Daunting Fires (Completed)

3- Surving

Four takes us to the infirmary, where we meet Mara. She files all injuries reported to the infirmary. I have a feeling she'll see me around here a lot.

Mara has black, short hair that reaches to the middle of her neck. Her brown eyes are surrounded by slight wrinkles, yet she's young. She has laughing lines, too. She probably squints when she smiles. How odd that she's Dauntless. She must've been a former Amity.

"Anything broken, you come here", Four says blandly. All eleven of us are sick of the tour. We've seen the control room, the training room, the fear landscape room, the Dauntless apartments, and the tattoo parlor. The place seems bigger than what the books say.

"And this is the Chasm." We all look down at what Four speaks of. A crashing river below us looks eerie as heck. There is a skinny railing to the thin metallic bridge in front of us.

"If you want to be 'brave'-" Four quotes with his fingers "-go ahead and jump. But stupidity is not apart of braveness." I shudder and look at Cece. She widens her eyes and sighs.

After walking around the large compound, we reach a place Four calls the pit. "You'll learn to love it soon enough", Four slightly smiles as he takes in the shops and tattoo parlors around us. It's strange, though. The shops are apart of the gray brick walls surrounding us. It's like they're all united to make one massive place.

Finally, it's lunch, and we're taken to the Dauntless cafeteria. We grab our food from tables that hold mashed potatoes, hamburgers, salad, a gray-looking soup that I can swear is moving, and chocolate cake, a famous Dauntless specialty. We choose a table after picking the food up.

When we sit, I see how little Cecelia chose to eat. She has a tiny amount of salad, a hamburger, and chocolate cake. Then I look at my plate and am suddenly surprised. I mainly have salad. I also got five spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. Erudite learns about health and how good green vegetables are for your body. I guess I still eat like an Erudite. I should probably change my diet because I could use some weight gain. I'm not so strong and in order to gain muscle, I need to have more meat on my body.

Jared suddenly bursts out laughing and I see why. Cecelia holds her hamburger to the extreme of awkwardness. Her elbows are super close to her stomach and her fingertips barely hold the burger up. She's as bright as the tomatoes in my salad. "Isn't this right?" She asks so sincere, I feel embarrassed for laughing at her.

"Never had one?" Jared asks, more serious now.

"No, fatty foods aren't eaten much in Abnegation. Anything that gives the body curves is silently frowned upon", Cecelia says, rolling her eyes.

Jared scoffs. Then, I see Eric coming into the cafeteria with the dauntless born initiates. He makes his way to the table where Four, Max, and a woman sit. I guess there's a leader table. I wonder who the chick is.

"Do you?" Cecelia snaps me into focus.

"Huh?" I blush and eat my mashed potatoes.

"Do you miss home?" Cecelia asks again. I haven't thought much about home since I left it behind. I suddenly feel nostalgic. Home was my comfort zone. But I like living a fresh start, even if I'm unsure about my future here.

I open my mouth to answer but I'm suddenly interrupted. "That's not a valid question initiate." I turn around and Eric is right behind me and Jared. I quickly turn back around as he continues talking. "You're never going back so don't get all sentimental about your past homes." He's so close to my ear and Jared's ear, I shiver.

There's a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I've read about roller coasters in a history book before. Machinery that holds people and shoots them into high altitudes. This is what I imagine it feels like to be on a roller coaster. Nervous but excited.

Eric is right close to my ear now. Oh my gosh. "And never shiver in front of people. Way to express fear." His whisper makes want to shiver even more but I don't. Instead, embarrassment floods my cheeks and I look down. I'm not hungry anymore.

After Eric leaves, Cecelia talks. "I wonder if it's possible to not have feelings. 'Cause if it is, that's him."
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~-----
We go into the dormitory after lunch. It's a medium sized room with numerous beds. To the right are toilets and rusty showers. Out in the open...

I changed into my Dauntless clothes. I have black tight pants and a tight long sleeve. Only my black combat boots fit me well. My mother would not approve. Clothes that aren't well-fit make a person look unsophisticated.

You're not in Erudite, Dalia, I tell myself.

I look to the clock above the door. At eight o'clock, Eric bursts into the room. "Lights out initiates. Tomorrow we start training." Eric's voice is stern, but there's a brunette Candor boy who's back faces him. He chats with the girl next to him. This pisses Eric off. He rolls his eyes and picks up a metallic pole that lies in a nearby pile. He starts banging the pole on the wall. The boy startles and turns around.

Eric walks over and gets on an eye level with the boy. "What did I say, Candor?" The boy now gives Eric his full attention, looking horrified. "I talk, you listen. Got that?" Eric is giving the death stare. The boy nods his head and looks down in embarrassment.

Eric walks to the door and turns around. He looks at each of us, making sure we give our full attention. When his eyes land on mine, I look down. I look back up and he's turned the lights out.

"Sweet dreams, initiates."