Starting Over

Chapter 56

I quietly walk down the streets as I head toward my designated spot. Everything is eerily quiet. It's almost too quiet. I wish it wasn't so quiet. Even someone screaming would be better because then I'd know where people are instead of stalking around looking for them. The quiet makes everything more intense.

I quickly get to my section to look through for Molly and start looking around. I look down streets first and don't see anything. When I don't see anything on the streets I move into the buildings. Everything seems to be abandoned. I don't see any signs of anybody, not just Molly. I quickly move into the second building. I quickly find signs of people and look around more. I find some people asleep in some of the rooms but none of them are Molly. Once I'm sure Molly isn't here I move on to my next building to clear.

My other three building go the same way. Two of them have people living there but none of them are Molly. I start double checking streets and building around my area. I still don't find Molly but I know that nobody else has either because if they had they would have given some kind of signal. I'm starting to get nervous. What if something happened?

I can't let myself think like that. Instead I keep myself busy. I move into a larger building that's getting closer to the end of the Factionless section. It takes me longer to clear this building but eventually I do. No signs of Molly. No signs of my friends or Ed either. I leave and enter the smaller building next to it.

I immediately notice something I haven't noticed in any of the other buildings. I can hear slight whisper coming from the conference room. The door is busted down. I silently draw my gun and walk into the room. I see Tobias with his hands on his head and his gun on the floor. Molly sits across the desk from him with her gun right in front of her. As soon as I enter the room she jumps up from the chair and has her gun pointed at me.

"Hello, Tris. It's nice to see you again. It's also nice to see your little boyfriend. I'm sure he's glad to see you here too," she says. "Put your gun down and he doesn't get hurt."

"Molly, you don't want to do this," I calmly tell her. I keep my gun pointed at her. She shakes her head and laughs at me.

"You really don't get it, do you? I want to make your life into the same living hell you turned mind into. Put your gun on the floor or I shoot him."

"Molly-"

"Do you think I'm joking?" she snaps at me. "I said put it down." I slowly put the gun down on the ground and slowly stand back up. "Now put your hands on your head." I put my hands in my head and glance sideways at Tobias. He's squeezing his eyes closed and he looks disappointed, probably because he thinks I should have shot Molly when I had the chance but I couldn't risk him getting shot.

"Molly, let him go. It's me you want."

"No, it's you that I want to hurt. What would hurt more than seeing your little boyfriend here shot?" I'm trying to think of a way out of this. Right now all of my ideas wouldn't work so I'm trying to stall for time.

"Molly, why is this necessary? It's me you want. Let him go. It was me that kicked your butt in initiation. It was me who got you kicked out of Dauntless. It was me who ruined your life." I tell her everything she wants to hear in an attempt to draw her attention away from Tobias. It doesn't matter that some of those things aren't true; she believes them and points the gun at me.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right here, Tris."

"You should." I try to use reverse psychology to get her to stop. I'm not sure it's working because she just smiles at me and tightens her grip on the gun. Before I know what she's doing she quickly turns the gun on Tobias and pulls the trigger. A scream rips out of my throat as I see him fall to the floor. He's still alive but he's bleeding a lot. Molly lowers the gun and looks at me as I rush to Tobias' side.