Dauntless Brothers

[Chapter 33] Reassurance.

"Kate."

The moment I hear the gasp, I spin around but Tris is nowhere in sight. I turn back around to look at the body which is lying here on the cold floor, all alone.

I see Eric climb onto a rock and shouts over all the chaos. "Listen up!"

This grabs everyone's attention and all heads turn towards him.

"Tonight, we'll gather in the Pit to pay our respects to Kate and to honor her Dauntless personality. What she did took guts and that's what being a Dauntless is all about."

People applaud as he ends his speech but I just look at him in disbelief.

I turn to the Initiates standing behind me. Emily is in Henry's arms and sobbing into his shirt. I know that this would've been Tris and me, if she hadn't run away.

"There won't be any Initiation today. You guys can do whatever you want."

For some reason my voice sounds sad too. I guess that's because some time back I actually cared for this girl and then found out all that she was going through. Struggling to hide her fear about being lesbian.

I start to walk away when a voice makes me turn around. "It's all your fault."

I know who it is before I even look at the person. Henry. He's standing there with a sobbing Emily in his arms. Tears brim his own eyes.

"Look. I'm not in the mood for an argument since it won't do any of us much good." With this I walk back to the apartment, hoping to bump into Tris on the way.

But I don't. I push open the door to find Evelyn sitting on the couch. She looks shaken too. I want to smack my forehead. She was her initiate too.

"I'm sorry about Kate." She says, softly.

"Yeah. Me too." With this I start to make my way to my room but bump into Eric. How could he get here so fast?

"It was an impressive speech, right?" He asks.

"No. It wasn't. Someone just committed suicide and you called it brave! It was like giving people incentive to follow her." I do my best to contain my anger.

He sighs and shakes his head. "You're just really worked up about how you couldn't get her and now there's no chance at all."

Before I can punch him, he walks away. Chucking to himself. How can he try to be funny at times at these? No wonder he's such a bad brother.

I take a shower and put on black clothes. Dauntless don't have mourning clothes since black is our color. I choose a more sophisticated outfit that usual.

Black t-shirt with black pants instead of jeans and a black sweater instead of my usual hoodie.

After slipping on my sneakers, I go down for lunch. It's no surprise that the Dauntless are chattering as usual. They always seem to be full of energy.

Tris doesn't show up for lunch either. In "honor" of Kate's death, they served fizzy drinks which I know Tris loves.

After lunch the day goes on till night arrives. By the time I get to the Pit most of the people are already there and the leaders are assembled on a raised platform with Kate behind them on a table.

Marcus is the one who speaks this time.

"We're all gathered here to remember how a Dauntless member sacrificed her life. This is what we call a true Dauntless. No matter what happens she'll always be alive in our hearts for this very reason."