Amity is the faction that dislikes war. It was formed in order to have a peaceful society free from conflict and sadness caused by wars and instigation. It is rare to see an Amity born defect into Dauntless. But I was sick of farming. I hated it, and I fought others a lot. I almost was kicked and made factionless once, or kicked out of my faction. It's worse than being homeless. Anyway, I was almost kicked because I stabbed someone in the arm with a knife. I didn't feel right here. Fortunately, tomorrow was when we take our tests. The Aptitude test. To see who we really are.
"Are you nervous?" my mother asked. She was tall, with bright blonde hair. I shook my head no. I wasn't nervous. I was excited. Finally ready to get out of here. We wore bright red and yellow. God, I hate yellow. I knew what I was going to choose regardless of what my Aptitude test told me I was. I was ready.
In the morning, I changed into my clothes, and realized this was the last day I would wear them. I smiled.
"Come here, Ethan." I was short, being 5' 4 with long blonde hair, but I was built from working on farms. My dad hugged me. "Anything you choose, we will both still love you." my mother smiled.
"I love you." she said. I loved my parents, but I hated Amity. I wasn't forgiving, or harmonious. I hated farming.
We went to the Choosing Ceremony area, which was outside, with walls marked with each of the five factions. Amity, Dauntless, Candor, Erudite, and Abnegation. Which one was I? I wasn't forgiving, or harmonious, so I'm not going to choose Amity. Am I brave, courageous? Dauntless? Am I honest, Candor? Am I smart, like an Erudite? Or was I selfless, as an Abnegation? I will figure it out. I move to my area, in the line of Amity, and pass by some guy making fun of the Abnegation kids. "Stiffs", the other factions called them. I had no idea why they hated Abnegation. I turned and saw the train coming, and the Dauntless all jumped out. I loved watching them climb and run. They were crazy and free. Maybe I would choose them?
I went into my room, with a man there. He would conduct my Aptitude test. The wall next to the door was covered in mirrors.
"Obsessed with yourself?" he asked.
"No?" I replied. I had seen myself before in the mirror, I just hadn't seen one so big before. He told me to sit in the chair, which I did. He gave me a glass of blue liquid.
"You'll be offered a series of choices that decide your recommended faction, until you get one result. Don't be scared. About Ninety- five percent of people get the faction they originated from." Oh shit, I thought. I'd better not get Amity.
I drank the liquid. It tasted like medicine. I looked over to my instructor to tell him that it didn't work, whatever it was supposed to do, only to find that he was no longer there. I got up out of the seat and turned the other way. I looked at the mirror and looked back. I saw me. Hundreds of thousands of me. Mimicking my every move. It was strange.
"Pick." One of the mirages said.
"What?" I ask as I look over, and there are five pedestals. One with a knife, another with meat. That's all I saw.
"Pick quickly." I didn't know what to do, so I picked up the knife, and the others disappeared. A dog appeared, about 10 feet away, growling. It came after me. I didn't want to hurt the dog, but I had to, or it would kill me. I stood my ground as it ran.
It jumped on me and I shoved the knife into its stomach. Blood spilled, and it dropped.
I woke up. Or at least, it felt that way.
"Congratulations, you got Dauntless. That's different, I've never seen an Amity born get Dauntless..." he trailed off. "Just go on home, and remember, you are not allowed to tell anyone what you got, even your parents." I nodded. I walked out the front door and went home. I was tired. I fell asleep immediately when I hit my soft bed.
It was morning again, and another day. Except, today was the Choosing Ceremony. I was excited. And nervous.
We all went in and sat down, the area was covered in white, each section of chairs for the different factions. At the bottom was a slanted area, with five bowls, each for the five factions. I walked passed the leader of Erudite, Jeanine, and she was talking to the famous Prior family. They had two kids. A female and a male. I don't even know their names. Their father was almost like a right hand man to the leader of Abnegation, and the government, Marcus. I sat with my parents in the forth row of the section. Everyone started clapping, and Jeanine walked up to the bowls.
"The faction system is a living being," she began. "Composed of cells, which is all of you. The only way we live and thrive is because you all know your rightful place. The future of this place depends on those who knows they belong." she walked off.
