There is this certain warmth that the Dauntless just seem to radiate. I could feel it as soon as my blood dripped onto the lit coals in the bowl below. It was their thundering applause and unnecessary cheers, their wide smiles as I fell into place behind them with the other transfers. It was the excitement evident on their faces as we broke from the ceremony, their infectious laughter as we race down the stairs.
When I exit the stairwell on the first floor, I no longer hear laughter and jokes. Instead, I hear several angry shouts and groans. I understand the sudden shift in mood when thunder crashes somewhere in the distance. Sometime within the last hour or so, it had begun raining. From the unpleasant looks on the Dauntless standing in front of me, it's raining pretty hard.
A Dauntless-born standing beside me reminds those at the front of the pack that if we don't get going, we'll miss the train. This seems to get them going and within seconds, we are once again breaking out in a full sprint.
By time we are gathered along one of the city's train tracks, all of us are soaked through and shivering. The rain has let up some since we left the Hub, but not by much. I force my way from the back of the group to the middle, where I greet the three Amity transfers. I remember how surprised everyone was when they transferred. It's unnatural to have just one transfer to Dauntless, but three in one ceremony? It's unheard of.
They smile as I stop beside them. I wonder what made them all decide to switch factions. Did they make a pact that they would all transfer to Dauntless? Or that where one goes, the other two would follow?
In Erudite, we are encouraged to ask any and all questions. But I am no longer in Erudite, so I keep my curiosity to myself. Instead, I wordlessly slip my blazer off my shoulders and hand it to the smallest of the three. I can see how bad she is shivering and she quickly takes it from my grasp.
When she opens her mouth to say something, her words are drowned out by the sound of a train horn. Over the shoulder of the male Amity, I see many of the Dauntless-borns start running.
I glance over my shoulder at the oncoming train.
"We have to jump on."
Getting on the train was absolute hell. I didn't exactly have a lot of momentum when I threw myself towards the open car door and the handle beside it was slick from the rain; one of my hands immediately slid off as soon as I grabbed a hold of it. I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.
Then a hand grabbed mine and I was being pulled into the car.
I let myself fall to the floor as soon as I was fully inside. My chest was tight due to the panic nearly falling had caused and my shoulder hurts from where it had slammed into the side of the train when I jumped.
"You alright?"
Pushing myself back to my feet, I run my fingers through my disheveled hair as I mutter a simple, "Yeah, I'm fine."
The source of the voice is a male dressed in Candor's black and white. I assume he's also the one who helped pull me in. I can see the concern in his eyes, but I shrug it off.
"Thanks for—"
My words are cut off by a anguished cry. I swing around to see where it had come from and my eyes fall upon the Amity kids I had been standing with before.
Except I can only see two of them.
I immediately lean my head out the car door, like so many of the others are doing, and see the smaller Amity slowing to jog. It's obvious the train is too far out of her reach. She wouldn't make it even if she tried.
The last thing I see before retreating back into the car is the blue blazer I'd given her as it slowly fades to nothing in the pouring down rain.
"It's freezing."
I jump at the voice in my ear. I can't help but smile when I realize it's the same transfer who had pulled me into the car. With how close he is now standing to me, I can see the intricate textures in his eyes, which happen to be a gorgeous color of brown.
"I would rather be in the rain," I mutter, running my fingers through my hair. I had taken it down from the pony tail to see if it would dry any quicker.
It doesn't.
"I'm Gale, by the way," He hold out his hand out as he introduces himself, a smile appearing on his face.
I shake his hand as I say, "I'm Ana. Thank you, ya know, for earlier."
He nods as if it wasn't much of a big deal.
Silence falls between us, not that I really mind. It would be nice if it wasn't for the howling wind outside.
I spent the next ten minutes examining the other transfers. I briefly watch the two Amity grieve the loss of their friend and how two other Erudite are lost in some heated debate. I find Lydia, the first to of our group to make the transfer to Dauntless. Her long hair, which had been down during the Ceremony, is now pulled back and she stands beside the second door of the car, watching the passing scenery.
When she looks my way, I move on. My eyes scan through the train car until a Candor catches my eye. Even from where I'm sitting, I know he looks exactly like Gale. The only difference I can see is that he doesn't hold himself the way Gale does. While Gale stands tall, his chin up and eyes gleaming, this impostor stands with his shoulders slumped, arms crossed tightly over his chest. His features seem sharper than Gale's as well, but I think that's mostly due to the frown he currently wears.
They're twins, I realize.
When I go to wake Gale up to ask him about it, I'm interrupted by a voice from the next car over.
"They're jumping!"
My landing on the roof is ungraceful, to say the least. I land on my feet, but I fall off balance and end up skidding on my knees a good couple of feet.
I have just enough time to pull myself from the ground and watch Gale lurch himself from the train. His landing is much better than mine. He doesn't even fall. Asshole.
His brother quickly follows behind. He also lands on his feet, but falls just like I did. They join me a couple seconds later to watch the remaining transfers make the jump.
One of them — a Candor — doesn't make it across the gap.
Instead, he slams into the side of the roof. I can hear his ribs crack.
I can also hear when his body hits the ground seven stories below.
Nobody moves, nobody talks.I don't think anyone even breathes.
We all just stand, staring at the spot where he fell from.
"Listen up," A man calls from the other side of the roof, beckoning all of us who remain to walk over. The first thing I notice about him is not that he looks older than the Dauntless pack standing by him, it's that he's standing on the ledge of the roof. I cringe, imagining him tripping and falling to his death like the Candor boy. "I'm Max, one of the leaders here at Dauntless."
One of the leaders?
I glance at Gale, who stands at my right. He's wearing the same frown as I am. I turn back to Max.
"Several stories below is the members entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here."
His words are like a punch to the stomach. We just jumped. How is it any fair that we have to jump again? But this isn't about fairness. It's about bravery.
Max's eyes scan the crowd and while the others all look away, I find myself staring back at him. Suddenly, I'm no longer on the roof, but back in the simulation, staring down the vicious dog as it prepared to attack.
I blink quickly and the image fades away.
"Well? Someone has to go first." I can see half the initiates flinch at his voice.
Yet, no one moves.
"Is there something at the bottom?" Lydia is the first one to speak since our arrival, besides Max. Of course it's in the form of a question.
Max merely shrugs in reply.
I can feel the tension in the air thicken.
A hand suddenly grabs my shoulder and shoves me forward. I stumble, trying to keep myself from falling flat on my face. The corners of Max's lips curl into a smile and I swallow hard. Did someone just force me into jumping first?
It seems so because Max steps down from the ledge a second later and motions me forward. I want to tell him that I don't want to first, but my throat is so dry that I can't find my voice. Maybe that's for the best. Backing down now would be a sign of cowardice and I don't want to be seen as a coward.
Taking a deep breath, I climb onto the ledge. The image of the Candor falling to his death flashes in my mind and I push it away. That's not something I want to think about. Especially not when I'm standing at the very edge of a seven story building about to jump into a large hole that looks like it leads straight to the core of the Earth.
"Today, initiate," Max snaps from behind me.
I close my eyes. Three seconds, I think, I get three seconds to be afraid and then I jump.
My eyes open and I look down at the entrance.
One.
When did it stop raining?
Two.
Who shoved me?
Three.
Jump.
