Vincent makes quick work of me and I stumble into bed that night, sore and hurting in several places, sporting as many bruised ribs as Frank no doubt has as well. Speaking of Frank, in spite of knowing Bonnie's strategy, he still managed to lose to her. He's even larger than I was, so he'd had a harder time trying to catch up with Bonnie each time she evaded his attacks and scampered out of his line of sight until she finally decided to end it with a swift kick to the shins that knocked him flat.
The other fights took longer than the first few did. Robert tried to hit on Alyssa - just like with Katrina - but it didn't work either. He managed to avoid hits to the groin this time and he fought to the bitter end. Despite Robert not yielding, Alyssa still managed to swiftly knock Robert out and it's not looking too good for him - that's two battles he's lost now; just like me and Frank. As for Katrina and Lisa, Lisa came out on top, though admittedly it was a much closer battle than it had been when Lisa had fought Alyssa. Lisa was a lot more prepared this time and she got a few commendable hits in. Katrina may have lost to Lisa, but she's still in a higher ranked position than me, Robert and Frank - the three of us have lost both the fights we've been in. We need to buck up, otherwise us three could end up becoming the initiates who get cut after Stage One. No matter how optimistic Brooklyn is, my time in Candor makes me more of a realist, and I am determined to make it through.
As for the others, though, Alyssa and Vincent look to be the two initiates in the best position. They've won both fights and are easily the most feared competitors. Lisa and Katrina are neutral. Bonnie's good - but only when paired with an opponent much larger and slower than herself, which means she probably wouldn't win in a fight with people like Alyssa or Katrina.
That night, after a lot of convincing and simpering and persuading, Brooklyn finally gets me to agree to get a tattoo and off she goes, dragging me to the nearest tattoo parlor.
Once there, I flip through pictures of available tattoos, as Brooklyn sits in the chair, looking excited as a large burly man gets to work on her. After a while, she's up, with a new tattoo of the Dauntless symbol on her left arm.
I take my seat and show the tattoo artist my choice. When I next see Katrina and Frank at dinner, they look surprised to see the set of scales emblazoned on the back of my right hand.
"Scales? That was your choice?" Katrina asks, looking incredulous.
"Isn't the Candor symbol supposed to be a set of unbalanced scales? Those scales are balanced," Frank says.
"I know," I reply. "It's a little sign of rebellion. I specifically asked for the Candor emblem and told the artist to make the scales balanced instead. To show that sometimes, it's good to balance between truth and lies. Being honest all the time isn't what it's cracked up to be. It's nothing but trouble."
I show them the back of my left hand, where the Dauntless symbol is. "Out with the old, in with the new. One hand that displays my past and another of my future."
I shrug. "Besides, it looks cool."
Katrina rolls her eyes and I turn to her. "You could get one too."
"I plan to. Perhaps tomorrow," she says, just as Brooklyn slides into the seat next to mine. Brooklyn's face is lit up with excitement and she turns to me.
"Hey, Markus," she greets, looking at my hands. "Tattoos aren't such a bad idea now, are they? Wonder why you wanted them on the back of your hands though."
"Cause it looked cool," I say simply.
"Not judging. Anyway, I just heard from my brother. Apparently, he and Freeman are taking us out on another field trip again - tonight," she says.
"Tonight?" Katrina repeats.
Brooklyn nods. "All eighteen initiates. Berkeley said it's going to be a game of some sort, and both Dauntless-born and transfers are working together."
"Out at night?" Frank mutters, his big brow creased in worry.
"Something you should know: the Dauntless are the kind of people that don't mind partying throughout the night. I'd get some dark clothes out after dinner and have them ready if I were you," Brooklyn advises.
*
Brooklyn's words turn out to be truth. Later that evening, Freeman makes the announcement just after dinner, calling for all eighteen Dauntless initiates to dress up in dark-colored clothing and gather outside the compound, near the train tracks.
When we arrive, we find Freeman and Berkeley standing by the tracks, waiting.
"What's going on?" one of the Dauntless-born asks out loud.
"We're going to play a little game. Everyone: step up and grab one gun and one box of ammunition," Freeman instructs.
Rather than getting a line, everyone pushes and shoves their way to the two crates near the two instructors. I snag one black gun and grab a small box of ammunition - labelled "PAINTBALL".
"Everyone, get on!" Berkeley yells as the train approaches.
It doesn't slow down and I gulp as I watch Berkeley take a few steps back before leaping onto it. The other initiates follow his example - Freeman has gone on too, not bothering to wait for us.
"Come on!" Brooklyn urges, suddenly appearing at my side. Together, we leap onto the train. I wobble upon landing inside. The train carriage shakes and shudders violently and I lean against a wall to steady myself. Alyssa smiles haughtily at me from the side, her windswept hair falling over her eyes, giving her a very devil-may-care expression.
