The Soldier

Capture The Flag

Jenna and I sat quietly next to each other in the dining hall with matching bruises on our faces and on our bodies. We had been paired together for today's fights and it had been a good match. I was both surprised and impressed; she was learning fast and had gotten in a couple of good hits before I won.

The atmosphere at our table was somber. The missing member of our group, Calvin, had been less fortunate in his fight. When we entered the training room this morning and saw his name listed next to Davis, we immediately knew the outcome. Calvin insisted right up until his fight that he was going to be fine, but as soon as Davis knocked him to the ground we lost all hope.

I stabbed my fork into a piece of fruit and imagined it was Davis' face. He sat several tables over, smug over his recent victory, joking around with the other Erudite transfers. For now I would have to settle on taking my anger out on my food. I had to play nice, but what I wouldn't give to be able to wipe that smirk off his face and send him on his own journey to the infirmary.

The infirmary had yet to release Calvin and they were keen on continuing their new policy of barring visitors. They claimed that there were too many patients and that visitors were overcrowding the hospital rooms. I doubted this. I knew of one person that the infirmary claimed to harbor who was no longer there. News of Addie's departure had yet to be announced to the rest of the initiates and I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to share it.

"Are you done?" Jenna asked, standing up from the table and holding her tray. I followed her to the trash where we dumped our trays and exited the dining hall.

Weights and punching bags were not the only things waiting for us when we arrived back in the training room after lunch. Calvin, slightly woozy, was sitting on top of several bumper weights. Although it had only been a couple of hours, Jenna was ecstatic at his return and left me to partner up with him for the training exercises.

Eight was such a small number, especially when we doubled up. With Jenna and Calvin partnered up, I was unfortunately paired with Davis. For the exercises, one person ran laps around the gym while the other lifted weights, and then they would switch every time two laps were completed. After five rounds of this, Davis and I were the first ones done and we rested while we waited for the rest of the group to finish, leaning against the wall and drinking out of our water bottles.

"You're fast." Davis complimented me, taking a swig of his water bottle. His knuckles, slightly red with fresh marks from this morning, caught my attention when he lowered his drink and a bitter taste formed in my mouth. Calvin had had similar marks on his face this morning when they carried him off to get medical attention.

"Thanks, you are too." I took a sip of water from my bottle to wash away the taste. He didn't say anything else and we watched the rest of the initiates run around the gym and struggle to lift weights.

After a minute he broke the tension again. "Good fights this morning, huh?" He smiled down at me.

I gave him a look, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Sure."

Davis smiled wider, "You'll have to show me how you put so much force behind your punches." He took my wrist and brought it up and lightly tapped it against his jaw, hitting the same spot where I had struck him days earlier, throwing his head back dramatically at the impact. "I'm still seeing stars."

"The trick is to get paired with someone who is too slow to block a punch." I took back my hand and took a step to the side. Doesn't anyone in Dauntless know about personal space?

"No, seriously." He put his water bottle on the ground. "Teach me how."  Davis held up his arms in a fighting position and bounced back and forth on his heels. "Let's go!"