Flower Child

Chapter Nineteen

   It's lunchtime and I make no move to go to the dining hall. I had found a nice hallway where only two people have passed by me within the two hours of being there. Part of me wishes that I could bring my bed out here and never step foot back in that Dorm again.
   "Mor?"
   I look over at Uriah, who is with a group of people, Lynn and Mar are with him, so is Tris. He waves them on and they continue walking. Tris gives me a look that says she knows exactly how I feel. Mar and Lynn give me small smiles.
   "You okay," he asks, "I heard about Edward."
   I shrug, "it was a difficult night. I'm avoiding going back."
   He looks down the hall, "want to get out of this place?"
   I raise my brow, "what do you mean?"
   "There's this little initiation ritual," he answers, "we were on our way there when we found your little stiff friend and then you. Come on, let's go."
   He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. We jog to catch up with the group.
   "Usually they only let initiates with older siblings in Dauntless come but," he looks at me, "you'll fit in just fine."
   I smile, "thanks, Uriah."
   "No problem," he shrugs, "what are friends for?"
   "What are we doing anyway," I ask.
   Uriah's easy smile turns into a smirk and his eyes light up with excitement, "something dangerous."
   His excitement is contagious and I feel my eyes light up like his, almost like the coals I had spilled my blood on a week ago.
   "Another one," a Dauntless-born says as we catch up with the group, "really, Uriah? The Flower Child of all people?"
   Uriah rolls his eyes, "shut up, Gabe. She's more Dauntless than you."
   Gabe sizes me up and I sneer at him. He raises his hands in surrender and turns away. The rest of the Dauntless-born turn away as well.
   Uriah laughs and pats my head, "down girl."
   I shove his hand away from me and chuckle. Our group turns a corner and we are met with a group of older Dauntless members. There's a lot of them, more than there are Dauntless-born initiates.
   "Let's go," one of them says and walks through a dark doorway.
   We all follow him and I grab hold of Uriah's shirt to keep from losing him. As we plunge into the darkness my toe hits a step, I catch myself before I fall.
   "Back staircase," Uriah whispers to me, "it's usually locked."
   We climb the stairs for a while before I see the open door that lets in daylight. When we emerge we are on a few hundred yards away from the glass ceiling of the pit, close to the train tracks.
   I feel it before I hear or see it. The rumble beneath my toes, the call in my bones. The horn sounds and the train rounds a corner. I answer that call by bouncing on my toes, ready to run at any moment.
   The group jogs next to the train and one by one we all get on. Uriah, then Tris, then me. When the train picks up speed we sit against the wall, Uriah in between Tris and I.
   "Where are we going," she asks.
   Uriah shrugs, "Zeke never told me."
   "Zeke," she asks.
   "My older brother," he answers.
   He points towards Zeke who sits in the doorway, his legs dangling out side the car.
   "You don't get to know. That ruins the surprise," Shauna shouts, extending her hand to Tris, "I'm Shauna."
   Tris shakes her hand and looks awkward while doing it. I chuckle and shake my head.
   "I'm Tris," she says.
   Shauna smiles and then looks over at me, "and of course I know you. Mor, the little Flower Child that Four told me about and my sister's little friend."
   My face involuntarily heats up, "what did he say about me?"
   "He said you're a Flower Child," she smirks, oh she definitely saw my blush, "why do you ask?"
   "He's my instructor," I shrug, "if he's talking about me I want to know if it's a good or a bad thing."
   I look around the car, half expecting to see him sitting in the corner like he always does.
   Shauna snorts, "he's not here. He never comes to this. Probably lost its appeal, not much scares him, you know."
Heights scare him, I think to myself. Whatever we're about to do must involve being high up enough to scare him.
   "Do you know him well," Tris asks suddenly.
   "Everyone knows Four," Shauna answers, her expression going serious. "we were initiates together. I was bad at fighting, so he taught me every night after everyone was asleep. Nice of him."
