Flower Child

Chapter Fourteen

   My feet make no noise as I walk and my gun is held firm on my back.
   When I reach the base of the wheel, I realize that it's taller than it seems. Taller, and more rusted than I thought. I scan the structure with my eyes and glimpse the ladders on the sides.
   I grab one of the rungs, it's so rusted that it feels like I could crumble it in my hand. I stand on the lowest rung to make sure it can support me I even jump a few times to test it.
   "Mor," a low voice says behind me.
   I'm not startled. His voice is low and soothing, something that I've come to recognize in my time here. I turn to look at Four, his gun is slung across his back like mine.
   "Yeah," I ask.
   "What do you think you're doing," he asks.
   "Seeking higher ground," I answer, "I don't think I'm doing anything."
   He nods, "all right then. I'm coming."
   "I can do this on my own," I say, somewhat defensively.
   "Undoubtedly," he says.
   I roll my eyes and begin to climb. When I'm a few feet above the ground he begins to climb behind me. His hands find the rungs as my feet leave them, keeping up with my skilled climbing.
   "So tell me," he says quietly, almost breathlessly, "what do you think the purpose of this exercise is? The game I mean, not the climbing."
   I pause for a moment, "I would think teamwork."
   "Teamwork," he says, a hitch in his breath, almost like a laugh but it sounds panicked.
   I shrug, "maybe not. It seems important but it doesn't seem like a lot of Dauntless people's priority."
   As we climb higher, the wind grows stronger. I keep a firm grip on the rungs and make sure my feet are firmly placed before moving.
   "It's supposed to be a priority," Four says, "it used to be."
   I nod though he can't see me. My heart is pounding in my chest for some reason. Not the height, no, being this high makes me feel alive, climbing always has. It's him. Something about him makes me loose myself. I can't help it and it's driving me crazy.
   "Now tell me," he breathes, "what do you think learning strategy has to do with... bravery?"
   And that's what makes me fall back to reality. He's my instructor.
   "It prepares you," I answer, "if you don't know how to plan ahead in a fight, you're as good as dead."
   His breathing is loud and quick behind me.
   "Four," I ask, "are you ok?"
   "Are you even human, Mor," he asks, "being up this high... doesn't scare you at all."
   I look down at the ground below me. Falling right now meant I would die, but I don't think I'll fall.
   A sudden gust of wind seems to want to prove me wrong. It hits my left and throws my weight to my right. I gasp, clinging to the rungs as my balance shifts. Four's warm hand grabs my hip, his fingers brushing across my skin. He holds me firmly, helping my find my balance again. As soon as I'm righted, his hand falls away and I can breathe again.
   "Are you okay," he asks lowly.
   "Yeah," I breathe out.
  Once my heart is at a normal pace I climb again. I reach the platform that sits on the center of the wheel, we are about 100 feet of the ground now. I sit down on the platform and scoot over so Four can rest on it as well. I put my legs over the edge, swinging them slightly back and forth. Four on the other hand crouches and moves as far from the edge as possible as stares at me like I'm insane.
   "You're afraid of heights," I realize, "how can you even survive in the Dauntless compound?"
   "I ignore my fear," he answers, "when I make decisions, I pretend it doesn't exist."
   I stare at him. Some believe being brave is being fearless, but what he does, acting in spite of fear, is even braver.
   "What," he asks.
   I was staring for too long.
   "Sorry."
   I look away from him. There he goes again, distracting me from the task at hand. I look out over the city which is pitch black, and covered by a tall building.
   "We're not high up enough," I say.
   I examine the structure above me. I could climb it easily enough, but the integrity of the structure is what worries me.
   I stand up, "I'm going to climb higher."
   I grab one of the white bars above us and pull myself up.
   "For gods sake, Flower Child," he says.
   I roll my eyes, "you don't have to follow me, Four."
   I place my foot in the section where two bars cross and push myself higher.
   "Yes I do," he argues.
   I look down at him, barely glancing at the ground far beneath us. I'm not worried about myself, I could climb almost anything. It's him I'm worried about. He grabs the bar like I had, hoisting himself up with ease. All the muscles in his arm are tense and stand out which is not a detail I should focus on but I do.
   I again have to force myself to look away and focus on climbing. As I pull myself higher I look out towards the city. The building in no longer in my way and I can see everything. Most of the buildings in the city are just black outlines. The red lights above the hub blink quickly.
   I look at the ground around us, for any sign of the other team. For a moment, nothing. Then, on the street is a small pulsing light.
   "Do you see that," I ask, pointing towards the light.
   He stops climbing behind me, looking over my shoulder at the object. His chin is next to my head and his breath flutters over my ear. My heart races again but I keep steady.
   "Yeah," he whispers, a smile on his lips, "it's coming from the park at the end of the pier. Figures, it's surrounded by open space but the trees provide some camouflage. Obviously not enough."
   I turn my head to look at him fully. We're so close at that moment that I'm scared he can hear my racing heart. I can see the way the corners of his lips naturally turn down and the small scar on his chin.
   "Um," I clear my throat, "you climb down first, I'll follow."
   He nods, lowering his long leg to the bar below him with ease. He continues down and I can see the way his hands shake when he moves them down.
