Starting Over

Chapter 52

I can feel myself being carried away but I don't fight it anymore. Even if I were able to get down I'm blindfolded and my hands are tied behind my back. I'll have a better chance of getting away when we get to wherever we're going. At least I hope I will.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask for the fifth time.

"I already told you that if I wanted you to know then I wouldn't have blindfolded you," the man growls.

"And I thought I told you that I'm not going to shut up until you tell me."

"Go ahead, scream. It won't do anything. Do you really think anyone other than a Dauntless member would investigate a scream in the middle of the night?"

"Abnegation might."

He laughs under his breath. "I highly doubt it."

"Think about it. It would be selfless to risk your life for someone else like that. Staying inside and ignoring it would be selfish, even if it's the smart thing to do."

"Ah, so the Dauntless prodigy thinks it's smart to stay away from a possibly dangerous situation. Interesting."

"Yes, it's smart to stay away from a possible dangerous situation, especially if you're untrained. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't run towards one if I head someone in danger."

He pauses for a second before he asks me a question. "What did you get on your aptitude test?" I don't answer. "Fine, I'm sure I can guess it anyway. You're in Dauntless so I'm guessing that was on there. You seem to understand Abnegation and their selflessness so I'm sure you've spent some time in Abnegation and got that as a result. You also laid out logical arguments which makes you sound like an Erudite. Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite." I gulp and don't reply. He got me to shut up. For a few minutes at least.

"Where are we going?"

"Are you on this again? You already heard my response and it hasn't changed!"

"And I told you-"

"I know, I know, you're not going to shut up. Well be my guest and scream or something. You won't like the response."

I sigh and go limp before I take a quick gasp of breath and scream at the top of my lungs. Before I'm even done I'm thrown onto the ground. My head cracks against hard concrete and he hits me hard across the jaw. I feel my lip split and my mouth fills with blood. I cough on it and gag slightly.

"A lip for a lip, right?" he asks jokingly. I use the sound of his voice to judge where he is and spit a mouthful of blood and spit at him. I hear it splat against the concrete so I must have missed. I hear him walking over to me and then feel him pick me up and toss me over his shoulder. On the way up I spit again and this time I think it hits him. I can tell because he tenses like he's debating what to do.

"Leave it alone, Ed. We're running late as it is and she won't be happy if we're late." He growls in response.

"So Ed, you got to guess my aptitude test results, I think it's only fair if I get a chance to guess yours." He doesn't respond. "I'd guess Dauntless but that you are no longer a part of Dauntless," I say as I pop my jaw where he hit it. He doesn't respond so it's silent for a few minutes. "You do know that you're walking in circles, right?" He stops walking.

"What are you talking about?"

I sigh. "Don't play dumb. You walk roughly 40 steps this way and then turn right. Then you take roughly 50 steps and turn right. Then 40 steps, turn right, 50 steps, turn right, and so on."

"You've been counting my steps?" He sounds genuinely surprised.

"I've had nothing better to do. When I'm bored and walking or running I start counting my steps. I don't know why since it's still boring but it's like I need something to do. Annoying then but helpful now."