Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 4

XXX

"They're trying to kill us." One of the transfers says behind me as I run. I roll my eyes.

We started training that day with the announcement we were going on a five mile run as a warmup. While the Amity transfers were doing well, the Candor and Erudite were having some difficulty. Even Volger and his minions weren't quite up to scratch on their endurance.

For the first four miles I stay in the middle of the pack, but towards the front. The countless hours I had spent dancing as a child had increased my stamina. While this had been the first time in years I had this long of a stretch to feel the muscles in my legs burn and push, the muscle memory remains.

In the last mile, I move to the front of the group; pacing myself to be in time with Tris and Four. They take note, and catalogue it away for scoring later.

We arrive back at the training room a sweaty mess. Everyone quickly grabs a water bottle and downs as much as they can.

"Now, we're going to show you the basics of hand to hand. We'll spend the next few days doing this, before we move on to real fights." Four announces. "Fights will last for 2 weeks, before we move onto two weeks of weapons training. Then we enter round 2."

There are enough punching bags around the training space that we each have one. And once we are all at our own bag, Four and Tris begin their demonstrations.

XXX

We broke for lunch after a few hours of working on stance and basic attacks. Four and Tris had both moved around the room, correcting form and offering helpful critiques. Again, I gave nothing away that this was easy for me, that the moves they showed were already embedded into my memory, but enough to know they would score me well.

I quickly grab some food from the cafeteria line and make my way to the empty table I sat at yesterday.

Again, to my surprise, I am not sitting alone for long.

This time, Tris and another woman sit down opposite me.

"River, I am not going to stay long so Eric doesn't come over and accuse me of playing favorites again, but I wanted to introduce you to Christina."

"Tris mentioned you didn't seem to connect with anyone in your training class. Thought you could use a friend."

I don't say anything before Tris jumps up to leave. "See you back at training River."

I avoid laughing. From what I could quickly gather, I have apparently become Tris's secret project. She had taken a liking to me. I reminded her of herself when she went through training. She wanted to make sure I had someone to talk to that Eric couldn't accuse of playing favorites. Christina was her best friend in Dauntless, a Candor transfer, so that would hopefully make it easier for me.

"Hi." I say.

Christina looks me over. "You're pretty." She finally decides.

"Uh, thanks?"

"But you could use a haircut. Add a little spice to your look." She adds. Definitely Candor.

I chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, how's training going? Tris mentioned you seem to be a natural."

I pause and play it off. "She's a good instructor."

"Oh, for sure, she and Four both are. They actually care and want people to do well. Unlike other people." Christina says as she throws a glance at the direction of the table the Leaders are sitting. Sure enough, Eric is glaring in our direction.

"I don't get what his problem is." Christina says as she turns her attention back to me.

I pick up on a memory or two from Christina's training. Eric had held her over the chasm and had thrown knives at a target he made Tris stand in front of as punishment for failing to listen or act Dauntless enough for his liking.

I can't blame either of them for not thinking kindly about Eric. But while I may disagree with his tactics, the results weren't unfavorable. Both women had risen to the challenge and had become members of Dauntless.

Sometimes, someone has to push you for you to achieve what you are capable of.

I also feel slightly defensive of my old friend. "He isn't so bad."

This earns a mildly shocked and disgusted look from Christina. "You do know he's the biggest psychopath in Dauntless, right?"

I shrug, "I grew up with him in Erudite. He was friends with my brother."

And this piques Christina's interest. "Ohh, you have to dish on what he was like as a kid. Was he just as serious and mean then?"

I look back over to Eric. His eyes are still trained on us, and I can tell he isn't happy I am sitting with Christina. I shrug without breaking eye contact with him.

"He was fine."

"Just fine? No juicy secrets, nothing?"

It's a half-truth. But enough that Christian's Candor roots won't sniff it out as a lie. Eric had been fine towards me and Simon. It was everyone else he had issues with. His parents had pushed him towards great things, and that was what he worked for. He didn't have time for things that would distract him from his goals. The only time I ever saw him relax and just be… at ease… was with me and Simon.

