Chapter One: Gate Duty

I stand at the gate, face tilted toward the sun, relishing the warmth on my face. It is early summer and today is the first real warm day. Even dressed in black, the heat feels good. I am wearing the daunltess signature black jeans, skin tight and stretchy, and snug combat boots that look heavy, but are surprisingly light to run in. I have on a short tank top that barely covers my belly button, leaving a strip of my sun tanned skin bare. Normally I would be wearing my black leather vest, but once the sun came out I discarded it as my sweat began to make my tank top sticky. With my gun slung over my shoulder, I surveyed the land beyond the gate.

Not many want this job. It's long hours spent outside, watching for an unknown enemy, (for even the dauntless leaders do not know what is out there, beyond the gate.) Gate guard duty is usually assigned to dauntless who ranked low at initiation. It's seen as a necessary job, but a boring one, meaning those higher up tend to have other positions within the dauntless headquarters. I was ranked fourth in my initiate class, well within the ranks to choose an official job. And for a while, I did. I worked in the control room, among the computers and cameras that kept the compound safe. It was stimulating work, and respected by the leaders. It also meant I got to work one on one with Erudite technicians, which admittedly, was the high point of the job. But after a year working underground, with flashing screens and flouresent light bulbs as poor substitutes for the sun, I decided I was not fit for a life inside. It wasn't that big of a surprise to most people. I transferred from Amity, afterall.

I pull my long brown hair up in a ponytail, the back of my neck slick with sweat. I watch as a group of initiates jump off the train ahead and make their way down to the gate. There are so few this year... even less than last year. I wonder if so few people picked dauntless, or how many were already cut. It's a sobering thought, as I flash back to my own initiation class.

The one leading the group is Four, and I sigh in relief. I had heard that Eric would be training the initiates this year, and the thought of that monster molding the future dauntless is sickening. Knowing Four is their leader makes me feel better.

Four and I became friends about six months ago when I put in my request to be transferred to the gate guards and he took over my position in the control room. He'd worked in a separate cubicle before, and they were moving him up to take my place. I trained him, and he was surprisingly quick to learn everything. Unlike me, I suppose he had computer training before coming to the dauntless. I chose the control room because my instructor, Ram, said I was a fast learner and had a knack for technology. Looking back, I think he played up my strengths because the other person in the running was a twenty something who had worked his way up from being ranked last in his initiate class, and Ram didn't trust him. Regardless, Four learned everything fairly quickly meaning we had a lot of time to kill during the two week period where I was supposed to train him.

He stops in front of the group of initiates and gives them a short speech about gate guard duty. When he tells them that there is little room to excel, he's right. My partner today, Angel, is nearing 40 and has been guarding this gate since he was 16. But then, he never had too much ambition.

A buzzer sounds and I move to help open the gate as an Amity truck pulls up. I do my best to avoid looking too closely at the Amity that come through. Sometimes I see people I knew as a child and they always assume it's okay to hug me. I know it's general knowledge that the dauntless despise the amity, thinking them weak and annoying, but even though I transferred out of Amity, I can't bring myself to hate them, or their way of life. But that doesn't mean I like it when they throw their arms around me and chatter about my youth... mostly because it fills me with yearning and homesickness. Not that I regret my decision to join the dauntless, I don't. While I respect Amity and their way of life, I felt trapped there. I always felt an energy and a certain rage inside of me that was not tolerated by the amity.

After the gates are open the truck pulls through and idles while Angel approaches the driver to fill out the appropriate documents. I let him do it every time because it makes him feel important and official. I couldn't care less about the documents. Rick, Marge, Rim, and Quaggy move to search the truck. I keep watch by the gate with a number of other guards.

Four walks toward me and offers me a small grin in greeting.

"New initiates?" I say.

Four smirks and raises his eyebrows. "Transfers," he says.

I nod, absentmindedly looking them over. "Well I'm glad you got assigned to be their instructor. I had heard that Eric was taking charge of the transfers."

Four cringes. "He's...helping," he says.

I nod grimly. It makes sense now that I think of it. Four and Eric have always had an uneasy rivalry and once Four volunteered to take over initiate training, it isn't surprising that Eric would insist on being involved.

"How goes the control room?" I ask to change the subject. Eric is never a good topic for any conversation.. "Who's manning the cubicle while you're otherwise occupied?"

"Ram," Four says smirking.

"How is old Ram?" I say. "I haven't talked to him in weeks. Last I heard he-" I am cut off when a blond boy jumps down off the Amity truck and shouts a name at one of the initiates. I wouldn't have noticed except at the sound of the name, Beatrice? Four's head snapped around. I glance over, following his gaze to the blond boy who approaches one of the initiates and hugs her awkwardly.

"Ugh, I hate it when they do that," I say, scowling. The girl is stiff when the boy wraps his arms around her and even though it looks like she discarded her grey clothing, it's easy to see that she's from Abnegation. I glance at Four who is still watching the exchange intently.

"A stiff?" I say, with a raised eyebrow as Four turns back toward me. He shrugs. "Did you know her? Like from before-?" It's not common to get an Abnegation transfer. There aren't many. In fact Four is the only person I know from Abnegation. They are as rare as Amity transfers.

Four gives me a hard look, probably habit at having his old faction brought up. But his look softens as he considers who he is talking to. He and I have spent a lot of time talking about our old factions. Like me, he still holds his old faction in high regard.

"No," he says. "Well, not really. I knew of her... Kind of. Her father worked with my own father but we never met." He glances back toward her. "She doesn't know me," he adds. Which I take to mean, she has no idea she is being instructed by a fellow abnegation transfer. Which is just as well, I suppose. If she knew, she would probably expect special treatment or something. It's better for her to feel alone and ostracized. It will make her stronger. I know it worked for me. But watching Four, I can't help but notice the look on his face as he watches the girl talk with the Amity boy. It's not anger, which I could understand considering she is an initiate and should not be talking so openly with someone from another faction. Judging by their familiar talk, the boy is probably another Abnegation transfer. Where Abnegation transfers in the dauntless are uncommon, they are very common in Amity. My own grandmother transferred from Abnegation. Amity offers the same loving and peacefulness that Abnegation life consists of, but with a freer lifestyle that encourages self-love. So this boy is probably someone she knew in Abnegation, and talking to him is definitely forbidden for an initiate.

But watching Four, I realize anger is not the emotion darkening his face right now. It's something else. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was longing, or jealousy? I look back at the girl. Putting aside the fact that her face is bruised and swollen, likely proving that she didn't fare well during her first fight, she's not much to look at. Her blond hair looks stringy and is tied back in a classic Abnegation bun that pulls unflatteringly so that you can see strips of scalp through her hair. Her nose is a little too skinny and her eyes too big for her face. Her full eyebrows furrow as she talks to the Amity boy, making her look like a petulant child. In fact, her body is as small as a child of 12, not 16. But there is a fierceness about her that I can't deny. Though I could immediately spot the abnegation on her the moment I saw her, I can see the dauntless too. She definitely belongs here.

"Well," I say, drawing Four's attention back to me, "I would keep an eye on her if I were you. I heard they changed the rules this year...that you have to be ranked in the top ten in order to stay." Four confirms this with a sollum nod. "That's ridiculous if you ask me. But that's Eric for you. Listen, if that girl needs any help, let me know. We have to stick together, you know." Plus, something about that girl makes me wary. She's someone I'd like to keep around.

Four gives me one of his rare grins. "Sure," he says. I watch him walk away and approach the girl. Watching them together, I see that there is definitely chemistry going on between them. I can't help but smile. Four needs someone. He spends way too much time alone.