It's time for Capture the Flag! Are you all excited, because I am. There is a lot of Meric in this chapter. Meric is what I've been calling Monica and Eric in my head. Is that too weird?
Thank you to all of you that reviewed/favorited/followed/read this story. It really means a lot to me.
Warnings: Mild violence.
Disclaimer: Veronica Roth owns Divergent, not me.
Today was a hard day. I had to fight Drew. I lost, but the fight went on for a while and I put up a good fight and didn't give up easily so, hopefully, that will give me some points.
Tris had to fight Myra. Obviously, Tris won. I'm happy that Tris was able to put a victory under her belt but, I also feel bad for Myra. She hasn't won any of her fights. I doubt that she'll make it through initiation.
All I want to do is sleep but, the moment that I put my head down, the doors to the dormitory swing open and people file in with flashlights. The light from one of them hits me right in the face and bolt up in bed.
"Everybody up!" The moment I hear the voice, I know that it is Eric. Surrounding him is Four and other Dauntless members. I've seen some of them in the Pit and some of them I haven't.
Eric watches me as I get out of bed. His eyes then roam to Tris, who is still sitting in bed. "Did you go deaf, Stiff?" demands Eric. This snaps her out of her trance and she gets out of bed. Tris and I have always been sleeping fully clothed and, I can tell this will come in handy tonight.
"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks," says Eric. "We're going on another field trip."
I put my shoes on and, after Christina finishes getting dressed, the three of us run up the Pit to the train tracks together.
When we get to the tracks, we make it there behind the Dauntless-born initiates. Once we all make it on the train, Eric tells us that we are playing a game called Capture the Flag and that it is a Dauntless tradition, so we should take it seriously. I've never played before, but it sounds like it will be interesting. Eric then picks up something that looks like a gun, except it's thinner and red. Molly scoffs and looks at Peter. "You call that a gun?"
Eric turns the gun and shoots Molly in the leg. I think that it's a bullet, but it's not. Molly lets out a small scream and falls to the floor of the train.
"Neuro-stim dart. It simulates the pain of a real gunshot wound. The effects only last a few minutes. There will be two teams. Four and I are your captains."
Four looks at Eric and says, "You pick first."
"Okay. Edward." Four looks around at us briefly and then says, "I'll take the Stiff."
"Oh, picking the weak one's so you have someone to blame when you lose." Eric gives Four his trademark smirk. Four smirks back at Eric and says, "Something like that."
Tris walk over to Four, looking very angry. If I were her, I would be mad too. Not only did Four call her a Stiff, but Eric called her weak. I don't blame her for being mad.
"Your turn," says Four.
"Monica." Me? Why does he want me on his team? This is not going to be as fun as I thought it would be.
"Christina."
"Peter."
"Will."
"Molly."
"Drew."
"Al."
"The last one left is Myra, so she's with me," says Four.
Once they're finished picking us, I observe who Eric is choosing, trying to figure out his strategy. I think that I figure it out, but having me on his team derails it. Everyone he picks, other than me, is big and strong. I, however, look more like the people that Four is choosing, small, but fast. I've never played this game before, but I know that this is a game of speed, not brute force. Eric may be more ruthless but, Four is smarter. I no longer feel very confident about this game.
Once Four's team gets off the train, we stay and Eric speaks up.
"In ten minutes, we will get off and pick our location. I suggest you take this time to formulate a strategy. We may not be Erudite, but mental preparedness is one aspect, and arguably the most important aspect, of Dauntless training."
Everyone begins to argue over what to do. I just let everyone yell at each other while I stand back and think. After I stand there for a while, Eric comes over to me.
"Why aren't you arguing with the rest of them?"
"Because I'm thinking."
"What did you come up with? Do you think that we should go and attack Four's team? Because he's probably going to hide his flag at the Navy Pier. That's where he hid it last year."
"No, I don't think we should attack him first. I think that Four would be expecting that from you, so he would keep his flag well-guarded and prepared for an attack. I think that we need to go on defense and wait for them to come to us. I think that we should hide it at the top of the tower. Put a couple of guards around the flag, a couple at the entrance of the tower, and the rest of us should hide behind something and be ready for when Four's team comes."
