Contents
Chapter 28: Tris
Overview
Amid Candor’s fire-containment lockdown, Tris and Four locate Mae trapped in a safe room and execute a risky rescue, during which Tris is burned. They navigate evacuation chaos, where Christina reveals the Fox banner and Mae reunites with the Mender. When Mae’s mother intervenes, Four blocks her, allowing the group to withdraw.
Summary
As fire-containment walls drop inside Candor’s glass core, Tris and Four hear frantic pounding beyond a sealed partition. A voice warns that a girl is trapped in a safe room on their side. Following the sound, they encounter a corridor ablaze, forcing them to crawl through smoke toward a locked door they identify as the safe room.
Unable to break the door, Tris spots a small transom window above it. Four smashes the glass with a fire hatchet while bracing on Tris’s shoulder, then boosts Tris through the opening. Inside the smoke-filled room, Tris finds Mae and lifts her up to crawl out to Four. Tris then drags a bookcase under the frame and, despite doubt and spreading heat, hauls herself through, burning her shoulder as a surge of heat flares. Four catches her and leads Mae and Tris toward the emergency stairwell.
They descend past Dauntless firefighters and reach the south lobby, where Tris sees her father with a burn bandage but turns away, unable to face him. Christina rushes in, confirms Tris is alive, and reveals the Fox banner hidden under her jacket. Mae sprints to the Mender, who embraces her in relief.
When Mae’s impeccably dressed mother advances to take Mae, Four deliberately blocks her path, creating time for Tris to guide the Mender and Mae toward the exit. With Christina following, Four holds the line, then shares a brief, tentative smile with Tris as they withdraw from the lobby.
Who Appears
- Tris (Beatrice)Protagonist; crawls through fire, enters the safe room via transom, rescues Mae, sustains a painful shoulder burn, avoids her father.
- FourGuides the route, breaks the transom, boosts and catches Tris, leads evacuation, and blocks Mae’s mother to secure their escape.
- MaeChild trapped in a Candor safe room; rescued by Tris, then reunited with the Mender; terrified of her mother’s approach.
- The MenderMae’s father; reunites with her in the lobby, thanks Tris with visible relief, and departs under Tris and Four’s protection.
- ChristinaChecks on Tris, reveals she kept the Fox banner, accompanies the group during the hurried exit.
- Tris’s fatherSeen with a burned, bandaged arm beside Jack Kang; locks eyes with Tris, who turns away.
- Mae’s motherImpeccably dressed Candor woman who tries to reclaim Mae; Four obstructs her to allow the group to withdraw.
- Jack KangCandor leader present in the lobby during evacuation; stands near Tris’s father.