"My name is Reyna, and I will be the transfer instructor," the Dauntless woman said after all of the initiates ha jumped. My father was leaning against the wall. He was usually the transfer instructor. Most of their presidents wouldn't want to be an instructor, but Tobias said he liked it.
"I will be the Dauntless-born instructor this year. We decided to change it up," my father said. "Shauna will be looking over both groups and helping this year."
I looked over at Shauna. She couldn't quite meet my eyes. Where is my daughter? I could picture her thinking.
Edith lead the transfers over to their bunks. My father took the Dauntless-born into the chasm.
"This year is going to be different. If you're Divergent, meet me in the fear landscape room tonight. Don't worry, I won't kill you. If you can't face your fears and keep calm, you're out. This year, the government is enforcing security. We must be cautious. I know all of you are capable of passing. But the question is, who can survive the pain?" Tobias finished.
"Go get a bunk on the third floor in the initiate bunk room. There are two separate, one for transfers and one for Dauntless-born," Shauna said, waving everyone off. I stayed back with my father as we walked to the apartment to grab my stuff.
"They're hunting down the Divergent, aren't they?" I asked my dad.
He nodded.
"I'm not Divergent. I'm just good at resisting serums," he said, "But I know how to help. You are Divergent. You are exactly who they want to kill. 100% Divergent."
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Exactly what they don't want me to do," he said.
I only had one extra outfit, and that was it. I brought fresh sheets though, because I had a feeling many people had thrown up in the beds. The Dauntless-born had the option of bringing comforts from home. Most brought sheets and some extra clothes. Others brought notebooks. There were even some explosives in the room, "just in case."
"So what's your dad gonna do to the Divergent, Ace?" Jax asked me.
"Just educate them," I said flatly.
I looked around the room. Thought I knew a lot of people in Dauntless, I hardly knew any of the initiates.
Suddenly Reyna burst into the room.
"Change of plans," she said gruffly, "All the initiates train together."
She rounded up a group of Dauntless initiates and said, "You're out."
Then and there an riot grew. I heard shouts like "What!" and "How?" and even some swearing.
Tobias rushed into the room.
"Quiet!" he shouted.
A silence fell over the room.
"Divergent. Now," he said.
No one moved.
"Now!" Tobias demanded.
The Divergent moved up to the front. I slowly walked up.
"If anyone tells, you're out. And don't think I won't be able to find you," he said as he lead us out of the room.
"What the hell is going on?" Dustin asked. He was Divergent too.
"The security is here. They are going to scan you for Divergence. You need to come with me," he said as he lead us the back way out of the compound. A train was rounding the corner. We sprinted to keep up with it. We swung ourselves into the train.
I looked at the little Divergent population we had left. I was surprised to see the Erudite boy on the train as well. I counted, 5, 6, 7. Seven were left.
"Alright. You all need to listen well. They're here to find you. You need to resist the scanner. I'm here to teach you," he said as he pulled out one of the Divergent scanners.
"Get over here Ace," my father said. He didn't expose my real name. I guess I knew how he felt because he made me call him 'Four' in public.
I walked over to him, a bit nervous about being the first 'test subject.'
"Resist the pull of the scanner," he said.
He put the suction cups on my forehead and pressed the "scan" button.
I immediately felt the pull of my machine, trying to dig the information out of my brain. I resisted it as much as I could, but I wasn't strong enough. It tugged one more time, and I let go.
"100% Divergent," the female voice from the machine said.
"Damn," I muttered under my breath.
"The scanner can read any thought you've ever had about being Divergent, and it can scan your brain for Divergence. You need to be very careful," my father said.
"Let me have a go," the Erudite form earlier said.
My father raised his eyebrows at him but then beckoned for him to come to the front. He was eager to try it; just as an Erudite should be. Tobias pushed the suction cups onto his forehead. He pressed the "scan" button, and the machine came to life, exploding with colors flashing around the room. I was immediately mesmerized.
"0% Divergent," the machine said.
"Good luck being dead," he sneered at me.
"Let me go again," I said, moving to the front.
He quickly pressed the suction cups onto my forehead. The pull of the scanner was less strong this time. I resisted with all of my force. The scanner kept pulling, but I resisted, the gates into my mind sealed.
Finally, the pulling stopped.
"0% Divergent."
I sighed in relief, but immediately stifled it with my hand, afraid Max would discover me. He studied me with great curiosity.
"Next," he called.
The line of Divergent passed quickly.
Until the last one. The last Divergent was scanned.
"43% Divergent."
In one flawless motion, Max pulled out his gun, sat the boy down on his knees, and put the gun on the boys forehead. Max looked away as he pulled the trigger.
The boy let out a piercing scream as he fell to the floor. Everyone stood frozen. Max was the first to break the silence.
"Well go on! Get outta here!" Max yelled, "Tell your Divergent of this example! Tell them to run, run away!"
They've already heard, I thought as I rounded the corner.
