Chapter Nine – Capture the Flag
We're running towards nowhere in the middle of the woods. We were supposed to set a place to hide our flag but no one came up with a good idea, so we just decided by choosing a random tree. My legs hurt from the running and I'm starting to stay behind. "What's up Is? Is the speed to high?" Four shouts from the front of the line, playing with the words. I race, trying to catch up with him. I fail, obviously; but I manage to pass Liz and Andrew and end up running side by side with Lauren, who's trying to make sure no one gets lost. Owen is right in front of us.
"So, you're my brother's new best friend?" I don't know what to say so I remain quiet. She laughs. "Don't worry, it's actually a good thing that he manages to have more friends. I have to admit I was getting worried that the only person he actually talked to outside our family was Maeve." "Seriously?" I ask. That's not very Owen of his. He's usually so talkative, though, now that she mentions it, I don't remember ever seeing Owen or Maeve talking to any of the other Dauntless-born initiates. I mean, saying some jokes and laughing with them as group, yeah, but not really talking.
"Yeah, I don't think he ever got used to the changes Max did here. Since then, he only trusts Maeve." I have to strain to keep up with her, as we run. "What changes?" She looks around, as if she wasn't supposed to talk about it, but then she shrugs, saying "Everyone knows it anyway." She starts running slowly making us close the line, while both Liz and Andrew pass through us. "About five years ago, Max decided that we weren't Dauntless enough. Back then, team work was what we believed in. Do you think that's still the same?" She asks me.
I think about it, and the first thing that shows up in my mind is Emmett in the hospital, then me in the hospital, and at last, me in the ledge, me, who should've been death if it weren't for Owen. That's why he saved me, because he was sick of all this violence. I shake my head to her, answering her question. "That's right. Things changed. And they're getting worse." She doesn't give me more details, but she's not the first one to tell me that. Actually it's what Four seems to insist on telling me – us, the transfers, whatever.
Everyone stops running in front of us, and I'm guessing the ten minutes have passed, and the other team is getting out of the train now. It's time to hide our flag and go look for the other team's flag. Both me and Lauren stop running once we reach the others. Lauren stands side by side with Four, who's holding our red flag. I look for Owen and stand next to him.
"Time to choose a tree, c'mon guys!" Four says, laughing at our "I have no idea what I'm doing here" expressions. After a few seconds of being stupefied everyone starts looking for the best tree to hide the flag. It's Liz who finds it.
"This one seems high enough, and there's enough leaves to hide it!" She shouts. Everyone turns to her and makes their own evaluation of the tree. She's right - it's perfect for what we need. About five meters high, big and lots of leaves. Perfect.
"Alright." Four says. "Who wants to hide it?" He looks around but no one offers. Am I the only one who noticed he's joking smile is gone when he sees that there are no volunteers? "Fine. I'll do it myself. We got ourselves a bunch of cowards in here, Lau." He complains, as he walks towards the tree. "I'll do it!" Owen shouts, running toward Four and putting his gun on his back so that he can climb the tree. "Show-off." Lauren says and everyone laughs, even me. That's what I used to think of the Dauntless. Four tells him something before he lends him the flag. Owen nods and Four comes back to the circle.
"Now can anyone tell me what should we do next, or am I going to have to make a plan for you too?" Everyone stands still. Four sighs, but he doesn't say a word, he's only provoking us. Liz saves the day – again. "I think some of us should stay on guard, and the rest should go look for the other flag." A Dauntless initiate boy cuts her. "What are we, Amity? We don't play save. Let's just go find them and get their flag!"
"Be my guest, Trevor. I'll stay. At least, Liz has a plan. If I remember, that's how your team lost last year." Four says, embarrassing him on propose; no one laughs this time. Lauren speaks to break the tension. "Okay, so three of us should stay here, the other go look for the others, so then, if needed, we can split in two groups again." There's an agreement whisper and everyone nods. "So, who wants to stay?" "I stay!" Owen shouts, from the tree. I haven't noticed that he stayed there even after he hid the flag. He was already planning on staying – that's what Four must have told him. "I stay too." I say, hoping one of the instructors has to stay too. "Then I guess I stay as well." Four says, and I smile to myself. It's better to have Four than to have Lauren – Owen wouldn't be happy if he sister stayed with him like if he was a little kid.
