The Initiate Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

I wake up to an onset of banging metal and flickering white lights being switched on. I don’t know how much sleep I got; nothing over five hours I am assuming. Some kid from Erudite kept on weeping, and the girl from Candor with short auburn hair snoring. I slept in the bed between Connor and Olivia. I rub my eyes and see…Four standing on top of some stairs. He looks a little hung over from alcohol. No not him he – oh there again he is too self indulgent to drink that poison. Why am I thinking of selfishness now? I’m Dauntless.

“Everyone in the pit in three minutes.” he says. Then everyone rushes out of bed and quickly gets changed and they wash. I change into a black vest top and black trousers. I tie my hair up into a ponytail. I have never so exposed at once. Even though the only things on show are my neck and arms a change from the Abnegation grey robes. I walk to the pit with Olivia, Connor and Shayne. Until I’m shoved out of the way by the Erudite girl Jessica and her friends Oliver and Lewis.

“Oh sorry I don’t want to be behind a soon to be factionless.” Jessica says whilst she ties her hair up exposing patches of dry scalp skin.

“You should know that an Abnegation did come first in initiation last year? And another Abnegation came first two years prior?” Connor says. Mentioning Four.

“Yeah and an Erudite I would expect them to be able to wash their own hair at least.” I add continuing to look at her dandruff falling from her hair like snow. The three Erudite smirk and storm off to the pit. “God I hate Erudite. No wonder you left.” I say wrapping my hair around my finger.

“I had my other reasons.” Connors says with a slight hesitation he looks to the floor.

“Like what?” I ask. Exposing the Candor in me.

“Well why did you leave Abnegation?” he asks with a cheeky wink that makes me redden slightly. He’s very good looking he must have good looking parents.

“I had my reasons.” I reply mocking his posh, emotionless tone in his voice. We both share a smile before we arrived to the Pit. Four is leaning against the wall Eric is beside him twiddling with one of his many facial piercings. I swear his hair is dripping with grease.

“All right I am sure that you lot are aware that last year we changed the rules. Those who aren’t over the red line by the end of each stage will be cut.” Four says pointing a board that has all our names on; the initiates in red and the Dauntless born in blue. There is a red line between the numbers twenty and twenty one.

“Well where do we go if we are cut?” Shayne asks lowering his eyebrows.

“There’s no going back to your parents, so it is the dirty scrummy streets and the jobs nobody wants for you lot. To put it plainly you will be Factionless.” Eric replies twiddling his eyebrow piercing. I stable myself at that thought of me Marcus Eaton’s daughter picking the cities litter up, receiving help off him, being looked down upon by the world and my life being nothing. I won’t let that happen, my aptitude told me I can survive in Dauntless that’s good right? “You chose us…Now we chose you.” Eric says with an intimidating tone in his deep voice.

The first exercise we were using guns to shoot targets on the rooftops of the headquarters of Dauntless. We don’t allow guns in Abnegation, they give allow us to perform self defence which is self serving and therefore self indulgent. I pull the trigger of the heavy gun and like the previous forty odd bullets it misses. Over the clattering of bullet meeting aluminium target I hear Jessica, Oliver and Lewis snigger and snort at my short comings. I grit my teeth about to punch the living lights out of them. Connor puts his hand on my shoulder reigniting the spark from when he first touched me.

“Don’t let them get to you wait until the sparring tests.” He says. I sigh and look over to his target; he has hit the bulls eye twice and has been close the times he has failed to hit it. Then I look at my target, one bullet hole on the outer ring of the target surrounded by chipped brick walls from bullets.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve practically hit it each time.” I say with a stroppy tone like a young child’s voice is when they can’t have a cookie.

“Well greatness just comes natural to me.” He says with a wink. He gives me energy. Why? How? I have only just met him.

“Wow you really don’t know what modesty means do you?” I ask with a grin.

“You two aren’t going to pass initiation if you are continuously talking not shooting.” Four says loudly. Connor rolls his eyes and gets back to shooting; he hits the bull’s eye again. Four comes over to me I can smell his breath. Foul and heavy with a scent of apples. If this is what alcohol smells like then I should assume it tastes worst. “You’re flinching when it fires, that is what is causing you to miss the target. Don’t flinch in some occasions your gun is your only ally flinching could cause your death.” He says softly taking me back to the over protecting brother he once was. The way he talked whilst we sat in an apple tree in Amity with his friend Charity and we watched the multicoloured kites flying in the wind.

