I wake to my growling stomach. I was so busy trying to avoid everything yesterday that I forgot to eat anything. I make my way out of bed and head down to the empty cafeteria glad to get some food before I start my day. After finally getting something to eat I go do my normal morning routine.
Running is my escape. It helps me think and keep a semi-leval head. I hope to keep my normal routine but I don't know what part 2 of training will intel. Will I be able to continue this?
I kept looking at the clock making sure I didn't miss training. I still had some time so I just ran a little longer than normal; then it was time for me to head to training. I hurry and make my way down to the pit where we will be meeting for training today.
I made it to the pit on time and met up with the rest of the group who were already there.
"Nice of you to join us, King." My cheeks turn red with embarrassment as my eyes meet the cold blue eyes from the back of the group.
Everyone was looking between the both of us feeling uncomfortable with the tension. Finally four broke the awkwardness in the air.
"Alright listen up. Stage 2 is starting now so no backing out now."
Four turns and starts walking.
"Follow me to where you will be training for the next few weeks."
We all follow him as he leads us to our new training area. He opens a door ushering us all in. Inside was a wide open room with a big monitor on the wall and a chair sitting in the middle of the room. We all pile in waiting for them to explain what we will be doing next. Right as Four and Eric get to the front of the group the door opens and all the dauntless borns come barreling in. Tori goes to stand with the other instructors while the dauntless forms a second group separate from us.
"Stage 2 is going to be a lot harder than stage one. In stage one we tested how hard we could push your physical state, but stage two is going to push your mental strength; we will push you to your breaking point." Four start to explain.
"You will be given a serum that we will inject into your neck then from there you will experience a dream-like state that will feel real. You will not be able to tell the difference between being awake or in the system just like when you took your faction test." He pauses for us to absorb the information and to see if we have questions.
"Unlike the faction test where we choose what you saw, you will be experiencing your worst fears this time. On average a person will experience 10-15 fears some of you will have more or less it just depends on the person. The record for the least amount of fears is four so you might get lucky." He finishes.
"The goal of this training is to get you to face your fears. So you are expected to get through your fears as fast and as efficiently as you can. So, be brave and think like dauntless." Eric quickly explained.
"Now that you understand what you will be doing, we will be giving you a demonstration. Tori was kind enough to volunteer to let you work through some of her fears just so you guys can get the feel of what you will be doing." Four told us with Tori looking grim behind him.
"King your first." Eric called.
"OOh you have a new name 'king'." Pax whispered over my shoulder.
I jumped a little not realizing he was right behind me. I then glare as he and some other people snicker at the nickname.
I started to head to the front when Orion and Jax moved to the side.
"Your highness." Orion says with a bow mocking me.
I just ignore him and continue you to the front, but of course that wouldn't be the end of this embarrassment. Pax and his friends have to cheer me on, but why did they have to use that nickname?
"You go minie Eric; you got this." Pax's friend yelled right next to him.
My face lit up red and I instantly avoided eye contact with Eric, but I quickly took a glance at him to see his shocked face with his eyebrows raised in surprise. I quickly scurry past him to stand with tori and Four.
Four finally said something to break the awkward air.
"You will be connected together with this wire." he explained while he did it. "Then we will inject you with the serum; there you will enter tories fear. From then on tori will instruct you and show you what to do. We will watch everything that happens here on this monitor. Good luck." He finishes.
Four then grabs a serum and hands one to Eric. Four starts giving the serum to Tori as Eric comes my way with the second syringe. I move my long hair out of the way so he will have access to my neck. I take in a nervous breath as his breath covers my neck making it slightly tickle then I feel the needle plunge into my neck.
"Ow." I hissed, holding my neck.
"It was only a little bite. Don't be a little baby; little Eric." He whispers in my ear with a devious grin.
My face was on fire. How do I respond to that? As I look into his eyes about to say something my vision fades to black. Next thing I know is i'm waking up in an empty room with Tori.