Both me and Four leave the circle, with a "see you when it's done" to the rest of the team, as we go join Owen. I hesitate before I climb, but what has to be done, has to be done, if I want to win against Ethan. I sigh… and Emmett.
Four explained us that staying on the tree – which is the metaphorical way of saying "staying on guard" – doesn't mean we can relax. We have to focus on our goal, because, someday, it might be the life of someone we love that we're risking. So, the three of us are very quiet, trying to hear any sound that's not natural – translation: that comes from humans, and by humans I mean the other team. I'm leaning with my back against the tree trunk; Owen is by my side, in another branch, also leaning against the trunk. Four, on his turn, is making sure I won't fall, so he has his hand leaning against the tree, right above my head. His muscles are tense, for some reason, as if was afraid of falling himself. I shake my head – Four, afraid of something, what a joke. We're all his responsibility, and he's tense because the others left about half an hour ago. His expression though, makes me think he had planned it all before. And I don't just mean someone staying on guard. I mean, I and Owen staying on guard with him.
We hear a sound, not far from here, and I hold Four's arm to make sure I won't fall as I look everywhere around me. But there's no sign of anyone. There's nothing we can do now, but wait. And it's not a long waiting; five minutes later we start to hear a voice. I smile and glance at Owen. It's Ethan's voice – I'm going to have my payback, and I don't care if it means I lose, as long as I get to give him some good punches.
I look for the place where the voice comes from and I finally see them, coming from East, there's Ethan and Lara. "There's no way we're losing this thing. Though we need to teach a lesson to those two. They could've gotten us caught." Lara is speaking too loud. What's their game? Weren't they supposed to be careful, so they could sneak in and get our flag? This is not very smart of them, and they're the ones who come from Erudite. No wondering why Liz left them.
I look up to Four, trying to say something is wrong. He nods – he got it too. Then he points his chin to Lara and Ethan, telling me to look again. I do as he says, and that's when I notice it - on Ethan's belt - a red tissue.
"Isn't that cheating?!" I whisper, starting to get on my nerves. Not even when it's not just about them, they just can't pass without cheating!
Four nods. "I'm going to climb another tree so I'll have a better angle to shoot them, okay?" He doesn't wait for me to nod, he turns to Owen. "You're going down, and shoot from the bushes. Lau said you're good with close combat. Let them get out of paintball bullets and then go." Owen nods and starts getting down the tree. Four gets ready to do the same, but I grab his arm again, stopping him. "And what do I do?" I'm not as good as he is at shooting, especially if Owen gets involved too. Besides, I would immediately reveal where we hid our flag. "You're thin, weightless and small - hide." He shrugs as he gets his bullets inside his gun. "Hide?! No! I'm not staying out of this!" I have to make a big effort to keep my voice down. "I'm not saying for you to stay out, actually I'm saying the opposite. Oh, and another tip, this is the only tree they'll have to pass by." He looks at my hand and I let his arm go, so that he can go down and then climb another tree. What did he mean with that?
I look for Owen, but the guy is good, I can't find him, even though I know he's somewhere in the bushes. Not even a sign of his gun. Ethan and Lara are getting closer, too closer, and I still don't know what to do. Think, Is, think! Okay, Four said I'm thin, weightless and small. What can I do with that? I obviously can't get in the combat like Owen, I can run, but that's also not what he said. He said, hide.
Ethan and Lara pass by Four's tree and he shoots the first bullet. Ethan and Lara stop walking and look around. They look terrified, but I don't have time to be amused by that fact.
THINK! He also didn't tell me to shoot, which means, hide until you have a chance. But I obviously can't shoot now, because I will reveal my position, and I can't shoot then because I might hit Owen. What else did he say? This is the only tree they'll have to pass by. I look around, he's right, there's two trees standing really close together about six foot away from this tree. So the way is blocked through there, if they want to run, they'll have to pass by this tree.
