From Nothing To Everything [Divergent Fan-Fic]

The Cheese Is Mightier Than The Knife

Halyn POV

        I walked along the abandoned streets of the factionless, skipping rocks across the sidewalk, looking at the faces of the poor people WE deserted. Well, maybe not we.

        "Hey Brian." I said casually as I walked up to my brother, who was on the street corner begging for food. "Did you get anything?" He rummaged through his pack and said "Some raisins, a pouch of nuts and.... an apple." He took out a shining red apple and bit into it. "Hey! Leave some for me!" I chided, shoving his shoulder.

        We walked back to our ally and sat against the brick wall. "Pass me the nuts." I told him. He tossed me the little bag filled with peanuts and took out the apple. He took out his pocket knife and split it in half. "Here." he said, giving me the half he didn't bite. I gratefully took it and devoured it. It had been forever since we had fresh fruit, and I wasn't going to wait for it to go bad.

        As we sat there, eating our lunch, we heard a girl say "Let go of me." I looked around the corner and saw some old creep I've seen a few times before grabbing an Abnegation girl's wrist. Every time I saw that guy, I shuddered. This wasn't any different.

        She looked him dead in the eyes, scowling. He let go, muttering something, and she zipped away. "Give me the knife." I told Brian. "Halyn, what are you-" "Give. Me. The knife." I repeated, enunciating very clearly. He hesitated, then gave it to me. I flipped it open and stormed up to the man. "What the HELL was that?!" I yelled. "None a your business." "Oh, but I think it is." I say, poison dripping from my voice. I stepped on his foot and, when he yelped, I dug the knife up to his neck. One slice and his miserable life was over.

        "This girl comes here and gives us the food that we can't afford. She comes and gives you what you need to live, and you go traumatizing her!" I dug the knife deeper. He gave me a look of pure terror, but I didn't care. "You give the factionless a bad name! I should end your pointless life RIGHT NOW!!" I screamed in his face. I dropped the hand with the knife to my side. "But I won't, because unlike you, I care about what happens to people. Now leave, before I change my mind." He scurried away as I stood there, fuming. I walked off into the streets, thinking about this morning.

(This morning)

        "Don't be so jittery." Brian told me as we sat in the cafeteria. I hadn't realized I was tapping the table with my fingers. God, just sitting here is nerve wrecking, waiting for the test that may change our lives. What made me even more nervous was the glares from the other kids. The only reason we were even here was because the Abnegation government officials made it nessesary that all children from all factions to come to school. I don't think it made a difference, though, because we were the only kids who were factionless before the choosing ceremony. Most of them died before they turned 16. We are known as "Hobos" among the school and there hasn't been one kid who let us be, except for maybe the Abnegation kids, but that's just because they're forced to be nice. I should have done something about the glares, but under the circumstances, I didn't think flipping them off was the best idea.

        They started calling people by the first letter of their last names. In the case of siblings, oldest to youngest. "Brian Autre." I heard someone call. He got out of his seat, pat my shoulders, and walked off to the test rooms.

       All I could think about was the test, the others, and the fly buzzing around my head. My headache grew as I tried to swat the fly away. It only buzzed louder. At some point, I just gave up and waited for Brian. When he came back, his face was deathly pale. "How did it go?" I ask. He just walked past me and muttered "See you at home." I gulped. "Halyn Autre." As I followed the little woman to the test rooms, I could literally feel the hateful glares burn through the back of my head. I was relieved when we finally came into the room.

        The light burned my eyes and it took me awhile to adjust. I looked around at the large room I was sent to. I walked up to one of the walls and looked at my reflection. I was fairly tall for my age, standing 5'7" and I was very slim (but who would have expected different). My waist-long brown hair was pulled up in a pony tail to keep it out of my way. My eyes were a deep blue today, but that always changes, from green to hazel to gray and sometimes even red. My face was pale and narrow, slightly boney from starvation (though not a severe case). "AHEM!" someone cleared their throat behind me. I jumped and spun around on my heel, my pony tail whipping me in the face.