"Where are we?" I ask.
"In a room." She pointed out the obvious with the same tone that Eric would use.
"Well obviously, my question is why?" I snap back as I start to look around.
I walked around the whole room trying to find anything, but came up empty. I started tapping the walls to see if we could break one or if there was something hidden. Then out of nowhere a spider crawled right in front of me, so I smashed it and carried on. I could hear tori stopping right behind me so I joked around with her.
"Throwing a tantrum isn't going to get us out of here." I chuckled, but she just screamed, making me whip around to find the problem.
Spiders coming out of any crack they can find in this room, and they all were crawling towards Tori. She freaks out and starts to stop faster, but then they start to climb on her. I then hurried and ran over stomping on a bunch of them in the process.
"Get them off of me." she screams.
"Ok, let's just calm down." I explain a little frazzled.
I started to swipe the bugs off but there were too many and they just kept coming. They started to climb onto me making me slightly uncomfortable . I have never had a problem with spiders , but now I feel disgusted with how many there were. I quickly pulled her to the other side of the room where the bugs were not crawling around. I wipe off the bugs crawling on us. As I finish Tori takes a big calming breath and that was it.
I jurk up from my seated position. With a heavy breath I look around confused. I then remember that it was all just the fear simulation. None of it was real.
"Good job. Some of the best work I have seen for a first timer." Four congratulates while he unhooks me from the wires. "Now the next step is to conquer your own fears."
"Easier said than done." I muttered back.
"Ok. Next up is Zeke." Eric called out.
Pax's friend started waking up with everyone cheering him on. How am I just now learning his name?
He gets hooked up to the same wires I was just on and gets injected with the serum. We all watch as they fall into a sleep-like manner. After a minute an image appears on the screen in front of us.
They were falling. Just rapidly falling through the air at a fast paste. Were we missing something? How were they supposed to figure out how to get out of the situation?
"How are they supposed to face the fear if the outcome is just impending death from the start?" Someone voices the same thought.
"Good question." Four comments. We all turn to hear what he has to say. "Sometimes your fears aren't something you can control in any situation. Like with Ari's simulation test. There was nothing to stop the spiders so they just had to stay calm. It's the same with this fear. Nothing you do will stop you from falling so you just have to learn to stay calm and conquer the fear. Even if you don't realize what you're doing in the simulation." Four explained.
We continued to watch what was going on as Four finished explaining. "Your fears may not be as they seem either. Toris fear here really isn't about falling but the meaning is that she fears losing control of her situation. Which will be some of your guys' fears so pay attention.
The screen went black then Zeke let out a high pitch girl scream making all of us turn to look at them. Then Tori and Zeke jolted up out of their seats with heavy breaths. They take a moment trying to regain their grasp of reality and catch their breath.
"That was... crazy!" Zeke whispered under his breath. His face was as white as a ghost. He silently makes his way back over to the group and takes his seat.
"You good man?" Pax asked, patting his shoulder.
He just silently nods. We just quietly watched him and shared a concerned look.
"Ok next!" Eric called ready to keep things moving.
But one look at Tori's face told everyone that she was dredging every last minute of this.
It took a couple of hours but finally everyone had finally gone through Toris fears. After some point they had started repeating since we had already went through them. There were only a few people that had the same fear as Tori unfortunately Pax was one of them. They had just went into the fear and It was a cage they were trapped in next thing you know it started getting smaller. Claustrophobia. So, Pax wasn't really his bright self right now.
"Training is at 8AM sharp, don't be late." Eric yelled out as he left.
That was the end of today's training? It was barely lunch time, but I had a feeling that this training was going to tear us down more than the physical training. We made our way to the cafeteria to get something to eat, but everyone wasn't really hungry after everything we just did.
"This training is going to be hell." one of the dauntless borns muttered.
We all just sat and thought about what would happen next.
