"We asked you to meet us here tonight because we are moving to another area for a "capture the flag" session." Four explained to the initiates.
"Why didn't we do it during the physical training?" Mary asked.
"Because we had to delay the initiation and therefore this session didn't fit into the new program." Four answered. "We will divide you into two teams, one with me and one with Eric. The outcome of the game will impact your final ranking, but it won't influence your current ranking as it based on your emotional abilities. Now please line up and grab one gun each." He ordered to the group who moved immediately. Eric handed offhand a weapon to each of the initiate.
"Are they loaded with real bullets?" A boy named Kevin inquired to Eric, a bit worried.
"Not the kind you think. But I suggest you don't get shot at." That was not the answer Kevin expected.
"Now that everyone is armed, we can head on to catch the train." Four explained, leading the group outside of the building.
It was already dark outside, and we could hear the buzzing sound of the approaching train coming from the tunnel. As it came closer, the earth shook a bit more each second. The initiates were physically and mentally preparing to jump on the moving train. When it appeared, Four jumped in first to help out the initiates who were not totally used to the stunt yet. There wasn't much time for all of them to get on the train, so they had to be fast. Each trainee tried to get on the train as fast as possible but when the last one jumped, it was almost too late for Eric to bring up the rear. June watched Eric race by the moving train with worried eyes, hoping he would make it before the train would penetrate the next tunnel. But Eric was a dauntless leader, and managed to gather enough strength to leap in less than a second. He caught the rim of the train door and pulled his body into the wagon, but as he did so, his shoulder rubbed against the rough tunnel-wall, tearing up his sleeve and scratching his skin. Once his two feet were in the wagon, he let out a pained sigh as he saw his wounds and turned his head towards the initiates who were all watching him with incredulous eyes.
"Next time you should consider getting faster if you want us all to stay in one piece." He advised, looking disappointed at them. They nodded in acknowledgement.
He then made his way towards the front of the wagon and sat on the floor while everyone started to chat about the next activity or about Eric's performance. Four began to make his way towards him but June got ahead of him and hurried towards Eric. She crouched down in front of him, attracting his attention. He looked at her with an inquisitive gaze.
"Are you okay?" She asked him right away.
"Yes I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
"You're bleeding. Hold on, I'll get you something to clean it off." With this, she left the wagon to get wet paper towels from the train bathroom and came back quickly. She handed them directly to Eric for him to clean his shoulder himself, not really comfortable with the idea of getting physically close with the leader ranking her and the other initiates when they were around.
"Thank you." He simply said, grabbing the towels. As expected, he didn't even wince as he rubbed them against his damaged skin.
"How is your cheekbone?" She inquired, glancing at his other wound.
"It doesn't hurt."
"Nor do your knuckles?"
He nodded in agreement. It wasn't completely true, he was a bit bothered by those wounds but he didn't want her to worry over practically nothing.
"Take care of yourself okay? I wouldn't want you to fall down the stairs again." She suggested gently before walking away.
He understood the hint, meaning she still didn't buy his crappy excuse. He smiled to himself; he knew June and he were on the right path to reconciliation and that made him feel happy. He had rarely had the chance to feel happy and didn't put on a smile, in order not to draw attention but for the first time in a very long time, he felt at peace.
After a thirty-minute-long journey, everyone gathered around the train door and followed Four as he jumped out onto the roof of a building. As always, Eric was making sure they weren't leaving anyone behind before jumping with such ease that it looked made their way through the dark city of Chicago until they reached the battle field.
"The battle field area goes from here to there." Four explains while pointing at the locations. "Eric and I both are in possession of this phosphorescent flag which each team needs to protect. It cannot be covered or hidden obviously but it's up to each team to find the best location to protect it. Now we'll make up the teams." He motioned at Eric for him to start picking his members.
"Since it's ladies first, I pick June." No one in the group found this decision suspicious as she was pretty well ranked. She moved behind Eric, discreetly smiling at him.