        A petite woman from Amity was standing next to a dentist chair in the middle of the room. How did I miss THAT? I walked up to her and laid down on the chair. "Hello Halyn. My name's Olive." she said cheerily. "I will be administrating your aptitude test today." She attached electrodes to my head and gave me a vial of liquid. "Drink." she said softly. I tilted my head back and downed it in one gulp. It tasted like a wet dog smells. I coughed a bit, then laid back again.

        My vision shifted to a room with a table and 2 baskets. One had a knife about the size of my forearm and the other had a huge hunka cheese. "Choose." A woman's voice boomed. "Why?" "Choose!" she repeats, already sounding a little annoyed. I look back at the table. Knife, cheese, knife, cheese. A little light bulb went off in my head. I grabbed both the knife and the cheese, basket and all. "You must CHOOSE!!" The voice said, getting really angry. "I did. I chose both." I reply, patting myself on the back. I grab the cheese and took a bite out of it. Simulation cheese tastes just like regular cheese I thought to myself happily. She started getting flustered, muttering gibberish, probably trying to find a solution. Even if she was, she couldn't find it, because after 10 seconds, the table disappeared and a door appeared on the far wall.

        An angry dog ran out and charged toward me. I set the knife aside and placed the cheese basket on its side. The dog stopped running and gave me a confused look. It slowly walked up and took the cheese. When it sniffed, I caught it in the basket and watched as it thrashed. I sat on it to keep it from running, but I just got dragged along. I was swung around in circles until it finally gave up. It took a second to get my wits back before getting off the Mechanical Pit Bull.

        "PUPPY!!" someone yelled. I turned toward the voice to see a little girl standing by the door. The basket started moving again, rushing toward her. It flew off, revealing the frothing dog from earlier. I ran, but not toward the dog. I picked the little girl up and put her on my shoulders. When the dog ran in front on me, I stepped on it and made a mad dash for the knife. I picked it up when the dog finally realized what had just happened and came after me. I turned, knife drawn, and pointed it at the dog. He backed up, put his tail between his legs, and ran back through the door. I let the girl down just in time for the scene to change.

        I was on a bus, standing in front of some guy with a newspaper. "Do you know this man?" he said pointing to a picture of a man on the front page. I squinted, trying to remember if I knew him. "No sir." I told him, almost certain I didn't know him. "Please, you can save me." he lowered the newspaper, revealing his face. Half of it was burned a horrible black. It was absolutely horrifying. "Sir, if I knew him, I would have told you." I insisted. We had sort of a stand off until the scene melted away, revealing the blinding light of the testing room.

        I looked over at Olive, who was busily typing on her computer. "This is highly unusual." she said, not looking up from the screen. "What is?" I asked her, not sure if I wanted to know the answer. "The structure of the test allows for one or more faction to be eliminated throughout each stage. Amity would have immediately taken the cheese, sending them to a different scene. You took both, so that didn't really decide anything, especially since you used the cheese instead of just killing the dog. Luring the dog into a trap was something Erudite would do, saving the girl was Abnegation, and jumping on the dog to get the knife was a definite Dauntless.

        "Something went wrong with the bus, so you didn't feel you knew the man. We should administer the test again, but we only have so much serum. Either way, you told the truth, so you could possibly be Candor. The test did absolutely nothing to prove which faction you belong in." God, why do I have to be so difficult? My head was swimming with thoughts. "What am I then?" I asked. "You are what we call Divergent. And a very rare case at that. Halyn, never tell anyone what you are." she warned. "I know that already." I told her. "No, I don't mean just now. Don't tell anyone EVER." she said, more urgently this time. "Ok." I said simply, then walked out.

A/N: Sorry if the quotes aren't spot on, but I returned the book to the library too early and I can't get it back. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but I got all kinds of other stories I have to work on. Comment if you want me to update.