I'm back! You couldn't get rid of me for that long. This is chapter Four (Hahaha!). Please review, leave suggestions, and anything else really. General feedback is always appreciated. Is anyone else really excited about the short stories that go along with Divergent coming out soon? I'm pre-ordering them for many reasons: I love Divergent, I love books, and I love Four.
Enough with my rants! On with the story!
I don't own Divergent.
~Eric~
"Get up! Training starts in fifteen minutes!" someone, I assume Amar, shouts.
I roll over and fall off my bunk. While groaning, I slip on another pair of pants and a new shirt. I run to the "bathroom" and splash some water on my face hoping it would wake me up. I look in the mirror. I look terrible. It's pretty evident I'm tired. No one slept well because half the initiates whimpered in their attempts to sleep. This and the thought of never seeing anyone from my previous life haunted me in my dreams. I hope Dauntless was the right decision.
All the initiates run down to the training room. I managed to grab a muffin before arriving. Guns and knives cover tables in front of us. I guess I know what we're doing today. Soon, Amar walks in and begins to speak.
"Good morning initiates. I hope you all slept well." It's pretty obvious done of us did. "Today is your first day of training. You'll be learning how to shoot a gun and throw knives. You've already past you're first test which was jumping on and off the train, so I don't have to teach you that. Line up against the wall now!"
I don't understand why Dauntless shout so much. It doesn't really seem necessary most of the time.
Regardless of what I think, we line up against the wall.
"Okay. Before I hand out guns, I'll demonstrate." Amar picks up a gun and sends three rounds all into the center ring. "Before all of you get a turn, I want one of you to try up here. I need a volunteer." Crickets. "Okay. Seeing as you're all so eager, I'll just pick." He scans the audience only stopping briefly on someone. "Tobias. Come up here and give it a shot."
The Stiff walks up to where Amar is. He looks nervous. A sudden feeling of hate rises up in me, and there's no way to stop it. I remember talking to Mom the night I nearly beat up that guy in Erudite for no reason.
Flashback
Mom sits down at the foot of my bed after tucking me in.
"Honey, you know we're going to have to talk about this."
"I don't wanna, Mom," I sigh. "I couldn't help it. I just felt like I wanted to hurt him."
"Sweetheart, you can't do that. When you get that feeling you just need to ignore it. It's like the big bad wolf. If you ignore him, he might just go away."
"I'll try." My lip quivers a bit, and I try to hold back tears.
End Flashback
It may sound childish, but I still refer to that feeling as the big bad wolf.
Tobias grabs the gun and looks it over carefully before putting the butt of it to his arm. He takes his time to aim and finally pulls the trigger. After taking a few steps back, I'm assuming from the kick of the gun, he smiles. I can see a small hole on second to last ring. Frankly it's not that good for anyone else. But for an initiate, it's probably the best first shot Dauntless has ever seen.
"Nice shot!" Amar shouts. "All the rest of you, grab a gun and start shooting!" There he goes again with all the unnecessary shouting.
I pick up the rifle in front of me and think through the logistics of it. Once the trigger is pulled, the firing pen strikes a primer. This primer creates a small explosion, making lots of pressure. This pressure builds up in the shell casing and eventually propels the bullet. Clearly, I'll never truly leave Erudite. But I'm okay with that.
The first few shots I fire startle me. That kick is a lot more than I expected. As I'm reloading the clip, I see Amar giving Tobias a pat on the back and praising him on his first shot. It takes all the might I have to push down the jealousy I have right now.
The next few hours are all training. Once it's over, I'm convinced I'm now partially deaf. Always wear your ear plugs, kids. As I'm leaving Amar pulls me out to the side.
"Nice shooting, Eric. I think you have good potential in this compound."
"Thank you, Sir."
*PAGE BREAK*
Once I plop down at lunch, I'm not sure I'll be able to get up. We spent hours just shooting. The area between my collar bone and my shoulder is extremely sore. That's where you feel the kick the most.
Nicole sits beside me groaning, obviously feeling the same.
"This is just day one," she mumbles.
"It'll get better."
"I hope so."
