*** DISCLAIMER ***
I own NOTHING regarding the divergent series e.g. the books/the movies
The only things I own are my own characters that I've created.
"Sorry Nix." Four said when he was stood beside her the next morning, "I explained the situation but he said he won't have the result influenced in any way."
"It's okay." she replied as she forced a smile on her face, she'd presumed as much, this was dauntless, just because they let her wear a vest during training didn't mean they'd let her wear one during her final fight, "I appreciate you trying."
"It's not okay." Andie snapped at them both, "Fractured-"
"Shh." Four cut her off to say with a glare on his face.
Andie held her hands up in response before she lowered her voice to say, "Her opponent, if they don't already know, will USE that to their advantage."
"I'll be fine Andie." Nix said and when the girl opened her mouth to protest Nix held a hand up to silence her, "You heard what Four said, Max has made his decision."
"Good luck Nix." Four said before he walked off to speak with Eric and Max where they stood across the other side of the training ring, she nodded in response and a beat later Max walked into the ring.
"Next up, Lexi and Nix." he called out to the crowd after looking at the clipboard he held.
Lexi, a dauntless born initiate and currently number six on the score board stepped forward and into the ring first, Nix smiled at Andie before heading into the ring herself.
When she was stood beside Lexi infront of Max he used his pen to write on the clipboard then turned and headed out of the ring as he said, "This way."
He headed off towards the exit of the training room, there was a private area where they would be fighting just like the other four pairs before them, Nix noticed that Four and Eric didn't follow them.
She and Lexi walked side by side as they followed Max and when they were out of earshot of the others Lexi spoke, "I just want you to know, I won't go easy on you because you're injured...but I won't go after you because of it either. Well done for your fight against Sam."
There wasn't any indication from her tone that she was being untruthful or sarcastic and Nix was slightly surprised, "Thanks."
Lexi looked at her and smiled before facing forward, they walked the rest of the way in silence.
oOo
Nix looked at Lexi where she stood further up the train amongst the other dauntless born initiates and the girl smiled briefly before nodding her head, Nix returned it and they both looked away.
Before their fight Lexi had said 'let the best woman win' then offered Nix her fist to bump and afterwards she accepted the hand Nix offered her, to help her up from the floor.
Their fight had been fifty fifty for most of it, there were times both girls got the better of the other but time was called once Nix had pinned Lexi to the ground after giving her a punch to the side of the head, she'd taken a moment to come to and shook her head as she used her arms to push herself up onto her knees.
Nix had waited until she was sat on her behind to reach out to her and Lexi had taken it with a grin, 'you got me good' she'd said once she was standing.
They weren't told who had won they were just told their fight was over and to head back to the others.
"You can start." Eric's voice interrupted her thoughts, he'd spoken to Four but done so without looking at him.
A beat then passed before Four looked at Eric and said, "Nix."
She was slightly surprised to be picked first and so was everyone else apparently as she suddenly had them all looking her way, she looked between Eric and Four and noticed that they seamed to be having a silent conversation before Four faced forward again, Nix then moved to stand beside him.
"Sam." Eric said in a firm voice and Sam immediately moved to his side, he pointed at Nix with his gun as he did and grinned.
"I've got my eye on you Stiffy." he told her and made a point of looking at her behind, almost everyone laughed and Nix glared whilst her cheeks turned red.
"We're playing to win, Greene. She's your enemy." Eric said harshly but Sam continued to grin at Nix, "We don't have all night Four."
Nix glanced at Four and noticed what she thought was a brief smirk on his face before he called out the name of the next person for his team.
o
"What's the plan?" Four asked the group once they'd stopped running and were stood huddled together and he was met by silence, some of them looked around each other confused, "Well?"
"You're asking us?" one of the transfers asked.
"Obviously." Four replied dryly and the response was murmurs of approval and excitement followed by more than one person putting in an idea.
It was impossible to make out what was being said as everyone was talking at the same time, some were even beginning to disagree with ideas and voices were rising.
"You need." Four eventually cut in loudly and when the voices died away he continued, "To come up with a strategy together and it had better be fast."
The voices began to chatter again and right before it got too loud one of the dauntless born boys spoke, "I think we should divide the group, one half defend the flag and the other...on the front line."
Some of the other dauntless born began to agree with the boy that had spoken and he nodded his head with a grin but it didn't last long as Tracey from the transfers said, "We don't even have a hiding place for the flag yet, that should be our first move."
"Uh no, having people there to protect it regardless is our main priority." a dauntless born girl replied and was met with protests from the rest of the candor transfers who were in the group and soon the whole group were back to sniping at each other once more.
Nix rolled her eyes then called out 'hey' to the group, no one listened to her though so she decided to shout it louder and everyone turned to look at her followed by a silence once more.
All but one of the transfers in the group turned away when they saw it was Nix speaking but she had mostly everyone else's attention, "What if we don't hide it somewhere but ON someone instead?"
