Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.
On most days, the fear landscape room is surrounded by emptiness. But on this day, we're taking our final exam, and the space around the fear landscape room is jam-packed. The members of Dauntless are everywhere, and they've got a great show to witness.
Max, the oldest Dauntless leader, stands ahead of all the other leaders with a mic in his hand. He's currently waving it in the direction of the prism-like room. Inside, we can all see Zeke. He's staying active, moving around with his eyes wide open, his hands gripping an invisible pistol.
Max starts talking into the microphone. "Now facing his fourth obstacle… Dauntless-born initiate Ezekiel 'Zeke' Pedrad." He leaves a short pause, and the audience goes wild.
"Yeah! Let's get it!" Out of the clusters of shouts ricocheting off my ears, that's all that I make out. Mostly because the ones shouting that are right up next to me. Too many other folks are competing to see who can make the most noise, and it's endangering my eardrums. But because I'm Dauntless, I leave them uncovered.
This repeats with the naming of each new fear. Zeke has a shockingly high number of them, and it's not helping my anxiety, seeing him face them one after another. He flicks off spiders I can't see and turns a tomato red in response to words I can't hear. It's a test of my endurance for me to watch, but I can't look away.
Finally, Zeke finishes and is let out of the fear landscape room. Max meets him there to congratulate him and hold him upright. The cheers go on long after he's already rejoined the group of Dauntless-born initiates.
But they fade out at some point, and that's when Max looks at me. "And now…" He points his mic at me. "Give it up for Four!"
"Go, Four!" This is what all my friends cheer as I stride toward Max. "Make us proud!" They pump their fists in the air and flash white, bright grins at me.
Reaching the spot where Max stands, I look up to see him smiling at me. In an amiable gesture, he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Hey there, initiate," he greets me. With a wink, he adds, "I'll see you at the top of the leaderboard." Then he escorts me inside, closes the door, and activates my landscape.
I was born ready, I think. I mean, I've been running through it in my sleep, even! When I find myself atop a high skyscraper, I just run off the edge. When I awake inside a wooden box with no holes to breathe through, I allow myself a short moment of panic before slamming my shoulder into the right wall, shattering the boards with the impact, impossibly. I see the woman tied to the tracks and the train about to crush her, and with just my eyes and my will, I manage to derail the latter.
This time, when I wake up in the train carriage with monster-Marcus inside, I'm the first to walk down that aisle to meet him. He springs up like some evil jack-in-the-box, his muscled arms closing around me and suffocating me, forcing me onto the floor. But then I summon an amount of strength within me that doesn't exist in real life, and I easily win the hand-to-hand fight with Marcus. I punch him five times in a row and feel his jaw dislocate.
And then I wake back up. I'm in a crouch on the floor of the prism-like room.
The lights go on in the room beyond this one, so I can see the two rows of waiting initiates, including Eric, Jason, Sean, Zeke, and Shauna. Seated in front of them are the Dauntless leadership, including Max, all showing smiles and nodding. Tori's there too, and she's giving me a thumbs-up.
I went into the room thinking I wouldn't care too much, not about doing well, not about anything except making it to a point where I'll surely be first in line for Dauntless leadership. This would just be a means to an end for me. But Tori's little gesture makes me swell with pride, and I smile gratefully as I walk back to where the transfers are. Amar may be dead, but he did want me to do well. I won't say I did it just for him, because I didn't really do it for anyone, not even myself. But at least I didn't embarrass him.
Everyone who's finished is told to wait in the transfer dorm, whether they're a transfer or not. Zeke and Shauna simultaneously let out a whoop when I come in, and, wearily, I plop down on the edge of my bed.
"I never felt relief like this before," says Shauna, as she's wiping her forehead with her shirtsleeve. I don't share that feeling. I put a hand to my own head, finding that it doesn't ache, as I thought it would.
"How'd it go, legend?" Zeke asks me.
"Fine," I tell him. "No surprises."
"Mine was awful, but I made it out alive," Zeke says honestly. He shrugs, then looks over at Shauna, who seems to have fully recovered. "Yours?"
"I handled it," she says, her nonchalance exaggerated. Then her act's broken, and a grin spreads across her face. "Actually, I did awesome."
"Yeah, yeah," mutters Zeke. He's rolling his eyes.
Shauna whaps him in the face with the pillow she's holding. He quickly regains his composure after that, and his left hand snags the pillow, taking it far out of Shauna's reach.
"What do you want me to say? Yes, you were awesome. Happy?" He continues rolling his eyes as he looks back at me. "She keeps showboating 'cause she's better at this than I am."
"Just revenge for how much you bragged during combat training," Shauna tosses back. She smiles at Zeke, but isn't prepared when the latter hits her in the shoulder with the pillow, hard.
"Ow, stop!" She pushes him, but then her wrists are grabbed in response. She breaks free and flicks Zeke's ear, then suddenly they're play fighting and laughing. I smirk. I know Dauntless flirtation when I see it, and this is no exception. Apparently that resolves the question of whether Shauna's gotten over our breakup.
"I hate you," Shauna says under her breath, once Zeke's done messing with her.
Zeke just beams at her. "I think you like me," he corrects.
Shauna's given up, because she's grinning when she replies to Zeke. "Okay, maybe," she admits. I find that I'm smiling too, as I stare at the two of them. Alright, so I was never the perfect match for Shauna, but it seems Zeke is. That's good. I'm happy for them.