*PAGE BREAK*
That afternoon we head back to the training room. Knives now take place of the guns.
Amar heads to the front of the room and begins speaking.
"I've gotten several questions from all of you regarding how the whole initiation process works. I suppose it could use some explanation. Initiation is split into three parts. The first is primarily physical. You've already witnessed some of it. Second stage is emotional. And third is all mental. Each stage is weighted, and you're ranking will be posted at the end of each stage. That's all you're getting out of me for now. Line up!"
Amar teaches us how to properly handle and throw knives. Once again, I'm beat by the Stiff. This causes the big bad wolf to attempt to work its way out.
Aside from my brief anger, training goes smoothly although I'm extremely sore.
*PAGE BREAK*
Food in Dauntless is all starting to seem the same now, and it's only been two days. It was a good change, but now it's getting old. Muffins, burgers, etc. It's still better here than in Erudite.
"Hey, Eric!" Nicole takes her usual spot next to me. "If we're gonna be friends in this compound, we should get to know each other. You want to play twenty questions?" Straight forward. As always.
"Sure. You go first," I mumble through a mouthful of burger.
"I know you're form Erudite, so what was it like there? What's your family like?"
"Erudite was boring. Too many facts. I didn't belong so I left. My family was the only thing that made me doubt my decision. I love my parents and all, but they're not who made me want to stay. My little sister, Emily, was who kept me sane. She was a little booger and I loved her. I think about her all the time." I picture Emily still stuck in that place, and I don't like what I see. I shake the thoughts away. "What about your family. Do you miss them?"
"Of course I miss them some. Who wouldn't? But I wasn't so attached to them that I'm extremely upset. My parents were always singing some campfire song or strumming a banjo. As for my brothers, we didn't speak much. They were always so smiley and to the rest of Amity I seemed depressed. I was pretty much outcasted." She gives me a sad smile.
"I can relate. I was never good with friends." I really can relate, and that's a new feeling. I look into her sad green eyes and see years of loneliness. And it hurts me to see that.
I run my fingers through my now unkempt black hair. My parents would frown upon this.
"You want to go do something? Just the two of us. To let off some steam of our past lives. We can really bury our past."
She nods. We get up from the bench and start walking, not really knowing where our feet are taking us.
*PAGE BREAK*
I wind up finding a spot where the walls of the Pit overhang creating this little cubby-like area.
"Do you think anyone else knows about this place?" Nicole asks.
"I don't know. Maybe. Then again, this compound is huge. Parts of it are probably still unexplored."
"What do you want to do?"
"Punch something." It's true. I think about Emily still stuck in that place that brainwashes everyone there. She shouldn't be there.
"Well go ahead. No one will ever know besides me. Like you set, let off steam." She has a point.
I turn away from her and growl. My sweet baby sister stuck in that place. Rumors were flooding the place when I was there. Erudite's plan to steal the government portion of the factions system from Abnegation is bound to end in war. People can't be civil about things ever. I growl louder and punch the wall. It stung and I probably wound up breaking a finger, but I feel better on the inside. Most of my anger toward Erudite is gone for now. Of course it'll come back at some point, but for now I feel better.
I turn around to Nicole sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. She seems to be quietly sobbing. I slide down next her and envelope her into my arms. No one should have to face stuff like this on their own.
"Do you want to talk about it?" There I go again. Saying the worst, stereotypical response one can think of.
"No," she whispers.
So there we sit. Nicole quietly sobbing into my chest. And me, wiping her tears away and holding her close.
*PAGE BREAK*
Eventually, we do have to head back to the dorms. Nicole pulls me into another hug before entering.
"Thank you," she whispers.
We head in and get settled in our beds.
"Goodnight."
She replies with a smile.
So there you go. I tried to make this a good length for all of you readers because I, unfortunately, may only be able to update about once a week. My dad has been having arm issues and my wind up having surgery. This may prevent my updating. I'm really sorry about that, but my dad comes before this story. Thanks for understanding.
Also, thanks for reading. Please review with your opinions and suggestions. I enjoy reading each and every one of them. That's all for now.
