Dauntless

Dauntless: What Are You Afraid Of?

I sat at the table, picking at the vegetables on my plate as I listened to Zeke and Uriah banter back and forth, entertaining the entire table with their stories.
I chuckled, Tori grinning where she sat beside me, sipping out of her cup. This was one of the rare moments I could relax, just enjoy being around other Dauntless who I could consider to be my friends.
Zeke sat across from me at the table with his brother beside him, the four of us keeping more to ourselves, a little group.
I laughed as Uriah threatened his brother with a fork, feigning insult at Zekes playful jabs, earning a pinch to the arm for his efforts.
"That's what you get," Tori teases him, chuckling. "You two get into more trouble then you're worth."
"Aww, don't be like that, Tori! You know you enjoy it!"
Tori shook her head at Zeke.
He was a little wild, but he's Dauntless after all.
We all were.
I smiled into my cup, trying to not show how much I was enjoying myself.
"Excuse me."
Hmm?
I glanced up as a younger Dauntless sidled up to our table, one of the Dauntless born with platinum hair and black piercings all over him. I didn't know his name, I'd just seen him around, and he hadn't been in my group of initiates.
"Watcha need, dude?" Zeke asked cheerfully, but the kid ignored him, instead turning to look at me pointedly.
I frowned up at him, twisting the end of my hair over my shoulder absently.
"What?" I finally snapped, weirded out with him just looking at me. I hated it when people did that, it made me incredibly uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, you're just.... so beautiful, I couldn't find the words to express myself."
I stared at him like he'd grown a third head, and I could see Zeke and Uriah start to grin out of the corner of my eye.
"Uh..." Wow I'm so articulate.
"I'm Den. I've seen you around a lot," he confidently leaned his hip against the table, probably three or four years younger then me and barely out of diapers. "I finally gathered the courage to speak to you."
Right.
I looked at the others, but everyone was suddenly interested in their plates, abandoning me completely to this embarrassing situation.
Fuck.
Um.
"Um, I... kid ---."
"I'm seventeen, I'm not a kid," he burst, apparently sensitive about his age. "Let me prove that to you tonight."
Oh holy fuck.
I felt my face turn bright red as Zeke burst into giggles, trying to muffle them quickly, and even Tori was starting to snicker.
"Ah, look, um, I'm not, I mean ---." I floundered, for once in my life unable to form a coherent sentence. I wanted to gut punch him for putting me in this situation, to be honest, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself either.
Ahh, hell.
"You're a little late to the party, dude," Zeke finally interjected after a few moments of watching me wallow. "She's got a boyfriend you don't want to challenge."
Oh right!
Eric!
Why didn't I think of him quicker!?
"Yeah!" I said a little too quickly, nodding. "I've a boyfriend. He's a badass. Totally jealous and shit. You should probably move on."
Quickly.
This was so terrible, no one was ever going to let me live this down!
Kid just shook his head, and to my horror he leaned down, getting in my personal space and making himself known.
My hand curled tightly around my fork as I narrowed my eyes at him, not appreciating the unwarranted invasion.
I was going to stick this fork so far up his ass he'd be crying for days if he didn't back off.
"Come on," he urged, propping his arm right in front of me so I had to look up at him. "Gimme one night and I can prove you don't need him."
"Give me one night and I'll make sure you're no longer able to prove anything."
Fuck.
We all looked over at the cold words, Eric towering over the kid, whose eyes were suddenly bugging out of his skull as he hastily tried to lean up; we'd tried to warn him.
"Is there a reason you're hitting on my woman?" Eric asked with narrowed eyes, his hand curling into the front of the kids shirt. I glanced around nervously, seeing he was drawing everyone's attention, exactly what I'd been trying to avoid!
"N-no, I --- I was just ---."
"He was just leaving, Eric," I said quickly, not wanting to watch the kid die in front of me. "Let him go. You've made your point."
I was waiting for the kid to pee on himself he was shaking so badly in Eric's grip, looking horrified and frightened.
We'd warned him, why did no one ever listen!?
Yeesh.
Eric scowled, then released his grip on the kid, watching him with calculating eyes as he scurried off a fair distance; hopefully the poor kid wouldn't die in his sleep tonight.
"This is the best dinner I've ever had," Zeke said with a grin as everyone started to relax now that there wasn't going to be a murder in front of them. "I knew I liked having you around, Camille!"