   I start to lower myself down, putting my weight on the bars beneath me. They creak and fall away. I'm now hanging onto the bar above me with just the tips of my fingers.
   "Four!"
   I try to get a better grip but my hands shake in fear. I can't pull myself up because I don't have enough grip and there is nothing below me to put my feet on.
   "Hold on," he yells, "I have an idea, just hold on."
   He moves down, climbing quicker than before.
   "Four," I shout again, "I-I can drop to the bar beneath me."
   "No," he shouts, "it could break, or you could miss. Just hold on!"
   I can hear him moving, though I don't look because I squeezed my eyes shut.
   A loud shrill noise sounds out and the bar I hold onto shudders. This is it, the bar is going to break and I'll fall to my death.
   The wheel is moving. I open my eyes. The wheel is moving and I'm growing closer and closer to the ground, and I'm picking up spead. I have to drop off at the right moment or I'll be crushed by the falling cars. As the ground grows closer and the details become visible, I drop. I hit the ground hard, throwing myself forward so I can roll out of the way. One of the cars skims my shoulder as it passes and as I roll away.
   I lay on my back trying to bring air into my lungs. I'm safe. I press my hands to my face, reality hitting me hard. I almost died.
   I hear footsteps and Four's hands pry my hands from my face. He holds one between his warm hands.
   "Are you all right," he asks, gripping my hand tightly.
   "I guess so," I whisper, "did that actually just happen?"
   He laughs as if it's the funniest thing he's ever heard.
   I begin to laugh as well, a little hysterically. I push myself up into a sitting position with my free hand and my laughing stops. Four and I are very close together, six inches at the most. One half of my brain says to close, another says not close enough.
   Four stands up and pulls me up with him. The wheel, which is still moving, creates wind that makes my hair fly around my head.
   "Why didn't you say the wheel worked," I ask, "we wouldn't have had to climb up in the first place."
   "I would have, if I had known," he says.
   I look at him with a little smirk, "so you just left me hanging there on a chance? What if it hadn't of worked."
   He smiles, "let's go get their flag."
   He hesitates but grabs my arm gently guiding me back to the carousel. My body is sore from the fall but it doesn't bother me at all. The adrenaline is still rushing through my veins.
   Only five members of our team are there when we get back, Christina being one of them. She sits on one of the horses, our flag behind her. Uriah is to her right, sitting on the ground
   "Where'd the others go," Four asks, his eyes wide with the excitement that we both share.
   "Did you guys turn on the wheel," an older girl asks, "what the hell are you thinking. You might as well have just shouted 'here we are! Come and get us!' If I loose again this year the shame will be unbearable. Three years in a row?"
   "The Wheel doesn't matter," Four says, "we know where they are."
   "We," Chris asks, looking between Four and I.
   "Yes, while the rest of you were twiddling your thumbs, Mor climbed the Ferris Wheel to look for the other team," Four says.
   "What do we do now, then," a Dauntless-born asks through a yawn.
   Four looks over at me with questioning eyes. He's letting me decide. Everyone's eyes shift to me.
   "Split up," I say, "the other team is at the park at the end of the pier. Four of us attack from the right and three sneak around the left and grab the flag."
   "Sounds good," the older girl says and claps her hands together, "let's get this night over with shall we?"
   I join the team to the left along with Chris and Uriah. Uriah stands next to me with a large smile.
   "So you and Four climbed the Ferris Wheel," he grins, "alone? Was it romantic?"
   I shove his grinning face away from me, "shut up before I shoot a paint ball up your ass."
   Our group takes off and as we run, I realize that only one of us will get to grab the flag. It doesn't matter if I found the location, or that I came up with the plan. The only person who will get any credit is the one who gets the flag.
   I pull my gun off my shoulder and hold it in my hands, ready to fire at any moment, and I run faster. I push past Chris, who was in the lead because of her long legs.
   We reach the end of the pier and slow down so our footsteps aren't so loud. On the ground, and this close, it's easy to spot the flag's blinking light. I point it out to Chris and Uriah.
   Then there is a chorus of yells and the sound of paint balls flying though the air and then splats when they hit their targets. Our team has attacked and Eric's rushes forward to meet them. The flag is left practically unguarded except for one short girl with purple hair. Uriah takes aim and shoots her in the thigh. She throws her gun on the ground in a tantrum.
   Chris bolts for the flag and I run to catch up with her. I reach for the flag but it's just high enough to be out of my reach.
   "Come on, Mor," Chris says, "you are already the hero of the day, let someone else be in the spotlight."
   She reaches up and grabs the flag from the branch. Chris turns away from me and gives a loud victory cry. Uriah joins her, having not heard our exchange. They move into the crowd to celebrate and I hang back.
   Rage wants to build up in me at Christina's words but I force them down. In a way, she's right, I already proved myself tonight and she needed the extra points  having lost both her fights.
   I force myself to smile, to cheer with my team and after a while it doesn't need to be forced anymore. We all cluster around Chris as she lifts the flag in the air. I stand on the outer edge of the circle and cheer.
   A hand lays on my shoulder and Four's low voice whispers in my ear, "well done."