The Second Day of Every Third Month – Chapter Seven

"How bad is it?" I ask Christina when we've left the training room.

I can't help but to notice how much the Dauntless really don't like hand railings. We're probably five stories in the air walking along a path that has been carved out of the stone that makes up the Pit, no railings anywhere. Christina and I do an awkward two step as she walks too close behind me with my t-shirt pressed into my back.

"I think it looks worse than it actually is, Eric probably just wanted to scare you." she says.

"I wouldn't doubt it, he seems to be as cruel as they come." I say, but I know that's not true, I also know that if I told Christina that she probably wouldn't understand.

"I agree."

"That was crazy in there, when I was fighting Myra, I've never seen someone go so crazy when their fighting." I tell her under my breath.

"Penelope, were basically fighting for our lives here, I imagine pretty soon everyone is going to be fighting like that, and you do whatever you have to in order to win." Christina's right, were all here for the same reason but only ten of us get to stay.

"Let's just get this done as quickly as possible, I don't wanna miss any more training." I say walking into the clinic.

The nurses are quick to usher us over to a bed where they instruct me to lay down on my stomach. My nurse looks to be a little bit older than us with bright pink hair, her arms are covered in tattoos and her ears look to be made up of more metal then flesh.

"Transfer initiates, right?" She ask, Christina and I both nod our heads in the affirmative.

"I remember my initiation…" She signs dramatically before wiping at the cuts on my back. I bite down on my knuckle to keep myself from yelping out in pain. "…Those were the days." She sighs again before covering my back in clean white gauze.

"Try to keep the area as clean as possible, I know you can't ask the other kids not to hit you there, but just be careful." I nod my head and get up to leave just as Myra starts to wake up. She rolls around lightly on her bed before her eyelids starts to flutter.

"Don't worry," the nurse says to us before moving over to Myra's bed, "She'll be fine."

"Do you think she'll hate me?" I ask Christina as we make our way back towards the training room.

"Who cares," she says, "we've got more important things to worry about then whether or not some stupid Erudite princess hates you because you punched her out."

"I'm really happy you're here," I tell her, "If it was just Tris and I, I don't know if we'd be able to get through it on our own, your just so good at keeping it light when shit gets real you know?"

"Sometimes telling the truth is all it takes, that's the only thing I've ever learned from Candor." Christina says as we push through the door to the training room. We've made it back just in time to see Peter standing over Tris his foot ready to collide with her face.

"Holy shit." Christina whispers next to me as Four storms past us.

Peter looks over to Eric, who nods his head in approval, before slamming his foot down on Tris' face successfully knocking her unconscious.


When Tris wakes up we've all moved her into the dormitory. She's only been out for a couple hours.

"What happened to your face?" Tris asks, looking to Christina who is holding an icepack to her jaw to keep the swelling from her fight earlier down.

"Look who's talking," Christina laughs, "should we get you an eye patch?"

"Well, I already know what happened to my face, I was there. Sort of." Tris says.

"Did you just make a joke?" Will asks and I snicker beside him, "We should get you on painkillers more often if you're going to start cracking jokes."

We all sit around Tris' bed for a while just laughing and relaxing trying to ease all of our own aches and pains. Tris' eye is black and blue but she can still see out of it, while she was out we iced it so her swelling isn't as bad as it had originally been.

When Christina and I had first gotten into the training room after Peter kicked her in the face I was furious, everything I saw before me was cast in varying shades of red, Peter would pay. Then I realized he was doing exactly what Christina and I had talked about, whatever he had to win. The real issue was that Eric had Ok'd Peters barbaric kick to the face. Peter wasn't the issue here it was Eric.

Christina couldn't stop me from storming up to him, prepared to give him a piece of my mind, but before I could open my mouth to speak he stopped me, wrapping his hand around my wrist, which I was using to aim an accusatory finger in his face.

Eric had been quick to reprimand me in front of everyone, making sure that I understood that in Dauntless you always follow your orders no matter what. He also took the time to remind me that I had to earn my spot in Dauntless, that just because I was doing well now didn't mean I would continue to do so. The look he gave me after he was done talking was so cold the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I bit down hard on my lower lip to stop the involuntary shiver that was coursing through my body.

In that moment the only thing I could think about was how horrible the man standing in front of me really was.

It was good that he did that though, lately it feels like I've been distracted, too caught up in this new world to fully realize that I might not have a permanent spot in it.

"You feeling all right?" I ask Tris moving off of her bed to grab a sweater to throw over my shoulders, I still only have just my sweats and sport bra on.

"Yeah, I just wish I could stay here forever, never see Peter again."

"Sadly I don't think that's gonna happen," I laugh, pulling on a ridiculous large black cardigan, the scratches on my back have scabbed over and when I swing the sweater over my shoulder I can feel them pull tightly "besides, it's nearly dinner time, you need to eat, it will make you feel better."

