned tone, "Tris you have been getting a lot bigger though. It really shows. How many months do you think you're at?"
I haven't really considered time lately.
If anything, I should be at least two an a half months.
"I'm guessing that I'm at about two to three months along." I force a smile to my face. I still don't feel as confortable at talking about the baby with other people. Even if it is my best friend Christina. The only person I feel safe to talk to is Tobias. He seems to understand me more than anyone I have ever known. That's one of the reasons why I love him.
"Let me know when you're going to name it! I'm dying to find out."
"Okay, I will." I said.
Just before Christina was about say something, a strange sound I never heard before whispered in my ears.
"Wait, Christina. Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She says looking confused.
"Nevermind. Perhaps it's just me not sleeping last night and it's causing me to hear things." Weird. Really, I thought I heard something.
"What did it sound-"
"Shhh.... I hear it again." I cut her off because the strange sound comes through my ears again. The sound seems a little fimilar as it gets louder.
"Wait, I think I hear it too." She then looks out of the train car door.
"Stay here, I'm gonna go get Tobias." Christina then nods back at me. I rush out of the train car and into the one me and Tobias are saying in. I kneel down next to him.
"Tobias... wake up!" I say in a loud whisper. He's still sleeping. "Tobias!" I say it a little louder and nudge his arm. His eyes start to open and when he sees me, he smiles.
"What are you doing up so early?" He comes over and gives me a kiss. It makes me feel warm inside.
"Listen, Christina and I heard some strange noise coming from outside. We think you should hear it." He looks at me strangly.
"A noise? In the middle of no-where?" He says.
"Apperently so. Come check it out." He gets up from where he was sleeping and then peers out of the open door to see what sound it was that I was talking about. Once again the sound comes through. This time the sound is clear to me and immediately I can depict what it is. It's a dog. Only the sound is familiar to me when I was put under the serum that Tori gave me back when I was sixteen. The first time I was put under the serum that gave me illusions. When my illusion was with me and a vicious dog that came barking and snarling at me but I chose not to kill it. That's when the sound suddenly becomes familiar.
"I hear it." He says. "Is that-"
"It's a dog." I say. Christina walks in. I told her that the sound came from a dog and she became weary. I remember back when we were in Dauntless. She became sad when our lunch table was talking about what our first illusion was like. From her body language, you could tell that she killed the dog even though the dog wasn't real. Ever since that experience she had, she never liked dogs. I never really saw a living, breathing, dog before. Will it be mean and vicious like the one in my illusion?
"We're getting off here." Tobias says in a deep, but low voice.
"Tobias, are you su-"
"Yes, I am." He says back to me. "Got your guns you guys?' Both Christina and I shake our heads in agreeance.
Tobias enters his serious mode. I learned not to interfer when he's like that or else it's just trouble.
"Jump now?" Says Christina looking at me.
"I guess so." All three of us stand back. Without anyone saying go, I start running and the jump into the suprisingly warm air. Christina follows behind me and then Tobias. I brace myself for the impact of hitting the grass and dirt. The jump isn't that far down considering that the train is elevated on a semi-large, grass covered hill. My feet land on the dirt but I slide off them and skim on my knees and my hands. The dirt turned out to be muddy probably because it rained in this location not too long ago. My hands start to sting more than my knees do. I focus off them and search for Tobias and Christina in the tall grass. I slowly get up and see Tobias and Christina slowly coming for me. Their cautions of their walking. They too, are covered in mud just like I am.
"Your still the first jumper, aren't ya Stiff." Tobias says chuckling. I smile a little and say sure. I shorlty whipe the smile from my face because I don't feel right.
"I feel a little sick to my stomach." I say.
"I'm sure it's nothing Tris. We all just haven't ate in a while and I'm sure we are all feeling bad right now." Tobias says. Christina nods along with him. I am hungry considering that I haven't ate in two days but I don't think thats what bothering my stomach.
"No, I don't think it's that."
"Than what is it Tris?" Says Christina.
"Uh... I don't know. Let's just forget about it and find that dog." Thats more important than what I'm feeling now. Actually, I feel nausea coming on to me. We start walking towards the sound of barking. I stagger behind still feeling the sign of nausea. That's when I can taste bile entering my mouth. I try to swallow it down but it's too late. I throw up little knowing that I haven't had anything to eat.
