Rampant: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Two) ©

Chapter 14

                The next morning I woke up groggy and reluctant to go down to the training room. I’d actually fallen asleep for almost an hour during the night, but rather than help, it only made me realize just how tired I really was. Before, the only way I’d been able to get to sleep was when my body was thoroughly laced with alcohol, and the weariness of the day had eventually forced me to hunker down in some random hallway.

                This new sleep, completely free from mind altering substances, had been horrific. In the midst of my nightmare, my subconscious had snapped me awake when I’d picked up the sound of some kind of shouting in my room. Jerking up with a gasp, I’d glanced around the apartment half expected to find someone else in the place with me. But I’d been alone.

               Covered in sweat, with my muscles quivering and my throat raw, I’d realized the source of the noise. It had been me. My own cries had woken me up. I’d called to her, begging her to stay, but her phantom had left as it always did; leaving me with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Without officially declaring it, I made a quiet vow to only sleep if it was completely necessary. I wasn’t numb to the agony of loss anymore.

               As I made my way over to the training room, the sense of unease only continued to grow. Other than the nightmare, I’d also been bothered by the idea that today I’d have to be the one to assign the initiates to fight each other. With only seven dauntless-born, there’d be an odd man out during each battle.

               “Where’s Zane?” I asked when I noticed I was an initiate short.

               I received a couple of shrugs and I-don’t-know’s until my eyes landed on Tyler. His posture was stiff, and the more I continued to look at him, the more I realized just how twitchy he was. The kid was a walking ball of nerves. I took a single step towards him, and it was then that he caved.

               “He said he’d try to make it back in time,” Tyler quickly explained.

               “Back from where?” I demanded.

               “He wanted to be there for his girlfriend’s first fight.”

               “Girlfriend,” I repeated flatly.

               “Yeah, you know that one girl from amity,” Tyler explained quickly. “The first-jumper.”

               Outwardly, I was careful to keep my face nonchalant and bored, but inside I was a mess. Girlfriend? After only a few days they were already a couple? The hurt I felt didn’t make sense, and I knew it; she owed me nothing, we hadn’t even exchanged more than a few words, she probably didn’t even remember my name.

               And, well, maybe it was for the best. Zane was normal, and I was not. He could keep her safe, and I’d only get her killed. Ignoring the irritation I felt at the thought of them together, I made myself concentrate on the real problem at hand. I turned towards the initiates; addressing them all at once.

               “Because it appears your friend Zane is confused about what initiation entails, I’d like to remind the rest of you just how important this process really is,” I said in a very business-like tone. “We’re here to find the people that deserve to wear the name of dauntless. This isn’t some dating game for you to find people to mingle with. If you want to stay here, then you have to prove it. Show me that you want this.”

               “Will Zane be in trouble?” David asked, and I could see how he was trying to hide his eagerness with a mask of concern. “Are you going to kick him out with the factionless?”