Slowly we all pull each other up off the bed, each one of us is covered in a myriad of bruises. We limp our way down to the dining hall leaning against one another for support. I walk ahead of Tris and Al who are talking quietly about how Al doesn't like the fighting, and behind Christina and Will who are shamelessly flirting with each other.

We pass by the tattoo shop and I wave to Riley who is manning the front desk. Its dinner time though so the Pit is almost dead quiet except for the dull roar of the water coming from the chasm. He sees me and waves before going back to doodling something on a pad of paper.

"Who was that?" Christina asks, somehow noticing that I had waved to Riley while also staring at Will.

"That was Riley, he did my tattoo…" I tell her.

"You got one! What? Lemme see!" She screeches and she's wiggled her way out from underneath Will's arm and now standing beside me. How she didn't notice one I had gotten one when we were in the shop the other day I don't know.

Then again Christina and Will have attached themselves to each other pretty firmly lately, it makes sense for her to be less perceptive around him.

I hold my hand out to her and she looks confused before grabbing it and turning it over and over again, finally on the inside of my finger she sees it. "A bullet?" she asks.

"Yeah…" I sigh pulling my hand back, "I like the guns, when we were firing them I was good, real good so I got this. I like it, it's too small for anyone to exploit as a weakness in a fight, so that's good too."

"That's smart," she says moving back under Will's arm.

Dinner that night is a silent affair, most of us are too tired to say anything, just slumping against each other and slowly shoveling food into our mouths. Out of the corner of my eye I see Eric and Four coming our way, I kick all the feet under the table and painfully straighten my back, the others follow my lead when they see whose coming towards our table over my shoulder.

"Tomorrow morning were going on a field trip, seven am, if you don't get on the train in the morning I wouldn't bother still being here when we get back." Eric stares everyone down for a moment before he turns on his heel and leaves.

"Penelope," Four says tapping my shoulder, "can you come with me please?" The way he asks makes it sound like I have a choice but I know I don't so I grab the roll from my plate and slowly stand to follow him.

"Am I in trouble?" I ask him as we round the corner.

"I wish you were." Eric says, his tone of voice lacks the usual layer of sarcasm, now he just sounds plain old mean, maybe that's his normal voice. Still cruel sounding.

"There's been an accident," Eric tells me and we're making our way towards the train platform, off in the distance I can hear the whistle blowing.

We all pick our speed up into a light jog, Eric in front, Four behind, me in the middle.

If there was an accident and they're only telling me about it, and we have to get on the train…

"No." I say to myself and in that moment I feel small and my legs have stopped working and I just want to crumple up into a ball. But Four is behind me and he's pushing me forward so I can't stop, I have to keep moving.

The train is coming up beside us and Eric jumps in effortlessly, he leans halfway out of the car and I grab his hand because I don't feel like trying anymore and I can't see because the tears are blurring my vision. Eric doesn't let go of my hand after he's pulled me into the car, or even after Four has followed us and shut the doors. Four walks the length of the car and back again checking every crack and crevice for I don't know what but still Eric holds my hand.

"Your house in Abnegation was lit on fire today." Four says, coming to stand in front of me.

My legs give out and my chin falls to my chest, I can feel my body being racked by sobs, but still nothing is real. Eric is standing behind me now, he shoves his hands under my arms before hauling me up off the ground.

"Keep it together." He whispers cruelly in my ear.

"Penelope everyone is okay, your parents sustained minor burns, were taking you out here because this is the only safe place for us to talk." Four says lifting my chin up so I look him in the eyes. "We think someone targeted your parents because they're divergent."

"I don't know what that means?" I cry out the tears rolling freely down my face, happy tears now because my parents are okay. "What does that mean?" I ask him.

"It means that they didn't belong in any one faction, being a divergent is dangerous, someone must have found out and decided to deal with it. I know its hard Penelope but do you know of anyone that might have harbored an ill will towards your family? Anyone that might have wished your family harm?" Four asks.

"What about Rose?" I ask him. "My little sister! What about Rose!" I scream back at him. He said my parents were alright but nothing about Rose.

Four looks confused for a moment and he is walking away to the other side of the train pulling something out of his pocket. Eric turns me around and pushes my back up against the wall of the train, with his heavy hands on my shoulders, he fixes me with a glare that seems to stop my lungs from working. I pull myself together and wipe the snot and tears from my face while Eric looks on in disgust.

Someone tried to kill my family.

"Penelope." Eric.

I push him to the side and stand by the door to the train, any minute now and we'll be rolling up on the Abnegation neighborhood.

"Penelope, Four is finding out about your sister right now." I ignore him and push the button besides the door, the 'woosh!' open and I have a white knuckle grip on the bar by the door to keep myself from being sucked out the side.

