Born to be Dauntless

Chapter 35

"Shauna lies on the ground, facedown, blood pooling on her shirt. Lynn crouches at her side. Staring. Doing nothing.

"It's my fault," Lynn mumbles. "I shouldn't have shot him. I shouldn't have . . ."

A bullet hit her back. I gulp and crouch down. Placing two fingers on the side of her neck. I feel her pulse. She is alive.

"We have to get her out of here, it'll be painful for her,but it's our only option,Four,will you do it?"

I look at him and he nods his head. Lifting Shauna up and walking back.

"Hey!" someone shouts. It's Uriah, jogging toward us. "Zeke had to help them get Jack . . . oh no." He stops. "Oh no. Shauna?"

"Now's not the time," says Four sharply " Run back to the Merciless Mart and get a doctor."

But Uriah just stares.

"Uriah! Go, now!" The shout rings with nothing on the street to soften the sound of it. Uriah finally turns and sprints in the direction of the Merciless Mart.

It's not exactly a long walk. But the thought that Shauna is slowly bleeding to death while we walk, makes me feel my heart pang constantly.

Also ,there is another thought. Peter. The fact that only minutes ago I was standing in front of him makes me ... well, I don't know how it makes me feel.

On one hand I should be happy that he is alive. But he is with our enemy. Did our... can it be called relationship?! Mean anything to him? Or was he just using me?

I shake my thoughts . These thoughts are too cliche. And I have more important matters at hand. I sigh and continue walking towards the merciless mart.
.
Uriah, an Erudite man whom I feel like I know,and Cara meet us just inside the entrance. They set up a sheet for Shauna to lie on. Four lowers her onto it, and the doctor gets to work immediately, cutting the shirt away from Shauna's back.

I turn away. I had never liked biology or anything related to blood or needles. They were one of my fears.

I begin to think that only a few weeks ago, I was actually facing my fears. It may have been very dreadful .

But at least it was better than watching my friends die. I shake the thoughts from my head.
.
"What were the terms?" Tori says. She sits in a chair between a few of the bunks, her wounded leg stuck out in front of her.

She asks Four, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention. He is leaning against one of the bunks, his arms crossed, staring at the floor.

Tris clears her throat. "There were three. Return Eric to the Erudite. Report the names of all people who did not get shot with needles last time. And deliver the Divergent to Erudite headquarters."

"If Jack Kang is making deals with the Erudite, we can't stay here," says Tori. "So where can we go?"

"Home," Four says, lifting his head at last. Everyone is listening. "We should take back what's ours. We can break the security cameras in Dauntless headquarters so the Erudite can't see us. We should go home."

Someone assents with a shout, and someone else joins in. That is how things in Dauntless are decided: with nods and yells. In these moments we don't seem like individuals anymore. We are all a part of the same mind.

"But before we do that," says Bud, who once worked with Tori in the tattoo parlor and who now stands with his hand on the back of Tori's chair, "we need to decide what to do about Eric. To let him stay here with the Erudite, or to execute him."

"Eric is Dauntless," Lauren says, turning the ring in her lip with her fingertips. "That means we decide what happens to him. Not Candor."

"This time a yell tears from my body of its own volition, joining with the others in agreement.
"According to Dauntless law, only Dauntless leaders can perform an execution. All five of our former leaders are Dauntless traitors," says Tori.

"So I think it's time we pick new ones. The law says we need more than one, and we need an odd number. If you've got suggestions, you should shout them out now, and we'll vote if we need to."

"You!" someone calls out.
"Okay," says Tori. "Anyone else?"
Marlene cups her hands around her mouth and calls out, "Tris"

"(Y/N)" I hear someone shout and look around surprised. A few people nod, just like they did when Tori's name was mentioned.

I guess being first somehow has an effect on the Dauntless .

"Harrison," someone says. I don't know who Harrison is until someone slaps a middle-aged man with a blond ponytail on the shoulder, and he grin"

The Dauntless are quiet for a moment.
"I'm going to nominate Four," says Tori.
Apart from a few angry murmurs in the back of the room, no one disagrees. No one is calling him a coward anymore, not after he beat up Marcus in the cafeteria. Which I believe was a calculated move.

"We only need three leaders," Tori says. "We'll have to vote."

I myself was never fond of leadership . And there is another problem. I never quite considered myself Dauntless. I was a little of that, and Erudite and Amity.

I shake my head and they begin their business.
And then, without argument and without ceremony, Four is elected to be a leader of Dauntless.