"Fuck off, Zeke." I rolled my eyes, Eric slowly sitting down beside me, still scowling. I felt his arm slip possessively around the back of my chair, and I sighed into my cup.
I liked that he was a little jealous, a little overprotective, but not when he took it to extremes.
~~~~~
"He's just a kid, Eric."
"That doesn't mean he can hit on you!" Eric snapped, glaring at me from across the room. "I've made it very clear that you're mine!"
I frowned at him, irritated. "I'm not yours, Eric. I sleep with you because I want too, and you've never made any official claims to me either."
He rolled his eyes. "It's very clear at this point that we're together, Camille, there's no hiding it. Everyone knows."
"Apparently not."
His eyes narrowed. "What do you want from me then? Do you want me to marry you, is that what you're looking for?"
"Don't be an asshole, Eric! You know I don't want to marry you, but you could at least ask me out! We've been together for months, exclusively, and you're pissy at the idea of me being with someone else --- so why don't you ask me out?"
I had to admit, it'd been bothering me why he hadn't. Seriously, it's been months now, everyone knows about us --- why didn't he want to ask me to be his girlfriend?
"I don't like titles, what's wrong with how it is now? It's just a word that people say, Camille, nothing more. Why are you so demanding?"
"Demanding!?" I shrilled, clenching my fists. "I'm demanding? Have you ever met yourself!?"
"For fucks sake ---!"
"Fuck you, Eric!"
"Where the hell are you going!?"
"I'm going to be demanding somewhere else, asshole!"
~~~~~
"You know the factionless are acting up," Tori says as we stand together outside her tattoo shop, her voice a little worried. "A lot of people are thinking they're organizing, that they might try to attack or something."
"Why would they? They wouldn't be foolish enough to try here first anyway." I shrugged my shoulders. "They chose their place in life, not us."
"Camille ---."
"I'm just saying! They walked out on their factions or weren't good enough, it's not our fault. Abnegation keeps them fed, what more do they want?"
Tori sighs at me. "You sound more and more like Eric every day."
I glared at her. "I do not!"
"You do, Camille. You used to care a little about other people, now you're as big as a ---."
"Camille! Upstairs, now! Maxs orders!"
Huh?
I looked at the level above me, seeing one of the other Dauntless leaders looking down at me, motioning with her hand; her voice had been serious.
What's going on?
I sent Tori a uncertain look before I took off, starting for the meeting room I knew I was supposed to go too. It only took me a few minutes before I was up the stairs and inside, naturally finding my place beside Eric where he leaned against the wall.
"What's going on?" I asked, absently leaning into him.
We might fight a lot, but I couldn't seem to stay mad at him very long, which I guessed is the way a relationship was suppose to work. I felt his arm curl around my neck, pulling me into the curve of his body.
"Something about the factionless is all I've heard," he sighed, apparently no longer mad at me either.
"Oh. Are they acting up or something?"
"Max will explain."
Ugh.
Always Max.
Max didn't even know how to tie his own shoes, in my opinion, he wasn't as sufficient a leader as I'd originally thought. I was disgruntled at having to wait, but it's not like I'd had any other plans.
It only took a few minutes for him to arrive dramatically, tossing the meeting room doors open and striding in with Dauntless on his heels.
All he needed was a black cape and a sword to complete the image.
"Shut the doors." He ordered, glancing around the room at the gathered members. "We have a problem. A difficult one. According to our intelligence, the factionless are gathering."
Gathering?
Dammit.
There went my bubble bath tonight.
"I need volunteers to go out tonight and scope the factionless sectors, see what you can gather about their movements. We need all the Intel we can get, make sure they're not planning some attack. Our last raid didn't give us anything, but that doesn't mean they're not still planning anything."
I glanced around, seeing no one was exactly hopping at the chance to leave the compound tonight.
I sighed; might as well get all the work out of the way. Maybe I'd at least get to fight someone.
"I'll go," I volunteered, frowning. "It's just factionless. If they're organizing, we cut them down like we always do, simple."
A few of them dead wouldn't hurt anything.
"I'll go too," Eric said immediately, his grip tightening around my shoulders. "We should have two teams, at the minimal of six, if not more. We don't want to take any chances."
"Very well. You two can lead the teams," Max said, and I saw Eric frown. "I need the rest of you to find willing Dauntless and have them ready in an hour for us to move out. Erudite ---," Of fucking course. "'--- has the factionless strongest here, and here," he motioned at the map of the city against the wall. "Infiltrate the centers, but don't engage unless necessary. All of you need to come back alive."