Marcus walked up and began calling off names, starting with Jonathan Ziegler. I spaced off, thinking of my life in the different factions.
"Ethan Shedd." Marcus called, and I stood up. I walked down, my face turning red as everyone watched me. I was excited, happy. I knew exactly what I was going to choose. I felt bad for my parents, but I could see them later, right? I cut my hand with the knife, and dripped my blood over the steaming coals. Dauntless. Everyone from Dauntless screamed and cheered, yelling my name. One gave up their seat for me. I thanked them, but they told me not to thank them.
"Caleb Prior." Marcus said. One of the Prior family's kids. That was his name. Caleb. He defected to Erudite. I felt bad for his parents, not because one kid defected, but both their kids did. I don't remember what the girl defected to, but she was tall, with blonde hair. I forget her name as well.
The Choosing Ceremony ended, and all the Dauntless got up and ran. I'd ran before, and quickly discovered that I was extremely fast and could run for a very long time when I was little. So I ran faster than them all. They commended how fast I could run. We all stopped at the train tracks. They started climbing.
Oh shit, I thought. We are climbing onto train tracks. We're gonna die.
I got to the top and waited. "What're we doing here?" I asked. A Dauntless- born female said we had to get on the train while it moved. I was ready for this. It came, and I ran as fast as I could and jumped on, and hit the button. I was the first person on the train. I had time to rest. We waited for about thirty minutes. Everyone was talking and joking. A woman almost got pushed out joking with her friend. It was funny. I laughed.
"Get ready..." I heard someone say.
"They're jumping." I heard another say.
"What?" another female replied.
This'll be fun, I thought. Jumping off trains. I watched as they jumped one by one over a gap in a building. I jumped after two. I hit the ground and rolled. I laughed. God, this was fun. And I'd be doing this every day of my life. I walked to the other side of the rooftop, where an instructor waited for us.
He looked really tough, a tattoo on his neck and a lot of piercings.
"Alright, listen up!" he said. "My name is Eric, one of your leaders. You wanna enter Dauntless, this is the way in. And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless.
"There water at the bottom or something?" someone asked.
"I guess you'll find out," Eric replied, sarcastically to him. "Or not...
Well someone's gotta jump first, who's it gonna be?" he asked, persistently. We are all silent.
"I'll do it." a girl said. It was that Prior girl. From Abnegation. She walked up to the ledge and took off her jacket.
"Yeah, Stiff, take it off," a man taunted. "Now put it back on."
How rude.
She jumped. Without a scream, she jumped. That's pretty brave. Could I do it? Will I make it into Dauntless? I was the fifth to jump, and a man named Four, another instructor waits for me at the bottom. He asks my name.
"Ethan." I tell him.
"Well, Ethan. Welcome to Dauntless."
Once everyone is done, we all group up on Four.
"Most of the time I'm working intelligence, but during training, I'll be your instructor. My names Four."
A female began making fun of him. "Four, like the number?"
"Exactly like the number."
"What happened, one through three were taken?" I laughed. That was good. But Four wasn't going to put up with her crap. He stepped close to her.
"What's your name?" Four asks the girl.
"Christina"
"Well, Christina, the first lesson you learn from me, if you wanna survive here, is keep your mouth shut."
"Okay." Christina whimpered. That man was terrifying. He was tall, and looked tough. One of those guys where if he took a step toward you, you took a step back. I do not wanna screw with that guy.
"Follow me" he says, walking off. The walls of the area were made of stone, as we were underground, in a large cavern. We trail off into a large area, the hub, and is the most lively place in the Dauntless home. I see some people fighting, others chasing each other, and others drinking.
"This is the Pit," Four started. "The center of life here, at Dauntless." I smiled. I was going to love it here. We made our way into the barracks. A large, cold room of bunks.
"You're going to be sleeping here for the next ten weeks." Four explains.
"Girls or boys?" someone asks.
"Both."
"That works."
"If you like this, you're gonna love the bathrooms" Four smiles.
The bathrooms were open, no stalls, and zero privacy. This sucks. I hate Four's sarcasm. In the middle, were two large sinks.
