I have to fight Molly the next day and while I almost lose to her, I get her down in a similar way to Four right before she has a chance to knock me out. Now I'm sporting a black eye and bruises on my arms from when she yanked me across the ring. At first, she'd grabbed onto my cap and I went a bit feral after that, kicking her down and rushing to push any stray hairs back inside.
Then I pounced as soon as I could, using my thin form to jump onto her tree-like back and bring her down by pushing her face into the mat for five straight minutes until she passed out. It was satisfying to beat a girl like Molly. I was so close to the first spot, my pride reminded me of David whenever I did well during his lessons.
He'd clap me on the back and then ruffle my hair. I miss him and Baba.
We're all ready for bed when the door slams open, I roll and hide behind the bed, expecting some kind of attack but it's just Eric with a flashlight. Not that he's any better. "Everybody up!" He shouts, pointing his flashlight right into my face.
I bring my hand up to block the light as he shifts it to point at my peers' faces. What a dick. There are others with him, all armed with flashlights, using them to rouse the others from their sleep. I hadn't even had the chance to fall asleep. I sigh and stand up at attention, hoping Eric would stop glaring holes into my brain. My hair itches uncomfortably but I ignore it.
Tris is still lying in bed, I kick the side of her bed subtly and jerk my head to the side.
"Did you go deaf, stiff?" Eric snaps and then Tris slinks out from under her covers. Just like me, she sleeps clothed. I used to sleep mostly naked at home but there's no privacy here. Christina's not so lucky, she wears an oversized t-shirt that looks vaguely like Will's. It drops off right above her knees as she glares at Eric and his entourage.
There's something funny about tiny Christina glaring at Eric while half-naked.
"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks, we're going on another field trip." In the middle of the night? I groan under my breath but get to work on pulling socks on and lacing up my shoes.
"Can't believe they're taking us out at... one in the goddamn morning," I grumble under my breath angrily as I get ready. I run into the bathroom and use it, taking the chance to rebraid my hair and shove it back into my black cap. I grab a jacket and don't look at the hijab I yank from my drawer as we leave.
We quite literally run to the train so we don't miss it. The Dauntless-born initiates make it there before we do. I bet Eric woke them up first. It wouldn't surprise me if he gave them an unfair advantage despite being a transfer himself.
There's a massive pile of something beside the train tracks, once we get close enough I know exactly what they are. Paintball guns, how fun.
"Everyone grab a gun!" Eric shouts and I grab the first one I can find and two of the boxes of paintballs. I can already guess what we're going to do. Tammi and I used to play war all the time until my ma found out and banned it. But David would sneak us out to play it in the ruined parts of the city during his free time when we were kids.
Four boards the train first and I jump in behind Tris, who looks so painfully flustered that he helped her up. It makes me laugh and I notice him staring at me before I look away.
He helps a few more initiates up and then moves to the front of the car, "We'll be dividing into two teams to play capture the flag. Each team will have an even mix of members, Dauntless-born initiates and transfers. One team will get off first and find a place to hide their flag. Then the second team will get off and do the same." He leans onto the doorway for balance as we round a turn.
"This is Dauntless tradition, so I suggest you take it seriously."
"What do we get if we win?" Someone asks.
Four furrows his brows, "Sounds like the kind of question someone not from Dauntless would ask, you get to win, of course."
It's Eric's turn to talk as he steps forward, "Four and I will be your team captains, let's divide up transfers first, shall we?"
"You go first," Four says and Eric chooses Edward. Typical of him, Erudite chooses Erudite. "I want the stiff." A few people laugh and Tris' blush is blood red. She needs to get that checked out.
"Got something to prove?" Asks Eric, "Or are you just picking the weak ones so that if you lose, you'll have someone to blame it on?"
Four shrugs, "Something like that."
"Peter." That's Eric's next choice; an obvious one.
"The fractured one," I might not have mentioned it by now, but I made that term up, and it kind of spread like wildfire among my fellow factionless. I'd said it offhandedly at a community meeting once and this one lady liked it so much she said we'd call ourselves the Fractured.
After me, they go back and forth, Eric ending up with Edward, Peter, Molly, Al, and Myra. Four's team includes Tris, Me, Christina, Will, Drew, and Russell. We're uneven but the Dauntless-born initiates even us out once they choose their members. Everyone so far is thin–save for Russ, but he's still incredibly lean despite his muscular build.
I saw how angry Tris looked when Four called her a stiff but now that calculating look was on her face. She's as aware of Four's intentions as I am. I've never played capture the flag before, but I've played tag and it's the same rules. The only difference being instead of one person trying to get everyone and spread the tagging, everyone is chasing the other team's single flag.
"Your team can get off second," Eric offers with his sly smile, thinking he was going to win already.
"Don't do me any favors, you know I don't need them to win." Four actually has a tilt of a smile growing on his face.
Eric shakes his head, "No, I know that you'll lose no matter when you get off." He bites down on his lip ring, "Take your scrawny team and get off first, then."
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