Ordinary Acts of Bravery [A Divergent Fanfic]

Chapter 6 - Capture the flag

I had barely clicked my shoes on when the others turned to me already dressed. Soon the four of us began running towards the pit. None dared get there too late, not with the foul mood Eric had portrayed in the accommodation. It wasn't the first time he had woken us up, he had done it once or twice before to take us out on a run in the early morning hours when Four had to work in intelligence, whatever that was.

Eric was a fast runner, his pace quicker than Four's. Many of the transfer initiates had struggled to keep up with him, but I had been happy. Four's pace was a little too slow for my comfort and I actually used more energy trying to maintain that pace than I did maintaining my own.

When we arrived in the pit, the dauntless born initiates were already there, waiting for us to arrive as well. Eric was leaned against one of the big boulders again, carrying another expression than his usual scowl. There was a satisfied smirk painted across his face which only got bigger when he saw me. His eyes followed me as I went to stand behind Roxy. "Ugh—I want to wipe that smirk off his lips." I groaned only loud enough for Roxy to hear and pressed a hand to the still sore spot on the back of my head. Roxy laughed at my words and tilted her head back to me.

I kept my hand against the sore spots the thundering headache had somewhat subsided and turned into an ordinary headache that only bothered me. For some reason Eric kept smirking, but ignored my glares because Fout and Lauren had entreated the pit. She was the one training the Dauntless initiates in their first stage of training.

The silence that erupted then was loud. The only thing I could concentrate on was the dull throbbing at the back of my head. The headache would surely take out the fun of whatever this was. I truly dreaded the effects and knew it would annoy me for the remainder of the night.

"Now that we're all here." Four clapped his hands together and stepped forth to address us all. The dauntless born silenced immediately, giving him their undivided attention whereas the transfers needed another second. A bit surprising, seeing as it was the dauntless born that was the loudest normally.

In that moment, I noticed Eric also pushed away from the boulder he'd been leaned against and stood up. He approached Four and the woman named Lauren from behind. He had when straightening up, picked up two bags from the floor. Once next to Four he threw them onto the ground. My attention shifted to them, trying to guess what their content was.

"We are going on an expedition tonight. This time it will be a simulation of trying to protect something. So, it's time for a round of capture the flag." Four smirked even wider when looking at the dauntless born. They seemed to know already what we were about to do before he had opened his mouth.

The Dauntless born cheered extremely loud, disturbing the peace within the pit before they were on their feet, scrambling towards the bags within seconds. They must definitely know this game. "Pick a gun!" Four instructed after he had grabbed one himself. The transfer initiates were a bit slower than the dauntless born, but I managed to grab a gun and a few rounds of ammunition before I retracted from the instructors again. The dauntless born, inspected some of the weapons before choosing the right one, the sight amuses me because the thought hadn't even occurred to me.

I placed the ammunition in my pocket and swung the strap holsters to the gun over my shoulder, so it hung at my side. "The train will be here in five minutes. Let's go." Four gestured for us to follow him once everyone had settled down again. The three instructor's remain in front of the group as they guide us out of dauntless, leading us toward the train track right outside the compound.

We had barely stopped to wait when the train emerged in the distance. My eyes widened when I recalled what we did the first day after we had chosen to become dauntless. Hopefully this time, I would get on the train a lot more gracefully. Four was the first to dash forwards into a sprint, Eric followed quickly after and pushed ahead of Four within two steps. It was like a little challenge between them. And this time Eric won.