It's just factionless.
Max was making this out like we were going to war or something!
I sighed, crossing my arms.
"Why are they organizing?"
"That's what I'm sending you in to find out," Max says, dark lips drawing down. "We don't know what's going on, we don't know why they're all converging, if it's threatening or not. But something has to be done to make sure it's ----."
"We should just get rid of the factionless," Eric muttered, shaking his head. "They cause us more strife then they do any good!"
"You can't just take out an entire group of people," someone else argued. "Just because they don't have a faction!"
Eric started to argue, but I squeezed his arm, wanting him to drop it. If she ended up on his team I didn't want there to be an issue.
"Well," Max glances around as it quiets. "What are you all waiting for? Find some volunteers!"
~~~~~
"You shouldn't be going out tonight," Eric mutters at me as I strap on my gear, twisting my hair into a bun on the back of my head. "Let me and the others take care of it."
"Why? Think I can't handle myself?"
"No. You're more then capable. I worry about the others fucking up and getting you hurt --- or you getting hurt trying to help them."
I sighed, strapping on my last bit of gear with a grimace.
"You worry too much, Eric."
"You don't worry enough."
"You can stop acting like you care and get ready," I shoved his vest into his arms in irritation. "We leave out in ten minutes."
I walked away, ignoring his disgruntled look as I left him in his room.
He wouldn't ask me out, he didn't want to make us official, so why bother to pretend he cared? Am I not just a pleasant fuck for him?
I was still a bit ticked about it.
I sighed, rubbing my face as I made my way upstairs, finding a few other Dauntless joining me as we went to the roof, intent on catching the train.
"Four, what are you doing?" I blinked when he caught up with me, wearing the same black armor I was.
"I volunteered."
"Shouldn't you be with Tris? She couldn't have wanted you coming."
"I didn't tell her."
Just like a man.
I shook my head. "She'll be pissed at you for running off."
"It'll be fine," Four dismisses instantly, holding the door open for me at the top of the stairs, letting everyone pass by.
Despite we were both high up in the ranks, it was rare I ever saw Four unless we had a new batch of initiates. He stayed in intelligence, so I wasn't surprised he knew about this little mission or that someone went to him. He was a capable soldier after all.
Him and Tris have been together officially ever since she became an official Dauntless member --- he'd asked her out officially.
Why the hell couldn't Eric do that!?
The gravel of the roof crunched beneath my boots as the group of us walked to the train platform, no one speaking. You could only feel the cool night breeze, the occasional sound of a bug or someone coughing.
What were we waiting for?
"Your weapons are waiting for you on the train," Max called, my eyes finding him after a moment. "Good luck everyone."
I frowned, stepping onto the train, walking to the front where the cases were stacked. I opened one, staring down at the heavy duty machine gun in its soft padding.
I wasn't looking forward to killing anyone, hopefully this at was just a simple gathering; maybe the factionless liked bingo?
I started handing out the guns, making sure everyone had extra clips of ammo, not wanting to take any chances.
There wasn't many of us, maybe sixteen in total, more then what Eric had suggested.
My eyes found him across the train compartment, seeing he was checking his chamber, dark eyes concentrating.
I felt bad for snapping at him.
Was I being too bitchy?
"Everyone line up, seven in a row. Eric and I are leading the teams," I called, my voice ringing sharply through the compartment. "We need to have a plan A and a plan B before we get there. We should scope the situation, gather information, and then return as quick as possible. Is everyone's radios on? Check them."
Everyone shuffled, reaching for their right shoulders, checking their requirement after forming into two lines, or rather picking which team they wanted to be on.
I wasn't surprised Four chose my side instead of Eric's.
When everyone was sure their equipment worked and had enough ammo, all we had to do was wait.
I stepped over to the open door of the compartment, watching the city go by, flashes of light every now and again.
I had a bad feeling and I wasn't sure why.
I felt his hand close around my hip, caught a whiff of his cologne before I felt his lips on my forehead. I leaned into Eric's side, frowning.
"I wish you wouldn't have volunteered," he murmured, and I could hear the worry in his voice. "The factionless are volatile right now."
"I'm volatile right now."
He chuckled reluctantly. "I'm aware. But, Camille, if things go south ---."
"I'm expect you to be waiting for me on the train," I interrupt, tilting my head to look up at him. "And to pull me up when I jump on last minute."
He frowned at me. "If things go south, and I'm not on the train, don't get off."
