Chasm

Chapter 5

TRIS POV

Something shakes me forcefully. It could be the explosion in my dream, but it feels more like a rocking than a harsh blast.

"Tris."

The shaking is detached from the frightening visions in my mind now. The chaos begins to fade away.

"Tris, wake up."

My eyes fly open, and I bolt up on my cot. I am in the Dauntless dormitory, and by the looks of it, Christina and I are nearly the only ones left. There are only a few people still changing.

"Huh?" I murmur, my mouth numb.

"We're going to be late. Hurry and get dressed," she rushes out.

Everything clicks in place. I'm late for training. Great. My constant nightmares have kept me up to the point where I desperately needed to sleep in, and now I am going to pay for it.

In a frenzy, I change my pants, my shirt, and throw a jacket on over my outfit. When I am pulling on my combat boots, Christina offers me a muffin with a bright smile that no person should have at this time in the morning.

"Thanks," I say, accepting it once my hands are empty.

On the way to the training room, I devour the muffin, wishing I had more time to savor it, but it was wasted. We arrive a minute before we're supposed to begin, and I throw my hair up in a messy ponytail for the remaining seconds that we wait for any late initiates to arrive. It turns out that Christina and I were the last ones.

That was close, if the warning look that Four shot at me when we walked in wasn't indication enough. From now on, I can't let my nightmares claim me as they usually do. If I don't want to be factionless, it is of the upmost importance that I arrive to training on time.

I am still kneeling to tie my shoes when Four begins.

"That was a close call for some of you," he warns. He looks grumpy and like he doesn't want to talk, as he normally does in the mornings. "Training starts at eight. I would recommend that you all get here at least five minutes earlier."

Tucking the long parts of my shoelaces in, I rise and offer my full attention.

"Before we begin, I'm going to go over our schedule. We will train from eight to twelve, take a one-hour lunch break, and continue training from one to five. Then you will be free to do as you please for the rest of the night until ten, which is lights out." So essentially the same as last year. Good.

"Training will last about a month, or a little longer considering the amount of initiates we have this year," Four adds, pacing as he recites his annual lines in monotone. "There will be three stages of training. The first is physical, in which you will learn the combat techniques that you will need to become a Dauntless soldier. In the second stage, you will face your worst fears. And in the third, you will combine these skills to prove your worth to us."

All of this information goes in my ear and out the other. The basics of initiation have not changed, and therefore there is no reason to try to fill my head with something I already know. I will be relearning enough today anyway; I need all of the possible space in my head to be cleared.

Four continues, "Transfers from last year, I suggest you pay attention to this part." We perk up at this. "There will be cuts again this year, meaning that if you aren't fit to be Dauntless, then you will be made factionless."

The training room becomes so silent that it is impossible to hear anyone's breathing. While I am not completely surprised, there is a hopeful part of me that deflates. I thought that with the population drop in Dauntless because of the war, maybe there wouldn't be cuts. I thought that with Eric gone, Dauntless wouldn't be so brutal.