"No... Other area?" I heard one say.
"This stinks" I heard another person say.
It was true. This place sucked.
"You should feel right at home, Candor." Four taunted Christina. "Everything out in the open." He walked away, shouldering the Prior girl, telling everyone to get changed. We changed from our original faction clothes into the black and red Dauntless clothes. It suited me well, and I liked the colors. We moved along into a line, and there was a large fire at the end. We drop our clothes into the fire. The memories, times of fun I'd had while in Amity. Burned. Gone. But it didn't matter, Dauntless is my new home. A new slate. I'm free. We made it into the mess hall. Water pouring into the area, probably from erosion, and it slowly leaked in. It was a large area with catwalks on the top. Everyone was having fun, eating, drinking, fighting. I got my food. No other areas were open, so I was forced to sit next to him. Four. I was quiet. I heard bits of a conversation spark on the other side of him.
"I don't wanna hear about your old factions. You're Dauntless now." Four broke in, shutting their conversation down.
"Were you a transfer too?" the Prior girl said. Oh crap, she's gonna get hit.
Four looks over at her slowly. "Are you kidding?" he asked.
"No" she said, eyes wide.
"What makes you think you can talk to me?" he snaps.
"Well, maybe it's because you're so approachable." Oh my God, she is going to die. Four is going to beat her senseless. Her friends start talking to her, probably praising her. A bell buzzed, and everyone started slamming their cups on the tables, liquid splashing on the tables.
A man stood up on the catwalk. His name was Max. "Initiates. Stand" I stood up, and so did the Prior girl and her friends.
"You have chosen the warrior faction. Tasked with the defense of this city, and all it's inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery. And the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. Respect that. Do us proud." All the Dauntless born scream and clap. I smiled. They all picked us up. It startled me, as I don't like being touched. They carried us over them, but it was fun. They scream and chant. They were all having fun.
Most of us fell asleep drunk, or tired. We awoke to the loud pang of metal against metal, Four's way of waking us up.
"I want everyone in the Pit. Two minutes." he said, as he walked back up the stone stairs. We all do so, and move up. We are met by Four and Eric.
Four begins instructing. "You have two stages of training: the first is physical. Push your bodies to the breaking point, and you will master the methods of combat. The second is mental training, again, breaking point. You'll face your worst fears and overcome them. You will be ranked with Dauntless born, and at the end, your ranking will decide your job within Dauntless. Leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the factionless from killing each other." Eric cuts him off.
"Rankings will also determine who's cut."
"Cut?" Christina asks.
"At the end of each stage of training, the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us."
"To do what?" a boy asks. A bad question to ask. We all know what it meant.
"Well, there's no going home to your family, so you'd live factionless.", Eric says gravely.
"Why didn't we know that?"
"It's a new rule."
"A new rule? Somebody should've told us that." Christina snaps.
"Quiet, would you have chosen differently," Eric says to her. "Out of fear? And if that's the case, might as well walk out now. If you're really one of us, it doesn't matter to you that you might fail. Now you chose us, now we get to choose you."
We all move to the training room. A large hangar, where we run, practice punches, and fight. This would be easy for me, fighting. Four fights a Dauntless born. Shows us how to fight. They fight differently. I always thought you fought with throwing punches with your knuckles. But no, they fight with the base of their fist. It'd be hard to get used to. One day we practice shooting firearms. I've never held a gun before, but it's cool. Four commends me on my shooting skills. Another day we run. I'm too fast for others so I sometimes go ahead of them and have to wait for them ahead.
"It's not a race, initiate, it's training." Four said. We stop at a factionless home.
"What do we got? Four asks.
"Factionless," a man replies. "Not doing anything."
We stare for awhile. "Take a close look," someone said to the Prior girl. I learned his name was Peter. "That'll be your new home, Stiff." I felt bad for her. I wanted to hurt that kid. He's a dick. The next day were taught how to block. I already know this, so it's easy. "First jumper," Eric calls. "In the ring. Last jumper. In the ring." The Prior girl moves in, and so does a large built girl named Molly comes in. The Prior girl is gonna get hurt. We all gather around. Molly looks over at Eric. "How long do we fight for?"