“Thanks Tob-Four, thanks Four.” I reply. I point the gun to the target and slowly put my finger on the trigger. ‘slowly Ruby, this is for a zombie apocalypse and Jessica is zombie charging towards you and all you have to do is…blow her brains out.’ I think to myself…I pull the trigger and it seems the sound of firing guns have dispersed. I open my eyes to the view of smoke coming out of a hole that was in the target…not the bulls eye but close enough to give Jessica a look of bitterness on her face. Her distaste means my joy. I smile from my success and the buzz running wild in my body.

Uriah smiles at me whilst he scratches his ear. “That’s enough for today we will pick this up tomorrow. You lot deserve a break.”

We all head back to the dorm. Where my buzz has all of a sudden dies out. I only hit the target once; I have no excuse the other initiates hit the target twice. I’m the weakest here and worse of all we are getting ranked. No doubt I’m going to be factionless.

“There’s no way I’m going to pass I’m the worst one here.” I say transitioning my thoughts into words the Candor in me. Shayne, Connor and Olivia all stare at me.

“What makes you say that?” Olivia asks me sitting beside me on my bed.

“Didn’t you see? I only hit that target once if I’m struggling with this then I have no chance of getting through.” I reply. covering my scared arms.

“Yes but it was your first time firing a gun. Everyone of us struggled with it.” Olivia replies with a high pitched cheery voice. She smiles and the tops of her cheeks makes her eyes seem smaller.

“Not as much as me, I have no excuse I should have never have come here.” I say with teary eyes.

“Why are girls dramatic? C’mon it’s your first day and you’re already counting yourself out? Get a grip.” Shayne says crossing his thick bulging arms. I smile slightly. He hasn’t lost the brutal honesty Candor upbringing has given him. “We need to do something uplifting.” He utters tapping his nails on the metal bed frame which caused an Erudite male with slicked black hair to stare at him.

“Well in Erudite we learned that people are likely to perform like a specific type of person or group if they dress like one. It apparently helps them get into character.” Connor says.

“So you’re saying that we get clothes, piercings and tattoos?” Olivia asks with a sudden flame of excitement in her brown eyes. The idea of me getting anything like tattoos or piercings terrifies me. Those are considered self indulgent as they are designed to draw attention to one self. I guess I am not ready to cut the apron strings of Abnegation despite the scars on my arms telling me opposite.

“What? I can’t do that. You guys go. I’ll stay here.” I say untying my hair. Olivia rolls her eyes at that idea.

“Yes you can, c’mon it will be fun you are already half way to looking Dauntless, I mean you are wearing clothes that expose your arms.” She says with another large smile. Her cheeriness brings a smile to my face. “Ok boys you go do whatever you need to do and me and Ruby here will meet you at the tattoo pallor in an hour okay?” She says.

“Alright we will see you two then. I’m starving I fancy some of that chocolate cake.” Connor says to Shayne whilst they head off to the cafeteria. Me and Olivia walk to the shop where they sell clothes. Money isn’t used in Dauntless instead members have points given every month to spend on what they want. I’m getting use to having this much freedom. A luxury unaffordable in Abnegation, I’m either studying in my room, going to faction meetings with Marcus or doing community service. We have to do a minimum of 10 hours volunteering a week in Abnegation. “What about this?” Olivia asks holding up a short black dress that exposes the wearers chest, their back, shoulders, arms and legs. In other words that dress exposes more than it covers.

“No. What sort of stuff did you wear in Amity?” I ask with a slight chuckle. The clothes here only seem to come in two colours; black or a very dark shade of grey. It makes guys (like Connor) seem attractive  mysterious I mean.

“Anything we wanted, what did you wear in Abnegation?” Olivia asks heading into the changing room and pulling the thick dark curtain behind her.

“Grey robes, grey everything.” I simply reply looking at a dress that is black and short but covers up the chest, the arms, the back and most of the shoulders of the wearer. Sophisticated. A gold zip runs down the rib cage. I hear the pull of the curtain that Olivia used to cover herself. She is wearing the dress she suggested, her pale smooth skin on show. She can pull it off. I wouldn’t think she was Amity if I had only just seen her. “You like nice. Noticeable.” I say.

“Thanks alright try that dress on.” She says pointing to the dressing room beside her. I head in to the changing booth and change from the black pants and black top into the first dress I have ever worn.