Water.

The world was cloudy, draped in a foggy haze. Only one word came through.

Water.


Routine checks are always the worst.

As a leader, it's my duty to check the guards on the fence once in a while, making sure that they're not doing drugs or anything like that. Max always give me the same speech when I complain about the checks.

"Eric, a faction is like-"

"A well-oiled clock." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, precisely. Each gear has its own specific purpose. But what happens if one gear doesn't do its job?"

"The gear gets a lot of extra free time on his hands instead of wasting it on a fence," I muttered under my breath.

Max whipped his head around, glaring at me. "What was that?"

"The clock stops working, sir."

"Exactly. You are one of the gears in this faction." He leaned down, bringing his face close to mine. "Do your job."

So that's why I was here, talking to hungover Dauntless members that really should've been factionless at the end of initiation.

"Dude, just chill. We'll do our job, 'kay? Now can you leave?" Brady flipped his long blond hair out of his face. He smelled suspiciously of marijuana.

"Just get out of the way. I have better things to do right now." Marlene had just made a new batch of Dauntless cake back at the compound…

Come on, Eric. Focus.

"Where's Four, anyway? Max usually has him do this job." Brady mumbled.

"Four was taken with...other things." Namely, an exclusive party for Max's friends. That I was not invited to. "Anyway, I can make you suffer, so I wouldn't give me any of that attitude if I were you."

"Oh really? I don't think so. Max doesn't even like you. I bet that if it wasn't for your nerdy aunt over in Erudite you would be out here like us, guarding the fence."

I felt anger rising in the back of my throat. "Jeanine Matthews has nothing to do with my leadership position. I earned it myself."

"Yeah? I bet you couldn't even pass stage one."

"I was first." Then some little Abnegation kid with four fears beat me on stage two.

Brady tossed his mane. "I bet I could take you on right now." He thrust his face near mine in a show of intimidation, and that's when I caught a whiff of the alcohol. What was he doing, getting high and drunk on the fence? "I bet I could knock you out in one punch."

I rolled my eyes and swept his feet out from under him, then pinned him to the ground. "I'd like to see you try." I was about to do something worse when I heard her.

"Please...anyone…" I let go of Brady, curious.

"Water…"

I rushed to the edge of the fence and peered down. A girl with long black hair was just outside the city. I turned back to Brady and pointed at her. "Who is she?" When he didn't answer, I went up to him and slapped his face. He had blacked out.

I sighed and called for backup. After a couple minutes we were able to pull the girl up onto the fence. Her hair was tangled and covered her face.

I brushed the knotted strands away. Her skin was a deep brown; she looked relatively plain. I didn't recognize her from the ranks in Dauntless, and her clothing was a discombobulation of colors-purple, blue, white, gray. Her eyes were closed. She had fallen unconscious. Her lips were cracked and dry. Who could she be? I pulled out my canteen and let the water trickle into her mouth.

"Eric?" I turned around, and striding towards me was none other than Four.

"Four. What are you doing here?"

"I was...down monitoring the factionless sector when I heard a commotion by the fence." Max had called him to check on me, no doubt. He glanced at Brady, who had finally got up and was fishing for his canteen in his pack, then at the mysterious girl at my feet. He pointed to her. "Who's she?"

"No one you need to know," I say, making my voice icy and sharp. I wanted to like Four when he was in my initiation class; I really did. The little Stiff became first rank, and while he was competition I also saw him as a possible ally. But he's just so irritating! Always meddling where he's not supposed to. The only thing he's done right since initiation is preventing Jeanine's war on Abnegation before it happened. I'm not a big fan of Stiffs, but slaughtering them all is just overkill, no pun intended.

Abnegation wasn't the only thing Jeanine was wrong about.

"Eric?" Four waved his hand in my face, snapping me back to the present. "What are you doing? Take her arms." His expression is one of utter annoyance that I'm sure I'm mirroring. He's holding one side of the girl, her feet. Stupid.

"You need to be careful with her head. We don't know what she's been through." I scowl at him. "Drop her feet." He raises his eyebrows and lowers her legs to the ground. I kneel next to her and pick her up, bridal style, making sure to cradle her head. "She's not too heavy. I'll be fine carrying her myself. Radio ahead to the infirmary to get a bed ready."

As Four talks to Christina over the radio, I shift the girl's body in my arms. Her head rolls back a bit, revealing a tattoo on her collarbone. So she must be Dauntless...interesting. I've never seen her around the Compound. As I carry her to the Compound behind Four, I'm deep in thought. Why was she outside the wall? How long had she been out there? Who had left her there? Had she gone by herself? I feel her burrow her head into my shoulder a little and smile. She's alive. Thank God.

I gently lay her down on an empty bed in the infirmary. Christina rushes to my side. "Thank you, Eric. I'll see to this one immediately."

"It's your job," I say curtly. While I may have liked Four once upon a time, the Candor smartmouth Christina has never been one of my favorites. I nod to her and then leave, finishing up the rest of the checks Max has given me. As I lay in bed that night, I can't get a particular tattoo out of my head.

Hey everyone! I'm pretty excited about this particular story and I hope you guys are too! Please offer any tips, suggestions, comments, hate mail, ANYTHING! I always have an open mind, and constructive criticism is always appreciated. Please review! Thank you, ~skutti2000