"Penelope listen to me!" Eric snaps pulling me away from the open doors, he slaps his hand against the button and the doors close themselves again. "We are trying to help you. If you know of anyone that wanted to hurt your family you need to tell us, if not okay, but if you know anything you need to tell us and you need to do it now. Stop acting like a stupid child, you're in the real world now and you need to act like it." His cold eyes and his iron like grip on my arm shake me out of my dream like state.

Maybe if I hadn't transferred I could have saved them. This is all my fault.

"Yes, Penelope, it is your fault!" Eric says to me, I must have said that last part out loud. "If you had just stayed in Abnegation like you belong no one would have tried to kill your family." The statement is dripping with sarcasm, "Or better yet, maybe you would have been able to prevent your house from ever being lit on fire in the first place, because you clearly are capable of such things." He sneers.

"Grow up right now," he continues, "grow up, answer my questions, or else…"

"Or else what?" I ask straightening up, crossing my arms over my chest and attempting to glare him down.

"Or else you're out." Is all he says before walking away and switching places with Four.

"Well," Four is standing in front of me now, "Who might have wanted to hurt your family?"

"I don't know anyone specifically, but my dad is on the council, I assume he had enemies in other factions, maybe Erudite, lately they've been releasing a lot of bullshit stories in the papers." I spit out, still trying to reign in my anger and humiliation from being yelled at by Eric.

Four nods before looking behind me to Eric, who in return also nods. I raise my eyebrow in question before Four begins to speak again, "Your sister is alright, she was in school when the fire was started,"

A breath of air releases itself from my lungs and already I feel better. Rosie is alright, my parents are alright, but someone tried to kill them.

Four opens the door to the train again and we all throw ourselves from the car. I land on my feet and stop to catch my breath for a moment before the two Dauntless men pull me along after them in a run.

"We can't stay long, initiate, just long enough to see the house and talk to the neighbors, then were gone. Understood?" Eric orders from behind me.

When we turn down my old street I can see the Prior's standing outside, Mrs. Prior is holding Rosie who is sleeping against her shoulder. Next thing I know I'm sprinting towards them and my little sister is running towards me. I crash into her and lift her into my arms.

"I'm so sorry Rosie, I'm so, so sorry." I whisper into her long blonde hair. "If I had stayed I could have done something this is all my fault Rosie, all my fault."

She doesn't say anything for a minute just stays there in my arms and then I can hear her quietly crying against my shoulder. I put her down on the ground and squat so I'm eye level with her.

"Rosie what's wrong?" I ask her.

"It's not your fault!" She cries, "I yelled at Mommy and Daddy it's all my fault, I yelled at them because you left and when I left for school this morning they said they were staying home and now they're hurt and it's all my fault!"

"No! Rosie this isn't your fault, you didn't start this fire, someone… someone wanted to hurt us but they didn't. Rosie this isn't your fault." I drag my sister along with me towards the Prior's and ask Mrs. Prior if she'll take my sister to bed.

"What happed?" I ask Mr. Prior, "Did you see anything?"

"The council was given the day off today for self-reflection. Things have become very heated lately between Abnegation and Erudite, they're trying to accuse us of hiding divergents!"

"But that's ridiculous!" I tell him, "Isn't it?"

"Penelope the council members that were here before your father and I convinced he and your mother to transfer to Abnegation when they found out they were divergent on their testing day. Abnegation members always try to help divergents, sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't. It is my personal opinion that someone found out about your parents and tried to kill them to send a message to our faction as a whole." Mr. Prior says while leading us into his home.

"But that's ludicrous, why would they want to kill divergents? I don't understand." I'm so confused with the influx of information, I throw my hands up around my head and rub at my temples while sitting on the small grey couch in the Prior's living room.

"Jeanine Matthews believes divergents to be a threat to the system that we live by." Eric stands in the corner of the room, his black clothing contrast with the room so powerfully he makes everything around him seem insignificant and dull. "What I'm about to say cannot leave this room." He says glaring me down before sending the same look in the direction of Mr. Prior.

"Jeanine has been meeting with Max lately, I don't know what they've been discussing but none of it has been good. Four and I have been trying to get information but it seems the only way would be for me to become directly involved." He says.

"Well why haven't you?" I ask, "Became directly involved? You can stop this!"

"He'd be in there alone, Penelope, if Jeanine found out that he knew..." Four stops for a moment, reconsidering what he was about to say, "It's just very dangerous for us right now."

"Us?" I ask him.

Eric steps forward from his corner of the room and crosses his arms over his chest. He looks to Mr. Prior for a moment and then to Four and back to Mr. Prior before looking to me.

"We are the resistance."


Woot! Woot! I personally love the ending, it just leaves so much to be thought over by the reader! Please let me know what you think? What is the resistance? What is there purpose? Do you guys like the direction I'm headed in? I love feedback so please give me some! Thank you again to everyone that's been reviewing/following/favoriting you are all such amazing people! Much love! Until next time!