When I finish, I see something in his eyes. He looks impressed. He gets everyone's attention and tells them my plan, with a few modifications. He doesn't mention that someone should guard the entrance of the tower and only appoints one person, Molly, to guard the flag. I'm pissed that he changed my plan but, I figure that it wouldn't be smart to call him out on it in front of everyone, so I decide to wait until after we're off the train.
When we get to the tower, Eric sends Molly up with the flag to guard it and then puts the rest of us in our positions. He puts all of us in pairs and he pairs me with him. Great. After a few moments of waiting, in our positions, for Four's team to arrive, I decide to speak up.
"Eric, why did you only put Molly up there to guard the flag?"
"Because she can guard it herself."
"And what about not putting and guards at the front entrance of the tower?"
"I told you. Molly can take care of it herself."
"No she can't. She may be strong but, she's also an idiot. She's completely incompetent in doing this job." At this point, Eric begins to stare at me. The stare that tells me that I should probably stop talking.
"Are you questioning my judgment of who's capable of what?"
"Yes, actually, I am." I prepare myself for the reprimand but, it never comes. Just as he opens his mouth to scold me, someone yells that Four's team has arrived. We take our positions and begin to shoot. Some of the others also light up the sparklers to distract, and try to push back, the other team with fire. As I shoot some of Four's team members, mostly Dauntless-born initiates that I don't recognize, I notice out of the corner of my eye that Tris and Christina are running towards the tower. Knowing that the entrance is not guarded, damn you Eric, I do what my instincts tell me, and run after them. However, before I can get very far, someone shoots me in the side and someone else shoots me in the chest. I fall to the ground where I stood, groaning in pain. If this is what it feels like to get shot, I hope that I never have to experience the real thing. The worst thing is that, since I've been hit, I'm out of the game. So, if I can't go help protect our flag, I'm sure that no one will.
When I look back over to where Eric was, he and Four are shooting each other, both dodging the others darts very well. Unfortunately for Eric, Four is just a little smarter than he is and Four is able to shoot him. Once in the thigh and then in the chest.
Moments later, I hear cheering. When I look over at the tower, I see Tris and Christina holding our flag. A feeling of anger begins to course through my body. I knew Molly was incapable of guarding the flag. I'm mad at her but, I'm mostly mad at Eric. He should have listened to me. Just as this thought crosses my mind, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up and it is Eric.
"Here, let me give you a hand." He puts his hand out for me to take. When I look into his eyes, I can see that the gesture is genuine but I'm not going to give in.
"Don't bother, I can get up myself."
"Listen, I know you're pissed about losing, but you don't have to be rude."
"You think I'm pissed because we lost? That's not why I'm pissed. I don't care if we lost. I couldn't care less if we lost or if we won. Okay? I know that this is a big Dauntless tradition but it's really just a stupid game. I doesn't matter to me that we lost. You want to know why I'm pissed. I'm pissed because you didn't listen to me. And, we probably could have won if you would have just put your ego aside and listened to me." I'm so angry that I can't even look at him, so I just get up and walk away before he has a chance to respond.
Back at the Pit, we are having an after-party to celebrate Four's teams' victory. I congratulate all of my friends that are on the winning team. I am genuinely happy for them. After we are talking and mingling for a while, I feel someone touch me on the shoulder. When I turn to see who it is, it's Eric.
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, I guess." He probably wants to yell at me for how I talked to him earlier. Reluctantly, I leave my friends and follow him to a quieter corner of the Pit. When we get there, he picks up a plate of chocolate cake and hands it to me.
"What is this?"
"Cake."
"I know that. I mean, why are you giving me this?"
"Consider it an apology."
"You're apologizing to me? For what?"
"I thought about it and you were right. I should have listened to you about Molly and how we should have guarded the tower. We would have won if I had listened to you. So, I'm sorry that I didn't trust you. And, don't take this apology lightly because I don't do it often."
"Wow, um, thank you." I can't believe this. Eric is actually apologizing. To me. What world are we living in?
"Anyways, you should probably get back to your friends." I nod and head back over to them with my cake. As I walk, I wonder if I misjudged him. Maybe he isn't so bad after all. Maybe.