We sit in the transfer dorm for another hour as the others finish their final exams, trickling in one after another. The last to show up is Eric, and he just stands in the doorway, his expression smug. He informs everyone that the results will be given out soon.
The others get up and walk past him in their departure. I'm the last to pass through that doorway. I don't address Eric at all, though it might be wise to, given the look of animosity that he's directing at me. But there's no longer a need for me to use words against him.
I know I won not just this battle, but the whole war, and that's more than enough.
The dining hall is jammed with hundreds dressed in their Dauntless best. They're baring so much skin, showing off flashy piercings and even flashier tattoos. I try to keep my eyes on people's faces as I navigate through the crush of bodies. All around me I smell cake, cooked meat, bread, and spices. They're making my mouth water. I really should eat.
But that'll need to wait till after the results are passed out. I reach my usual table, the one where Zeke and Shauna always sit with me. They're there already and waiting. I hope they won't make us wait too long, because I feel as though I'm holding a live wire, my hands twitching constantly and my thoughts scattering. Zeke and Shauna try to talk to me, but they can't shout loud enough to be heard over the din, so we resign ourselves to waiting without talking.
At last, Max gets up on one of the long tables and holds a hand up for quiet. Most of the people obey his unspoken command, though some just go on laughing and joking like it doesn't matter. Luckily, I still hear Max as he opens the event with a speech.
"I'm gonna be completely honest," he says. "I didn't think any of these kids would make it past the first day." He pauses to allow for laughter, and it comes, though I will say I hated that joke. Max goes on. "But this year, I have some exciting news. All of our initiates earned the scores required to become Dauntless!"
Everybody in the hall cheers loudly. They know now that they won't be cut, but Zeke and Shauna still look at each other nervously. The order in which we're ranked still determines when we'll get to choose our jobs.
"No more delays," Max assures us. "I know you've been waiting too long. So without further ado, here are our new Dauntless members!"
The names of the initiates, no, members, appear on the screen behind him, big enough for even those at the back to see. As soon as I start scouring the list for my friends' names, I find them.
6. Zeke P.
7. Ash W.
8. Shauna M.
Some of my tension lifts. I'm following the list up, then fear pinches me for just a second when I realize I can't see my own name. But wait! There it is, right at the very top.
1. Four E.
2. Eric K.
"Oh!" Shauna gasps aloud. She ambushes me with a hug. Zeke embraces me too, and their combined weight pulls me down, almost to the ground. With a laugh, I raise my arms up to return their gesture.
"You did it!" Zeke yells into my ear.
"We did it," I say back, though I just deployed a totally overused line. I don't care. I don't care about anything else anymore. Everything's perfect.
"You rock, Four," says Shauna, and it feels incredible, hearing my friend use my proper name like that. My birth name's been exiled, and with it, anything that has to do with my history or my old identity.
I'm not Tobias Eaton, son of Marcus Eaton. Not anymore, never again, never have been if we're being serious. Because from now on, I'll only be Four, and I'll be Dauntless.
Eric listens to the phone in the transfer dorm as it rings and rings and rings, but he never picks it up. He doesn't wish to talk with anyone right now. He only wants to be alone.
The loud ringing stops abruptly, then all that can be heard is a robotic voice that sounds like a young woman's. "Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice message. The number you are looking for is not available at this time. Please leave your message after the tone."
Beep!
Another voice, a distinctly human one, speaks, and it's a voice Eric didn't expect to want to hear.
"Eric?" Yes, it's Maggie, as hard to believe as that is. "Eric, pick up the phone, please." Eric can hear his mother pleading with him, but he only makes one faltering movement toward the phone, then ultimately doesn't answer the call.
"Your dad and I want to talk to you," Maggie continues. "Eric…" Her voice tapers off suddenly, and Eric imagines her nervously licking her lips on the other end, trying to form the words that'd best deliver her message. "We want to congratulate you," she says at last. "We are proud of you…"
Before he's aware of what his arm's doing, Eric reaches for the phone, ready to take that call and speak to his mom for the first time in weeks. But then he looks down, toward his bed. There, he can see the copy of that day's paper that somebody left for him on the mattress.
"Eric?" Maggie begs over the phone. Yet Eric can't hear her. His attention is on the headline. It reads - Teenage Musical Prodigy Dies by Suicide.
Below that, there's a photo of a primly dressed young girl with black hair and a smile on her face. It's Eric's sister, Megan.
Just one glance at the photo allows Eric to finally piece together why his mom called him. It wasn't because his parents genuinely wanted to congratulate him. Not because they've amended their views on him.
He makes Maggie wait in silence for a few seconds longer, then she finally, thankfully, hangs up.
But it doesn't mean Eric's never gonna pick up the phone. He starts dialing a number, and when the call connects, he hears one of those voices he was hoping to hear.
"Hello?" Eric greets the voice. "Can I speak to Jeanine Matthews?"
He gets the answer he sought. "Okay," he says, though his fingers are crossed behind his back. A few moments go by and someone else takes over the call. Eric smiles broadly.
"Ms. Matthews," he says in greeting to the Erudite leader. He pauses again and just listens. His smile keeps getting wider and wider. "Yes, I want the job," he finally says. He retains the big smile when he hangs up.
I'm now part of a revolution, he thinks to himself, feeling intense satisfaction within.
And it's true. It just isn't the revolution that Tobias is a part of.
AN: Look how far we've come, folks! This is the last chapter before we fast-forward to the part where Max speaks with the Dauntless leadership candidates. How will things change for Eric and Tobias, now that they're Dauntless members? Find out in the next installment.