I Was Amity...

15

After breakfast Liam and I wander around the shops for a while. He said he wanted to get some new shoes and clothes. I wandered around and bought a few new shirts for myself, and new leggings. I split off from Liam, wanting some time for myself.

It's lunchtime but I can't bring myself to eat anything. I'm sitting in the same spot on the walkway as last night. I don't want to be in the dorm and be around Scott or Mikey right now. I hear people approaching, their footsteps echoing on the stone floor, and I look down at my shoes.

"Em?" I look up. Uriah stops in front of me. He waves along the Dauntless-born initiates he walks with. They exchange looks but keep moving. "You okay?"

"I had a difficult night," I tell him.

"Is it because of Nate's death?" Uriah questions.

"I saw his body after he fell. I heard his scream and ran towards it," I lie again.

"That's ruff. He wasn't the nicest guy if that makes you feel any better," Uriah tells me.

Uriah looks down the hallway. The Dauntless-born initiates disappear around a corner. Then he grins a little. "Want to get out of here?"

"What?" I ask. "Where are you going?"

"To a little initiation ritual," he tells me. "Come on. We have to hurry."

I waste no time in pushing myself to my feet, wanting to get out of here as fast as possible. I jog next to Uriah to catch up to the Dauntless-born initiates.

"The only initiates they usually let come are ones with older siblings in Dauntless," he says. "But they might not even notice. Just act like you belong, from the looks of you that shouldn't be a problem."

I smile knowing Uriah thinks of me as dauntless, and as a friend. "What are we doing?"

"Something dangerous," he says.

A look I can only describe as Dauntless mania enters his eyes, and I can feel my own face imitating his, I catch it, like it's contagious. We slow when we reach the Dauntless-born initiates.

"What's good, Flower Child?" asks a boy with a metal ring between his nostrils. There is no malice in his voice, from what I can tell they are being genuine.

"It's Em," I say "But other than that it's good."

They all laugh. "I like her, Uriah. She's a feisty one. My name is Gabe."

I smile at him. I think back to the first time I met Eric in the dining hall. He called me feisty then, as well.

We turn another corner, and a group of members stands at the end of the next hallway. There are too many of them to all be related to a Dauntless-born initiate, but I see some similarities among the faces.

"Let's go," one of the members says.

He turns and plunges through a dark doorway. The other members follow him, and we follow them. I still have no idea where we are going. I stay close behind Uriah, the last thing I need is to get lost right now. We pass into darkness and my toe hits a step. I catch myself before falling forward and start to climb.

"Back staircase," Uriah says, almost mumbling. "Usually locked."

I nod, though he can't see me, and climb until all the steps are gone. By then, a door at the top of the staircase is open, letting in daylight.

We emerge from the ground a few hundred yards from the glass building above the Pit, close to the train tracks. I feel like I have done this a thousand times before. I hear the train horn. I feel the vibrations in the ground. I see the light attached to the head car. I crack my knuckles and bounce once on my toes. We jog in a single pack next to the car, and in waves, members and initiates alike pile into the car. Uriah gets in before me, and people press behind me. I effortlessly throw myself into the car, like I had been doing it my whole life like the Dauntless born.