   She gets up and stands next to other members, her serious look falling back into a happy one. Half of me tries to imagine Four being that nice to me, and the other half remembers the nick on my ear.
   "Here we go," Shauna suddenly shouts.
   She throws herself out of the train and people follow her lead in a blur of black. The train is moving much faster than usual but I don't let it unnerve me. I stand in the doorway and jump. I hit the ground hard but my crouched position keeps the shock from hurting to much. Uriah and Tris land next to me and we take off in a jog to follow the group.
   I look around at my surroundings. The hub is behind us which means we must be on the abandoned side of the city.
   We turn a corner onto Michigan Avenue. South of the bridge, it's one of the busiest streets in the city, here, it's completely bare except for us.
   I lift my eyes to the buildings around us and they fall on one. The abandoned Hancock building. It's the tallest building on this side of the bridge, it must be where we are going.
   Are we going to climb it? I have no idea, but the sight of the building is enough to pump up my adrenaline.
   As we grow closer to the building the group ahead of us begin to run. I bolt, but slow myself down a little to keep pace with Uriah and Tris. The group bounds through the doors at the base of the building, jostling each other with their elbows. One of the door's glass panes is broken so I step through it instead of opening the door. Is I do, glass crunches beneath my boot.
   We stop in front of the elevators and I raise my brow.
   Tris asks the question before I can, "do the elevators work?"
   "Sure they do." Zeke rolls his eyes. "You think I'm stupid enough not to come here early and turn on the emergency generator?"
   Uriah and I speak at the same time.
   "Kinda," I say.
   "Yeah, I kinda do," Uriah says.
   Zeke glares at both of us and, since he's closer, puts Uriah in a head lock. He rubs his knuckles into Uriah's skull. I laugh and Zeke turn his sights on me, giving Uriah a chance to punch his brother in the side.
   Before Zeke can do anything the elevator doors open and I smile sweetly at him. We all pile in and I put Uriah between Zeke and I. I stick my tongue out at him around Uriah who is fixing his hair in the reflective metal wall.
   "What floor," Lynn asks.
   "One hundred," Tris answers.
   "How do you know that," Lynn asks snarkily.
   I roll my eyes, "play nice, Lynn."
   "We're in a one hundred story abandoned building with some Dauntless," Tris says over me, "why don't you know that?"
   I snort and Lynn glares playfully at me, jamming the button with her thumb. I give Tris a smirk and she smiles back at me. Lynn not so subtly kicks my shin and I laugh.
   The elevator rises quickly and we pass floor after floor. I'm glad we didn't take the stairs. We come to a stop at level one hundred.
   "I wonder how we'll get to the roof from..." Uriah trails off.
   A harsh wind forces its way through the doors as they open, making my hair fly around me. In the roof of the hundredth floor is a gaping hole. Zeke grabs an aluminum ladder at props it against the holes edge. He climbs up and it creaks and sways beneath him. He keeps climbing through, whistling as he goes. When he gets to the top he turns around and holds the ladder for whoever climbs next.
   "You know," I say, tilting my head to the side, "I climbed an almost 200 foot tall Ferris Wheel, Why does this feel much, much worse?"
   A few people laugh and I shrug, "welp, if I die, I die."
   I start towards the ladder and climb up it. As I do I feel the phantom touch of a hand on my hip where now laid a tattoo. The memory of Four's hand on me is enough to make me almost miss a rung.
   Zeke helps me onto the roof and I stand up and wait for everyone else. The wind up here is very strong and it's a fight to stay upright. Uriah climbs up next and comes to stand by me, Tris follows.
   "I really wish I wore pants," I suddenly say, wrapping my arms around myself to keep in some warmth.
   Uriah snorts, "yeah? Well I don't mind it."
   I elbow him in the stomach and Tris laughs from the other side of him.
   He recovers and points over at the side of the building. Attached to one of the the black poles is a large cable that is larger than my wrist. On the ground next to it are a pile of black slings made of thick fabric large enough to fit a human in. Zeke grabs one and attaches it to a pulley that hangs on the cable.
