Her nose hadn't ended up broken, and Lilith felt proud of herself for having corrected one of her mistakes in combat. However, there was a dark bruise around her left eye and her shoulder burned when she moved it around too much. The brunette had managed to land a few hits on Nate as well, the smile on her lips growing as she glanced at the dark spot on his jaw. She had a feeling that the golden haired boy had held back a little as they trained, but it was still the most ruthless combat she had been in, that far.

The fresh morning air collided with them as they exited the compound, a few minutes before they were supposed to get on the train that would take them to the fence. The Dauntless born iniciates milled around, Rita even giving her a wave when she spotted her. Much like Siobhan had told her, Granger stood with Four near the train tracks, both males smiling as they spoke to eachother. Granger seemed to get along with everyone, Lilith had noticed.

"I wonder if we're going anywhere near the Amity farms," Nate said, folding his arms over his chest. They stood a few feet behind Four and Granger, with most of the other iniciates somewhere behind them. Lilith had noticed the questioning looks coming from Peter, but she'd decided to ignore them. His attitude had messed enough with her on the previous day.

Just as she opened her mouth to reply, Will approached them, "We are," he revealed, coming to stand on the brunette's other side, "The farms are further away from the city, though. The tracks only go up to one of the gates, and the Amity who work there have to travel there by truck."

"Oh, I think I know which gate we're headed to, now," Nate nodded his head, slightly furrowing his eyebrows. Lilith wondered if he missed home, too.

Will turned to her, "Have you seen Christina and Tris?"

"Nope," the girl shook her head, "I left the dorm a while ago, both of them were still there, and that was the last time I saw them," she paused, "Wait, did Tris go back to the dorm on her own, last night?"

"Apparently," the former Erudite chuckled.

The train horn blared in the distance, Lilith's eyes drifting to it as the vehicle approached the Dauntless compound at an impressive speed. She couldn't deny the fact that she was eager to jump into one of the wagons once again and feel the thrill that she had felt on her first day. Four looked over his shoulder at the iniciates, before he and Granger stepped aside, the former gesturing at them to go ahead.

Being the ones at the very front of the group, Lilith and Nate were the first to hoist themselves into the car, easily maintaining their balance. The remaining teenagers all pulled themselves in with different degrees of success, and the brunette found herself watching the Dauntless borns. They appeared to be in a much better state than the transfers, a higher number of them effortlessly entering the wagon, but some of them had awful looking bruises and gashes all over their bodies. She supposed that, even if they had been born there, not all of them did as well as it would be expected.

"I'm surprised Tris is even here," Nate muttered, both teenagers looking to where Tris was being helped into the wagon by Al.

"I'm not," Lilith licked her lips, before shrugging, "For an Abnegation, she's pretty determined."

"If you say so."

Peter's voice suddenly cut through the mostly silent wagon, "Feeling okay there?" his eyes were pinned to Tris, and Lilith knew him well enough to recognize the pity currently displayed on his face as fake, "Or are you a little... stiff?"

As expected, Molly and Drew burst out laughing at the boy's comment. Some of the Dauntless borns joined in, but the rest of the iniciates remained silent. Granger watched the scene with furrowed eyebrows from his place next to Four, and Lilith wondered if he would have interviened, if he had some more autority. Her eyes moved to Tris, whose cheeks had become red with Peter's taunt.

"Can someone turn this train around?" she loudly questioned, pushing herself away from the wall and walking closer to the blonde, "I think Peter left his funny jokes back at the compound," her words made a few more of the Dauntless borns chuckle, and she spotted Siobhan giving her a grin, from where she stood with Uriah.

"We are all awed by his incredible wit, nevertheless," Will's voice was flat and laced with sarcasm.

"Yeah, are you sure you don't belong with the Erudite, Peter?" Christina smirked, "I hear they don't object to sissies."

"Am I going to have to listen to your bickering all the way to the fence?"

Four's tone wasn't particularly agressive, but the look he gave the iniciates was enough to make them lose the will to taunt eachother. All of them grew quiet, exchanging a few glares, before Lilith made her way back to where Nate was sitting. A few seconds passed before Tris, Christina and Will decided to join them, the five of them sitting around in a small circle. Tris' face didn't look much better than when Lilith had seen her at the hospital wing but, after a warning look from Christina, she decided not to address it.

"What do you guys think is out there?" Tris was the first to break the silence, "I mean, beyond the fence."

