♘ Be Brave ♘

XXVII

"Welcome to training, initiates. Or, as some people refer to the it, the torture chamber." He grins. "Dauntless-borns will train in the next room, but your ranks will be determined along with theirs." He paces back and forth, never taking his eyes off of us.

"If you want to remain here and become a full Dauntless member, you will have to make it to the top ten. Otherwise, you'll have to leave us and lead a rather lonely, factionless life. It's your choice." He glances at Rachel, and she addresses the Dauntless-borns.

"Transfers, stay here. The rest of you, come with me. Zeke grins at me, and whispers, "Good luck." He grabs Lauren's hand, and she turns back to roll her eyes at Cassandra and me before they leave. After they're gone, Matthew looks at all of us.

"Okay, then. First things first. You can't always depend on a gun to defend yourself, no matter how good your aim may be, so you have to learn how to protect yourself using your fists. I'm going to demonstrate how to stand when engaging in hand-to-hand combat."

He stands at the center of the room so we can all see him. "Feet apart, fists close to your face." He demonstrates, and though he makes it look easy, I know I'll have a hard time mastering this. I can't give up, though. Not if I want to stay here. "Okay. Now, I need one initiate to help me show you how to attack an opponent. Any volunteers?"

I know the only way I'll ever learn is by practicing, so I raise my hand. A few seconds later, Eric's hand shoots upward. "Matthew." He beckons me forward, and I know without looking that Eric is glaring at me. "Okay. Feet apart, fists up here."

I do my best to imitate him, and when I'm standing correctly, he says, "I'm going to start with something easy. Try to hit me, and I'll block you." I swing at him as best I can, and he catches my hand before it connects with his face. "Well done." He smiles,and I can't help but grin.

I walk back to Cassandra and she gives me a thumbs up. I smirk at Eric, and his face turns red. No matter how menacing he may be, I wasn't going to let anyone else bully me anymore.