What!?
"Eric ---."
"Im serious, Camille. Don't get off the train."
"Like I'm going to fucking leave you," I snapped, twisting around so I could face him, my hands on my hips. "Don't get all sentimental on me, Eric, when you won't even ask me out!"
Eric looked piqued. "We talked about this ---."
"It doesn't mean that I like it. Even Four asked his girlfriend out appropriately."
Eric gave an exasperated sigh as he rocked back on his heels, and I scowled at him; he hated being compared to Four.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me!"
"I'm not rolling my eyes."
"Yes you fucking are, and so help me, Eric, I'll ---."
"This is great leadership you guys are showing. Such teamwork."
We both swiveled to glare at Zeke as he slipped up to us, looking chipper despite the fact he was dressed in bullet proof armor.
"Fuck off, Zeke," we both snapped in unison, only managing to make him grin.
"Wow, you two are perfect for each other. I never doubted it, yknow. Well, except when people flirt with Camille. Personally I think she should find herself a boyfriend and get married with some kids, like the rest of the women --- ow! Camille!"
"Stop being an asshole," I grouched at him, rubbing my knuckles where I'd punched his shoulder. "I don't even want kids."
"Not yet. But when you realize your biological clock is ticking ---."
"Zeke."
"Yeah, Eric?"
"I'm going to shove you off the train."
Zeke took a long step back, raising his hands in a placating manner before backing off.
Yeesh.
"See? Even he thinks you should ask me out."
"He didn't even say that!"
"Yes he did!" I huffed at him stubbornly. Eric looked frustrated, I knew I was getting on his nerves with the whole thing, but I wasn't going to let it go until I got my way.
Dammit.
What was the big deal anyway?
What was he afraid of?
"We're almost there," someone called, and I looked out, seeing we were. I took a step back from the door, able to feel the train slowing now, the shaking of the compartment lessening.
Time to go.
Eric and I lined up in front of the door, holding our guns in front of us as we prepared to jump out as soon as the train was slow enough.
Ten seconds.
I bit my lip, then turned, curling my hand tightly in the front of Eric's shirt and jerking his lips down to mine, making sure he knew I wasn't really mad at him, just in case.
"Just for luck," I murmured, his eyes inches from mine. He sighed, his lips brushing my nose before he leaned up.
And off we went.
~~~~~~
This was the biggest fucking mistake ever!
I crouched behind the crate with Zeke, flinching as the bullets pinged off everything around us.
This was a trap if I ever saw one, no wonder Eric hadn't wanted a lot of people going, he must have suspected. No wonder he hadn't wanted me coming.
I didn't even know where he was!
I'd tried looking for him, but I couldn't get around the crate, not without the threat of dying anyway.
Shit.
Such a bad plan.
the factionless had just been waiting for us when we'd started into the factory, surrounding us and just firing.
We'd lost three immediately despite the vests.
After that, I didn't know where Eric went, or Four, or any of them except Zeke.
I tightened my hand around my gun, my palms sweating. I was burning up in my armor, my nerves taut as I didn't dare move.
I didn't know how to get us out of this.
I knew we needed to conserve our ammo, but we also needed to find a way out of this, get back to the train!
But if Eric wasn't on it --- did he really think I'd leave him there!?
I'd bomb this fucking place and blow all the factionless to kingdom come if I lost him.
"Come on," I shouted to Zeke, my ears ringing with the sound of firing guns; the factionless had to be getting them from somewhere, but at the moment I didn't have time to wonder.
I stood quickly, firing randomly in front of me in an arc, giving Zeke time to stand and make a bolt. I have one more second of fire before I dashed after him, both of his sprinting to make it out of the factory.
I ducked instinctively as the bullets pinged off a column by my head, but I didn't dare stop, I just kept going, my legs burning and shaking by the time Zeke and I made it to the open yard, still full of shattered old crates.
Fucking factionless!
We dived behind a row of metal equipment, hunkering down to the best of our ability.
Okay, so this plan sucked.
Where's everyone else? Did anyone make it to the train?
Eric?
I clenched my hand in Zekes shoulder, drawing my lips close to his ear.
"Do you see Eric anywhere!?"
Zeke hesitated, then shook his head, but I could see his eyes scouring the open space anyway.
my stomach twisted, and I tightened the grip on my gun, hoping fervently he was safe.
I didn't want to go on without him.
I tugged on Zeke again, hearing the gun fire start up somewhere else.
Time for us to go!