Flower Child

Chapter Thirteen

I lay down on my bed, my sore muscles sighing in relief. Today, I had a fight with Drew, one of Peter's cronies. He's shorter, but he has a lot of muscle. He put up a good fight but I got a swift kick in to his temple and he was out.
Sleep sounds so good right now. My eyes close before my head even hits my pillow, and as it does, I'm jerked back to reality by the door slamming open. People with flashlights pile into the room. I sit up quickly, almost hitting my head on the bunk above me.
"Everybody up," someone roars, Eric.
He is surrounded by Dauntless members, some that I've seen and others that I haven't. Four is with them. His eyes sweep the room and lock on me. I stare back at him remembering the last conversation we had at the gates. He hadn't spoken to me since.
"Are you deaf, Flower Child," Eric snaps at me.
I break my gaze away from Four and stand up from my bunk. At that moment I wish I slept in more clothes, even what Chris is wearing, a t-shirt and underwear, is better. I wear my sports bra and very short shorts.
Eric looks me up and down, clearly unashamed. I glare at him harshly, my embarrassment fueling my rage.
"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks," Eric shouts, "we're going on another field trip."
I quickly throw on a pair of high waisted leggings and a long sleeve crop top over my sleep wear. I lace up my combat boots faster than I ever have and run out to the tracks before the rest of the transfers.
When I get up there, Uriah, Mar, and Lynn come up to me instantly.
"So you sleep in your underwear," Uriah says, wiggling his brows.
I shove him roughly, almost knocking him off his feet, "that's already spreading everywhere?"
Lynn nods, "heard it as soon as we got out here."
I hide my face with my hands, "why does the world hate me so much?"
Mar laughs, "don't worry about it. Uriah usually sleeps in the nude and I have to remind him not to take his boxers off every night in our dorm."
Uriah smirks at her, "you would love to see me naked, admit it Mar."
   She shoves him like I had, "shut up you big Pansy."
   "Do you guys know what we're doing," I ask, looking around.
   "Something fun," Uriah answers.
   He points to something behind me. I turn around towards a pile of guns, boxes labeled paint balls next to them. Obviously I'd never done this before but it was pretty self explanatory.
   "Everyone grab a gun," Eric shouts.
   I'm close to the pile so I grab the first one I can, and a box of paint balls. The gun is lighter than it looks.
   "Time estimate," Eric asks Four.
   Four tilts his watch up, "any minute now. How long is it going to take you going to take you to memorize the train schedule?"
   "Why should I, when I have you to remind me of it," Eric says and shoves Four's shoulder.
   Light shines from my left, growing brighter each passing second. The light settles on Four, highlighting his already defined features.
   As soon as the train is passing, Four is getting on. I rush after him, momentarily forgetting my friends behind me. I keep a steady pace next to the car and ready myself to hoist myself in, but Four turns around and holds his hand out to me. I don't need his help, but I take it anyway. I grab his arm and he pulls me up with no problem at all.
   "Thanks," I smile at him once my feet are firmly planted on the ground.
   I let go of his arm and walk to the far side of the car. Lynn, Mar, and Uriah join me, Uriah sniggering to himself over something.
   Once everyone is in, Four speaks up.
   "We'll be dividing into two teams to play capture the flag. Each team will have an even mix of members, Dauntless-born initiates and transfers. One team will get off first and find a place to hide their flag. Then the second team will get off and do the same. This is a Dauntless tradition, so I suggest you take it seriously."
   "What do we get if we win," someone shouts.
   "Sounds like the kind of question someone not from Dauntless would ask," Four answers, "you get to win, of course."
   "Four and I will be your team captains," Eric says, looking over at Four, "let's divide up transfers first, shall we?"
   I hope to god Eric doesn't pick me. I'm in no way the best, but I'm not the worst either.
   "You go first," Four says.
   Eric shrugs, "Edward."
   Four leans against the door frame. His eyes, lit by the moon, lazily scan the group. They hover over me for a second, "the Flower Child."
   Faint laughter moves around the car and I feel heat rush to my face. Less from embarrassment and more from anger. Everyone in here, despite the capability I've shown, still thought I was just the Flower Child, running around playing Dauntless like an idiot.
   "Got something to prove," Eric asks, "or are you just picking the weak ones so you have someone to blame when you loose."
   Four shrugs, "something like that."
   In that moment I wish I could strangle him. I'd been able to keep people off my case for this long, why did he have to bring the attention to me.
   "Your turn," Four says.
   "Peter."
   "Christina."
   "Molly."
   "Will."
   "Al."
   "Drew."
   "Myra."
   "Tris."
   "Dauntless-born initiates next," Eric says.
   I stop listening after that, only paying attention when Mar, Uriah, and Lynn are picked for Four's team. As Four continues to pick his team I try to find a pattern, something, anything.
