The Other One

Chapter Eight

A little after 6:00pm, Lucas teaches us our final lesson, how to fire a gun accurately. He is still furious with me, but the amount of hatred he has for me does not compare to the amount of shame I hold upon myself. It clings to me like a magnet. Marie looks better, but she has a cut on her lower lip and a swollen black eye. Lucas takes us to the roof where bright, orange target sized mannequins stand in front of us. There are about twelve of them lined up, side by side. Each mannequin already has several bullet holes in them from the waist up.
"Now I'm going to show you how to fire a gun accurately. Don't get out of control with this one, James, or I'll put a bullet in your head." Lucas plays it off like he's joking, but I know that he isn't. He hands us each a gun and positions our targets so that they face directly across from us.
"You can shoot, but remember, breathe in as you aim and breathe out when you fire." Lucas tells us.
I watch Marie shoot her first bullet. She hits the mannequin in the center of it's ribcage. I look at my target. The gun feels weird in my hand, but I raise it and point it at the mannequin. I ignore the bizarre feeling in my hands and aim my gun at the targets chest. The moment I fire my first bullet, the impact plows against my shoulder and collar bone. I try to ignore the pain and search for where my bullet went. It went no where close to the mannequin. I fire again, but this time with more caution in where I aim and where I put my gun. The bullet still doesn't hit the target, but the impact of the fire is a much softer kick than before. Lucas watches us as we shoot and I know he is judging me by the way he paces behind us. Anger floods through my veins and engulfs my heart, enough to make my hands damp and my face hot. I shoot again, without even aiming this time, and hit the target in it's throat. Lucas should have forgiven me by now - thats what any Amity would do. I fire another bullet and it punctures the mannequins plastic cheek bone. That'll show Lucas that I'm in control.
That I'm strong.

I shoot a couple more rounds at the plastic man, and put my gun down to stretch out my hand. Lucas walks over to me with his arms crossed and his mouth open. I swear to God if he critiques me on anything that I'm doing I will punch him in the face.
"Look." He starts.
I clench my hands into a fist.
"I'm choosing to forgive your little episode with my sister, alright?" He whispers to me. "But only 'cause I am coming with you when we escape, and I don't need the stress of holding anything against anybody. Got it? And right, we leave tomorrow night."
I nod. If this is the Dauntless way of forgiving, I don't like it - but I accept it.
A smile spreads across my face, and I pick up my gun to continue practicing.