"The farms," Nate replied, fiddling with his fingers on his lap, "The farming lands stretch out for a few miles. I remember being there a few times and thinking about how much work Amity actually had to do," he paused, "But I have no idea about what's after that. We were never allowed to venture too far."

"Well, but we must be guarding the city from something, right?" Lilith's eyes drifted to Granger, before she faced Nate, "If not, why even have a fence?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Christina raised an eyebrow, before grinning and wriggling her fingers, "Monsters!"

"God," the brunette shook her head, lightly smacking her best friend's arm.

"We didn't even have guards near the fence until five years ago," Will recalled, raising an eyebrow, "Don't you remember when Dauntless police used to patrol the factionless sector?"

"Yes," Tris nodded her head.

"Oh, right," the boy perked up, "I bet you saw them all the time."

The blonde narrowed her eyes as she faced him, her tone harsh, "Why do you say that?"

Will's features twisted in confusion for a brief moment, "Because you had to pass the factionless sector to get to school, right?"

"What did you do?" Christina looked amused as she glanced at the boy, "Memorize a map of the city for fun?"

"Yes. Didn't you?"

That was the moment in which a loud screech echoed all around, making Lilith grit her teeth as the train came to a stop. Iniciates chattered amongst their groups as they all poured out of the wagon, right behind Four and Granger. The brunette had to shield her eyes from the harsh sunlight as she jumped to the grass, followed by the other transfers. 

As the crisp air entered her nostrils, the girl looked ahead at the tall fence that separated their city from whatever was left outside. It was tall, and it was intimidating. On the other side, standing close to the trees, Dauntless guards stood patrol, guns on their hands as they turned to curiously look at them. Granger waved at them from the front of the group, receiving several other greetings in return.

The group followed the two Dauntless members to the gate, where the girl assumed that the Amity citizens often passed through on their way back from the farms. The road was inconsistent and cracked, with weeds coming out of the gashes engraved in it. It wasn't well groomed, like the ones back in the city. Her eyes then moved to the terrain beyond the fence. All she could see from that area was the large extension of trees and the farming lands, that stretched as far as she could stare. Questions of what was beyond that entered her mind once more, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away as Four adressed the group.

"As you all know, the purpose of this field trip is familiarize you with one of the occupations Dauntless members can chose from," he folded his arms over his chest, eyes raking over the iniciates, "Those of you who don't make it to the top five will probably work here. That being said, I brought Granger along, since I believe he'll be able to give you a more accurate explanation of what exactly is done here."

Granger gave them all a hesitant smile, before his eyes drifted to Siobhan, who shot him a thumbs up from where she was standing with Rita and another girl Lilith hadn't met yet. That seemed to give the blond enough courage to step forwards, clearing his throat, "You've probably realized this by now, but I'm one of the many Dauntless who work by the fence. Most of what we do, is what you're already able to see. We keep an eye on everyone who leaves and enters the city, and we make sure that the gates stay closed unless it's absolutely necessary to open them," he glanced over his shoulder at his colleagues, "If you do become a fence guard, this is what expects you. It's not the most exciting thing you can do, but it is necessary. Some of us are even lucky enough to go on patrols beyond the farms-"

"Patrols for what purpose?" Will interrupted.

"That's something you can only find out, when you get there," Granger grinned, looking back at Four.

Their instructor nodded his head, before speaking again, "For the most part, those who guard the fence when they are young continue to guard the fence," his expression had a more amused look as he clapped a hand against Granger's shoulder, "If it comforts you, Granger says it's not as bad as it seems."

"It's not!"

"What rank were both of you?" Peter raised his eyebrow as he looked between the two males.

"I was first," Four surprisingly replied, before glancing at Granger, who nodded his head, "Granger was sixth."

"Couldn't you have gone for leadership?" Lilith questioned.

Four was quiet for a few seconds, before he finally answered, "I didn't want to."

After a few more questions from the iniciates, Four told them that they were allowed to explore the area around the fence, while the train didn't return to take them back to the compound. Lilith walked closer to the thing that separated them from the outside, craning her head upwards as she noticed how tall the fence actually was. It wasn't impossible to climb, but it would be one hell of a feat.

The noise of the gate being pulled open attracted her attention to where a truck filled with people from Amity, along with a few boxes of what she assumed where fruits and vegetables. Her heart pounded against her chest as the vehicle came to a stop just inside of the gates, her eyes quickly going over the faces of everyone in the truck. Her shoulders visibly deflated as she realized that Reyna and Hortense weren't present. As much as she knew that she shouldn't, she longed to see either of them.

