Aunt Taylor's Library

Chapter 10 (Kylie)

(Kylie)

One thing I learned in Dauntless initiation: I can't shoot a gun to save my life. Lily was amazing at it, too, so that really made me feel better. I skimmed the edge of the target once by the time we break for lunch. That's it.

After lunch, Four led us to a large room with a creaky wooden floor. There was a large circle painted in the middle. On the left wall was a chalkboard. Our names were written in alphabetical order on it. Hanging at three-foot intervals along one end of the room were black punching bags. Time to learn how to fight.

Four demonstrated a few different punches. I caught on quickly, faster than Lily. The kicks were a bit more difficult, but having to stay in shape for soccer really came in handy. I could see Drew and Peter glancing at me jealously as Four commented on how I was excelling at this. I could feel my face flush with pride.

After training, Christina, Will, Al, Lily, and I went exploring. Lily and I were on the lookout for anywhere private we could talk other than the bathroom, but we didn't see anything.

The next day, the fighting began. I scanned the board for my name. Thank goodness, I'm not fighting Lily. In fact, she got put next to Myra. It would be easy enough for her. Then, I saw my name. I almost fainted.

Next to my name was Molly.

I remembered what happened to Christina, in the book, when she fought Molly. Lily glanced over at me and squeezed my shoulder.

Will and Al fought first, but I was too preoccupied with my own worry to pay much attention. I didn't even notice when Four left the room.

I barely noticed it was my turn until Christina pushed me out to the circle. I had to make the first move. As Molly stood there, eyeing me, I quickly kicked her in the side. Molly gasped and grabbed her side, but only for a moment.

She smirked at me, and quickly dived, hands outstretched, at my stomach. The force of the impact knocked me down, and Molly pinned me to the floor. Despite my thrashing, I couldn't get her off.

Then she started punching. I felt blood running down the side of my face, and I think there were some tears, too. The pain was almost unbearable. I began to wonder what would happen if I died here. Would I die in real life too? Why couldn't I fall unconscious?

I didn't. I screamed and dragged one arm free and managed to punch Molly in the ear. That knocked her off balance, and I wriggled free. I pulled myself to my knees, one hand pressed against the side of my head. There was blood streaming down my face. I cried out in pain and crawled away from Molly. I think I was sobbing, but I don't remember clearly.

Molly walked over and kicked me in the side, sending me sprawling on my back. "Stop!" I yelled, as loud as I could, which probably wasn't very loud. "I'm done," I coughed out. Molly smiled triumphantly and backed up.

Eric stalked to the center of the arena slowly. "I'm sorry, what did you say? You're done?" I pulled myself to my knees and nodded. "Get up," he said coldly. He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. I winced as I realized what was about to happen. "Follow me," he called back to the others.