"Until one of you can't continue." He answers.
"Or one of you can seize." Four adds.
"According to the old rules," Eric jumps back in. "New rules, no one can seize."
The two girls break into their stances. Molly moves forward on Prior, and she moves back off of the ring. Molly backs off, and Prior gets back on. Molly throws the first punch, Prior dodging behind her, and throwing a punch at Molly, far from hitting her. Molly punches back, hitting the smaller girl in the face, and she watches as she falls. She holds her ear, and gets back into stance. Prior lunges into Molly's stomach, and the bigger girl punches her stomach three times, and Prior backs off. Molly hits her hard in the face. Again, the smaller girl falls to her feet. Molly looks up to Eric, who motions her to go on. Prior looks up, only to be hit in the face, knocked unconscious.
We move to the ranking board, which pulls up all our names. My name was on number nineteen. Just above the red line. Peter was 4, Christina 17.
"This board is your life." Eric explains. "If your name is below the red line by the first stage ends, you're out." I look farther down, and the Prior girl is number 33. Tris. That's her name. Tris Prior. She's not going to make it. I can see it already. She's second to last and the third week of training isn't even here yet. She's too weak.
That night, I got a tattoo. It was a yin- yang, surrounded by two dragons, the black one on the right side, with white eyes, and the white one on the left, with black eyes. I put it on my left shoulder. Tris was there too, but I don't know what kind of tattoo she got. I also dyed my hair teal. It was different, but I liked it. A new me, so I gave myself a new look. This was me. The real Ethan. I went back to the barracks and went to sleep. The beds were more comfortable than they were before. I awoke ahead of time, only to see the Prior girl awake too. I didn't get up, and watched as she snuck out of the room. She was probably going to train earlier. She needs to get her shit together. The following day, she is getting better, and she has a tattoo on her chest. I can't see it, though. I don't know why I'm watching her, she's just so adaptable. She is getting better at shooting, and fighting. She moved from 33 on the ranking board to 26. I moved from 19 to 15, with Christina ahead of me by one. My knuckles are blistered, and bleeding. I can't feel the pain. I was born with a condition where I cannot feel pain. It's good in most ways. It'll help a lot here in Dauntless. I look over and Christina yells "Stop!" She's fighting Molly, who has thoroughly beaten her. Eric helps her up. He's going to do something to her. I can see it in his eyes. "Alright, let's everyone take a break!" He says.
We move through the stone hallway to the bridge over the chasm, and he asks if she's okay, and throws her over the bridge! "Grab the rail." Eric tells her. She grabs the rails and holds on.
"You've got three options: Hang there and forget your cowardice, fall and die, or give up. But if you give up, you're out." We all watch in horror as Christina struggles to hold on, the dripping water weakening her grip on the bridge.
"Come on, Chris." Tris encourages her, and Eric glares at her. "Time" Eric says, and Tris and another person helps her up, still seemingly shocked as to what just happened. "Dauntless never give up." Eric says, as Christina sobs.
Later in the day, we are on the train. We are taking a "field trip" to the wall.
"As Dauntless we fight to protect every life inside the fence without fail. That's why we train you the way we do. To teach you not to give up." Four explains. I look over at Tris, who seemingly went from the very bottom to one of the top Dauntless in five weeks. How the hell does she do it? I'm too busy to ask her. Well, not really busy. I'm just not a social type of person. I'd rather be on my own.
"And to find out who has what it takes." he added. I have what it takes. I just have to figure out how to show it to people.
"We know it's been quiet out there for years, that could change at any moment. So we have to be ready for anything." Four says.
"That is one big ass wall." I say. Someone behind me replying "Yeah it is."
We all climb a ladder, about 30 feet tall, and look out. That's Amity working the land out there. I never went out of the wall, but I knew people who did. I could've been working out there right now. I shook the thought out of my head. I'm Dauntless now. Amity is nothing.
"What's out there?" Tris asks.
"The Amity farms." someone answers.
"No, I know, beyond that though."
"Places that never recovered from the war."