No one responded, they all just stared at her, some with blank faces, some looked as if they were contemplating it and Tom and Tracey were glaring at her.
Seconds ticked by slowly without a word from anyone and she was about to hold her hands up to say 'forget it' until one of the dauntless born spoke up.
"That's a risky decision." he said as he looked at some of his friends who looked like they agreed with him but were still musing about the idea, "It'll make that person a target to the other team."
"What if that person is on the front line?" Nix replied and the boy along with the other dauntless born seamed suddenly very interested in what she was suggesting, some even pressed for her to continue, "We could disguise them on the defence so the other team don't get suspicious."
"But then that puts them at a greater risk." A dauntless born girl said as she stepped forward, "The other team will suspect something is up when they see us gathered around one person."
"Tell me you guys aren't seriously considering this lame idea?" Tom said loudly to the whole group, he then looked at Nix and scowled, "We might as well hand the flag over to the other team."
"Shut up man." one of the dauntless born boys snapped and Tom turned to look at him, he was about to reply but was cut off by another dauntless born boy.
"It's a better idea than nothing which is what you suggested." the boy said.
"Shut up." Tom replied angrily.
"All of you shut up!" the dauntless born girl from before said and there was once again quiet, she looked at Nix and asked, "Did you have anymore?"
"We could, like you guys already suggested, split up. There could be a team surrounding an area to draw the other team in, let them think that's where we are hiding the flag and then we could have the other team waiting inside to ambush them." Nix said.
Some people had been nodding as Nix spoke and others looked as if they were thinking about it.
"Could work." one of the transfer initiates said.
"Or, instead of being in amongst the guys guarding the team that's supposed to be guarding the flag, they could maybe use one of the towers here to be a lookout?" Nix said with a shrug as she looked around them, "That way they could pass off a signal when the other group is coming."
"That's a good point." a dauntless born guy said.
"But what if they target the person in the tower? If I saw someone up high out the way of the fighting I'd be curious to why, especially if they stay up there." the same dauntless born girl said, "It may be too risky."
"It would give us a good vantage point of where their flag is." Mark suddenly said with emphasis on 'would'.
"They wouldn't leave it behind though." Nix said then looked at Four where he stood at the back of the group and asked, "Would they?"
"They might." he replied then shrugged, "Could have a similar idea to yours."
"What happens if no one comes for the flag and none of us go look for theirs?" the transfer girl that seamed to be on board with Nix's idea asked.
"The mission is to beat the other team, obtain the flag yeah, but if we apprehend all of them without them getting a hold of ours...they lose." Four said as he stepped forward, "And Eric won't hide, he WILL come for our flag. He's probably on his way right now."
Suddenly people were all talking at once again, some were protesting angrily and others were starting to argue with each other.
"Enough!" Four boomed at them and they quietened, "Shut up and decide what your plan is."
"I think we should go with what she said." the first dauntless born girl said with a gesture to Nix and most of the group looked her way, it seamed as if most of if not all of the dauntless born along with that one transfer girl agreed with her plan and the rest either weren't sure or just didn't want to do it because it was Nix's idea.
"Agreed. We'll get on lookout duty right now, once we see them we'll signal you guys and stay up there until things start on the ground." a dauntless born guy said to everyone and gestured to another dauntless born guy beside him, he gave Nix a nod with a grin then began to head for a tower that was overlooking the entrance to where they were gathered and the other guy took the opposite end incase Eric's group came from the back.
The dauntless born girl looked at Nix, "Who's in charge of the flag?"
Nix looked around the group, most of them were looking at her and waiting for her to answer, she was hesitant at first then nodded and said, "One of the best I reckon, someone who can cope with the onslaught."
"I agree." the girl replied and looked around the group, "Chris...I think I speak for all of us when I say, it has to be you. Will you take the flag?"
"Sure." the guy named Chris replied and stepped forward, he was of similar height and build to Sam, Four tossed him the flag as he opened his jacket, he caught it and stuffed it into the small pocket on the inside out of sight.
"Four, what are the chances of Eric shooting then holding us?" Nix asked and everyone looked at him.
"Slim." he replied, "You all know what the bullets do, after a few minutes the pain will wear off and you'll be able to fight again. He'll want to drag this game out for a while."
"So if Chris gets hit." Nix began.
"I won't." Chris said confidently.
"If he gets hit." the dauntless girl said loudly with a pointed look at Chris, "He'll be up and ready to go again whilst they continue to look for our flag."
"And our job is to catch as much of them as possible." Nix added with a nod, "If you're able, disarm them. No weapon, no choice but to surrender."
"Yeah." the dauntless born girl said, "And if you have to, knock them out."
Nix nodded in response then looked at Four who looked from her to around the group then back at her, "Alright. Looks like we have a plan."
The dauntless born seamed to simultaneously agree with a cheer, the transfer girl that had agreed with Nix's plan then said, "There's a warehouse back there, near the other tower. We could use that for the ambush team? It seams big enough."