Ethan and Lara, already covered in ink by Four and Owen, start shooting around, with no target. I assume Owen is moving from bushes to bushes so he's protecting both his position and Four's.
Focus, Is! Alright. They'll have to pass by here and… and… that's when I must act! But, still, what do. I. do?
Lara is out of bullets already, what a dumb, shooting them all without even thinking… But Ethan is more careful - he only shoots back, meaning he only shoots to the direction where the previous bullet came from. Although, Ethan easily gets out of bullets too, as he's fighting two opponents. That's Owen's time to show up. Lara starts running when she sees Owen and I don't stop her, though Four makes sure to shoot a few bullets to her back, ending up by revealing his position.
Ethan, knowing that he won't have other chance if he doesn't want to be a coward, turns to fight Owen. While they're distracted, Four wisely comes out of his tree and climbs to mine. "It won't last long." He says. "Owen is good, but Ethan is already thinking about running." I look back at him, noticing the emphasis of his word – running. He's leaning against the trunk, just like I was a few minutes ago. Now I'm nearly reaching the end of my branch, and I thank god I'm thin, now. Act when he tries to run, it can be any minute. That's what Four told me to do. But what is so important on Ethan that I didn't need to act when Lara took off? I feel like hitting with my hand on my forehead – the flag! I need to catch the flag!
I approach the edge of the branch as much as I can, and I have to make a strain not to look at the ground, or I'll panic. I look back at Four – he's staring at me, with his eyes too open, as if I was some kind of freak. I shrug, that's not the matter now. I take my gun out of my shoulder and give it to him. I won't need it. He takes it, and prepares it to shoot.
A scream and I turn my eyes to Owen and Ethan's fight. This is it! Ethan is taking off. I count down in my head. Three… two… one… NOW! Making the biggest effort I've ever done in my entire life I jump over my worst enemy and try to reach for the flag. My head hits Ethan's shoulder and we both fall to the ground, but that doesn't stop me. My hand is on his legs and I move it up, looking for his belt. He roars, but I don't care, I got the belt, I just need to find that flag now. And there it is, slipping through my fingers, a soft tissue. I grab it in the exact moment he punches me in the stomach. I scream, and I'm flying ending up by crashing on one of the trees that stand really close together, blocking a possible escape route. My back hurts, but I have it – I have the flag. We won!
Ethan tries to come for me, but dozen of paintball bullets turn his face multicolored and he stops running to cover his face. I sigh, mentally thanking Four. I hear voices as I try to get on my feet, I don't need to do much, as Owen comes from me, and takes me on his arms. "We won, we won, we won…" He's half screaming, half singing, as he spins around with me. I feel my panic for highs coming back, as my feet are not on the ground, and I look for an excuse for him to put me down. And there he is, smiley when he arrives, but his smile gets lost when he sees us.
"Look, Emmett and Maeve!" I shout, trying to make myself listen over the sound of Owen's voice. He puts me down, and I don't waste my time, I just run to them, with a big smile on my face… and a big pain on my back. I'm about to hug Emmett when I notice that both him and Maeve are covered in ink. He hugs me anyway, covering me in ink too. "What happen to you two?!" I ask, as Emmett is still hugging me. Maeve starts shooting Owen, to cover him in ink as well, and he can't protect his self, as he's out of bullets, so he starts running in circles.
"Eric." Emmett whispers to my ear. "I'll tell you everything later, okay?" I step backward, but keep my hand on his waist, just enough to look at his face. He looks tensed up, so I don't ask him more questions.
Back on the train my team is making the party. Well, at least the transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates. Four, Lauren and Eric got in another car, and Four is probably asking for an explanation of why the initiates he was responsible for, cheated. Emmett has his legs open, with his knees slightly lifted from the floor of the car. I'm sitting between his legs with my back leaning against his chest. He tried to make me a massage, for fun, but it didn't really work, so I just took his hands and laced them on mine. Now, his hands are over my stomach, and I'm playing with his fingers. He looks distracted, and he keeps on looking to the door that leads to the other car, where Lauren, Four and Eric are. I squeeze his hand, and he softly turns his head. I can feel his warm breath on my neck.
