From the Journal of Sarah Miller
I woke up in darkness. I felt disoriented. Where the hell was I? I gingerly sat up and observed my surroundings. There were twenty-nine people sleeping in twenty-nine cots around me. My cot was between Cadence and Lily's. I wondered what time it was. Only one way to know.
I quickly dressed in my new dark clothes provided by the Dauntless fraction. I didn't bother to do anything with my waist length hair. I would after I got back to the "barracks". I went to the area near the pit. The ceiling had been made out of glass. There was light, but it seemed to be a half hour after sun rise. We were taught how to tell time just by the way the sun was in the sky since we weren't allowed to wear watches. This was particular vital while working the fields.
I headed back to the barracks. I ran into Matt and Kate. They were surprised to see me.
"You're up early." Matt remarked.
"I'm used to getting up this early." I told him. "The Amish rise with the sun, and go to bed when it sets." I told him.
"Okay then" He said indifferently. "We're about to wake up the others. Why don't you head to the pit? Do something with your hair. You can't have it like that."
"I know." I said dryly. "I was going to any way."
"You still want me to cut it?" Kate asked curiously.
"Yeah"
"Make it fast" Matt said curtly. "Maverick wants the initiates there in three minutes."
"Three minutes?" Kate said incredulously. "It would be better to wait until after lunch."
"Fine, do it then"
"What about her hair?"
"Give her a scrunchie"
"She'll need more than just one"
"Give her two then" He said impatiently before he left us behind.
Kate and I began to head towards the pit. She handed me two scrunchies. "You want any help with your hair?"
"No, thank you" I said politely. "I've gotten used to braiding my hair quick. You need to when you have to fix your sisters' hair, and then your own daughters'." My hands were like magic as they wove my long hair into a thick, long braid. I rolled the braid and turned it into a bun.
"Did you make a lot of baskets when you were Amish?" She asked me curiously.
I smiled at her. "I did."
"I came across a lot of Amish communities when I moved out here." She told me. "California didn't have any Amish living there."
"Most of our population had been centered in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana." I informed her. "They settled in twenty-four states, Canada, and part of Central America."
"I didn't know they went to Central America."
I shrugged. "Those settlements are of New Order Amish. Most Amish communities, especially in the U.S, had been Old World."
"Ah, I see"
We eventually made it to the Pit. Maverick was waiting for us there. "Where is Matt?" Maverick demanded to Kate.
"Waking up the initiates" Kate replied. She sat down next to him. His arm snaked around her waist and brought her to him. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
He nodded towards me. "Why is this one up?"
"I'm used to waking up this early." I supplied.
He nodded. "I guess that is one thing you won't struggle on." He remarked. "Because, believe me sweet heart, I can see you struggling here."
"Such a pessimist" Kate teased him before giving him another kiss.
"It's not pessimism." Maverick countered. "I'm being realistic." He kept his eyes on me as he said the following, "She is going to have years of pacifism conflict with what she has to do in Dauntless. She is going to have to be trained in hand to hand combat, how to use weapons, and possibly kill someone if the time calls for it."
"I think you will be surprised of what I'm capable of." I said in a dry tone.
"I hope I am...for your sake."
Matt joined us then. He took me by the elbow and put me directly in front of Maverick. "Stand here and don't move"
I raised an eyebrow as he walked and stood beside Kate. "Why?"
"Because I said so"
That shut me up, especially the way his dark eyes bore into me. The other initiates soon arrived.
"I want you all to get in three lines of ten." Matt ordered. "I want the shortest in the front and tallest in the back. Make these lines straight and clean. Sarah is line one. Now, go into formation"
I watched how everyone scrambled to get into three lines of ten. Two people stood behind me, a girl and boy each. One was Dauntless and the other was Lily. Cadence stood next to me on my left.
"I'm impressed." Matt said as he walked up and down in front of us. "You all made a perfect formation. We want you all to make this formation each day you come here for the next five weeks. You will stand up straight, eyes forward, feet together, be quiet, and be in the place you are in right now. Failure to do so will result in punishment, which would be decided upon the three of us. So, if I were you all, I would memorize who you are standing next to. If the formation isn't perfect, all of you will suffer. We work as a team. We fight as a team. Is that understood?"
There were mutterings and mumbling of "yeses". Some people just nodded their heads.
Matt sighed in exasperation. "I can't hear you"
"Yes!" We replied back loudly to him.
"Wrong!" He snapped. "You say "Sir, yes sir!" Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Better"
"What if Kate is talking to us?" Lily asked randomly. "Shouldn't we say "Ma'am, yes ma'am"?" Matt walked to her. I could feel him brush up against me.
"Who said you could talk?" Matt asked harshly.
"Um...I was just curious." She said softly.
"Curiosity killed the cat" He remarked. "If you want to speak, raise your hand" A few seconds later, I hear him reprimand her with "Not now" He returned to the front. "There are two stages of training. First stage is physical. We push your bodies till your breaking point. Second stage is mental. Again, we push your minds until the breaking point."
"Transfers and Dauntless born will be graded together." Kate went on. "You both will be trained separately though. By the end of each stage, whoever is above the red line will go on to the next stage of training."
"Rankings by the end of the second stage will determine where you go." Matt continued. "Leadership, guarding the fence, or making sure everyone behaves themselves between the fractions." Cadence raised her hand beside me. He nodded at her, "Yes?"
"What will happen if you don't move on?" She asked curiously.
"It depends." Maverick replied. "Dauntless born will obviously remain in Dauntless. Transfers are given the opportunity to return to their old fraction. They can stay here, but they won't be first line defense. They would be...how should I say?...almost like how our National Guard used to be. You wouldn't send the National Guard to war or if there was a crime. They were use for emergencies or as back ups if there were riots. They will be second line defense basically. They can also be medics, test administers, body modification artists, beauticians, cooks, or cleaners."
I inwardly cringed. I didn't want to rank anywhere below the line in both stages. I didn't want to end up in a position like being a cook or a cleaner. I did enough of that when I was in the Amish.
