a/n: Surprise! I can write fanficiton that's not Harry Potter! Here's a fun little fic for all you Divergent-lovers out there.
Laser Tag
Uriah finds me in my favorite corridor. I usually go there now to sit and eat my lunch and think about what is so dangerous about being Divergent. We're friends. I guess we were friends before, but I really am glad for that friendship now.
"Hey Tris! I've got a proposition for you," he calls.
"A proposition?"
"Yeah. Come join us in the Pit at, oh, ten o' clock, and we'll go on an adventure. Like capture the flag, but better."
How could anything possibly be better than capture the flag?
I think for a few moments. I could sleep, and be well rested so I can put up with whatever exercises Four drags us through tomorrow. Or I could go on an adventure.
"Can I bring Christina?" I ask.
"Sure."
"Okay, I'll be there."
"Great." Uriah flashes me one more smile and disappears.
"Hey Christina," I say at dinner. "Want to go on an adventure?"
"What kind of an adventure?" she asks, her eyes lighting up.
"Don't know. Uriah didn't say. We're supposed to meet him in the Pit at ten tonight."
I already know she'll say yes. Her head nods, and she grins. "I'm in."
The ramps without rails normally don't scare me. But it's really dark and I can't see. More than once, I hit the edge. My foot never goes off the ramp completely, but it's worrying enough as it is.
When Christina and I finally get down to the floor of the Pit, we see that we aren't the only ones Uriah has invited on this "adventure." A bunch of the Dauntless-born are with us too, and to my surprise, so are a few who look to be older than initiates.
Uriah waves at us, and then signals to us that we've got to be quiet. In a low voice, he tells everyone to hop on the third train car from the front. We all run towards the exit.
The train horns don't sound at night, so they don't wake the whole city. All I have to go off of is the train lights, which should be enough. At the right moment, everyone starts running, and one by one, we all swing onto the same care.
In the car already is a box filled with jackets and a funny type of gun I haven't seen before. Uriah starts passing them out. "Take one each," he says.
Christina and I each grab a jacket and a gun. On closer inspection, I see that the jackets have little reflective dots sewn into the arms and torso.
"Uriah, what the hell are we doing?" shouts a boy. I can see he's Dauntless-born. For one, he's covered in tattoos and his hair is too red to be natural. He must have dyed it.
Uriah grins wickedly. "My friends, we're going to play laser tag."
Laser tag?
I don't know much about lasers. Just enough to know that they can melt almost anything. Uriah's idea of an adventure is shooting lasers at each other? I look at Christina, who's glaring at me.
"You didn't tell me there were lasers involved," she hisses at me.
"I didn't know!"
"Don't worry, people, they're not real lasers. If you get hit, worst that'll happen is it will sting a bit. Now, rules of the game. Everyone against everyone. The boundaries are the city buildings perimeter. Don't kill yourself. You should be aiming for the little targets on the jackets you all are wearing. Get off whenever you want to, starting now. If you get shot three times, you're out, and all the targets light up. Last one standing wins. Game begins once your feet hit the ground." He grins. "Good luck."
People begin leaping off the train at once. I glance at Christina. "Game on," she says to me.
"See you," I say, then leap off the train.
I might not be strong, but I'm fast. I take off running as soon as I hit the ground. I want to find a place that's easily defended, so I can get a plan together. Red lights fly all around me, and I begin to weave to create less of a target for anyone interested in shooting me.
I find a small pile of rubble and leap behind it, then stop. Trying not to breathe too loudly, I think. The goal of this game is not to get shot. So I don't think running at people in the open is the best idea. My plan will be to sneak around and pick people off, one by one. If they can't see me, they can't catch me.
Carefully, I look around the rubble pile. I see two people standing there. Then, one of them runs off. Perfect.
Taking careful aim, I squeeze the trigger three times. The gun doesn't kick like a regular one, because it's not firing anything solid. I miss once, then correct and try again. All three shots hit the mark, and the person's jacket lights up green. They're out. I smile and run in the opposite direction.
Around a few corners, I hear footsteps behind me. I stop, spin on my heel, and wait for someone or something to appear. The footsteps stop and I see a silhouette disappear into the building I'm next to. Carefully, I follow them. I see them standing on a stairwell. I kneel, aim, and shoot. I hit them and get them out, but I also take one hit. I've got two shots, and I'm out. I take off before they can alert anyone else.
I run into another building and begin climbing the stairs. Halfway up the third flight, I hear voices. They're coming up the stairs, following me. What do I do now?
I run up the rest of the flight and find a steel bean that's exposed. I scramble up on the beam and lay flat. The voices keep coming, and to my horror, stop on the landing right below me.
"I know I heard someone in here," says a voice. It's Christina.
"I don't deny you did. But I don't hear anything anymore," shoots back another voice. I don't recognize this person. I think it's Will. But I didn't see him come with us, and I can't recognize his voice alone yet.
I lean slightly to the right to get a better aim, but my sneaker drags on the beam and squeaks. I freeze, and so do Christina and Mystery Person Who Might Be Will.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, it came from over thereā¦"
They're coming straight towards me. I lean over the edge precariously and fire three times at Christina, hitting two of them. But her jacket lights up. I guess she got hit earlier. I try to fire at her companion, but I miss, and he ends up hitting me twice, which is enough to get me out. I slide off the beam and land on the floor by Christina. She laughs, and so do I. Pretty soon, we're both doubled over with gasps.
"That was fun," she says. Her mystery ally has long since disappeared.
"Yeah, it was," I agree. "I think we head back to the third car."
We run down the stairs, out of the building, and into the cool night. We run through the deserted streets, across the pier, and over to the train tracks, where we run into everyone else. Apparently, the game's over. Christina's friend, who did turn out to be Will, has won.
On the ride back, I sit with Christina and Will. We talk about the game, and people are teasing Uriah because he got out so early. Apparently, he never got to shoot anybody. There is laughter and camaraderie.
When we get off, Uriah warns us to be quiet again. After dropping off our jackets and guns, we head to our dormitory.
I collapse into bed. Tomorrow I'll have to deal with Four yelling at me because I can't do whatever exercise we have to do. Peter, Drew and Molly will bully me. But for now, I just lay in bed and think about how maybe sometimes, it's good to break the rules and have fun.
a/n: That's it, people. If you'd care to review, that would be lovely and I would greatly appreciate it. Adios!
