"Plato?" I ask, "What do you mean it's no use? What are you doing here?"

There's the sound of laughter in the darkness. Then there's a click and a bright light shines on my face. I immediately close my eyes. 

"Sorry," says the voice apologetically, "you can look now."

I open my eyes and see that the flashlight is focussed on Lyra. Her grey eyes are stained with tears, as if she's been crying recently and her normally flowing long red hair is pinned up in a bun. Plato is sitting beside her. 

"Lyra?" I ask. 

"The one and only," she smiles, "Don't you get it, Dex? We're Divergent."

"Divergent?" I repeat, and then I glance at Plato, "Wait, you're Divergent?"

Lyra laughs again, "Don't you remember when he took that knife for Sam? Amy told me all about it. It was so obvious that he was Divergent. Not that Amy realised, of course. She was just telling me about her day." 

I stare at both of them, "Why didn't you tell me? I've been thinking that I was the only one."

It's Plato turn to speak now. "We couldn't Dex," he says gently, "You would have blurted it out immediately."

I flush, whether with anger or embarrassment I can't tell, then I concede, "True."

There's the sound of an unlocking of the key and Lyra quickly turns off her flashlight, leaving us in utter darkness. 

The door opens and one the guards shouts, "Get in there!" as someone else is thrust into the room. Then the door slams shut again and the key is turned. 

There's silence for a moment and then we hear the muffled sound of sobs. Lyra clicks on the flashlight. 

"Who's there?" the voice demands, roughly. 

Lyra drops the flashlight in shock, "Cal? Is that you?"

"Lyra?" asks the voice, as she fumbles to pick it up again. Then she shines it on the newcomer, and he shields his eyes away. 

It's a Dauntless-born I vaguely recognise from the zipline-Callum. He's crouched on the floor. His blond hair hangs messily over his forehead and his blue eyes are glistening with tears. 

"Yeah," Lyra says softly, "It's me, Cal." She twists the flashlight so it shines on her face, and then moves it so it shines on me and Plato. 

"How come you have a torch?" Callum asks. I blink. I hadn't even considered that. 

Lyra smiles, "Plato's idea. He knew there were other Divergents so asked Amar to tell one of us to bring a torch and a hairpin in case we got in a situation like this. So, I wore my hair in a bun and stuffed this in one of my pockets." She waves the flashlight, "You know, I didn't realise how deep our pockets are until now."

Plato smiles, "A torch for light. And a hairpin to unlock the door. I couldn't be sure that they'd lock us in a room. But I figured that they wouldn't toss us into the Chasm right away and they'd need somewhere to store us for a few hours."

"Smart," I say. 

Lyra smirks, "You can tell he got Erudite in the Aptitude test."

Plato smiles, "Dauntless, Erudite and Abnegation."

"Show-off," Lyra mutters, "Don't suppose anyone else got three factions did they?" Me and Callum shake our heads. 

"What did you get?" Callum asks her. He seems happier now. 

"Dauntless and Abnegation," she says proudly, "I could have transferred to Abnegation, but I didn't because I wanted to stay with my family. And now I'm in this situation because I'm an idiot." She sighs audibly, and then asks, " Anyway, what did you guys get?"

"Dauntless and Candor," I say immediately. It feels like an enormous weight is being lifted off my chest, now that I'm finally able to speak the truth. 

"Of course you did," she says, "What about you, Cal?"

"Amity and Abnegation," he says quietly. 

There's a silence, and then I ask, "You didn't get Dauntless?" Callum shakes his head. 

"But why did you stay in Dauntless? And how did you get through the first stage of training?" Plato asks, curious.

Lyra shoots us a look, "Stop with the questioning, guys. Can't you tell he's upset?" It's true. Callum is beginning to cry again. 

"Sorry," Plato apologises, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Callum holds up his hand, "It's ok. I stayed for lots of reasons. One," he holds up one finger, "I'm trans. I was born female. And I didn't know how Amity and Abnegation would take that."

There's a silence, before Lyra says softly, "Oh Cal." She scoots over to give him a hug and I see that she is crying too now.

"What do you mean you didn't know how Amity and Abnegation would take it?" I ask.

"Dex-" Plato begins warningly.

I cut him off, "There's are loads of trans people in Amity. One of my sister's best friends is trans. You would have fitted in fine with Amity. And Abnegation is so selfless that it doesn't matter about your gender and sexuality. You could have gone there too."

Callum shrugs, "I didn't realise," he admits finally, "I was too nervous to ask the Abnegation woman at the Aptitude test. She was already freaking out because I was a Divergent." He takes a breath, "Anyway, the second reason is," he holds up another finger, "I have four younger brothers. I didn't want to leave my family. And third-" he falters and stares at his fingers, "I...well...there's a group of younger Dauntless I'm sort of-" He trails off. 

"Callum's got a massive fan club here at Dauntless," Lyra declares. 

"Fan club?" Plato asks, curious. 

"He's inspired so many people here at Dauntless. He's like a role model here for the younger teenagers. He's been helping them with coming out and their mental health. Because, you know, Dauntless isn't exactly the nicest of factions." Lyra smiles. 

"I couldn't just abandon them!" Callum bursts out. There's a defiance in his eyes that wasn't there before.

Lyra squeezes his shoulder, "You're too caring for you're own good."