We all know that there was a large war about three hundred years ago. The Purity War. Between those who were pure, and impure. I've heard stories that the pure were Divergents, people who don't fit into any category, but here they are looked down upon, and killed if found. I wonder if there are any in Dauntless.
The next day, we train with throwing knives. It's very fun. It calms my mind, clearing it. I got the hang of it quickly, however they bounce off the wall sometimes.
"Well that was pathetic" I heard Eric say to someone. I ignored it, as we hear things like this every day. I begin throwing knives again, making five in, all in a row.
"Everybody stop!" Eric yells. We all stop. "Stand in front of the target" he tells the initiate. I think his name is Al. He has made a big mistake. He moves in front of the target. "Four, give me a hand here?" Eric asks him.
"You're gonna stand there, while he throws those knives..." Eric begins, stepping toward Al. "And if I see you flinch, you're out. One thing you will learn here, is that orders are not an option." Four grabs 3- 4 knives and walks forward. He is about to throw the knife when- "Stop" wait, who said that?
"Anyone can stand in front of a target, it doesn't prove anything." it's the Prior girl, Tris. Again. She's going to end up on the bottom of the chasm if she doesn't keep her mouth shut.
"Then it should be easy for you to take his place." Eric tells her. She takes Al's place in front of the blue targets. "Same rules apply."
Four flips the knife a couple times, aims, then throws it, landing a couple inches from her right arm. "Aww, come on, Four." Eric taunts him. He flips another knife, aims once more, throws the knife and it hits four inches from her left ear. "You can get closer than that." Eric tells Four.
"What, you want me to give her a little trim?"
"Yeah, maybe just a little off the top." Is he going to cut her? I resist the urge to take her place as well. I can take the pain. But can she? He throws the knife, and it enters the target just two inches above her head. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God he didn't hit her. He then throws another one, that skims her right ear. Did he hit her? I don't think he did. "Points for bravery, Stiff, but not as many as you just lost for opening your mouth." Eric tells her. His voice gets deeper. "Now watch yourself. We train soldiers, not rebels. Alright, we're done for the day, get out." Holy shit she just showed up Eric. The great and mighty Eric. Everyone talks of Tris's bravery in the barracks as she stays behind. When she finally gets back we all cheer for her.
"You really do have a death wish." Christina jokes to her.
"Hey, congratulations, Stiff. You're famous." Peter tells her. "Not because of Eric, but hey, you're in the news. Yeah, listen: 'The recent transfers Beatrice and Caleb Prior, children of Andrew Prior, call into the question of the faction's ancient teachings and outings. What prompted them to leave? Perhaps the idea lies in the corrupted ideal of their faction. The abuse of their children'" I wanted to kill him. Abnegation doesn't beat their children. I may not have known the Priors, or anyone in Abnegation, but they were good people. I left before listening to the end. Peter came out later on. I shoved him into the wall, without thinking. I was smaller than him, but stronger. "Listen, Peter. Fuck with the girl again and we're going to have a major issue." I threatened.
"What, you got a crush on her?" It wasn't true, I just hated people being picked on. Maybe I've got a bit of Abnegation in me. I punched the wall next to his face, then walked away.
The next day started in the fighting room.
"First fight," Eric started. "Peter versus Tris." Dammit, I thought to myself. I was thinking a lot to myself lately. Anyway, Eric was trying to get at Tris as much as possible lately, wasn't he? I hoped I myself would get to fight Peter. I would end him.
They both step onto the ring. Four pulled Tris to the side and tells her something Inaudible, but it was clearly something of tactic, as she almost won the fight.
"You alright there, Stiff?" Peter begins to talk smack to her. "Look like you're about to cry. I'll take it easy in you if you cry." he tells her, and I notice he's slowly making his way closer to her. She doesn't notice. He throws a fast punch, but Tris dodges to the right, punching him in the throat. She saw what I saw. Peter steps before he punches. He throws another punch, which Tris again pushes away. She throws another punch, but this time Peter blocks it and punches her in the side of the face. Twice. She moves to the other side of the ring, getting a breather. He throws a punch again, which she grabs and throws under him, pulling his arm back, kicking him in the stomach. He punches her side multiple times, getting her to let go. He picks her up, and throws her across the mat. He kicks her again. She gets up only to be punched in the face again. Four walks out. Why? Tris looks back at Peter, who kicks her, knocking her out. She is taken to the infirmary, which I never knew we had. Until I was the one carrying her.
