Chapter 4

As I enter the training room Eric, is already waiting for me. Great.

"Good morning." He says.

"So you ready for today?" He goes on without waiting for a reply.

"oh,,, as I'll ever be" I say, walking to the board.

I wright down the order in which the initiates will be fighting today and as there are an uneven amount of them, I decide to do Tris a favour and not let her fight today. She can watch and observe, study there weaknesses and strengths. Thankfully it seems Eric doesn't notice or he just doesn't care. As I wright the rest of the groups names down, I try to make it as fair as I can, but not making it to easy , that would not be helping them, that would only make life as a Dauntless harder.

Just as I place the last two matches, my initiates walk in and I turn to face them.

"Since there are an odd number of you, one of you won't be fighting today." I step away from the board, looking at Tris thinking "you are welcome."

But she looks anything but pleased. She looks like I did an unjust to her. She just doesn't get it. I see Christina poking Tris in the ribs and Tris flinches, probably sore from yesterday's training. They talk about something that I can't make out, something to do with a Tank.

I look at the other initiates and call up the first two to fight.

"Al, Will, you two are up firs," I call.

"Step into the middle of the mat and take your positions, remember what I showed you yesterday."

"Good Luck."

I turn to Eric just in time to see his malevolent grin. He love's seeing people getting hurt.

Al and Will circle each other, trying to get a feel for one another, both with their arms raised above their heads for protection. As I look at Tris to see if she is paying attention Will makes the first move but Al steps out the way just in time. Al returns with a punch and hits Will hard on the chin. I wince on behalf of Will and see Eric just leaning against the wall, playing with one of his silver rings smirking, enjoying every minute of this. Will stumbles a bit and blocks the next blow from Al, wincing from it. Al might be slow, but he has strength. Will is the one with dexterity, he hooks his left foot around one of Al's legs and pulls back, knocking Al to the ground. Al scrabbles to his feet, not wanting to be caught on his ass. My attention gets caught away from the fight for just a second as I hear Tris laughing at something. It's the first time I hear her laugh, or see her smile. She looks different when she smiles, her features softer. I wish I was the one that made her smile.

I snap back to the fight when I hear Eric's shout.

"Do you think this is a leisure activity? Should we break for naptime? Fight each other!"

I look at the two boys, exhausted and not wanting to fight each other.

But…" Al straightens, letting his hands down, and says, "Is it scored or something? When does the fight end?

Just keep quiet I think to myself, as I get a look at Eric's expression.

"it ends when one of you are unable to continue." Says Eric.

Seeing the expressions both on Al and Eric's face, one chagrined and the other frustrated, I decide to cut in.

"According to Dauntless rules, one of you could also concede."

"According to the old rules," Eric says narrowing his eyes at me. "In the new rules no one concedes."

This is exactly why he should not be a Dauntless leader. "A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." I state matter off factly.

"A brave man never surrenders." Eric counters.

Eric stares at me and I stare right back, not wanting to give him the pleasure. It's times like these that I wish I had taken the leadership position. At least things would have been done the honourable way. Staring at him, all I see is hate and the need for control. He hates the idea of me standing up to him, especially in front of people. He knows that I will always be a threat to him, as I was chosen before him to be a leader.

"This is ridiculous," Al says, snapping the tension between Eric and I. "What's the point in beating him up?" We're in the same faction!"

"Oh, you think it's going to be that easy?" Will asks, grinning. "Go on, try to hit me. Slowpoke." Will puts his hands up again, determined to beat Al. And just like that the fight starts again. All my attention is on the fight, as I don't want to look at Eric again. Al tries to punch and Will ducks, the back of his neck shining with sweat. He tries and misses again, Will slipping behind Al and kicking him hard in the back. Al lurches forward and turns looking very much like I would imagine a grizzly bear looking. Al grabs Will's hands and punches him hard in the jaw.

Will's eyes roll back in his head and all the tension falls from his body. He slips out of Al's hands and crumples to the floor, lights out.

I see Al looking shocked and falls next to Will's slack body, slapping him on the cheek. All the initiates fall silent as they wait for Will to respond. After a couple of seconds Will's eyes flutter open and blinks, dazed.

"Get him up." Eric says, as if disgusted by Will.

I turn to the chalk board and circle Al's name, making him the winner of the first round.

"Next up, Molly and Christina!" Eric shouts at the group, clearly not impressed. Al pulls Will's arms around his neck, dragging him out of the arena. I walk over to Al, taking Will from him and supporting him over my own shoulders and lead him out of the room, towards the nurse's room.

"Let's go get you sorted." I say to Will.

"So this is what it takes to be Dauntless huh?" Will asks in a hushed voice. "Getting beat up, getting tattoos and eating good food?"

I ignore him, not knowing what to say. He has it all wrong of course but nothing I can say at this point will make him feel better.

