Starting Over

Chapter 12

I'm shaken awake in the middle of the night by someone yelling for us to get up. I moan and sit up only to find Christina shouting at everyone that it's time to get up. I quickly throw on shoes and head out the door. I sleep in my clothes since I don't trust any of the other initiates.

We head toward the train. I quickly jump on and grab Risa's arm when she starts to slip.

"Thanks."

"No problem, it's what friends do."

I position myself in the middle of the Dauntless born initiates. I see Tobias standing in the middle of the car with Christina and Uriah, arguing about who gets first pick. I guess we're playing Capture the Flag.

Eventually Tobias lets Christina and Uriah have the first pick and starts explaining the rules. I zone out since nothing has changed since the last time I played.

"I choose Malachi," Christina calls over the roar of the train.

"B," Tobias says.

And back and forth they go. Christina calls Risa, Tobias calls Austin. Christina calls Thomas, Tobias calls Zach. Eventually everyone but Laurel is called and she's stuck with us.

"You got first pick, we get off first," Tobias hollers as he jumps off the train.

Once we've all gotten off Austin suggests we go to the woods. When we get there they start arguing over where to put the flag. Eventually we decide to put it in a tree. Then it's a matter of deciding if we want to go defensive or offensive. I keep trying to tell them that we have the advantage of time since we got off the train first and we should use it to strike, but they won't listen.

Instead of continuing to yell and be ignored, I look for the tallest tree and start to climb. A thinner branch snaps under me. Nobody notices but Tobias, who looks alarmed. I curse under my breath and keep climbing.

"What are you doing?" he whispers up at me.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I whisper back.

"Are you really going to make me climb up after you again?"

"Nobody said you have to follow."

"But you insist on going up, so do I."
I shake my head at him.

"Do whatever you want, Four. I'm not making you do anything."

He shakes his head and grabs a branch, following me up.

"At least it's not a Ferris wheel this time."

"You're right, a Ferris wheel would have been better."

He laughs. "You're right, but this is a lot better for people who are afraid of heights."

"How are you?"

"Right now? Trying not to think about it." I look down. We're over half way up.

We make it the rest of the way up the tree and I find a safe place to look down from. I curse it for having leaves.

"I don't see anything. They might have turned their flashlights off."

I turn toward the other side of the tree and look back toward the pier. "There!" I whisper shout, pointing at a building at one end of the pier. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah, that's the old conservatory. It's going to be hard to get in there. They're just now getting in and they have no clue where we are."

"We need to go now."

"Yes."

We scrabble down the tree as fast as possible. I would go faster but Tobias is under me and won't go any faster. When we finally make it to the ground everybody is still arguing.

"We have to go now," I shout over them. Nobody even looks at me so I push my way to the center of the circle.
"We have to go now!" I yell louder than before.

"Why?" asks Zach. "It's a lot safer to play defense than offense. Besides, we don't know where to go."

"Yes, we do."

I explain to them where they are and how I know. Some stand, gaping, and others give me a cold stare. A few minutes later we're on the move, silently running through the trees. It only takes us a few minutes to find the conservatory. Some of the windows are broken by branches of plants I've never seen before. It's beautiful in a creepy way. We split off into two groups: the distractions and the retrievers. I'm one of the retrievers because this was my plan, but I quickly realize that if they hung the flag on one of the taller branches then I may not be able to reach it.

I hear gunshots behind me and quickly duck behind a big plant. Instead of keeping to the ground I slide the strap on my gun so my gun is over my back and climb up the plant. They've grown so close together that it should be easy enough to climb from one to another.

From in the air I find the flag relatively fast. They have two people guarding it. While still holding on to my branch I grab my gun and quickly shoot them both before I drop to the ground. They stare at the splattered paint for a second and then look at me in awe. I easily grab the flag off of the low lying limb and scamper back up the branches. Others come to investigate and I sit still, hidden behind the leaves and branches.

"Split up," one of them says and they all run in other directions. I wait a minute before I move on, keeping as quiet as possible. I climb back the way I came and am back at the entrance in a matter of minutes. I climb out one of the broken windows, careful to avoid the shattered glass. When I'm out again I drop to the ground, rolling as I land and coming up on my feet. Tobias hears me and quickly turns from the doorway.

I hold the flag in the air. "Got it," I say with a smirk.

"Game over!" he calls into the observatory.

Christina runs out of the large room. "What are you... Oh," she trails off as she sees me with the flag in my hand.

"Game over," Tobias repeats with a grin.

"How..."

"I don't know. I heard something behind me so I turned around and there she was."

"Do you care to explain?" Christina demands as she walks toward me.

"I climbed in the plants. Nobody ever thinks to look up."

"Not fair!"

"You're the ones who chose this spot," Tobias says with a shrug.

The train ride back is rather calm. We're all tired and just want sleep. We can think about everything tomorrow. When we arrive back at the Dauntless compound I start to head to bed when Tobias grabs my elbow.

"Come with me," he says in a cold voice.

Tamra, Austin, and Risa look at me with a mix of confusion and pity. I must have done something really wrong if he's going to lecture me at 2 am. He leads me to an empty hallway away from people. There he lets go of his death grip on my elbow and turns to face me, the fire still burning in his eyes.