The next morning, two of the seven were gone, not including the boy from last night. He definitely scared them, I thought. It was time for a revolution.
Everyone ate breakfast in silence while soldiers patrolled the aisles. Max appeared at the overlook above the mess.
"Dauntless," he boomed into the microphone, "I believe you have heard of the events that occurred last night. Two initiates were killed, Jared Corrgar, and Jax Dopramo."
I screamed, and so did Jax's parents. Dustin had to stuff his hand into my mouth to stifle the scream. I bit down on his hand. He started to cry, but not because I bit his hand. I cried too.
"Jared was executed because of Divergence. Jax was killed for aiding and standing up for Divergence. He even said he wanted a revolution. Both died as an example-the Divergent must be killed. Tun yourselves in and no one else will die," Max finished.
The mess burst into chaos. People yelling, people crying. I couldn't do anything. It was if I was glued to my seat. I had lost three friends in a matter of days: Sophia, Blaze, and now Jax.
I tried to look for my father. He was nowhere to be found. As people filed out of the mess, Max was still looking over us. He met my gaze, and his expression read, I'm going to take away everything from you until you break.
I nervously sat up in my chair, but immediately regained my confidence. Try me, I thought. Try me.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Along with the other initiates, I was informed that we were all training together. Most people left even if they weren't Divergent for fear of being an "example." There were only 16 of us left. 8 transfers were left because one left and one was killed. That meant 7 other Dauntless born competing beside and against me at the same time. I felt empty. First Sophia, then Blaze, and now Jax. Dustin appeared beside me.
"Hey," he said, in a calm voice.
I looked at my shoes.
"You miss 'em?" he asked.
I nodded. I tried to walk away, but he followed me. I naturally walked down to the chasm. I swung my legs over the edge.
"Sometimes I feel the urge to jump. I feel like my life is pointless. They're going to find me anyway-"
"Don't say that-" Dustin interrupted, but I cut him off.
"But they are!" I insisted, "They are and I can guarantee that we are gonners. Were gonners," I said, putting my head into my hands. I move closer to the edge, and Dustin puts his hand on my shoulder. I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong.
"No one," he said firmly, "is a gonner. Not as long as I'm around."
I rolled my eyes. He helped me to my feet. He started walking me toward the bunks, but I pulled away.
"I don't need to be babied," I muttered to him out of reach of all the prying ears. Dustin was a bit too soft for my taste.
"Fine. But don't do anything stupid," he warned.
I walked away without another word.
The rest of the night, I strategized. I looked over all of the Dauntless-born and transfer initiates. I studied their strengths and weaknesses. I know I shouldn't have thought about it, but one girl caught my eye. I felt a pang of guilt thinking of replacing Sophia. But her eyes. Her eyes were a piercing blue, like they had the power to tear you right in half. She had long, beautiful golden hair and tan skin. Her name was Piper Burton. She transferred from Abnegation, but she didn't belong in Abnegation. She was extremely confident. She was the second jumper. She wore her confidence on her sleeve, making her more appealing…
Snap out of it! I firmly told myself. I was losing my mind.
I spent the rest of the night studying the initiates, but questions flooded my head. When will I be able to see Sophia again? What am I going to do about Piper? Do I come clean about my feelings for Piper? Do I still have feelings for Sophia? The problem was, I didn't have an answer to any of them.
I slowly trudged to the mess hall in the morning. I slid into the initiate table. Everyone was silent. Except for the Erudite boy.
"Hey, Ace!" he said as he slid in the table, "I don't think I had a chance to introduce myself. My name's Charlie Hanson, Erudite transfer." He stuck out his hand and I shook it. Everyone was looking in our direction.
"Anyway, meet me in the northern room," he said, gesturing toward the library, "After breakfast."
"Sure," I said.
After breakfast, I met Charlie in the library.
"Nobody ever comes in here," I told him, "We'll be the laughing stock of Dauntless."
"No we won't. Not as long as we strategize."
"Strategize?"
"Strategy. That's the game I play. And I play it well. I have strategies for anything and everything."
I stared at him puzzled. Strategy? What does initiation have to do with strategy?
"What does initiation have to do with strategy, you ask?"
He just read my mind.
"You see, I just used another strategy. I left you open-ended about using strategy for initiation. You were bound to ask yourself that."
"But how are you going to use strategy?" I question, yearning for information.
"Outsmart the initiates. Find out their strategies before they find ours. Use our strengths against their weaknesses. I saw you studying them last night. You seem to know them pretty well. That's why I need you on my team. If we work together, we can both get into Dauntless! What do you say?"
"Well, your plan is very strategic…"
He laughed at the pun.
"I'm in," I said.
"Yes!" he said.
It was a clever plan. But there was one thought that lingered in my mind:
Let's hope his strategies work.
So I based Charlie a bit off myself. I strategize with everything. Getting homework done, sports, school, you name it. I thought it would be good to put a bit of myself in the book.