That next morning I woke at my normal time ready for my normal routine. Get breakfast, run, then do some other exercise, but as I was throwing my punches I stopped. I turned and looked around the empty training room, but couldn't see anything. It felt as though someone was just watching me. I just brushed off the feeling after a moment and went back to my workout.
It was finally 7:30 so I cleaned up and started for our new training room. I got to the hall of the room we were in yesterday then I turned to the hall off to the side. A long white hall that had chairs lined either side with people already sitting in them. At the end was a big metal door with only a small window at the top of the door.
I take a seat in one of the empty chairs and watch as they slowly fill up.
"Hey Fred ready for this crazy day." Pax asked, sounding a little unsure.
"Ready as I'll ever be to face my fears." I tell him.
"Hey mini Eric." Zeke came in sitting by Pax and me. I wave at Alex who sat across from me.
Just then the two instructors came waltzing in and we just sat and watched silently. Looks like tori isn't helping with this part of training.
"Beth you up first. Let's go." Eric told her as he walked by and just kept walking to the door at the end.
She timidly gets up and follows them through the door; the door then slammed shut echoing down the hall leaving us all in an eerie silence.
For a few minutes we stayed silent then slowly made casual conversation not knowing how long this process was going to take. After 10 minutes in we could hear screams coming from behind the door sending us back into complete silence. After 20 minutes the door finally squeaks open with Beth being dragged out by a big grumpy leader. Her body was shaking like a leaf and her face was as pale as the walls around us. Eric then hands her off to two guys waiting to take her to who knows where.
As Eric turns and walks back to the room he calls the next victim. "Aaron, you're next."
With wide eyes he slowly stands and makes his way into the room. The only sound being the cold hard slam of the door starting the whole waiting game over again.
On average people have been in the room is 20 minutes. Longest time was 40. They all came out white as a sheet shaking or breathing fast like they ran a marathon. We are now through half the group, but the people who haven't gone are all on edge. Quietly holding our breaths looking from the clock to the door just waiting for our names to be called.
"Pax!" Four came out and called.
He quickly gave me a big smile that didn't meet his eyes. With worry rolling off him he made his way into the mysterious room just past that door. Last thing you hear is the cold hard metal slamming shut. After about 20 minutes the door finally opens and out comes Pax followed by Eric. He was pale white and just mindlessly walked looking like a zombie. I was getting up to see if he was ok, but Eric just pushed me back into my seat. No reaction whatsoever just kept walking to the end of the hall. Then just like that he was gone just like the others and Eric walked back calling the next person like all of this was normal.
One after the other I just sit quietly in my own thoughts. What are my fears? I don't really remember being afraid of things in amity. What will I see in there? Will I come out looking like the rest of these people. Even Orion and Jax couldn't hide their reaction to their fears. Orion was almost in tears when he was leaving. I almost felt bad for him; Almost.
I hear Eric call another name. I then look up and realize I'm sitting alone with my own thoughts consuming me. After 30 minutes The door opens again with Eric dragging out a dauntless boy who was looking just like the others before him. After passing him off to the dauntless men that are waiting Eric makes his way back up the hall. Stopping right in front of me I look up from his boots to see his icy blue eyes.
"Lets go King." he tells me as he walks away.
I get up and closely follow behind into the mysterious room and wait and listen for the familiar sound of the door slamming shut. Looking around I see equipment set up all around the room and a chair sat right in the middle. Off to the side Four sat next to the monitor setting up for my simulation.
"Take a seat." Eric grumbled as he shoved me forward.
I stumble forward and take a seat in the chair. I take a look around and then settle on watching what Four was doing.
"It's going to be just like yesterday, but instead of Toris fears it will be your own. We will only go through 3 of your fears today. If there are any problems we will be able to pull you out. Be brave and try to stay calm." Four explained.
I slowly move my hair out of the way as he injects me with the serum. Last thing I was looking at were grumpy blue eyes.