Brooke:
Phoebe and Isaac stare at Amar in shock, and then, as one, they attack. Amar grabs Phoebe and throws her to one side, just as Isaac reaches him at the same time. The pair of them begin to exchange punches. Phoebe races over and grabs Amar from behind. They begin to lead him to the Chasm.
I scramble to my feet. I have to do something. I must.
I lunge forward and jerk Phoebe away from Amar by the cuff of her neck. She coughs and turns to face me, her dark eyes blazing angrily. I throw some punches at her, but, regardless of the training Amar and Isaac gave me, I'm no match for her. She makes a noise like a growling animal, and forces me onto the ground. She grabs me by my neck and I begin to choke.
My vision begins to blur and try to push her weakly away, but it's no use. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Amar send Isaac flying, and suddenly Phoebe is pulled off me. Gasping, I get onto my knees and watch as Amar ruthlessly shoves Phoebe into the Chasm. There's a single scream, cut off by a splash from the waters below.
"No!" Isaac roars, his face dark with anger, and he launches himself at me and Amar. But his anger has made him careless, and a single spinning hook kick from Amar sends him tumbling over the edge.
I race to the side of the Chasm.
Isaac and Phoebe are gone.
Dex:
I sit there in shock. The sound of the train moving along the tracks is the only noise I can hear. Callum is lying on his front, breathing heavily, but even that is drowned out by the rumble of the train as it carries us away from Dauntless. I glance at Callum. His blond hair is all tangled and windswept and his feet are just centimetres from the car doors. He must have only just got on in time.
I shift my position and wince.
"My leg hurts." I state.
There's an empty silence, and I realise that I'm waiting for a sarcastic quip from Lyra or a comforting remark from Plato. But I'm not going to get one.
Instead, Callum glances up from his position and shows me his arm, "Yeah. They hit me too."
The response is so different from the one that I was expecting that I lose whatever integral part of me has been keeping me strong. Images of Lyra falling into the Chasm and Plato slumping to the ground rush in front of me and, all of a sudden, I burst into tears.
"Lyra...Plato..." I can't get the words out. Callum looks up at me suddenly, and I twist myself away. What am I doing, crying in front of someone who I barely know?
"Don't look at me," I say, roughly, "Leave me alone."
But Callum doesn't leave me alone. Instead, I hear him move over to me and feel his hand on my shoulder.
"It's ok to cry, Dex," He says gently, "It helps let everything out."
I bury my head in my hands.
"This is all my fault," I blurt out. And I realise that it's true. Lyra died for me. Plato died for me. Callum got shot trying to get me to the train. I glare at Callum, whose blue eyes are staring at me intensely, "Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't lie."
Callum doesn't respond, but instead he pulls me into a hug. The gesture is so natural, so Amity that I respond to it instinctively. I twist myself round and bury my face into his arm. He winces but doesn't move.
I listen to the rumbling of the train, before I glance up at Callum and say, "Your family...my friends-Sam, Amy, Jo-what will they think happened?"
Callum looks pained, "They will probably be told that we committed suicide or ran away."
I wince and wipe my eyes. "I hate being Divergent."
Callum eyes me, and then says softly, "No, Dex. Don't hate anyone, especially not yourself. If you want someone to be cross at, be mad at the Erudites and Dauntless for putting us in this situation."
I nod quietly and then look at him, "You're not crying." I say, almost accusingly.
Callum shakes his head slightly, "I can't. Not when you are. Trust me though, I will later."
I glare at him. "What's that supposed to mean? That I'm weak and you're strong?"
"No Dex," Callum begins, "That's not what I-" He freezes and cuts off abruptly. Then he whispers, "Do you hear that?"
"Don't change the subject. Tell me the truth."
He whispers again," No, seriously, Dex. I think there's someone else on this train. Listen."
I listen too, and now, in the silence, I can hear the banging and sliding of doors getting louder and louder. As if someone is moving from car to car towards us.
"What is it?" I hiss.
Callum looks at me, suddenly scared, "I think it's the guards. We managed to get onto the first car. They must have got onto one further down."
My eyes widen as Callum gets to his feet and pulls me up. I wince as I put pressure on my ankle.
"What do we do?" I ask, listening to the footsteps getting nearer.
Callum heads to the outer car door and peers out. "There's no where safe to jump to."
Limping, I join him and glance out. We're on some tracks right above the city. It's true. From this height, we wouldn't survive the fall. Then I spot a patch of green below us, right in the middle of the city. It's a park.
I grab Callum's arm, and he winces again.
"There!" I whisper. There's a circle of blue in the green, and as we travel closer, it becomes clearer that it's a pond. And very soon, we're going to be right above it.
"How's your swimming and diving?" Callum asks me.
"Very bad," I admit, "How's yours?"
He just smiles slightly, "I always knew spending time at that swimming pool in the Dauntless compound would come in handy."
The lake comes closer. But so does the sound of the guards. Callum grabs my hand in his.
"Ready?" He asks. I nod. I glance to the side; the guards are in the next car. For a moment, I'm worried that the train won't reach the lake in time before we're shot.
But then, as the guards burst into the car, their rifles raised, Callum jumps and I'm pulled along with him. As we fall, I see the water below us getting closer and closer.
And then I land in something freezing, wet and hard.
And the shock is enough to make me blackout.
Brooke:
I stare at Amar and he stares back.
And then I ask quietly, "Is that the first time you've killed someone?"
He nods, still breathless. His young brown eyes look haunted.
"They would have killed us if I hadn't." He says.
I lay a hand on his shoulder, "Well, thanks for coming to my rescue."
He smiles, "No problem."
We're silent for a few minutes, and then there's a sound from below us. In the Chasm.
"Brooke?" the person asks. They sound scared and their voice is tight. "Is that you? Can you get me out of here?"
Amar and I exchange a look and then peer over the edge. The person is wearing black, as is the norm in Dauntless, which is why I didn't see her before. But her red hair is unmistakeable.
Lyra is gripping one of the sharp rocks, her face taunt with the effort. Her hands are bleeding and her light eyes are scared.
"Lyra!" Amar gasps, and we both kneel down to grab one of her arms. Heaving, we manage to pull her up onto the side, and she sighs in relief.
"Thanks," she gasps.
I glance down at the side and look at her with amazement, "How-how did you?" I wave vaguely at the side of the Chasm.
She glances at me, shaking her hair, which is wet from the water below. "Just luck."
I smile, "Well you sure are lucky."
Then my smile falls as I see that Amar has walked away from us and is crouched over a body. The figure is small and his blank staring brown eyes lack their usual compassion, but his facial features are the same.
"Is that-" I begin.
"Plato!" Lyra gasps, "Is he alive?"
Amar looks at us and shakes his head, his face sorrowful.
Lyra buries her face in her hand, and I wrap my arm around her. Her body heaves against mine as she sobs.
"What about Dex?" I ask, "And that boy who was with her?"
Amar shrugs sadly, "We can only hope they've made it." Hope isn't good enough. But it's the best Amar can give me for now. I nod.
"And the guards?" I ask, motioning to the ones knocked-out on the floor.
Amar eyes them disdainfully, "They're either unconscious or dead for now." He spots something and peers closer, "Looks like they've been chipped."
"Chipped?" I repeat, "With what? How?"
Amar frowns, "I'm not sure. I haven't seen anything like this before, but there's something in the back of their necks."
I move cautiously towards them, but Amar blocks my path, "We better get out of here. We don't want to get noticed."
I nod, "Better head to your office," And with Lyra still shaking in my arms, we follow Amar away from all the carnage behind us.