The names all begin to blur together. Some I recognize as Amity members who went to school with me. Most stay in Amity; a few leave for other factions. Only one other Amity member, a boy named Joseph Becker whom I have seen at school but never spoken to, chooses Dauntless. After three hours, the Choosing Ceremony is, at last, complete.
We leave the auditorium by faction: Dauntless first; Abnegation last. This is when I find out that Dauntless don't use the elevators to go back down to the ground floor. No, we head to the stairwell, picking up speed as we go. I am jogging to keep up by the time we approach the doors to the stairs. That is when I hear the thunder, and think that the storm outside must have gotten much worse. But as I reach the door I realize that it's not thunder at all; it's the pounding of booted feet as the Dauntless run full-tilt down the metal stairs. This realization sends a bolt of energy straight through me; I feel my pulse quicken, my muscles tensing with the anticipation of running down all those flights of stairs. I reach the top step, and leap right over it. My foot hits the second step and I am running, propelled forward by the press of bodies all around me. We run all the way to the ground floor, and we do not stop once we reach it. I follow the other members at our breakneck pace out the main entrance of the Hub, and turn right on Adams Street. I feel my heart jump when I realize where we a headed: the trains.
The pavement is slick from the rain, which is now coming down in a steady drizzle, but I don't slow my pace. On the contrary: I feel the need to push myself harder, to run even faster. I have never run so far or for so long in my life, and it feels amazing. I feel like a bird, an eagle soaring across the sky, flying free. I find myself passing some of the others; at first it is just the slower transfers from the other factions, then Dauntless initiates… then, one by one, I begin passing full-fledged Dauntless members until I am even with the three frontrunners. They are all male, and one is older than the rest. The other two can't be much older than me. The older man is tall and lean, with white-blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. The younger one who runs closest to me is square and muscular with long black hair and more metal in his face than anyone I have ever seen. The other is taller and also muscular, but not bulky like the first. He has short, dark hair and a slightly hooked nose, but no piercings to speak of. At least, none that I can see.
I keep my pace about half a stride behind them. It is hard work keeping up with them- for one thing they have longer legs than I do, so I have to take about one and a half strides to equal one of theirs. For another, these guys are super fit, and I am sure that they run like this all the time. My breaths are ragged, deep and rapid. I am aware that they can hear them over our pounding footsteps. The two younger ones glance back at me, and identical looks of surprise cross their features when they see me in my yellow skirt, red blouse, and red flat-soled shoes. The older man never looks back.
A few blocks later, we reach the iron supports that anchor the elevated train tracks to the pavement below. Here is where I hesitate, as I am not sure what to do. The three leaders don't pause at all; they just start climbing. I watch to see where they put their hands and feet, and emulate them as I begin my own climb. Apple trees were easier, with their angles and rough bark, compared to a vertical steel beam, but I manage. I do not reach the top as close to the leaders as I was when I was running, but I am still way ahead of any of the other initiates. I am surprised to see that Joseph, the other Amity transfer, is the first of them to reach the platform. I guess he climbed a lot of trees, too.
We wait only a few minutes before the train comes into view, its horn blaring. It slows down only a little as it approaches the platform. Again I wait and watch how the other members board the train before I do so myself. They start jogging along the platform, then break into a run when the first car passes. The doors on all the other cars are open, and they jump into them. I don't make it look as graceful or easy as they do, but I clear the platform and land on my feet inside the third car. The momentum of the train immediately throws me off balance and I throw my arms out, flailing to keep my balance. I fail miserably, and end up landing hard on my back.
"Crap! Are you okay?" I hear a familiar voice call out. I look up to see Erica shoving her way between people to reach me. They all saw me fall- great. I feel my ears heat up, which I know means I'm blushing. I sit up and scoot to the side of the train away from the doors. Erica kneels beside me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't have much practice jumping on and off moving vehicles," I tell her.