I walk him down the hall, till we get to nurse's room. I see Mandy is the nurse on duty, who rushes to me for help.

"What happened to him?" She asks me.

"Initiation training is what happened." I say laying Will down on one of the cots.

"What… you trying to kill them or something? I mean I know we are supposed to be the tuff faction, but these kids know nothing about fighting Four." She carries on reprimanding me.

I don't know Mandy all that well, we have only spoken to each other in my year of initiation when I landed up in here a couple of times.

"Not me, Eric. He decided to attend the training along with me." I say shrugging.

Mandy pulls a face, needing no further explanation. She is one of the few good people in this faction.

She gives Will a once over, making sure there aren't any serious injuries.

"He'll be fine, might have a headache and a couple of bruises but that's about it." She says, "When he's fully conscious, he may leave."

I nod in thanks, turn around and leave wanting to get back to my initiates. Who knows what Eric could be doing to them?

As I walk back to the training room, all I can think about is Tris. Her warm smile and trying to picture her in a fight. She's so small, how on earth is she going to make it in a fight?

When I finally make back to the training room, I see that it's empty. That can't be possible, there is still time for one more fight after Molly and Christina. It's not like Eric to dismiss them. I walk around trying to see if I can spot any of the initiates, looking in there dorms, other training rooms, starting to feel uneasy when I don't find anyone. On my way to the lunch room I find them all at the chasm. Christina lying on the floor crying by Tris and Al, soaking wet. My heart feels like ice. What has he done to her? Eric spots me as I walk over and meets me half way.

"That Al might just have what it takes to make it here." He says grinning at me. "How is that other weakling doing by the way?"

I stare at Eric, wanting more than anything to tell him to shove it. "Fine. What's going on here? Why is Christina lying on the floor wet?" I ask, already having my suspicions.

"Oh, you know, she tried to chicken out, so I showed her what happens when you are a coward." He says smirking at me.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"It means what I said it means, are you questioning my authority Four?"

I look at him, clutching my fist hard. "No." I say and walk away.

"Not so fast. I notices that the stiff wasn't on the board today, might want to explain why?" He asks. So he did notice.

"Like I told them in the start of class, there's an uneven amount of them, so one had to sit out." I say looking at him.

"Well we'll just have to see how she does tomorrow then wont we?" He says, turning his back on me.

I stand there, looking at him, looking at Tris by her friend's side and hope she picked up some pointers today.

It's still early but I don't feel up to meeting with Zeke or any of the others, neither do I want to go to the computer room as even that place gives me a feeling of dread. I want to be at a place where I can be alone, a place where I can think and filter through everything that has happened in the last two weeks. From first cracking and finding those list on the Dauntless servers, Jeanine and Erik whispering behind closed doors, The firs jumper being Tris and me being so drawn to her… Everything.

So I look at my watch and see there's only five minutes before the next train arrives, and I run… Fast. When I'm outside I hear the train arriving and push myself to run faster as I see the headlights. I run as close to the tracks as I can, right next to the train, grab hold of the cart and pull myself in. I stand there for a couple of seconds catching my breath.

Silence.

I go sit by the train door with my feet hanging out, the wind blowing and the sun just about to set. I just stare at the world outside or what is left of it after the war so many years ago and it seems like it's going to happen again. I can feel it, maybe not on as big a scale, but war is coming.

Thinking about those files I found named "Operation E". Commands of some new serum that will be issued, maps of the city, specifically of the Abnegation compound, list of people's names, weapons.

None of these makes any sense to me. The more I think about it the more questions pop in to my head, questions that I need to answer. Why are they more focused on the Abnegation compound than any of the other factions? How do the Dauntless benefit the Erudite in this whole scheme? These are all very different factions. The Erudite love their knowledge which makes them arrogant. The Abnegation shy away from everything that might benefit them in any way. That is why all government roles were given to them, because they have never wanted it. And the Dauntless, we hate cowards, which is why we are so skilled in combat. We want to be ready, mentally and physically for kind of threat. So why?

Wait. The Erudite have always hated the fact that the Abnegation have so much power over the factions, and the Dauntless have the weapons and the skills for combat. They are going to use us to fight there war!

The night is warm, but suddenly I feel cold. My head hurts just thinking about attacking my old faction.

Tris's faction.

Since that first day I laid my eyes on her I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. Her being a small girl, a stiff and she was the first jumper. Who would have thought? She irritates me and challenges me and intrigues me more than any girl ever has. I have had my fair share of girls interested in me, but I never returned the feelings, so why her?

But I am sure of one thing. I have feelings for her, I cannot deny that anymore and I will protect her!

PS: Hi there, im sorry for the long wait, i have been busy with work and all that. Already started the fifth chapter, will post this week. Hope you like this one! As always, the characters in this story belong to the wonderful Veronica Roth.