Bullet Proof (A Divergent Fanfic)

Nightwatch

Chapter 11

Four and I ducked out of dinner early to go to the transfer dormitory to set up the ranking board and make sure no initiates peeked as they came in.

Once everyone was assembled Four nodded at me signaling for me to be the one to do the talking. "So guys before we do the big reveal I want to explain to you how rankings work. After the very first round of fight we ranked you according to your skill level. Obviously. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the level of the person you beat. You gain points by improving and even more for beating someone with a higher skill level. As I said on the first day, we don't reward preying on the weak here. That's cowardice." I looked Peter directly in the eyes as as said those last two sentences. "If you have a high rank you lose points for losing to a low-ranked opponent. Stage two will have more weight than stage one because it is more closely tied to overcoming cowardice. That said it's hard to rank high at the end if you rank low at the beginning. Simple enough yes?"

No one said anything.

"Fantastic. We'll announce cuts tomorrow. The fact that you're transfers and the others are Dauntless-born will not matter. You all will be ranked together. Four of you could be out, four of them could be out, or some combination thereof.  In the meantime here's how you rank against each other." 

Four hung up the board and we both moved to the side to avoid the stampede of initiates.

After  a few minutes Molly broke the silence. "What?" She screeched pointing to Christina. "I beat her! I beat her in minutes and she's ranked above me?"

Christina crossed her arms oozing smug. "Yeah, and?"

"If you intend to secure yourself a high rank, I suggest you don't make a habit of losing to low-ranked opponents." Four told her before leaving the room.

Molly turned to Tris "You are going to pay for this."

She stalked out of the room.

Peter stared at the door a little longer before silently leaving. Sensing trouble I followed him. He figured me out almost immediately, but didn't say anything. After several minutes of twisting through hallways he managed to finally give me the slip. Damn, this is not good. Something bad is about to go down, and I have no idea what it will be.

I woke up to the sound of an inhuman wailing. I rolled out of bed and ran out my door without stopping to put shoes on. I spotted Four heading in the direction of the dormitory as well. "I've got this. Get a nurse!" I called to him. 

He nodded and switched paths.

When I got there Edward was lying in a pool of his own blood and everyone was freaking out except Tris. She was next to him trying to calm him down. 

I dropped  down on his other side. "I can take it from here Tris. Take a breather."

She nodded and backed up, still staying close enough to help if needed.

I gave her a final smile before turning my attention to Edward. "Hey Eddie. I can call you that right?"

"Call me whatever you want." He said through clenched teeth. "Just get this thing out of my eye."

"I can't do that quite yet hon. You need to wait until a doctor can do it. Can't have you bleeding out in the dorm."

"It hurts." He said breaking into the sobs Tris just calmed him out of.

I took the hand he didn't have over his eye and squeezed. "I know buddy. Being stabbed is no fun to begin with. I can't even imagine what I would be doing if this happened to me. But I can guarantee I would be a lot less calm than you're being right now."

"Really?"

"I'm a bad ass, but I still have fears and things that put me off. And I am very squeamish about the eyes. I'm honestly impressed that I haven't bolted out of the room yet."

He took a couple breathes, calming enough to not be crying anymore.

"I have to ask this, it's ok if you don't have an answer now. You'll be asked a million more times and over a few days in case you remember things differently when the adrenaline dies down. Did you see who did this to you?"

He shook his head, and then winced.

"Don't move your head."

The nurse that answered Four's summon was Lily. "What've we got?" She asked as she crouched down next to me.

I backed up to give her room before answering, "He got stabbed in the eye."

She nodded and made quick work of checking him over for any other injuries. Seeing none she asked, "If we help you will you be able to walk to the infirmary?"

"I don't know."

"That's fine." She said kindly. "Four get in here."

Four entered carrying a backboard. We moved Edward on it, and Four and I carried him to the infirmary. The doctor was on us before we even had a chance to set him down. Four left as soon as he could. I stuck around.

Once it became clear that he wasn't getting knocked out for the removal Edward started freaking out. I knelt next to him on the cot and took his hand. "I'm here. If you need to scream do it. No one will judge you. If you need to squeeze my hand to transfer the pain, then do it. I can take it. I know you can do this kid. Because you're Dauntless. No questions about it."

He screamed a lot, and came damn close to ripping my hand off. Once the knife was out I backed up to let the doctors do their thing. Our docs are pros. They get a lot of practice with all the stupid things some members of Dauntless try to do. Within a couple of hour Edward was sorted, on painkillers, and asleep. I took that as my cue to leave.