"Tonight, we'll be playing a traditional Dauntless game - paintball and a mix of capture the flag. It's simple. Two teams. Two flags. Whichever team captures the opponent's flag wins. You have to find and steal the opponent's flag as well as defend your own. Your only weapons are the paintball guns that you now carry. Ammo is scarce so don't waste them all. And don't be deceived - paintball isn't real ammo but they hurt if they come into contact with bare skin and while we here in Dauntless would tell you to suck it up and deal with the pain, you don't want extra wounds on you during the critical phase of Stage One," Freeman says as soon as everyone has calmed down and are listening to him again. "The outskirts of the city will be our location for tonight's games. We're rather near the Erudite headquarters, but no heading into the city. Okay? That's out of bounds. We're playing away from the rest of the factions. No entering Erudite territory. Tonight's Dauntless night."
"The two teams will be led by me and Freeman each," Berkeley says. "There are eighteen of you: ten Dauntless-born and eight transfers, so each team will have a total of five Dauntless-born and four transfers each, to keep things equal. We'll be picking the teams now, starting with the initiates. Freeman, you start, buddy."
Freeman nods, turning to scrutinize each and every one of us, his gaze calculating. "Alyssa."
Berkeley nods. "Markus."
At first I'm confused as to why he'd pick me first out of all eight when I'm close to flunking and being among the bottom three. Then I remember who's brother he is.
"Vincent," Freeman says next.
"Katrina."
"Frank."
"Bonnie."
"Robert."
"Lisa," Berkeley finishes.
I move to join Katrina, Lisa and Bonnie by Berkeley's side - Frank casts me a forlorn look as he joins Vincent, Robert and Alyssa with Freeman.
"Now, the Dauntless-born. This time, you start," Freeman says to Berkeley.
"Brooklyn," Berkeley answers without hesitation.
They rattle off names - most of which I don't recognize, and soon enough, Brooklyn has joined my team. Along with her are two other guys - both of whom are total strangers to me - one other girl and Miles.
"You want to get off the train first with your team, or shall I?" Berkeley asks Freeman.
"Whatever," Freeman replies.
Berkeley shrugs, then turns to the nine of us in his team. "We're getting off the train now! Everyone, follow my lead!"
With that, he leaps off without warning and I scramble to follow the others.
*
Berkeley leads us down a winding, moonlit dirt path. Abandoned houses and collapsed rubble lines the road on both sides. The only other sound to be heard is the crunching of gravel and broken glass underneath our boots.
Brooklyn walks alongside me; Katrina as well. The Noses bring up the rear of the group. Miles chats with one of the Dauntless-born boys - whereas the other two Dauntless-born; boy and girl; are holding hands as they walk behind us.
Brooklyn keeps pace with her brother and me and Katrina follow suit. "So, bro, where'd you put the flag last time you played this game?"
Berkeley chuckles. "I'm not telling you that, Brooke. This game's meant to be fair and square. You're all meant to learn something from this."
"Which is...? Competitiveness?" Katrina suggests.
"Teamwork. Strategy. Sportsmanship." Berkeley shrugs as he lists them off. "Stuff like that used to be core values in Dauntless. Nowadays, it's only about upper body strength or about how many hot dogs you can eat before puking it all back out."
He shakes his head. "Don't get me wrong, I love doing crazy and wild things like stuffing myself full of sausage meat. It's just that...Dauntless used to mean something. Something more important than that. We protected the city. When I was younger, I used to look up to the older Dauntless as heroes. But whenever I see the way they make us beat up our own faction brothers and sisters, whenever I see someone being punished severely for showing even the slightest sign of weakness...I feel nothing but shame."
"Jeez, bro. Downer much?" Brooklyn scoffs. She clings onto his arm in a sisterly fashion. "You're being melodramatic! It's not like we've completely abandoned our duties defending the city. Chicago needs us, y'know. We're not useless just yet."
Berkeley harrumphs and puts his arm around his sister. The two of them stride forward, in step. Miles hurries over and catches up with us. "So, where are we going?"
Berkeley turns around to regard him, scratching his head. "Well, you guys should probably get to thinking of your game strategy. Where are you going to put your flag? Who are you going to have on offense, and who on defense? And how you're going to find the opponents' flag? I can't hold your hands and help you guys out every step of the way, y'know."
Miles scowls, but his Dauntless-born friend surveys the area calculatingly. "We should get a little further away from the tracks. Find somewhere more enclosed so they won't have an easy time getting to us and the flag."
"Good point, Rafael. I know of an abandoned shopping complex not too far from here. It was closed down a long time ago because of a rat infestation. We could hide the flag in there," Berkeley says.
At these words, Lisa turns pale. "A r-rat infestation?"
"Don't worry. Chances are the rats would have cleared off a long time ago. Even if they're still there...the mall's still a good place to hide the flag. And you guys are Dauntless, so I'm sure you can handle a bunch of rats on your own," Berkeley says. "Let's move, people!"
