Chapter 20

We jump off the train and into an abandoned black grassed field that have specs of white from the nearby buildings. The Hub is still very clear to see even from all this way out. Two antennas and flashing red lights the consistent sight of this city. The other team has long disappeared into the dark parts of this field. The mud is wet and heavy, people running in front of me is enough to cause mud to splatter on my face.  Our team have put the flag inside a thorn bush. Clever. I continue to observe my new surroundings until someone talks quietly into my ear. "Best turn your light on, broken glass is a nightmare here." A young male around my age says. I can't make out his facial features in the dark until my flashlight is on. He has a pale face, slight stubble on his chin, and brown spiky hair. He is the Dauntless born initiate I first saw on the train to Dauntless headquarters.

"Thanks..." I say wanting to know his name.

"Aspin. You're Ruby right? I heard about you standing up to Eric. Bold for an ex-Stiff." Aspin replies. I smile slightly despite being refereed to as an ex-stiff, though unlike most people here he doesn't spit the word 'Stiff' out like a bitter lemon. 

"You two over here!" Four shouts, without question we rush over to the group which are in a circle. Whispering for a solid and concrete and bulletproof strategy. "Alright we don't take losing here very lightly here in Dauntless so has anyone here got an idea?" Four asks resting his gun on his shoulders.

"Just do what Tris did last year, climb the Ferris wheel and find the flag." A male with bronze skin and two lip piercings says out. I look over to the dark Ferris wheel that is a silhouette in the dark, from looking at the other rides here it probably hasn't been used for years, decades or centuries. The field we are in is an old fair ground that unlike a lot of things has remained after the war. 

"No Ryan that won't work, my guess is that they are already there." Aspin says.

"No, I say we just go in all guns blazing. That will catch them off guard." Shayne says slightly louder to gain dominance in the discussion. 

"Or we could maybe wait for them to come over to us. Use their aggression for our own gain." Olivia intervenes. Her just saying that is enough to remind me of Amity's representative Johanna Reyes. She could have been my new leader if I went ahead with choosing Amity. Eventually the talking erupts from a quiet discussion into a full blown argument. Four and Tris both shake their heads in distaste and along with Charity and Christina take a seat on a nearby ride which is rusting. Then there's just me standing here in the mud doing absolutely; nothing. I nearly vomit over my realization, I need to prove to them; Four, Tris, Eric, the other initiates that I do belong here and I need to prove that to myself. I begin to scower the fairground looking for some thing that I can use to my advantage (a wall, a light just anything) But maybe the solution to this is already in front of me, Tris used the Ferris wheel last year. If I am correct the other team will already be over there now. We need to get higher and for that I can use...the telephone mast. 

I walk up to the metal pole which is freezing to the touch, looking up it reminds me of the days I use to tilt my neck back and scale the Hub. I throw my gun over my shoulder and step on the ladder. It is probably at least fifty years old but I am light so it should hold my weight. Should is a word I am using with caution. I tightly wrap my knuckles around the rung of the ladder to the point they have turned white. I take one step, then another, then another until I am around 10ft in the air. 

"Hey! What you doing?" A males voice behind me asks. I look down my shoulder and see Connor who is looking up the tower. 

"Well it is a lovely evening to be outside, so I had some site seeing in mind." I reply. As I look down to the ground I see the massive huddle of my team. Oblivious to what I am doing as the shouting is too distracting to look anywhere. Four and the others have stood up to view in astonishment at me climbing up this metal skeleton. Connor smiles and throws his gun over his shoulder. "I might join you then." He says climbing up the ladder to come near me. My body contrasts again; a part of me wants him to come up and be closer to me. There is one problem he distracts me too easily. I need to be concentrating. I slowly climb higher so I can be less subspecticble to his gaze that for some reason if long enough I can be controlled and hypnotized like a mere marionette. 

We get higher and higher to the point the people below us are like stones and I can slightly see above the rooftops of some of the city's buildings. I try not to look down as whenever I do I get a feeling of nausea. Which could cause a slip, which could cause my death. I rest my dizzy head against one of the rungs. A few seconds pass and warmth covers my back and smooth skin has a brief contact with mine. Connor. 

"Are you OK Ruby?" He asks. 

"Y-Yeah I'm fine." I respond unsure. 

"OK, don't worry I have you." He says a little out of breath, I nod and begin climbing again. How does one boy have such an adverse affect on me? Indescribable but unforgettable. Like he has given me wings to fly or I am about to explode. 

We climb higher and higher. Now the people below us aren't noticeable. My body aches like hell, Connor has me in a trance and we are nearly at the top. I step on to the metal platform, the floor is a set of metal of poles laid horizontally. The sound of hollow ringing is present with every step. I lean over the wall to look at the playing field. I can see the dark outlines of many fairground rides on top of the grass, the team are still arguing, Tris and Four are looking up the tower. I hear Connor make his way onto the platform which is small enough to have us nearly pressed together. I feel every ridge of the muscles on his body. I see his clear  beautiful eyes that reflect the lights of the city. This one small moment is enough to make the world stop turning and enough to make me forget about everything. Has his eyes have a vial of memory serum? How come I haven't noticed him at school before? He is the perfect version of perfect. But I keep telling myself me and him will never happen (the more I tell myself this the more I want him)

"Look the other team are at the Ferris wheel." He says pointing his finger behind me. I pull myself away from his eyes and turn to the silhouette of the large Ferris Wheel. I briefly see a few specs of the other team they are stood perfectly still. "But where is the flag?" He asks. I skirt my eyes frantically for a subtle orange glow then I spot it, near the Ferris wheel. The glow of the Orange Flag, "It is there, at the top of the Helter Skelter." I say excited at my discovery. Me and Connor head back down to the real world it seems, I have to leave behind all the feelings I felt behind me and concentrate for the kill. As we aproach the group we are scolded by Christina. "Where the hell have you two been? As we have been tearing one another's hair out you two buggered off." She says with a sharpe edge to the tip of her tongue.

"Actually we have been planning like adults not kids." I sharply say back to her. "Aspin you was correct they are guarding the wheel, but they have placed the flag at top of the helter skelter. So me and Connor have devised a war plan." The attention of the team is fully on me they're eyes are urging me to tell them the plan, they're eyes are a little too hungry. "Ok I will need a few of you to stay here and protect the flag, then I need some of you to distract the other team guarding the Ferris Wheel whilst me and Connor sneak in through the back. Does that sound good?" I ask them. Their stunned faces all turn into wide grins. Uriah takes centre stage and asks "Who is going where?"