Chapter 11: On the Run

Tris isn’t sure what happened after being tied to the stake, the wood around her set ablaze. Her heart had threatened to leap out of her chest, and her brain had become a fog. The thoughts that had crossed her mind before the world around her went black were those of happier times. Playing in the meadow as a child, sowing her first dress with her mother, her father taking her through the woods, and Nick.

The fire was violent around her as the smoke stole the very air out of her lungs. The dress she had been forced to wear was already restricting her breathing, making deep breaths impossible. The roaring of the flames had softened, and the world around her faded with it.

Tris gasps in the fresh air around her as she floats, weightless, in the dark. She can’t bring herself to open her eyes, afraid of what she may see.

“Stop squeezing her so tightly!” a familiar voice yells.

“Would you rather I drop her?” a second voice replies, this one gruff and crackling.