"I was six years younger than Eric and my brother. I wouldn't be the best one to tell you."

Again, half-truth. They had let me tag along with them all the time. But I was still the 'little mouse,' and they wouldn't confide everything with me. Simon a little more than Eric, but even that was limited. I could always tell though. What they weren't telling me. Even before Jeanine did what she did.

I push that thought out of my head quickly before Christina picks up on my discomfort.

"So what do you do in Dauntless Christina?"

She happily starts chatting away when I ask her this. She may be Dauntless now, but she's gregarious as any Candor would be.

XXX

I'm heading back to training after chatting with Christina when I feel his eyes moving towards me. His purposeful strides are not hard to miss. I roll my eyes before he catches up to me.

"Interesting choice of company." He says quietly as he walks next to me.

"She seems nice. Said some wonderful things about you." I reply sarcastically.

He tenses. "I'm sure she did."

I steal a glance over at him. He's nervous, which is unusual, but I understand why. He had changed in Dauntless, and he didn't know what I would think of him as a result. "While I don't agree with your methods, it got the result you wanted."

I train my eyes ahead of me, but I feel him judging my response. Eric was brutal, and he lead by force… but also by example. He was clearly tough on himself, and held himself to a high standard. He expected no less.

"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." I say quietly before I walk into the training room. He doesn't follow me inside, but I feel the wheels turning in his mind and some level of satisfaction to my response before he turns and leaves.

"Very interesting, little mouse."

XXX

The next few days are uneventful on the surface. More training, more meals with Christina. Sometimes Tris would stop by and say hi, offer a few words of praise for what I had done that day in training. Four accompanied her once or twice.

Despite the pleasantness of it, I do feel their eyes on me. All of them. Eric, the Dauntless born initiates, and the transfers. Hands of blue. Particularly Volger. His mind was a whirlwind of anger and resentment. They hadn't posted any rankings yet, they wouldn't until after the first real fight tomorrow. But he doesn't need to see the rankings to know I am doing well… and he doesn't like it.

It's the night before the fight that he makes a more blatant move.

It starts as a whisper… a voice in the back of my mind that creeps inside like a fog. Plotting, scheming, full of ill intent. Slowly I feel it, two by two, hands of blue.

Volger and two of his friends think I am asleep. They approach quietly, ready to grab me, gag me, and take me to the chasm to throw me in. Think the three of them can overpower me, that no one would know it was them, and that it could be seen as a suicide. "The quiet ones are always unstable." Volger reasons.

But I am not the sum of their expectations…"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

I keep my breathing steady as they approach, I'm lying on my side with my back to them, my hand slowly creeping under my pillow to where I left the throwing knife. My fingers lace around the cool steel.

As Volger goes to gag me, I lash out and slice into his forearm. Not enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to need stitches and cause pain.

"You BITCH!" He says as he reels back in pain. "GRAB HER." He hisses with menace to his two friends.

But before they have the chance to grab me, I have rolled off the bed and put it between myself and them. As they come around the side, I am in striking position. Neither one can get close to me, and I lash out in a series of flourishes that leaves their exposed arms covered in cuts; a few deep enough to need stitches. As both of them draw back in pain, I make a run for the door.

They're chasing me, but I am quick to lose them. I keep running until I get to the one place I know I will be safe… at least for tonight.

XXX

I can feel Eric's annoyance at being woken up in the middle of the night. He'd been asleep, and I needed to pound on the door to wake him. I can feel his half awake mind as he trudges to the door. He's already preparing to curse out whoever is standing on the other side.

I'm not who he expects to see there, standing in pajamas, barefoot, and holding a knife. I look down to confirm I'm still holding it, as I had been singularly focused on running. Eric doesn't say anything, he merely opens the door and allows me inside. He closes the door behind me.

