From the Journal of Sarah Miller
There had been a wail from behind us. One of the Dauntless born was standing at small wall dividing roof from bottomless air. The girl had long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a nose ring. The same boy from Erudite that asked a question on the train and a girl from Candor were also standing beside her looking down at the ground below.
"What's going on?" A male voice barked.
We all turned around. A tall man with dirty blonde hair strode towards us. He had an eyebrow ring and tattoos covered his arms. We parted to let him through. He came upon the three standing at the edge of the building. I came up from behind and peered over. I covered my mouth to stifle the gasp. Three people lay motionless on the concrete ground below. One each was from Dauntless, Candor, and Erudite. The three people standing here were either friends or relatives of the three dead below.
"My friend didn't make it." The Dauntless born girl replied. She pointed at a girl in black lying on the pavement.
"We'll have someone collect them." The man said as he went back to the other side of the building where other Dauntless members were standing. They were also wearing black and purple like the black woman did on the train. In fact, she was up there among them. The man got out a walkie talkie. "There are three dead initates beside the building." He said to whoever was at the other end. "Have someone come and get them. Notify their families"
"Yes, sir" A woman replied from the walkie talkie.
"My name is Maverick." The man introduced. "I'm former Navy Seal. I'm one of your leaders. In order to get into Dauntless is by jumping off this ledge into the hole down there. If you can't do it, then you're not going to be in Dauntless."
"What's at the bottom?" A girl from Erudite asked curiously.
"I guess you'll just have to find out." Maverick said. "Well, who's going first?"
No one moved. No one offered. No one raised their hands. I wanted to get it over with. The faster, the better. So, my hand went up. Everyone was shocked again.
"Really, Dauntless born?" Maverick mocked them. "An Amish woman is going to jump before any of you. Okay"
I walked over to where he and the other members were standing. There was a huge gaping hole in the roof of the building. I looked at him like he was crazy. He looked at me like I was going to chicken out. Or change my mind that this fraction wasn't for me. He was wrong. They all would.
I climbed on top of the ledge. I began to feel dizzy because of the height. I have a slight fear of heights. I stood up slowly and look down. There was a fifty percent chance that there could be something down there to save my ass once I jumped. There could be a fifty percent chance there wasn't anything down there like water or net. I did wonder though what was the point of us jumping off then if nothing was down there other than being sadistic bastards. If there was a chance this was a sick joke to kill us, I wouldn't have to wait for my husband to die a slow death. I would beat him to Heaven before him. And if there was something down there...well, I would have to continue life like he would want me. Like my children would want me
"While we're still young, initiate" Maverick nagged.
I shook my head because this idea was crazy. However, what I got to lose at this point? I closed my eyes and I jumped. I flew a few stories before I landed in a net. I bounced up a bit before settling again. I looked up and saw the Dauntless members looking down on me from the room. I chuckled. I was grateful to be alive still. I was also amused that I showed them what I was capable of despite my background as an Amish woman.
Someone reached up and pulled the net down. I was met with intense brown eyes that saw into my soul. I recognized them. I recognized the owner of those eyes. It was Matt from the test. He was shocked to see me. I mean...his mouth didn't drop, but his eyebrow was raised.
"Did they kidnap you?" He asked me curiously.
"Who?" I asked in the same tone.
"Dauntless born members"
"No"
He put his hands beneath my armpits and carried me down. It must've been easy for him to do that since I was small. "It's Sarah, right?"
"Yeah"
"Would you like to keep your name or change it?"
"Keep it"
"Very well" He looked at the Dauntless members in the room that were watching initiates jumped down into the net from the roof. "First Jumper Sarah" He looked at me and smiled a bit. A few people cheered. "Welcome to Dauntless"
"Thank you" I replied, smiling. I walked to a post and stood beside it. I heard a girl screaming. I looked up. It was Lily. There were more gasps from the Dauntless members.
"Am I in the Twilight Zone or something?" Matt asked the room curiously. "First, an Amish woman. Now, a Stiff"
"Don't know what to tell you, Matt" I heard a woman's voice. I looked over to where the voice came from. It was the woman that had been a guard at the wall on the day that Jeremiah and I arrived in Chicago. She was there for me when I had all those medical tests done after we were granted entrance.
I made my way over to where she sat while Matt had helped Lily down from the net. "Hi!" I said happily when I stood next to her.
"Hey! Welcome to Dauntless" She said to me as she hugged me back. "I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would've joined Amity or Abnegation."
I sat down next to her. "No, Abnegation is too much like the Amish minus the religion. Amity is a little bit like them. I just want to break away from being Amish or anything like it."
"That's understandable." The woman agreed.
"What is your name?" I asked curiously. I felt a bit guilty because I didn't know this guard's name, even though I've known her off and on all week.
"Kate Prior" She replied.
Four stopped reading the journal. Kate Prior...Tris' great-grandmother. However, something stopped him. Wasn't Natalie from outside the wall originally? He would have to ask his mom tomorrow. He checked the time. Damn, it was almost three in the morning! He looked to see how much longer he would have to read. Just a paragraph left. He resumed reading the journal.
Lily had joined us at that point. She remained standing up. "Kate, this is Lily." I said to her. "I stayed with her family this past weekend."
"Nice to meet you, Lily" Kate said as she reached out and shook hands.. They shook hands.
"Pleasure is mine" Lily said before she sat down next to me.
We spent the next half hour talking while people continue to jump from the roof of the other building. Finally, everyone that was brave enough to jump had been assembled. There were thirty of us.
"Dauntless born, go with Dani" Matt said. "Transfers stay with me"
We waited while all the Dauntless born initiates got up and followed the Dauntless born member named Dani. Kate had taken the opportunity to get up and stand beside Matt. When the Dauntless born were gone, Matt began.
"We'll be your instructors for the next ten weeks." He explained.
"I'm a former SWAT member from the Los Angeles Police Department." Kate added. "My name is Kate Prior."
"I'm former CIA. My name is Matt Eaton."
And that's where Four did a double take