The next day, we have war games. I'm going to love this. A simulation of war, and we break into teams and are pitted against the other team. This time it'll be CTF, or capture the flag. I don't see Tris on the train, as Eric said she was out. Eric really hates her, it seems Someone jumps onto the train. Tris made it. Eric approaches her. "Who let you out?" He asked her. "Me", she replied. He waited. "Okay." And Eric walked off. Wow. That was totally unexpected. I've made somewhat of a friend lately. Her name is Kaitlyn. She has bright pink hair. She's a bit shorter than I am. She's really pretty. My thoughts are cut off by Four.
"The games simple. Like Capture the Flag." he throws down a bag of what look like dart guns. "Weapon of choice." Molly rolls her eyes. "That's not a gun."
Eric shoots her, and she falls back, crying in pain. He pulls it out of her leg. "Neuro- Stim darts. Simulate the pain of a real bullet." Better not get hit, I think to myself.
"Two teams." He begins. "Four and I are captains."
"You pick first" Four says.
"Okay... Edward."
"I'll take the Stiff."
"Ohhhh, picking the weak ones so you have someone to blame it on when you lose."
"Something like that." I look at Prior, and she notices something about all the people Four is picking, something I obviously don't see. I hear Four call my name. Then I see it. We're all shorter and faster. Eric's team are stronger, more built. We all move out, to the old Naval Pier. We start at a large Ferris wheel. Hard to believe people used it as a fun thing to do. Looks dangerous to me.
"Alright, lights off." Four orders. We all turn our luminescent lights off. "Gather 'round, come on. Okay, what's your strategy?" everyone breaks into conversation. I thought to myself, we need to break into two groups, one to defend our flag, which we could post to the top of the Ferris wheel, no one would climb that, and a group to go ahead and attack. But Christina said to break into offense and defense groups. Close enough. I should've told them to take the flag to the top of the wheel. Four disappeared. So did the girl. We decided upon the two groups, and I finally got the courage to tell them where to put the flag. They commended me on my good idea. They would do that just before we moved out. But where was Four and Tris? We can't leave without them. I was on the offensive team. We would look for the flag and attack. Five minutes later, Four and Tris are back. "Alright, lets move out." Four says.
We move out and we soon find ourselves on top of a rooftop. We get to an opening, by a tower, where their green flag shines in the light. "I see them!" someone on the opposing team yells, and we all jump into action. "Light 'em up!" someone else yells, and they throw flares at us, lighting our presence up. I move to the left, followed by two others. I turn the corner and fire a dart onto someone's neck. They fall back, writhing in pain. An enemy fires past my head from behind, and one of the teammates behind me takes him out. I nod at him, telling him I'm moving up. I cover the area by the stairs for Tris and Christina, and they quickly move up. Minutes later, I see them emerge from the top, flag waving. And everyone cheers. It was a beautiful win. A guy walks up to me, and asks me if I want to join him and some buddies for what he called "an initiation ritual". I accepted, curious to see what it was. He ran ahead, and asked the Prior girl as well. We make our way to the top of an old skyscraper. The view was beautiful. I wish I could sit there and watch it all night. There's a zip line that disappears into the skyline. The first one goes, a Dauntless born initiate, screaming on his way down. Tris goes next, and she too, disappears into the darkness. I go after. They hook me into the harness. "This won't rip and send me falling to the bottom?" I ask sarcastically. "Wow, you can talk?" a guy replies, in sarcasm as well. "There's a brake just behind you. The end will be spray painted bright green. As soon as you see it, pull the brake." he explains.
"Thanks."
