Holding On||Peter Hayes (Divergent)

Chapter 6

Marlene pinned Rita to the floor, pounding down upon the unfortunate girl's face. Droplets of blood from both girls were splattered across the mat, joining the other blood stains from the previous fights. Marlene and Rita's fight is the last of the day. The fight had been going on for ages, and Rita is not an easy target. I guess the death of her sister had made her impacted the way she worked.

I had fought Kyle, a 5"11 boy with mousy hair (like Marlene's) who is more powerful than little me. I was on the ground in seconds, however the speed I was fighting at tired him out. With an elbow to the face after ten minutes of nonstop combat, Kyle was sprawled on the floor, senseless. I put up a frail defence as Lauren had said, and that Kyle could have easily beaten me if I didn't pick up the pace.

Rita and Marlene both let out frustrated squeals as they rolled over each other on the ground. Finally, Marlene topped Rita and punched her with high-powered might across the face. Rita's head collided with the mat, her whole body motionless upon the floor. Lauren circled Marlene's name upon the chalkboard and threw down the white chalk piece she had. "Well done to all of you," Lauren congratulated us all. "It's dinner in an hour, make sure you all get down there on time."

Everyone rushed out of the training room, most likely heading for the Pit. I stayed behind, tying my lengthy hair up in a high, messy ponytail. Why? Well, I wanted to win my next few fights, and I feel as if my last performance was weak. I made my way to a punching bag, fixing my position and body. My legs were bent and springy, my arms shielding my upper body and lower part of my face. I faced the punching bag and began to pummel the orange sack, the leather and my skin creating a loud thwack. I kept punching harder and harder, stepping back as the punching bag swung violently.

My arms ached and my knuckles were splitting, blood trickling out. This didn't make me want to quit. If only I felt this strong when it came to my Dad. I could have easily shown him that I wasn't that puny sixteen year old daughter he had. I could have shown him that I was Dauntless, that I was brave, that I wasn't afraid of him...

But I'm not just Dauntless. I am Erudite too. I am Divergent. But how? How am I an Erudite? I wouldn't class myself as smart, but then you learn new things about yourself along the way, don't you? For example, just recently I learnt I was tolerable to a lot of pain. My hands are bruised and the pain was near enough excruciating, however I still hit the punching bag, each smack harder than the other.

"Jones? What are you doing?" I lost concentration, stopped punching the punching bag. It swung into me, hitting the same hip I injured yesterday during my fight with Uriah. I yelped in agony, reeling back. Before I fell to the floor, strong arms held me by the waist, keeping me me fixed to the spot. "You okay?"

I turned my head to see Peter looking down at me, studying me with a hint of concern in his face. I narrowed my eyebrows at Peter, pulling away from his hands which he didn't bother to extract from my waist. "Piss off." I grunted, walking back to the punching bag. My hands and arms were throbbing, and when I started to smack the bag again the pain intensified. I winced after every punch, but hid my face from Peter.

"Well thanks," Peter muttered. "So much for being nice..."

"Well," I panted, still working at the punching bag, "I - don't need - your - kindness."

"Fine then. Bye." Peter walked off, leaving me to carry on pounding the bag.

***

Straight after Uriah swung himself into the train, I hopped in, standing beside him and Lynn. "Field trip, huh?" Lynn said, folding her arms and leaning against the train wall. "I would have thought of something more exciting than a trip to the fence."

"I guess you're right, but haven't you ever wondered what's out there?" I ask. Lynn shrugged and walked off, waving at Becky and Rita.

Once the train reached the end of the line, we all jumped, finding ourselves in the Amity territories. When we approached the fence, Four tells us that if we aren't a part of the top five after initiation, we would probably end up a fence guard. We all walked around the gate, looking at the guards who patrolled the large metal structure, guns in their hands.

"I wouldn't wanna do this," AJ whispered to me as we passed a guard. "Being stuck here all day holding a gun and looking out to whatever is beyond the fence - who'd wanna do that?"

"Say that and you'll most likely end up here, AJ." I sniggered, nudging my brother. He nudged me back harder and soon we were trying to throw each other to the floor. Marlene grabbed me by the shoulder, pulling me away from AJ.

"You two are always at each other's throats, aren't you," she tutted.

"Not always." I shrugged. Marlene kept dragging me until we reached Uriah. He grinned at us, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Nice tattoo, Piper." Uriah nodded to my arrow tattoo, which was revealed by my shoulder cut top.

"Have you gotten one?" I asked. Uriah turned to the side and pushed his ear aside to show me a curling snake behind his ear.

"It hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it," Uriah said.

We all turned to face the fence. Beyond these walls that enclosed us was yet to be discovered. From what was visible to my eyes, dead grass and long, overgrown weeds stretched far back, right towards the horizon and maybe beyond. Whatever is out there is most likely destroyed, torn down, in smithereens... the list could go on. Or maybe there was something great outside, a utopia where nobody was sorted into factions, where everyone was equal, where Divergents weren't monsters. I want to see what lies beyond these enclosures, but then a part of me wants to keep within the city. I doubt there'll ever be a chance for us to escape.