Black and Blue

Chapter 7

Jamie POV

Finally it's Friday. Tonight is the night that Eric said they had something special for. It's been killing me ever since he told me about it, because I want to know what it is. I'm very impatient, and very curious, that's a bad mix.

We head to the pit for the fights this morning, and I see that I'm paired against Edward. I guess Eric wants me to try this again.

Our fight is the very last one, and Tris's is right before mine. She's fighting Peter. I don't know what they were thinking matching her up with him, he's going to destroy her.

Will and Christina both won their fights, and I'm just waiting for mine now, but I forget we still have to get past Tris and Peter, and this is not going to be pretty.

"Tris, Peter, in the ring."

Four calls them up there and looks like it's killing him to have to put her up with Peter. I think he cares for her more than he's showing.

The fight is hard to watch, because I knew she was going to lose, but I hoped it wouldn't be this bad. He's beating her as hard as he can, but she keeps getting up, she won't stay down. I just want her to stay down, so Eric can call it and it'll be all over with.

About half way through their fight, I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I look over to see what it was, and I watch as Four leaves the Pit. He can't stand to watch it either. I look to Eric, hoping he'll just call it already, she's too stubborn, she'll keep standing until he kills her.

"Okay, that's enough. One of you help me take her."

He looks at me when he says that, I guess not wanting to have to deal with any of the others, but not wanting to ask my help directly.

I walk over and help pick her up, and I try to give him a look, asking why he let that happen. Why didn't he stop it.

"Stop looking at me like that. It's the rules Jamie, I tried to leave them until he knocked her out. If you don't follow the rules, nobody cares, but I'm a leader. I have to follow everything to a tee. Besides, I hate to break it to you, but she wasn't going to make it anyway. She's out."

As soon as we lay her on the bed in the infirmary, I start to run back to the Pit.

"What are you doing?"

"Going back. I have to fight. You should get back to marking names off the list, weeding them out. That's your job isn't it?"

"Hold up."

I stop. Even though I'm angry with him, I don't keep running.

"Yes, it is my job. I'm sorry that I have to follow the rules, but you come from Erudite, if anybody is going to understand what happens when you break the rules, it's you."

"Your job is to weed out the ones that don't belong."

"She doesn't belong! She got the crap beat out of her, she hasn't won a fight yet!"

"Winning fights is not the point of Dauntless, Eric! You're a leader, you know that! You told me that! Dauntless means fearless, not undefeated. What about Peter? Are you going to keep him in? Of course you are, because he hasn't lost as many fights, but he's a coward! You've seen how he treats everyone else. He's afraid. Afraid that someone is going to be better than him, so he has to make sure they know he's the best. That's not Dauntless. Tris was brave and stubborn enough to keep standing up. She wasn't afraid of getting beat all to pieces, she was brave enough to keep standing, to keep fighting. That's what Dauntless is, that is the definition of Dauntless! Shouldn't that be in your rules?!"