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That night I dreah the hallways of the Pire, and I'm alone, but the corridors don't end, and the view fro into tall buildings, the sun buried in clouds I feel like I' for hours, and when I ith a start, it's like I never slept at all

Then I hear a knock, and a voice shouting, "Open up!"

This feels htmare than the tediu to ent, or that I' on Max, or that I've been in touch with s that say "faction traitor"

Dauntless soldiers co to kill oing to do that, they wouldn't make so much noise in the hallway And besides, that's Zeke's voice

"Zeke," I say when I open the door "What's your probleht"

There's a line of sweat on his forehead, and he's out of breath He must have run here

"I orking the night shift in the control roo happened in the transfer dorm"

For so at me from the recesses of my memory

"What?" I say "To who?"

"Walk and talk," Zeke says

I put on my shoes and pull on my jacket and follow him down the hall

"The Erudite guy Blond," Zeke says

I have to suppress a sigh of relief It's not her Nothing happened to her "Will?"

"No, the other one"

"Edward"

"Yeah, Edward He was attacked Stabbed"

"Dead?"

"Alive Got hit in the eye"

I stop "In the eye?"

Zeke nods

"Who did you tell?"

"Night supervisor He went to tell Eric, Eric said he would handle it"

"Sure he will" I veer to the right, away from the transfer dormitory

"Where are you going?" Zeke says

"Edward's already in the infirmary?" I walk backward as I talk

Zeke nods

I say, "Then I' to see Max"

The Dauntless coe that I don't knohere people live Max's apartround corridors of the coht next to the train tracks outside I ency laenerator

I pound on theMax the same way Zeke woke me He yanks the door open a few seconds later, his feet bare and his eyes wild

"What happened?" he says

"One of my initiates was stabbed in the eye," I say

"And you came here? Didn't someone inform Eric?"

"Yeah That's what I want to talk to you about Mind if I come in?"

I don't wait for an answer--I brush past hihts, displaying thespace I've ever seen, used cups and plates strewn across the coffee table, all the couch cushions in disarray, the floor gray with dust

"I want initiation to go back to what it was before Eric made itroom"

"You don't really think it's Eric's fault that an initiate got hurt," Max says, crossing his arms "Or that you're in any position to make demands"

"Yes, it's his fault, of course it's his fault!" I say, louder than Ifor one of ten slots, they wouldn't be so desperate they're ready to attack each other! He has theht, of course they're bound to explode eventually!"

Max is quiet He looks annoyed, but he isn't calling me ridiculous, which is a start

"You don't think the initiate who did the attacking should be held responsible?" Max says "You don't think he or she is the one to blame, instead of Eric?"

"Of course he--she--whoever--should be held responsible," I say "But this never would have happened if Eric--"

"You can't say that with any certainty," Max says

"I can say it with the certainty of a reasonable person"

"I'erous, and suddenly I remember that Max is not just the Dauntless leader who likes me for some inexplicable reason--he's the Dauntless leader who's working closely with Jeanine Matthews, the one who appointed Eric, the one who probably had so to do with Amar's death

"That's not what Ito stay calm

"You should be careful to communicate exa

ctly what youcloser toyour superiors"

I don't respond He moves still closer

"Or questioning the values of your faction," he says, and his bloodshot eyes drift to my shoulder, where the Dauntless flames of my tattoo stick out over the collar of my shirt I have hidden the five faction syot them, but for some reason, at this moment, I am terrified that Max knows about them Knohat they mean, which is that I am not a perfect Dauntless member; I am someone who believes that ent

"You had your shot to become a Dauntless leader," Max says "Maybe you could have avoided this incident had you not backed out like a coward But you did So now you have to deal with the consequences"

His face is showing his age It has lines it didn't have last year, or the year before, and his skin is grayish brown, like it was dusted with ash

"Eric is as involved in initiation as he is because you refused to follow orders last year--" Last year, in the training roohts before the injuries beca only stop when one person was unable to continue I nearly lost my position as initiation instructor as a result; I would have, if Max hadn't gotten involved

"--and I wanted to give you another chance to ," Max says "You're failing to do so You've gone too far"

The sweat I worked up on my way here has turned cold He steps back and opens his door again

"Get out of my apartment and deal with your initiates," Max says "Don't let ain"

"Yes, sir," I say quietly, and I leave

I go to see Edward in the infir through the glass ceiling of the Pit His head is wrapped in white bandages, and he's notto him, just sit by his head and watch the minutes tick by on the wall clock

I've been an idiot I thought I was invincible, that Max's desire to have me as a fellow leader would never waver, that on some level he trusted me I should have known better All Max ever wanted was a pawn--that's what my mother said

I can't be a pawn But I'm not sure what I should be instead

The setting Tris Prior invents is eerie and al for miles in every direction