fOlLoW mY sToRy? Be DaUnTlEsS – dO iT! i DaRe YoU (;
"You can choose first," Tobias nods towards Uriah and Christina and I take a small step towards him.
"We don't need any advantages," Christina scoffs and to my vacant stare, she nods whispering with Uriah.
"Jet," Uriah finally answers and Jet moves to that side of the train.
I look to Tobias and nod in our own way of unspoken communication. "Alex," he states and Alex moves from Asta's side to come over behind Tobias and I.
"Asta," Christina answers before even looking at Uriah.
I say, "Sasha," and the two girls move to their teams.
"Luke," Christina chooses followed by me, "Laura."
"Ok, Dauntless-Borns next." Tobias says.
"You guys can choose first this time," Uriah looks to us and I just nod.
"Tash," Tobias says and I let him choose our Dauntless-Borns. He knows them better than I.
Uriah looks over the Dauntless-Borns before saying, "Matt."
"Jack," Tobias responds. I wonder why Uriah chose Mathew over Jack but then I realise why, Mathew's stronger. What Christina and Uriah clearly don't understand, like Eric, is that capture the flag has no need for strength.
"Rees," Christina calls out and I smile, "Ash." I look to Tobias and he nods, approving my choice. I realised Christina and Uriah are choosing who they believe to be the strongest, Tobias and I however are choosing those who we believe to be the smartest.
"Shane," Uriah says and confirms my theory.
"Victor," Tobias chooses this time.
Uriah picks Jaz and we take Emma.
The teams end up like this:
Tobias and I
Alex
Sasha
Laura
Tash
Jack
Ash
Victor
Emma
Christina and Uriah
Jet
Asta
Luke
Matt
Rees
Shane
Jaz
The teams sit, one on each side of the train car. I remember climbing the Ferris Wheel with Tobias last year and racing for the flag with Christina and Uriah. I remembered the splatter of paint as it found its target and the feeling of wind slapping against my face as I ran as fast as I could. I indulge in memories of my initiation but when I think about certain times my throat tightens and a weight sinks in my chest.
"We're here." Tobias grasps each door handle and hangs half in and half out of the train. Both groups stand and Christina, Uriah and I move over to the opening.
"Ok! My team off first!" I call out above the roar of wind. Tobias turns to me and snickers slightly.
"Your team?"
"Our team." I correct myself and roll my eyes. "C'mon, let's jump!"
I push off from the train and almost immediately hit the ground, running a few steps to keep my balance. I notice the rest of our team jumping off, Tobias jumping last. The train continues on it's tracks taking the other team far away.
After a moment, the initiates have gathered around Tobias and I as if waiting for instruction. Tobias must notice too because he says, "it's your initiation, you figure things out."
"I say we should hide the flag somewhere they will never find it and then everyone spread out that way!" Jack says pointing in the direction the train disappeared in. I remember my initiate group having the same discussion. If we plan on winning this, they need to locate the other teams' flag.
"No way!" Tash interjects, "hide the flag and split into two teams. Have one team defend and one attack."
"But we don't know where their flag is!" Sasha steps forward and looks completely comfortable within the group. Finally, somebody states the obvious!
"Then we'll find it?" Ash cuts in and narrows her eyes. "We're not stupid, Transfer!"
Laura steps forward now and pushes her shoulder in front of Sasha's, "what she's saying is, we need to narrow down the location of where they could be before we go searching the entire place!"
"We at least know it's over that way somewhere..." Victor says, indicating towards where Jack pointed.
"Yeah, and they know we're over here somewhere!" Sasha replies.
"So we need to attack first!" Ash cuts back in. After this comment, the group shouts over each other with their ideas and telling the others what they think should happen. Each idea is as bad as the previous and I have to stop myself from telling them to all shut up.
"GUYS!" Alex shouts and everyone stares at him, wide eyes and gaping jaws. "We're them."
After a brief pause Victor asks, "What?"
Alex just says, "we, are them!"
"What do you mean?" Tash asks. She shifts her weight onto her left leg and crosses her arms as if preparing to receive information. I like her attitude towards it - that both Transfers and Dauntless-Borns are equal.
"We are having all of these ideas. The very same ideas the other team will be thinking of!" Alex looks over everyone in our little huddle. I'm smiling by now. Tobias and I chose the smartest and because of that, we will win. Alex continues, "if we plan on winning this, assuming you all want to?, we have to -"
"We have to think differently." Jack finished for Alex. The two look to each other and smile before Jack says, "we have to think of something that they wouldn't be expecting and because of your little interruption, I'm going to assume you have an idea?"
"As a matter of fact," a grin spreads across Alex's face, "I do have an idea."