"Are we going to find a body somewhere?" He asks with mild amusement as he walks over to the couch.

I can tell he expects me to follow suit, and I do. He hold his hand out for the knife and I give it to him. He turns it over in his hand looking at it, studying the feel of it.

"One of the training knives."

It's a statement, not a question, but he expects me to tell him know how I got it.

"I nicked it after training. I didn't want to be caught off guard."

"So what happened?" He asks as he tosses it on the coffee table.

"Some of the other initiates felt… threatened. They already had some ill will towards me before I transferred." Half-truth, Eric didn't need to know I knew what they were planning to do, just that they had ill will.

"And I take it you left a nice reminder of why this was a bad idea on who tried to attack you?"

I chuckle and nod. Each of them should have at least one very nice gash on their arm that would require stitches. That wouldn't be something they could hide easily.

"I'll have to report this. New rules require us to report any incident during training."

I groan. Of course there was a new rule.

"Video footage of the dorm will corroborate your story. Three on one is hardly a fair fight, and the other initiates will be given warnings."

I nod in understanding. No one knew what they planned to do, so a warning was more than what I could expect to be handed out as punishment. If they tried something again, they would not get off as easy.

"You handled yourself well. Showed an aptitude for planning and situational awareness. That's what we want in Dauntless." Eric says as he get up from the couch. He goes over to where his phone is laying on the counter and starts typing what I assume is an email to Four, Tris, Max, and the other trainers to report the incident. He types it in quickly and then calls someone.

As the phone is ringing he turns back to me. "You can sleep in the spare room tonight." He says as he motions down the hall. The adrenaline of the would be attack is wearing off, and I feel my eyes growing heavy. I don't have to be told twice, and quietly make my way to the spare room. I don't even have time to catalogue anything I see, because the minute I lay down on the bed, I pass out.

XXX

I'm sitting outside…in an outdoor classroom. I couldn't be more than twelve years old. I look around and see the rest of the class. Everyone is wearing their faction colors.

A little girl from Candor holds up her hand. "Why did the founders create five factions?" She asks inquisitively.

"The founders built the wall to keep us safe and they divided us into five groups, factions, to keep the peace."

A boy from Erudite speaks up. "I don't understand. Why was there even a war? Wouldn't people look to be more civilized?"

The teacher considers his question and opens it up to the class. "That's a good question. Does anybody want to open on that?"

"My mother said they were degenerate. Not concerned with anything but themselves." A Candor girl offers.

"I heard they were savages."

"That's not true." Someone else offers.

"Full well it is. People used to attack each other, kill them and wear their skins and…"

"Quiet!" The teacher commands from the front. Everyone around me falls silent before she continues on.

"It's true that there were...dangers. So let's follow up on Borodin's question. With all the social and medical advancements we achieved in the 21st century, what would start a war?"

"We meddle." I feel my lips moving on their own and all eyes snap to me.

"River?" The teacher questions.

I look down and toy with the stylus I hold in my hand; toy with it as a nervous tick while I answer. "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk…we're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome."

The teacher approaches me and gently stops me playing with my stylus.

"River, we're not telling people what to think. We're just trying to show them how." That's all she says before she plunges the stylus into my head.

My eyes jolt open, and I am back in the lab… back looking at Jeanine in front of me. The lab is cold… blue… steel. Insidiously clean. I can feel everything all around me, the needle that was just inserted into my cerebral cortex. Feel the others they inserted along my scalp.

XXX

I jolt awake after the nightmare… no, memory. My hands come up and touch the dozens of little circular scars hidden in my hair along my scalp. I still remember what she did… how it felt.

"You aren't there anymore." I remind myself as I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and work to steady my breathing.

XXX

AN: Sorry for the lag in updating. I am still looking for a beta reader familiar with Divergent series, so I am trying to go over things more so than I normally would. Hope this update brightens your day and you are all staying safe during this time.