"So I guess those stories we hear about Amity kids playing chicken with tractors aren't true?" She says, again her tone is touched with sarcasm. For a moment I just look at her without answering.
"Well, if they were, I might have stayed," I say, trying to emulate her tone. Immediately she bursts out laughing.
"Oh, and I might have transferred!" Erica replies, still laughing. "That was some run, by the way. I was right behind you down the stairs, and then- pow! Once we got outside, you were like a bullet! No one could keep up with you. For a second, I thought you were going to pass Eric and Four and Harrison. Would have loved to have seen the look o Eric's face if he'd seen that he had a girl from Amity on his heels!"
""Which one is Eric?" I ask.
"The one with more piercings than manners," she tells me, and I smile.
"He did see me. He looked like this." I do my best to imitate the raised eyebrows and wide eyes I saw on Eric's face when I drew level with him during our run.
"Oh man, I bet he did!" Erica chuckles, then her smile fades and her eyebrows knit together. "But seriously, it would have been bad if you'd passed him; very smart that you didn't. He was just elected a leader of Dauntless a few months ago, and he is very proud. Challenging him for anything is the fastest way to get on his bad side, and… let's just say it would be very, very bad to start out on the wrong foot as an initiate. He's going to be overseeing a lot of our training. Harrison- the guy with the blond ponytail that was running at the front- he's the main trainer for transfers, but he's stepping down after this year. He's training Four- that's the guy who was running with Eric- to take his place. Eric and Four are only seventeen, making them the youngest members of Dauntless to ever have those positions. They're both very strong, very serious, and… pretty intimidating."
"Wow, Erica, you are handy to have around! Thank you; I'll keep that in mind," I say. I am grateful to have made an acquaintance of someone who knows so much about the Dauntless members that will be playing a major role in my life for the next couple of months. Plus, I like Erica. Sure, she can be sarcastic sometimes, but she is also smart and funny and radiates positive energy.
Erica gets up and walks to the open door on the other side of the train. She leans her head out, looking forward at where we are going. After a few minutes she turns back to me.
"Time to go!" she says, and everyone on the train heads toward the open doors. The train's brakes squeal and we slow, again only a little. I get a glimpse of people jumping off the first two cars onto a rooftop. I try to make my way through the crowd to Erica, but there are too many people in the way. Our car reaches the rooftop, and people begin jumping off. I start to get antsy because there are four initiates in my way, all from Candor, who are hesitating. I can't get past them, and the rooftop is only so long. If I don't make this jump, I fail initiation. If I jump too late, I fall to the street below and will very likely die. I start to bounce on the balls of my feet as the Candor transfers debate the wisdom of jumping. We are seriously running out of time, and two of the girls are getting hysterical. Their debate has become a cacophony that sounds more like a coop of agitated chickens than a discussion. Finally, I can't take it anymore. I shove them aside, and leap…
I see the far edge of the rooftop beneath me. My heart jumps to my throat; I have jumped too late, too late and now I am going to fall…
…Except I don't fall. My right foot lands squarely on the tiled ledge that frames the top of the roof. Then I bring down my left foot and… it scrapes the edge of the tile, slippery from the rain, and goes out from under me. I fall to my right knee, but my left leg slides off the edge of the roof. I scrabble madly for purchase on the inner edge of the tile with my right hand, while I grope for anything at all to hold onto with my left, which is hanging over the edge along with the entire left side of my body. I kick out with my right leg, trying to heave myself back onto the rooftop, but I'm sliding off. I hear alarmed shouts, but they sound far away and muted…
Then arms grip me around the waist and start to pull me back onto the roof. I feel the inside of my left leg scraped raw as it slides up and back to safety. I am pulled upright and hauled away from the edge of the roof. My rescuer is behind me, so at first I can't see who it is.