"Good idea. You're on that team." the dauntless girl who'd been in agreement with Nix replied, "What's your name?"
"Sarah." the girl replied.
"Who's with Sarah?" the dauntless born girl asked the group, "With the guys in the tower, that for the moment only gives us six in each team. Chris, I excluded you since I'm not sure which team you should be in yet."
Five others, a couple of dauntless born but mainly transfers joined Sarah and they began to head off in the direction of the warehouse.
"There'll be six in this team, possibly seven." Nix began as she too started to head in the direction Sarah and the others had gone, the rest followed her, "We need someone to stay in sight of the first tower to wait for the signal to pass it on to the rest of us."
A dauntless born boy began to run back the way they'd come, "I'm on it."
"That leaves six of us." Mark then said, "I'll back Chris up."
"You two outside the warehouse?" Nix suggested as she halted, the others stopped with her, "Two people here I think, this should be close enough to get the signal."
"Yeah, they see us guarding those doors and they'll head right for us." Mark agreed.
"I've got here." Four said to the group, "Nix, you with me?"
"Yeah." Nix found herself saying immediately with a nod then looked at the last two people which included the dauntless born girl, "Put yourselves somewhere near Chris and Mark, if they fall you guys are back up, stay hidden until the other group head inside, that gives us another two bodies to support the ambush team. Hopefully the rest of us, if we've been hit will be ready to fight again and we'll be able to take them out from behind."
"You got it." the dauntless born girl said and she, the other dauntless born boy along Chris and Mark jogged off towards their posts.
Nix and Four were behind a huge container, Nix looked back at the warehouse Chris and Mark were both standing outside the doors with their guns in their hands, their backup couldn't be seen which Nix took as a good thing.
"I'll take that side." Nix told Four as she stepped across the few feet of space to the other container, she peaked round the edge and could see the dauntless born boy up ahead waiting for the signal from the tower.
"You keep an eye on him and I'll watch the other tower." Four told her, indicating to the boy before he pressed his back against the container.
"Yep." Nix agreed then a beat passed before she exhaled a deep breath.
"Relax." Four told her and she nodded.
Not even a minuted passed before the boy up ahead waved his arm at her then prepared to use his weapon, she turned to Four and whispered his name, he looked her way and she nodded, he then signaled to the others near the warehouse and they prepared to fight.
Mark stepped out quickly to signal to the boy in the other tower near the back before returning to the door with Chris.
o
Nix gasped when she saw her name appear on the board and was immediately engulfed in a hug by Andie, "We made it Nix!"
"Yeah." Nix replied in a daze as she stared at her name, there were four transfers and six dauntless born in the red, they had all been in Eric's group, "We did."
"Well done Nix!" the dauntless born girl from her group whose name turned out to be Becca said as she appeared and pulled her in for a hug.
"Thanks." Nix said with a big smile as she hugged her back, four of the dauntless born boys from her group including Chris then appeared as Becca headed away infront of her, a couple gave her high fives, one gave her a rough and fast hug and Chris gave her shoulder a playful punch.
When they walked off a few others from her group called over to her 'Yes Nix!' or 'Well done Nix!'.
"You're popular." Andie said with a chuckle before she grabbed Nix's hand and began to pull her along towards the remaining six transfers whilst she said 'we have to celebrate'.
"Yeah...celebrate." Nix said then swallowed as she looked over at the transfers that hadn't made it out of the red stage, most of them were just stood unmoving looking shocked but Caroline, she was crying hysterically, Nix couldn't help but feel bad.
Just as she was facing forward once more she heard 'Stiffy' shouted loudly, then her hand was separated from Andie's and she was lifted off her feet, she gasped in surprise and at the mild pain that shot through her.
"You're in!" Sam shouted excitedly whilst he still held her, she noticed Andie giving him a dirty look before she turned to talk to the other transfers that had passed too.
"Yeah." Nix replied as she glanced around, a lot of people were watching them now, "Okay, I think you should put me down now."
"Sure." he replied and instantly set her gently on he feet before he gave her a huge grin, "You're IN stiff."
"I'm in." she replied with a smile and then he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, she said 'oh' as he did then blushed a little, "So are you."
"Of course I am." he replied instantly with a smug smirk and she almost laughed, "Congratulations."
"Thank you." she said with a smile.
"I was worried that, you wouldn't be able to...you know, because of me." he said, his smile gone, "I'm glad that what I did didn't-"
"It's okay, Sam." she cut him off to say, "Bygones."
Sam waited a beat before he gave her a grin, "You're too good Stiffy."
She smiled back at him and shrugged her shoulders just as he leaned in to kiss her cheek again, one of his friends then called out to him and he straightened up, gave her a wink and walked off.
Nix smiled at his retreating form then walked towards Andie who smiled at her and said, "We're going shopping."
"Shopping?" Nix asked with furrowed brows.