"Delilah." Four called out, as everyone expected, considering she had the best ranking.
They went on until the teams were formed. June, Drew, Ally and Evan were in Eric's team whereas Delilah, Tyler, Mary and Kevin belonged to Four's team. They split to go as far as possible from the other team and try to discuss a strategy.
Eric's team stopped behind some kind of rusty container which had probably been there for decades.
"Alright, first we need to find a place to set the flag. I suggest that two of you protect it while the rest of us goes to find the other team's. Ally you're the best at fighting and Drew, you shoot very accurately so I believe you should protect the flag."
The two of them nodded and Eric took a sort of iron tube out of his pocket in order to hand it to Drew.
"Find an original spot and once you're ready, press this red button to have the flag come out of the tube. Soon you will hear a gunshot which officially announces the start of the game. After that you'll have ten minutes to find a spot and open up the flag. June and Evan, you both showed great skills during the obstacles race and the shooting so we will be the ones trying to capture the other team's flag. Ours is blue and theirs is if you get shot, the pain will only last a couple minutes so get back on your feet as soon as you can. Are we all clear?"
All the initiates nodded in approbation, surprised at the basic but rare compliments that Eric gave to them. When the gunshot was heard, Drew and Ally raced together a nearing hill at the edge of the battle area, probably in order to limit their range of protection and not have anyone surprising them from behind. Evan decided to climb up a tree in order to have a better view of the place, and noticed a red spot on an old food stand, where a regular white neon should have been. From the tree, he shouted to Eric and June the spotted location and let them go in order not to make them wait while he climbed down.
Eric ran faster than June, despite her talent for races, but his legs were longer and his muscles more powerful, especially since he had been in dauntless for over a year. He went off to reconnoiter and motioned to her not to make any noise but he noticed some movements. They were already quite close to the food stand and got ready for a couple initiates to ambush them but nothing happened. They waited one more minute and just as they were about to move, Mary came out of nowhere and shot at Eric. Thanks to his reflexes, he had time to move away, the bullet passing three inches away from his already wounded shoulder. He started to run away, in order to be out of reach, hoping June was following him. But she wasn't and the dark didn't help him to find her. He could see the back of someone running and recognized Four. He was making discreetly his way towards a feminine figure, then he stopped and aimed her gun at her. Eric understood that it was June and ran as fast as possible to get closer and shoot Four in the thigh. Fortunately, he had been fast enough and even though Four had had time to shoot, his aim had been deflected when he lost his balance as the bullet met his leg. June had frozen in her tracks and when she recognized Eric's silhouette, she pointed her thumb up as a thank you. She then motioned towards her right and as he followed her gaze, he realized that she was showing the foot stand. He nodded and they both ran closer to it. They hid behind another rusty container placed right in front of the food stand. Opposite from them, they noticed a slender figure hurrying towards it. Once the neon light hit his face, they saw it was Evan who met their eyes as well. He hid behind some high water tanks that no one knew why it was placed here. From where the three of them stood, they could see each other while no one else did. Evan gestured that two initiates were at his right, probably to protect the flag and motioned them that he would create a diversion while they grabbed the flag. The duo nodded and Eric quickly explained to June that he would have her back while she would climb up the food stand to get the flag. Evan shot at one of his opponents to draw attention and June raced towards the stand, climbing fast over it to reach the flag. Eric noticed Four hurrying towards them, probably alerted by the sound of the gunshots. But right when Four shot Eric's chest, June shouted: "I got it!" over Eric's cry of pain.
They were all back on the train to get home. Eric had worn a content grin for the past half an hour, enjoying his victory over Four's team. That was obviously something he loved, when he was better than Four. The atmosphere between the initiates was heavier than during the outward journey, but it would be back to normal by the morning.
Hi guys, I'm almost done writing the whole story but I'm still open for suggestions. Let me know if you have any or if you'd like me to know what you think about the story :)