"Tris!" Christina comes running back to me. She puts her arm around my back and moves my hair behind my ears as I'm hunched over, putting both of my hands on my knees. Tobias comes over. I hate for him to see me this way. Christina and Tobias start talking.
"This could have something to do with her pregnancy." Says Tobias.
"Well, will she be okay then?" Says Christina.
"Yeah she should be fine." Christina lets go of me and then thats when I feel a bigger arm wrap around me.
"I don't feel sick anymore." I say to him.
"Good." He says. That's not much of what I wanted to hear from him. He could have been a bit more understanding but I guess that comes around as a rarity. I stand up straighter and tell him that I'm fine. We keep walking as if nothing even happened. I feel scared. I think of myself as being a mother and even the thought gives me chills. My thoughts are inturpeted when suddenly the barks of the dog becomes louder. I grab Tobias's hand and Christian grabs my other. I look in every direction to see where the barks are coming from but it's almost impossible to see anything in this tall grass. I see some grass moving towards the side of Christina. She moves closer in closer to me and lets go of my hand and grabs her gun.
"No." I tell her. "Don't shoot."
"Are you serious?" She says in a shakey tone.
"Yes I'm serious. Now stand back." Tobias remains silent. Suddenly, I can see the size and color of the dog. The dog stops running but has his lips curled and his teeth showing as he moves slowly towards us. The dog is large but really skinny. He has dark brown eyes and a brown and black coat. His pointy ears stand straght up as he looks right into my eyes. I feel the urge to do what I did in my illusion. My first intention... not to kill him. I don't look into his eyes for that will only inhance his anger towards me as he can sence my fear. I let myself become less tence and slowly but causiously, crouch down to his level. Through the corner of my eye, I see that he has stopped walking. I don't hear his growling anymore either. Hopefully that's a good sign. I try not to let my fear show though my shaking as I put my hand out. I hope this is the right thing to do knowing that I've never seen an actual dog before. Whatever I do in my landscapes doesn't always have to occur in real life.
"Tris-"
"Shh." I say back to Tobias. He stops talking. I don't want him to scare the dog.
The dog inches closer, one foot infront of the other, to sniff my hand. He backs away a few steps and starts to growl again. I'm surprised at the level of patients I have today. Normally I would be mad at this point but perhaps patiants is something you gain over time. I try sweet talking to the dog. He moves just a bit closer to me. As he moves closer, I can see that bugs and dirt cover him and so does a musty, foul smell. He must be a stray. The dogs ears come down as if he puts his guard down. I close my eyes not knowing wether he's going to bite off my hand or not. Was that a sign of submission? I feel him breathing onto my fingertips. Only then is when I feel him licking my hand. Opening my eyes, I see that he becomes one of those sweet dogs, a little skiddish, but sweet. Just as if it were the same dog in my landscape.
I wave over Tobias and Christina to come over and see the dog now that I know it's okay.
I pet the dog between the ears and he starts to lay down and wag his tail. I scared myself at how good I am with this whole dog thing. I rub my hand over his back and feel that it's rough and that he has scabs all over skinny and boney body.
"Tris," Tobias starts to comment, "how did you manage to do that?"
"I found out how to tame dogs when I was in my very first landscape. It was the test where Tori found out that I was Divergent." Tobias sits back in the mud and puts out his hand infront of the dog. The dog gladly licks his hand and Tobias laughs. It's nice to see him happy for once.
"Come on Christina. He doesn't bite." I wave her over but as always, she's stubbern.
I want her to come pet the dog but really she doesn't look too interested in having anything to do with it.
"Um... you sure?"
"Positive." Christina comes over and still has that worried look on her face. The dog then quickly jumps back up making Christina jolt back and fall to the mud. Tobias and I scoot back from him in fright. He points his nose to the direction where the hill is. We all look to where he's looking. Suddenly I see a person peer out from the hill. All three of us become silent and so does the dog for a moment. Then I see the person pull out something from behind. I move to Tobias and stick close to him, holding on to his arm with a strong grip. What the person pulls out is a large, black gun. My body freezes and I can't breath.