Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, any of the characters or any of the dialogue that comes directly from the text.
We finish choosing teams and I scan over the train car. Looking at Four's team confirms his strategy. They all share the same body type: narrow shoulders, small frames. They will be faster than us. But my team is not stupid, we will just have to rely on strategy – not speed – to win.
"Your team can get off second," I say to Four.
"Don't do me any favours," Four replies, smiling. "You know I don't need them to win."
I clench my jaw as I glare at him. "No. I know that you'll lose no matter when you get off. Take your scrawny team and get off first, then."
Four's team stand up and make their way to the entrance. I watch as Molly shoves her shoulder into Tris nearly pushing her of the train. I take a step towards them but stop as Tris steadies herself. Once Four's team have all gone I turn to my team who are looking at me expectantly.
I check my watch and wait one minute before signalling for them to start jumping.
"Let's go," I roar before getting off.
Most of my team is able to disembark gracefully, but Myra stumbles and ends up rolling across the grass. She finally comes to a halt and reaches up to take hold of Edward's hand. I already know that she will be cut. I roll my eyes. She is only here because of Edward. Does she honestly believe their love is worth becoming factionless for? I can't imagine anyone being worth that risk.
I look around at my team.
"Where do you think they'll go?" Molly questions.
It's Gabe who responds. "When Four's team won during their initiation they hid it in the carousel at Navy Pier."
I give him a pointed look. "And how would you know that?"
"Uriah told me…his brother was on his team," he responds a little hesitantly.
"No shit," I say. "Anything else you'd like to fill me in on about what happened that night?"
He stares at me blankly for a second before his expression shifts as he remembers my part in Four's victory.
I turn away from Gabe and look at the rest of the pack. "Let's say they do decide to repeat Four's previous strategy, where do you think our best hiding place would be?"
I watch as they all turn their heads to try to orient themselves. It's Edward who speaks next.
"Well…" he starts. "The train dropped them off back there, which means they weren't too far from the pier. I say we go that way." He points behind us towards the park. "The trees in the park will give us cover, making it harder for them to see us hiding."
I nod at Edward in approval. "What do we think?"
The group nods, some grunt in agreement.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?"
We all turn towards the park and start to walk in silence, not wanting to give away our location. The streets are empty, all buildings have been abandoned long ago. It's eerily quiet, the only noise coming from our footsteps. It doesn't take long for us to reach the edge of the park and the group stops.
"Keep going," I say. "The further in the harder it will be for them to find us."
Everyone starts to move again and I can't help but wonder what the other team is up to. Would they really reuse the carrousel? It seems too obvious. But it's not up to Four and me to come up with the strategy. It's up to the initiates so if Uriah had brought up the idea Four would be unlikely to argue.
We stop somewhere around the midpoint of the park and all the initiates turn to me for further direction. It would be easy for me to take over. Easy for me to bark out orders. But that isn't what this exercise is about. As much as I want to win, it's not my place to come up with our plan.
I widen my eyes and look between them. "Well…what's next?"
They break their gaze on me and turn to look at each other. A few of them start talking all at once.
"Let's go this way…."
"Should we climb a tree?"
"What if we dig a hole?"
"Can one of us wear the flag?"
"What a stupid plan."
We'll lose for sure at this rate.
"Enough!" I hiss. "Edward, it was your idea to use the park. What do you think we should do now?"
Peter opens his mouth to argue but I turn my attention to him, eyes hard and he thinks better of it.
Edwards's eyebrows furrow and it's clear that he is trying to come up with a strategy.
"I like the idea of hiding the flag in a tree. It'll be harder to spot," he starts. "Okay, I'm thinking we break into three groups. The first group hides the flag in a tree and stays close to it but not too close that it gives away the exact location. The second group climbs some of the trees further out and acts as snipers when the other team approaches. The last team tries to scout out the location of their flag, starting with the pier."
He says his plan with confidence, but as he finishes he looks at me, nervous for my reaction.
"Great, now who is doing what?" I respond. Edward looks relieved.
I let them break into groups on their own, only interjecting to inform them that I will be taking one of the sniper positions.
The group with the flag heads a bit further into the forest, hiding the flag and getting themselves into position.
The rest of use move forward. I don't go too far from the flag's location before finding a sturdy tree. As I step towards it a loud screeching noise breaks the silence of the night. A few of the initiates in the scouting group instinctively drop to the ground while everyone else looks at each other for some kind of explanation.
"Did they just turn on one of the rides?" Gabe questions.
I think he's right.
"Do those rides even work anymore?" Peter says.
"So they are at the pier!" Gabe exclaims with pride.
Surprisingly, it's Myra who chimes in next. "Or, they might have sent someone over there to turn it on and throw us off?"
She's not wrong. But with Edward's group out of range we can't change the plan now.
"We stick with the plan," I grunt before making my ascent.
With that, everyone starts to move into their positions.
I try to use my vantage point to work out the location of the other team's flag but I'm not high enough to see anything. With everyone in their respective locations the silence of the night takes over.
After a few minutes of waiting, I hear a chorus of yells, puffs of air going off, and splats as shots find their targets. They must have met up with our scouts. I hold steady in my position, spinning my head as I notice movement below me.
Four.
I smile to myself and position my gun towards him. He is running towards the location of our flag and I realize there is a small group ahead of him. Shit, they know where it is.
The trees are now blocking my shot and with a quick look in the direction from which Four came I confirm that no one is behind him. I take a risk and jump down from my position. The movement alerts him to my presence and he turns to me, gun drawn. But I'm quick and I pinch the trigger, hitting him directly in the chest.
I want to stay and gloat but I have to catch up with the rest of his team before they reach our flag. I settle for a cocky smile and a wink, slapping him in the arm as make my way passed.
I run quickly through the trees. I will not lose again. I see movement ahead of me and slow down, quieting my steps. Uriah, a dauntless born, is in front of me, before I have a chance to get a shot off, he hits our last guard, Adira, in the thigh. He doesn't have time to celebrate as my shot hits him immediately in the back. I move my attention to the two figures sprinting towards our flag and somehow, I am not surprised to see Tris is one of them. I can't help but smile. I knew she would be good at this.
They both reach for the flag and I hear Christina speak. "Come on, Tris," she says. "You're already the hero of the day. Let me get it."
The look she give Tris is extremely patronizing and without a second thought I shoot her in the side.
"What the hell!" she exclaims before looking around.
I watch as Tris reaches once more for the flag. I freeze for a second torn between wanting her to succeed and not wanting to lose to Four, again. My hesitation gives her just enough time to jump, her fingers a mere inch away from the edge of the flag. I take a shot but miss, hitting the tree as Tris' feet meet the ground, flag in hand.
I should be pissed, but I can't help the feeling of pride that is bubbling up in my chest. Her eyes grow wide, like she can't believe what she's done, and a huge smile spreads across her face. I step out from my position and our eyes lock. Her grin grows wider and I realize that I'm smiling too.
Hey guys, I know it's a slooooooow burn, but we are getting there! Thanks for reading! Next chapter is nearly ready to go so it shouldn't be too long! As always, any comments/feedback is appreciated!
-MWB