Callum takes a deep breath to compose himself and then turns back to Plato, "You asked how I got through training? I'm not brave but I am selfless. I wanted to show my brothers and all the younger Dauntless that they, like me, could become a proper Dauntless member. I knew it would make them so happy when I succeeded. I-" His voice starts to break up as he starts crying again, "I did it all for them. The jump into Dauntless. The fighting in the ring, even though it broke me to do it. The zipline. Everything."

Lyra smiles, "Callum, you're one of the bravest people I've ever met, you know that right?"

"Agreed," Plato says, and I'm surprised to see that there are tears in his eyes. #

"But I didn't get Dauntless," Callum says, flushing slightly. 

"Who cares?" Lyra laughs, "Dauntless and Abnegation are practically the same thing."

"Also," adds Plato, "It's impossible to get both Dauntless and Amity in the test because of all the variables. If the test was done differently, you'd probably get Dauntless. You're just as brave as the rest of us, if not more."

Callum smiles, "Thanks guys."

We sit there in silence for a few minutes until Lyra asks quietly, "When do you think they're going to come for us?"

"They started testing us mid-afternoon," answers Plato, "and we took only a few minutes each. They'll probably keep testing until the last person. There's say about fifteen other people. Each other those people might take ten minutes. So, I'd say we've got a couple of hours before they decide to throw us into the Chasm." 

"But you've got a plan?" I ask him. 

He shrugs, "A plan of sorts. I want to act when it's quietest. When people will be heading into eat. Has anyone got a watch?" 

Lyra and I shake our heads, but there's a "I have" from Callum and he tilts his right wrist at us so we can see it. 

"Brilliant," smiles Plato, "So we'll act at 5 pm."

"That's cutting it a bit fine," Lyra observes. 

"Maybe," Plato agrees, "But there's also a train passing at 5:10. If we can get on that, we'll be safe."

"But-" I protest, as the realisation sinks in that I will never have a life here at Dauntless. That opportunity disappeared the moment I got first in the second stage rankings. 

The others look at my sympathetically. 

"Yeah," says Plato quietly. The others nod. There's nothing more to be said. Callum lays a hand on my shoulder. 

"So," says Lyra, breaking the silence, "How will we get out of here?" 

Plato smiles enigmatically, "Using your hairpins."

The next several minutes, are spent talking. Not talking about our life here at Dauntless. That's too painful. Instead, Lyra and Callum ask me and Plato questions about our home life. About the orphanage where Plato was raised in Erudite. About my own family-Dad, Father, Heather, Mazie, River, Harmony-I talk about the whole lot of them. Then it's Lyra and Callum's turn. They don't talk about their own families. But instead they talk about school. Turns out Callum was in so many of my classes and I never noticed. 

"I always recognised you though," he smiles, "you were hard to miss."

"Yeah," I grin, "I like it that way."

Callum draws our attention to the time at 4:55. 

"So, what's the plan?" He asks Plato. 

"We use one of Lyra's hairpins to unlock the door, knock out the guards outside, get out of Dauntless, board a train."

"Wait," I say, "The guards outside might knock us out before we can even properly escape."

"Yep," admits Plato, "That's the drawback." 

I frown at him, "This is an awful plan." 

He sighs, "I know, Dex. But it's the only one we've got."

"But," I press, "What if there are more guards out there than there are of us? We won't stand a chance."

"Then someone will have to stay behind and deal with the guards whilst the rest of us escape." Plato says. Lyra and Callum both nod. 

"You mean someone will have to sacrifice themselves? But who?"

"Me." Plato, Lyra and Callum all say simultaneously. They all stare at each other. 

I raise an eyebrow, "Well it better only be one of you. Because I don't want to be leaving here alone."

Lyra pulls one of her hairpins out of her bun. "You said there was a way to get out using this?"

I glare at her, "Way to change a subject."

She ignores me and puts the pin in Plato's outstretched hand, "Have you done this before?"

"No," admits Plato, "But I know the theory behind it. First, you bend the hairpin so the legs are ninety degrees apart." He illustrates on Lyra's hairpin. "Then you remove the rubber on the end." He puts the hairpin into his mouth and bites on it. Lyra pulls a face. "Then you put it into the lock and bend it slightly." 

He puts the hairpin into the lock and begins to fiddle with it. 

"You know, Plato," I say wryly, "We didn't ask for a running commentary."

"Sorry," Plato replies, "It helps me think." 

He tries to give the pin one last push, but he bends it with too much force and it snaps. He turns to Lyra, shame-faced. "May I have another one?"

Lyra raises her eyebrow, "Take better care of this one," and she hands him another. 

We watch as Plato repeats the entire process, mumbling to himself. But just as he's about to put it into the lock, we hear some muffled thuds coming from the other side. 

"It's the guards!" Lyra hisses. 

"Dex! Plato! Get back!" whispers Callum as the two of us are closest to the door. 

Plato shuffles back to crouch next to Lyra and Callum, and Lyra turns off her flashlight again. Ignoring Callum, I stand up, ready to attack if someone comes in. 

There's the sound of a key turning in the lock and I feel my muscles tense up. They're come for us. We're going to be thrown into the Chasm. 

The door swings open and light streams into the room. I raise my arms, ready to throw myself onto the intruder. 

But it's not a guard. It's not even one of the Dauntless leaders. 

Standing there in the doorway, her figure shrouded with light, is my worst enemy. And what she's holding in her hand isn't a gun after all. It's a key. My mouth falls open with shock as I realise that she's not here to hurt me. She's come to rescue me. 

She turns to face me with an almost amused smile. 

"Hello Dex," says Brooke.