As she was turning back to the fence to try and get a good look at what was after it, she spotted Siobhan and Granger huddled close to eachother. The brown haired girl's demeanour had changed from when she had been with the other initiates, her eyebrows now furrowed as the blond whispered something to her. Following their line of sight, Lilith soon realized that they were starring at whatever the truck was carrying into the city, and a sinking feeling took over her stomach.

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Her fingers gripped her tray tightly as she made her way through the dining hall, in search of someone she knew. The rest of the day had been fairly uneventful: after they had returned from their trip to the fence, Four had led them to training room, where they once more picked up guns and trained their target practice. Lilith had remembered Eric's advice, and she'd been pleased after hitting the middle of the target more often that not.

Her brown eyes finally landed on where Siobhan and Granger were sitting together, side by side, seemingly talking in hushed tones to eachother. Memories of their behavior during the field trip ressurfaced in Lilith's mind, and she found herself making her way to their table, before she even realized it.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Granger spoke through gritted teeth, as she approached the couple. None of them had noticed her yet, and she lingered behind them for a few more seconds, "The number of imports to them has raised drastically, and I don't understand why."

"The number of imports to who?" Lilith asked, making both of her friends jump as she made her way to the seat in front of Siobhan. The other girl's eyes were wide as she sat down, and the brunette shook her head, "Relax. I saw you guys acting weird when that Amity truck came through the gate. I'm just curious, that's all."

Her friends exchanged a glance, before they seemed to come to a silent agreement. Granger released a sigh as Siobhan turned back to Lilith, her lips pursed as she picked up her fork, "It's Erudite," she announced, "During the last few months, the ammount of supplies imported to them has grown. No one knows about it, much less why it's happening."

"Well, how do you guys know about it?"

"I... noticed it, once," Granger replied, running a hand through his hair, "We also keep an eye on that sort of stuff, when we're on guard duty. At least, I do," he paused, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his barely touched food, "Everyone else seems to be turning a blind eye. Max told us that it was Amity's concern, and not ours, and everyone's fine with that."

"Less work," Siobhan shook her head.

"As far as I know, Erudite's main goal right now is to get Abnegation away from the government," Lilith pressed her lips together, before looking back at her friends, "Do you guys think they're up to something? That they're somehow getting more supplies because they have a plan?"

"It's one of our guesses," Granger sighed, "But it's not like we have a way to see if that's what's going on."

Silence hung over the trio. The thought of an incoming threat coming from Erudite was terrifying to Lilith. As the best thinkers of the whole city, a plan of their making wouldn't just fail. She was almost sure that they had predicted every possible outcome and planned counter-measures for every detail that could go wrong, and that decreased the chances of them being stopped by a significant percentage. That was, if they were indeed planning something.

"You said that Max told you to turn a blind eye," she began, after a few minutes, "Which means that he probably knows something. Dauntless might be in on it," the dots connected in her mind quickly, and her heart thumped against her ribcage, "Would Eric know about it?"

"Probably," the blond nodded, "But it's not like he can tell us. Even if he wanted to, leadership comes first. They'd kill him."

"Can we change the subject?" Siobhan released a deep breath, looking between the two others, "This is taking a dark turn, and we don't even know if any of this is true. For all we know, Erudite might just be studying something knew," the girl was trying to make it seem like she believe in what she was suggesting, but Lilith saw straight through it. Still, she chose to keep silent as her friend continued, "All they're doing about Abnegation is spreading rumors. We have no reason to be worried."

Even after the topic had changed, a few minutes later, Lilith still felt odd. Her mind was now wondering what exactly Erudite was doing, and they seemed to want to keep it hidden from the public for as long as possible. Her friends had been right, however. There was no way for them to find out what was happening; after all, the girls were both still initiates and Granger himself didn't really have a position that would allow him to learn much. She was still thinking about what she had learned when Eric entered the dining hall by Max's side, and the sick feeling in her stomach only grew.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey, y'all!
Sorry for not updating last week, Wattpad was giving me issues with editing this chapter.
For the life update that no one asked, I did fail one of my classes and will have to do an exam for it on the 12th of February. I haven't started studying for it ((((((((: but I still have time and I plan on starting by Monday, at the latest. So we're okay y'all :D
This chapter dives a little deeper into the whole conspiracy about Erudite and about how my trio have some suspicions about what's going on, but they obviously don't know much. This was more of a filler but you know, it was needed.
See you soon!