"Are you all right?" The voice is quiet, but deep. I nod, breathless and shaking. My leg is bleeding, the fingernails on my right hand are broken and bloodied from trying to grip the rough edge of the tile, my right knee is throbbing and bruised, my hair is coming unbraided, and I am soaked from the rain, but I am alive. Yes, I am okay. The arms release me. I turn, and find myself face-to-face with a pair of brown eyes that are exactly the color of fire.
"Th-thank you, Dante," I stutter. He nods, then abruptly turns away and walks back into the crowd. Everyone is staring at me, and suddenly I am aware of how ragtag I must look. My ears burn, and I cast my eyes to the gravel that covers the rooftop inside the tile frame.
"Okay, let that be a lesson to you all," a man calls from the opposite side of the roof: Eric. "That's a good way to end your initiation, or end your life when you're in Dauntless: hesitation when there is a need for action. The mistake the initiates-or should I say, former initiates- made on the train was hesitating out fear. They were afraid to jump off the train, so they hesitated. They are factionless now. The mistake that she," Eric points at me "made, was hesitating out of politeness. She waited for the others to jump because it would have been inconsiderate to cut in front of them." He focuses his ice-hard gaze directly on me.
"Lucky for you, you were desperate enough to discard that silly Amity habit in time to save your life. A split second later, and you would be kissing pavement half a dozen stories down. As it is, you should be kissing Dante for saving your ass. Hesitation is cowardice. We don't tolerate cowards in Dauntless, and that brings us to the next step of your initiation. You have to get inside Dauntless headquarters, which is underground, and you have to get there from this roof."
He gestures off the edge upon which he stands. I make my way over along with the rest of the initiates. Below us, there is a huge, dark hole in the concrete. It takes me a second, but I realize what's expected of us: we have to jump off the roof and fall into the hole.
I hear the gravel crunching as someone walks through the crowd toward the edge where we are standing. I turn to see Dante striding up, rainwater streaming down his face and through his hair as he removes his black jacket. Underneath, he wears a form-fitting black t-shirt. On his right arm is a tattoo that looks like snake scales. He hands the jacket to Eric, and without even hesitating, jumps right off the edge of the building. He disappears into the hole, and a few moments later we hear some shouting and cheering from below.
I am still shaken up by my near fall, so I am not ready to jump just yet. I step back, and focus on breathing deeply and calming myself down. I find Erica, and she looks concerned. She gives my hand a squeeze and tells me that the sooner I jump, the sooner it will be over with. I know she's right, but I still don't feel like I am ready. She stays next to me until there are only five initiates remaining on the rooftop.
"You have to go soon. You can't wait til last, or Eric and Four will see you as weak. You have to suck it up, and just do it," she hisses to me.
I take a deep breath and release her hand. I take one step, then another and another. I am at the edge of the roof. I let out my breath slowly, and look down. I shake my head. I don't want to see the pavement below me. I turn around and put my back to the open air and spread my arms like wings. I close my eyes and feel the rain spattering on my face. I tilt my head back, my body follows, and I am falling….
I hit the net moments later, and it bounces back up in the air. I fall to the net again, and only open my eyes when the bouncing slows. I roll over and reach for the edge of the net. Hands reach up to meet mine, and woman with a Mohawk and a tattoo that covers the left side of her skull helps me out of the net. It's colder down here in the dark, and I have spent too long in the drizzle. I am shivering.
"What's your name?" The woman asks me.
"L-l-l…" my teeth are chattering and I can't seem to get it out. I inhale deeply, and look up at the overcast sky through the hole above. I just jumped onto and off of a moving train, ran fast enough to keep up with the leaders of our city's fittest faction, and jumped off a six-story building and survived. I am no longer Plain Lorraine.
"Rain. My name is rain," I tell her.
"Thirteenth jumper," she calls out, "Rain!"
Cheers and shouts welcome me, though not as enthusiastic as they were for the first few jumpers. In the darkness around me are the members of my new faction, waiting to welcome us and see what this year's crop of recruits has to offer.
"Nice to meet ya, Rain. Welcome to Dauntless."