   I try to follow the cable but I cannot see an end to it. The only way to find out is to get into that sling and slide down.
   "Oh, my god," Uriah breathes.
   Tris nods but I grin widely.
   Shauna is the first to go. Zeke holds the sling while she wiggles into it on her stomach. Once she's in completely, Zeke puts a strap over her shoulders, the small of her back, and her thighs. He pulls her to the side of the roof and counts down from five. She gives a thumbs up and then he pushes her off, head first.
   Lynn gasped as her sister plumits through the air on a steep incline. I push closer to the edge to watch. Shauna stays secure in the harness and flies through the air, becoming a speck of black in the distance.
   The members whoop and pump their fists. They form a line, shoving each other to get a better spot. I somehow end up being the first initiate in line. Uriah is behind me, Tris is a few people back. There are only seven people between me and the cable.
   A part of me wishes there were less.
   "Damn, Flower Child," Uriah laughs, "don't you look excited."
   I grin widely but don't say anything. This is the type of thing that had always appealed to me about Dauntless. I remember watching the Dauntless kids do these dangerous things and wishing I could join them. Now, I feel like I could live of the adrenaline these things give me.
   The next member, young looking with long hair jumps in on his back. He opens his arm wide as Zeke shoves him off.
   None of the members are scared, they've probably done this a million times. The initiates aren't the same. The Dauntless-born are pale faced and shaking. I know why but I don't feel it myself.
   Before I know it, it's my turn. Zeke hangs my sling on the cable and I grin at him. He helps me get into the sling, I lay on my stomach like Shauna. He tightens the straps and brings me to the edg. I look down the side of the building and my heart slams against my chest, I enjoy the feeling.
   "You know, Flower," Zeke smirks, "I'm surprised you're not screaming right now, most Tansfers do."
   "I told you, Zeke," Uriah snaps, "she's more Dauntless than most people I know. Now get on with it."
   "Careful brother," Zeke says, "or I might not tighten your straps enough and then splat!"
   I laugh.
   "Yeah yeah," Uriah says, "and then our mother would boil you alive."
   "Only if she found out," Zeke grins.
   Zeke tugs on the pulley and it holds firm.
   He looks down at me, "one, two..."
   I'm flying before he hits three. Wind wraps around my body. It's weightlessness like I've never felt before, not even when I jumped off the roof and into my new life. I hurdle towards the ground but I don't care. I throw my arms out and I feel like the birds that soar through the sky. I'm a lightning bolt streaking through the air, a raindrop that gives water to a dying plant. The world is a blurred painting around me, my heart is a drumbeat to a song, the wind is a voice.
   The ground grows closer and I see specks of people. Logically I should scream, but instead I yell out in excitement. The people yell and pump their fists and I laugh giddily. I slow down, and then stop above them. My hair, which is usually messy due to the abundance of curls, is even worse now, I don't even care.
   I am suspended about twenty feet off the ground. I undo my restraints with shakey hands. The group of Dauntless below me grasp each other's arms and form a net of limbs for me to fall into. To get down, I have to trust my faction.
   I wiggle out of the harness and fall. I hit hard, a mess of hands, wrists, and arms on my back and then palms grip my arms and steady me. People laugh and cheer for me.
   "What'd you think," Shauna asks with a huge smile.
   I grin at her and the rest of them who watch me expectantly, "can I go again?"
   They laugh and I laugh with them. This, this right here is what I imagined Dauntless life being like.
   "Look! There he is," someone yells, pointing at the figure coming down the line.
   The figure let's out a blood curdling scream.
   "I bet he'll cry."
   "Zeke's brother? Cry? No way. He would get punched so hard."
   "His arms are flailing!"
   "He sounds like a dying cat," I say and everyone laughs again.
   He comes to a stop and I follow everyone's lead. We make a net beneath him with our arms, Shauna grabs one of my arms and I grab someone else's with the other.
   "Pretty sure we can't call you Flower Child anymore," Shauna smiles, "Mor."