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A dark figure stands in front of s Pain stabs lass in front of h the water, I think I see lass cracks Water sprays out a hole near the top of the tank, and the pane cracks in half I turn away as the glass shatters, and the force of the water throwswater as well as air, and cough, and gasp again, and hands close around my arms, and I hear her voice

"Beatrice," she says "Beatrice, we have to run"

She pulls my arm across her shoulders and hauls me to my feet She is dressed like un, and the determined look in her eyes is unfalass and through water and out an open doorway Dauntless guards lie dead next to the door

My feet slip and slide on the tile as alk down the hallway, as fast as s can uards standing by the door at the end The bullets hit them both in the head, and they sluainst the wall and takes off her gray jacket

She wears a sleeveless shirt When she lifts her arm, I see the corner of a tattoo under her ared clothes in front of me

"Mom," I say, my voice strained "You were Dauntless"

"Yes," she says, s the sleeves around my neck "And it has served me well today Your father and Caleb and so in a baseo get them"

I stare at her I sat next to her at the kitchen table, twice a day, for sixteen years, and never once did I consider the possibility that she could have been anything but Abnegation-born Hoell did I actually know my mother?

"There will be tiun fro it to o"

She runs to the end of the hallway, and I run after her

We are in the baseation headquarters Myas I can remember, so I’m not surprised when she leads me down a few dark hallways, up a dank staircase, and into daylight again without interference How uards did she shoot before she found me?

"How did you know to findthe trains since the attacks started," she replies, glancing over her shoulder at me "I didn’t knohat I would do when I found you But it was always ht "But I betrayed you I left you"

"You’re hter I don’t care about the factions" She shakes her head "Look where they got us Hu before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again"

She stops where the alley intersects with the road

I kno isn’t the ti I need to know

"Moence?" I ask "What is it? Why…"

She pushes the bullet cha how many bullets she has left Then takes a few out of her pocket and reloads I recognize her expression as the one she wears when she threads a needle

"I know about them because I am one," she says as she shoves a bullet in place "I was only safe becauseDay, she told ation" She puts an extra bullet in her pocket and stands up straighter "But I wanted you to make the choice on your own"

"I don’t understand e’re such a threat to the leaders"

"Every faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way And most people do it For most people, it’s not hard to learn, to find a pattern of thought that works and stay that way" She touches my uninjured shoulder and smiles "But our minds move in a dozen different directions We can’t be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders It means we can’t be controlled And it means that no matter what they do, ill always cause trouble for thes I aent

And I can’t be controlled

"Here they co around the corner I peek over her shoulder and see a few Dauntless with guns,toward us My roup of Dauntless run down the alley, toward us, rabseyelashesof hers inof hers in my brain

"Go to your father and brother The alley on the right, down to the basement Knock twice, then three times, then six times" She cupsto distract them You have to run as fast as you can"

"No" I shakeanywhere without you"

She smiles "Be brave, Beatrice I love you"

I feel her lips on my forehead and then she runs into the un above her head and fires three ti

I sprint across the street and into the alley As I run, I look over my shoulder to see if any Dauntless follow uards, and they are too focused on her to notice me

I whip my head over my shoulder when I hear them fire back My feet falter and stop

My es fro her shirt crimson A patch of blood spreads over her shoulder I blink, and the violent red stains the inside of ain, and I see her ss into a pile

She falls, first to her knees, her hands limp at her sides, and then to the pave doll She is motionless and without breath

I clamp my hand over my mouth and scream into my palinning My blood cries out that it belongs to her, and struggles to return to her, and I hear her words in hI am made of collapses, my entire world dismantled in a moment The pavement scrapes my knees If I lie do, this can all be done Maybe Eric was right, and choosing death is like exploring an unknown, uncertain place

I feel Tobias brushingme to be brave

The Dauntless soldiers turn as if

I am brave

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THREE DAUNTLESS SOLDIERS pursuein the alley One of theround The bullet hits the brick wall to ht, and pieces of brick spray everywhere I throw myself around the corner and click a bullet into the chaun into the alley and fire blindly It wasn’t really them, but it doesn’t matter--can’t ht now

Just one set of footsteps now I hold the gun out with both hands and stand at the end of the alley, pointing at the Dauntless soldier My finger squeezes the trigger, but not hard enough to fire The y-haired boy with a crease between his eyebrows