He pushes me. I am going so fast I can hardly see what's happening. It feels like I'm flying. I want to go faster. I shove my arms to my side to go faster. I go through a demolished building, and drop to the end. I see the bright paint, and pull the brake. I stop long before the end. I'm dropped into the arms of the others. "Yeah!" I scream. I'm all hyped now, ready to go again. Unfortunately I can't. Oh well. Here in Dauntless, we've got hundreds of things to do that may or may not kill us. We get back to the Pit, most of them were already drunk. We all group on Max, and he explains to us that this is the end of the first stage of training. I hope I'm above the red line. "...If you're below it, we'll waste no more time on you. Here are your rankings." he said, pointing to the board. Everyone yells and screams as it comes up. I made it. The next day, I was so sick I had to stay in. We were doing work packing up food supplies for the HQ anyway, so it would've been boring. The next day came in a blur.
"Ethan, up to the ring! Peter, you too!" Eric said. I smiled. I was going to end this guy.
As we step up to the ring, I realize how tall he is compared to me. He's a monster. He's about 6' tall, and I'm only 5' 4". I remembered what happened after the throwing knives. Would I be able to beat him in a real fight? We'd have to find out. "What're you guys doing? Fight!" Eric yells. Peter starts to taunt me. "Remember the day you attacked me?" he gets louder, making sure the others hear him. "The day you protected Tris from me? I think you've got a crush on her." Everyone goes silent. It wasn't true, but now people thought it was. I didn't like anyone here. Well, as more than a friend. I mean, I liked Kaitlyn, as a friend, but I didn't talk to her much. Peter threw a punch, and I ducked under it, driving my fist into his stomach as hard as I could. He chokes, trying to get air back into his lungs. I wouldn't let him. I throw another punch into his nose, then his throat, then his chest. He goes down quickly. There is blood coming from his nose, and I think I broke it. "Alright, that's enough, Ethan." Four says. Did I go too far? I wasn't going to find out. I left quickly, the Prior girl trying to follow. But I ran. As I've said I'm the fastest runner, but I found out that I was the fastest. In Dauntless. So I got away from her pretty quickly. I went to the barracks, and fell asleep.
The next day, we're onto mental training. I heard it was something like the Aptitude tests, except it was more directed toward our fears. What do I fear? Guess I'll find out. Molly comes out, dragged by two security guards, whimpering. "What did they do to her?" Christina asks, though no one answers.
It takes a long time to get through, but then Tris goes in, and the next one after her is quicker. Four minutes or so it took her. Is that even possible?
It was my turn. Here we go.
"I'll inject a syrum into you which processes part of your brain which plays fear." Four explains to me. He injects it into my neck, which felt really strange. But then I'm suddenly outside. Surrounded by crops. My parents are trying to get me to work, but I don't want to. Then I start to scream. What does this mean? Am I... Afraid... Of Amity? I don't know. But then it switches. An unidentified person is getting bullied, pushed around. Then I attack the bully and push him down, and see if the victim is okay. The fear of not being able to protect others? There's another. I was strapped down, unable to do anything. Strapped to a pole with water filling up. I was afraid of not being in control. Or probably drowning. Then I awoke, sweating and nearly crying. I've never cried before. "Wow," Four said. "Only three? Let me ask you, do you know why I'm called Four?" I shook my head no. "Because I'm the only person to ever have as little as four fears. And you've just beaten the record."
"And that's.. A good thing?"
"Of course, however they all seem to be hard to overcome, so you'll have practice tomorrow to figure out how to do that."
"I have to do this tomorrow?"