"You okay?" I ask. "Huh-huh." He says, caring me in the arm, and then turning his head to the door again. I lean forward, so that I can turn around to face him. He looks at me, as if he had just woken up. I get on my knees, and then put my hands on his cheeks. "Damn, you're cold Is!" He complains, taking my hands on his, which are far warmer than mine. "You're keeping something from me." I accuse him, ignoring his provocation. "Yes. I'm keeping you safe." "From what?" He shakes his head, so I move closer. That's what he does when he wants something from me. It's my turn to mess with him. His hands, before on mine, move to my arms and then my waist and I regret l moved closer, but there's no way back now.
"Look, this is probably the safest place for you to tell me what happened." I say. He looks at me for a while. "Fine." He says. "It's Eric. I don't like him. I think he's dangerous." I paralize. He's not the first person to tell me this – today! I should've stopped Eric from choosing who was fighting who, but we all need to be careful with him, he's good friends with Max. Four told me we the same thing, but using other words. "Tell me the whole story." I say.
He nods. "As soon as we got out of the train, Eric started to say what we should do, and as you know, he told us, to cheat. At first I didn't know it was cheating, Maeve told me, and when we told him we didn't agree with what he wanted to do, he said we should be the ones to do it, to prove our bravery. I have to admit he scares the hell out of me, but cheating is not correct, so I refused to do it, no matter if he killed me right there." A chill passes through me, and I cut him. "Don't ever say that again. If you have to cheat to survive, you do it, okay?" He lifts his eyebrows, surprised with my reaction. "Do you want me to tell the story or not?" I blush. "Go on."
"Well, as I was saying, I refused to do as he said, and so did Maeve. She actually made both us sit on the grass, like on the middle of nothing, where anyone could see us, just to show our rebellion." He pauses. "That's when Eric freaked out. He told Ethan and Lara to take the flag as far as they could from where we were, and then he made everyone shoot against us." I lean back, sitting on my legs, shocked with what he just said. Both Emmett and Maeve had to take dozens of bullets at the same time. And even though it's just paintball bullets, I took some from Maeve and they actually hurt. "I want to see it. When we get home." I say. I want to see how much damage he did to my Emmett. He pinches his lips. "Is, it's not-". But I don't listen to him, and I don't want to – I'm not changing my mind. Everyone is getting ready to jump.
It's over five in the morning, and I'm in the guys' bathroom with Emmett. I didn't let him fall asleep to make sure I could check on him once everyone else was sleeping. "Take your shirt off." I demand. He glances at me, and then does as I say. I strain not to look at him while he undresses, but I quit after a few seconds. I'll have to look at him after all, won't I? My mouth opens with astonishment when he takes his dark shirt off. Blue became his main color, both on his chest and his back. Among the blue I can see purple, red, yellow and a weird dark color I can't name.
"Emmett-" I say, not exactly knowing what to say. But then I notice a tattoo on the top of his back. I reach for it, but then I put my hands down, afraid I might hurt him with all the bruises he has. He steps forward, to me, and takes my hands just to put it on his chest. Then he closes his eyes, and we just stay there. "It feels good. The cold of your skin." He explains, as he puts one of my hands down, and takes the other to pull me out of the bathroom and driving me to the dorm again. "No. We should go to the hospital." I say. He ignores me and takes me to the dorm.
When we get there, he stops, sort of embarrassed. I pull him to my bed, too sleepy to think about appearances. My back hurt when I lie on the bed, but I can't show it to Emmett as he wasn't there when it all happened and I don't want to worry him. I even had to make Maeve promise she wouldn't tell when we were changing clothes at the girls' bathroom.
We only wake up right before lunch the next morning, which makes us rush to the dining room and then to the train station as we're going on a field trip. It's not anything much, Four is just showing us the fence that protects the city, and the Dauntless-born initiates are not even coming with us – they went there yesterday. It's a fast thing, and we get to see some Amity members. I have to say that the funniest part of the trip is that Ethan is on a real bad mood because he didn't manage to take off all the ink on his face. I could even swear Four winked at me when Ethan wasn't looking.