   When everyone is almost chosen, I see it. With only a few exceptions, Four's team is compiled with leaner, faster people. Capture the flag, something that Amity actually plays(granted with no guns), is a speed reliant game. Eric's team is broader, stronger, but slower. My lips twitch up into a smile. Eric is more ruthless, but Four is smarter, and that matters.
   They finish sorting and Eric turns to Four with a smirk, "your team can get off second."
   "Don't do me any favors," Four says, a smile on his lips, "you know I don't need them to win."
   "No, I know that you'll loose no matter when you get off," Eric says, biting down on his lip ring, "take your scrawny and get off first then."
   We all get up. Mar, Uriah, and Lynn follow me as we make our way to the doors. We wait for the train to dip down to the ground so we can jump off.
   I jump off first, landing silently on my feet. The rest jump off behind me. Uriah rolls as he lands to absorb the shock while Mar and Lynn just run forward. Four had also jumped off, landing strong on his feet, only having to bend his knees a little. Everyone in our team is off now.
   Mar walks over to Four and touches his shoulder, "when your team won, where did you put the flag?"
   "Telling you wouldn't really be in the spirit of the exercise, Marlene," he answers coolly.
   "Come on, Four," she whines, giving him a flirty smile.
   Four doesn't answer, just brushes her hand off his shoulder. For some reason, I grin.
   "Navy pier," Uriah says, "my brother was on the winning team. They kept the flag at the carousel."
   "Let's go there, then," Will says.
No one says anything so we go towards the marsh, which was once a lake. When I was a kid, my dad would take Taylor and I out for walks and we'd pass the marsh all the time. I would try to picture it full of water, but it's hard to imagine there being so much water in one place.
We walk across a bridge, over the deep mud that used to be a river. On the other side of the bridge the city turns to ruin. Behind us, every building is either in use or well kept, but here, everything is crumbling. This part of the city is silent except for us; eerie. It's pitch black and difficult to see.
Next to me, Mar turns on a flashlight and shines at the street in front of us.
"Scared of the dark, Mar," Uriah teases her.
"If you want to step on broken glass, Uriah, be my guest," she snaps but turns her light off anyway.
We continue forward in the dark. It's hard at first, but then my eyes adjust and I can see the world around me. We come upon the marsh, and the wooden pier that juts out into it. Rising high above it is a giant wheel with red passenger cars. The Ferris Wheel.
"Think about it. People used to ride that thing, for fun," Will says from behind me.
"They must have been Dauntless," Tris says.
"Yeah, but a lame version of Dauntless," Chris laughs, "a Dauntless Ferris Wheel wouldn't have cars. You would just hang on tight with your hands and good luck to you."
I turn around and walk backwards, "I think it looks fun. Imagine, sitting that high above the world, rising and falling like the sun."
Uriah pokes my side, "yeah ok, Flower Child."
I punch his side and he groans, "shut up, Uriah."
We walk down the pier, past a bunch of old buildings. The signs are all ripped down and the windows are all closed. It's not as messy as I thought it would be, but I guess that's because Dauntless use it for this occasion.
We reach the carousel. It's still in ok condition besides the chipped paint and a few broken horses. I try to imagine it all lit up, people laughing and smiling as they rode it. It seems magical.
   Four takes our flag out of his pocket, "in ten minutes, the other team will pick their location. I suggest you take this time to formulate a strategy. We may not be Erudite, but mental preparedness is one aspect of your Dauntless training. Arguably, it is the most important aspect."
   He's right. Brute strength means nothing if you don't know what to do with it.
   Will takes the flag from Four.
   "Some people should stay here and guard, and some people should go out and scout the other team's location," Will says, his Erudite showing.
"Yeah? You think?" Mar plucks the flag from his grip. "Who put you in charge, transfer?"
"No one," Will says, "but someone's got to do it."
"Maybe we should develop a more defensive strategy. Wait for them to come to us, then take them out," Chris suggests.
"That's the sissy way out," Uriah argues, "I vote we go all out. Hide the flag well enough that they can't find it."
Everyone bursts into arguments, growing louder and louder. Some people back Will, others Uriah. It doesn't matter. We're wasting time yelling at each other while the other team, no doubt being commanded by Eric completely could already picking their way towards us. Four on the other hand let's us figure it out.
He sits down on the edge of the carousel leaning back against one of the horses. His eyes wander the starless sky, the moon making his eyes shine as it peaks around thin clouds. He looks almost relaxed, his hand resting on the back of his neck and a gun on his shoulder.
I have to force myself to look away from him, to focus on the task at hand.
I wish I knew how to get everyone to stop yelling. It doesn't matter how we look for the other team, who stays or goes. It all means nothing if we don't know where they are.
My eyes wander behind me and I instantly know what to do. I make sure no ones watching me and ease away from the group, and towards the Ferris wheel.