Chikara (Divergent Fanfic)

Chapter Nine- Last Day?

The last days of training had breezed by pretty quickly. The knife throwing and shooting training went by pretty smoothly, most of them being neck and neck. Fighting, however, was the one that took the longest. Just as I was watching the fights, I could tell all of them were fighting for their lives. They fought with the drive of wanting to stay and represent us as newfound members of Dauntless. The idea didn't give me a good feeling in the end, since Max was holding their lives in his hands.

The smell of chocolate muffins and coffee spread throughout the dining hall as the cooks brought them in and set them on the tables. Cheerful shouts and anxious looks could be seen upon all of the initiate's faces. They knew what today was.

Today would determine whether or not they would stay in Dauntless, or be booted out onto the streets.

Max has still yet to tell me whether or not he accepted my offer. My father hasn't sent me any letters on the matter, telling me that the deal may be off.

I was sitting with the other leaders in between Lucas and Eric. Eric and I didn't talk for most of testing day, except for when discussing who to give more points to. I think it was mainly because of our 'moment' we had during Capture the Flag, in which spread rapidly in the compound. So, now everyone knew.

The banging of cups and water splashing interrupted me from my thoughts. I looked up to see Max with his two bodyguards and a projector. Since the rankings were to be combined, they decided to project it on a screen to make everything easier.

"Good morning initiates and leaders! Today is the day that we find out who will be staying for stage two, and who will be leaving after dinner today. I will speak for the leaders when I say this, no matter what happens, you are cherished for your determination and your want. Turn and look at the screen."

Rapidly, numbers and letters started appearing on the screen. I brightly smiled when I saw that most of the transfer initiates made it into the second stage. I was upset knowing that Edward and Myra had a sudden disappearance due to Peter's jealousy. It pissed me off more than anything.

Screams of joy and sorrow echoed throughout the room. I was feeling two emotions at that moment: happiness for the initiates who progressed to stage two, and sadness for the initiates who were to be booted out of Dauntless. In my head, I was praying that Max took my offer to heart and decided to transfer them to the Special Corps Compound.

"Silence!" Max's voice boomed throughout the dining hall.

Everyone immediately went silent, waiting for Max to continue on with his speech.

"Now, three days ago, an offer from one of our staff had come to my attention. I was informed that at a different Dauntless location, a lot of elder members are retiring. This has caused a panic to fill up these positions as soon as possible."

Lucas nudged me, reminding me of the deal I had made with him.

"Adelaide, if you could stand upon the table please."

Getting into formal stance, I got up from my seat and made my way to the table, anxious eyes all looking upon me.

"Adelaide, you're concern for your initiate's future has kept my mind going. You were willing to put yourself on the line to make sure that your students would be able to see a successful future. Your father and I have spoken about this topic day and night. That is why that from now on, anyone who is cut will be transferred to the Special Ops Center to be trained in a more diplomatic sense of Dauntless."

Whispers and excited cries sounded were heard as he was talking.

"In exchange, you and your partner are now permitted to stay for the rest of the initiation until the end of stage three. Is that understood?"