I already hate this. Word spreads quickly, Ethan, the guy with only three fears. I'm surprised no ones given me a nickname like 'Four' yet. Thank God, I like my original name. The next day after that, and after that, and after that, we're onto training every day. I'm back in the Amity farms. How the hell am I supposed to overcome this? So I decided to run away, as far as I could from the Amity farms. Until I left farther than any Amity farmer was allowed to go. Into the old world. But then the background switches. The bully is back, but this time physically attacking the victim, kicking them, punching them. I already knew how to fix this one, and I dove on top of him. Now the last one came. I was bound to a wooden pole, about five feet tall. The box was bigger, and water started to flow from the bottom. I struggled, I had no idea what to do, until I was halfway underwater. I would swim up with the water, until the binds went over the top of the pole, and swim free. I awoke after it happened, again, sweating and panting, but I wasn't crying this time. "You're getting the hang of this." Four said. "Go on. You're done for the day. And Initiation will be in four days." I thank him and walk out. Dear lord, initiation. I will have to overcome my fears in front of the Dauntless leaders, and the Erudite leader. It shouldn't be much harder, though. The next day passed, the same as yesterday. Two days from now was Initiation. Talk of it went through the mess hall, and I just got done eating my cheeseburger. "Ethan," someone said. I looked over and it was Tris. Shit. "Thanks for standing up to me. I know you don't like me." she smiled. Well, that was awkward. "You're welcome." that was all I could think of to say. That same night, she snuck out again. I followed her, and she went down to the tattoo area. This was wrong, but I wanted to know what she was doing. She was talking to Tori. And talking about something bad. Very bad.
"My brother was like you." She tells Tris. "During the second stage he got good really fast. Last day of Initiation, one of the Dauntless leaders came to watch him... The next morning we found his body at the bottom of the chasm." Shit, Tris is Divergent. That would explain how she's so good at everything else, how she adapted to Dauntless so quickly. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but if anyone asks me about it, I'm a terrible liar. I go back to the barracks and go back to bed.
The next day, something strange happened in the mess hall. Al wasn't sitting with Tris and her friends. He approached her about three minutes later, and Tris stood up.
"If you ever come close to me again, I will kill you!" everyone got quiet. "You need to stay away from me! You're a coward." she told Al, who retreated back out of the mess hall. We were in the Pit later and I heard a loud splash coming from the chasm. A man yelled. Al jumped into the chasm! I was one of the ones to help pull him up with a rope. The side of his head, where he hit the rocks was bleeding, mouth bleeding too. I can't believe he did that. We had a ceremony for his death in the mess hall. I was eating chocolate cake when someone started talking from the catwalks. "Tonight, we remember Al, who so Dauntlessly jumped into the chasm, ending his own life. He was brave to do so." everyone yelled and cheered. They mourn by drinking, so we all drank. Tomorrow was Initiation.
"All Initiates report to final testing" I heard on a loudspeaker. That was how we all woke up that day. We all waited out in the hall of a large, dome shaped building. I was the sixth to go. When I went in, there was a chair in the middle, like an Aptitude or simulation chair. Except this one looked like a waffle. There were Dauntless and Erudite there. And Tori was the test administer. "They can see your hallucinations on the screen," she said "Get past your fears the way Dauntless would, quickly." I nod. I sit in the chair, and Tori injects me. I look around, by the plains. My parents are telling me to start working, and so is the Amity leader. But I don't want to, so I run past all the farms until I'm nowhere. The bully again, he's so violent. I lunge toward him, and throw punches. The man falls, and now water is filling up. I'm bound to the wooden pole. I struggle for a second, until idea reaches me again that I must wait until the water fills to swim up. I do that, then I'm out. "How long was I in for?" I ask Tori. "About fifteen minutes." she replies. She tells me that I've passed, and I walk back to Dauntless.
"Congratulations." Max starts. "New members of Dauntless!" We all clap and cheer. We walk to the Pit, where Eric waits for us. "Alright, listen up! Before you leave tonight, I want you all in four lines. Everyone gets a tracking device." Well, shit. I should've gone and seen my parents when I could. "Don't ask questions, it's just precaution." Yeah, right. Something was up. We all got injected in the neck and I went to bed. I had a terrible dream that night, I had picked up a gun and shot an Abnegation man.
I woke up, gun in hand, aimed at an Abnegation child. We all woke up, as if we were in a trance. What the hell happened? We later figured out that Jeanine used the "tracking devices" to make us attack Abnegation. We found out that Tris got us out, with Four. But they disappeared. Dauntless hid out in Candor, awaiting their arrival. We trained for what might lie ahead. And guess what? Me and Kaitlyn are what you might call a thing now. Yeah, so that happened. We are pretty much inseparable, but hey. That's love I guess. I remember saying that I didn't like anyone when I first got here. Ten weeks later, look at me. I've changed. But here we are. Waiting here. For her. For Tris.