Once we're at the Dauntless headquarters again I tell Emmett I want to go to the tattoos store, but I don't tell him I'm going there for two reasons: to make a new one, and to find out what Emmett tattooed, as he didn't quite let me see it yesterday. "I'll go with you." He says. "You are?" I ask, trying not to sound too nervous – if he's coming I can't ask Tori what he tattooed. Or when…
He takes my hand and drives me to the tattoo store. I'm surprised when I find Maeve and Owen there. "You're still grounded?" I ask. Maeve laughs. "I wish. He came here to make a tattoo of a flag on his wrist. We were supposed to make it together this year… but I didn't win." I feel sorry for Maeve, and silly for thinking that she was involved with Eric. There's definitely something going on between them, but now I'm sure they're not in some sort of relationship, so I can breathe half normally again.
"Here to make a new tattoo?" Tori asks when she notices us. "I am." I turn to Emmett. "You…?" "Nope, I'm good." Tori laughs. "I hope you don't regret the previous one?" He smiles and glances at me. "I don't." I raise my eyebrows to him. Unexpectedly he takes his shirt off and turns his back to me. I shake my head before I approach to him – I thought he didn't want me to see his tattoo. He has a small shield tattooed on his back. "What does it mean?" I whisper. He puts his shirt back on and smiles to me. "I'll give you a tip. I did it on two days ago." So that's when he did it – when I was in the hospital.
I think about his words. Two days ago was the day I got beaten by Ethan. "It's you. You're the shield. Protecting me." The words come out of my mouth, but I don't feel like they do, because I can't believe them. I can't believe he finds it so important to keep me safe. Emmett nods to me.
"You can go now." Tori says as she puts a bandage on Owen's wrist. "Sure you don't want me to hold your hand, Is?" Owen says as he stands up. I laugh. "That's why I brought Emmett for." Maeve laughs too, pulling Owen out of the store. "I want the Erudite symbol on my left wrist." I say. I beat the know-it-all. I get a second tattoo. Two more to go.
All of a sudden it's like the temperature goes down ten degrees in the room. Emmett and Tori exchange meaningful looks that I don't understand. "What just happened?" I ask; my eyes jumping from Emmett to Tori, and then to Emmett again.
"Nothing. Let's get your tattoo done." She says, making me sit on the dentist's chair.
As Tori didn't give me painkillers this and I find myself having trouble to fall asleep as my wrist burns. The whole room is dark and everyone's a sleep already, or at least I thought so. I turn around in my bed and see a dark figure dressing up. "Good, you're awake. Get up." Emmett whispers. Confused, I do as he says. It's still awkward for me to change clothes in front of Emmett, even in the dark.
As soon as I'm done, he holds my hand and drives me out of the dorm to the training room. I wonder what does he want to do at this time of the day and I feel my heart racing. He doesn't turn on the lights, which makes it hard to see him, though he leaves the door opened so we have some sort of dark blue light coming from the hall.
He turns to me when we get to the combat area. "What are we doing here?" I ask. "We're here to train you. And we're going to do this every night until phase one is over." I shake my head. "Why? You shouldn't help me. We're competing against each other." I just have no chances to win. He rolls his eyes at me. "I'm not going to let you go anywhere, alright?" It's the last thing he says, before he makes me fight with him. Over and over again, until I know my strengths, until I learn how to use my elbows and my knees, until I can barely breathe.
Waking up the following morning seems like a deathly mission, but somehow I manage to let Emmett pull me to the training room. I almost forgot we're using new weapons today, and I feel myself pass out when I see what they are, though I try to tell myself what I'm seeing is not real. Four's words wake me for reality and I start trembling.
"You're going to learn how to throw knifes today."
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry if this ending sucks. I tried, I promise I did, and this is the best I could do. Hope I'm not just ruining Emmett as I go, as he happens to be the best character I've ever created. Anyways, your turn. Some reviews, please?
