Choices {divergent / a.i. au} | ON HOLD

{ v }

{choices x five}

"Why aren't you with your brother?"

My hand-wringing is interrupted as a voice speaks from beside me. I look up and to my right and see Michael sitting in the seat next to mine. His eyes look at me expectantly, his lips are pursed, and I know he can tell that there's something wrong. It's times like these when I feel that Mike is more like a brother to me than Calum.

When Hailey and Ashton left Amity, Calum was the only person I had left, but along the way, we met Michael and Luke. Somehow, despite our differences, we gelled well together as a group. Since then, we were inseparable - especially Mike and I. We had this special bond for some unknown reason. He was and is always there for me in times of need, and he always goes out of his way to remind me about that.

I smile lightly at Michael and say, "Just a little argument, s'all."

"You wanna talk about it?" he asks.

"Well, I guess so, y-"

I'm cut off by the sound of the Dauntless hollering and running out of the room.

"Goddamn it," Michael mutters, "c'mon, we need to run."

He grabs my hand and pulls me along with him as we follow the slightly large group of black-clothed people going down numerous flights of stairs. My eyes dart toward different directions, trying to spot a dark-haired boy in red and yellow running amongst the Dauntless, but I lose hope as we reach the outside of the Hub where the group dissipates. They all run in different directions and start to climb the red rails that lead up to the train tracks. I run quickly behind Michael as he finds a post with less people. He lets go of my hand and climbs it with ease.

"Liana, c'mon!" he cries as he reaches the top. I carefully try to coordinate my hand movements with my feet movements. I eventually manage to bring myself to the top with Michael's help.

My breathing is heavy and Michael wraps an arm around my waist to support me. "What the hell was that all about?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

"Welcome to the very first part of initiation, Li," he says.

I look at him with confusion etched all over my face and he adds, "Listen, when the train comes, jump, okay? Get on that train as quickly as you can, and you'll be fine for the time being."

I nod and just as if on cue, I hear the sound of the train. Along with the train, I hear the sound of feet slamming against metal and I turn around to see everyone running.

"Michael!" I call out to the boy who was now a fair few feet away from me.

"Run!" he cries. "You need to gain momentum to jump on the train!"

I follow his command and sprint as fast as I can as the train runs on the tracks just beside me. Just as I catch up to Michael, the Dauntless and some transfer initiates I see start jumping on the train, tightly holding onto the handles. Michael follows them, jumps on, and holds out his hand for me to take. Still running, I grab his hand and he pulls me into the train car. I gasp for air as he seats me on the cold metal floor.

"What in the world," I ask, still short of breath, "was that for?!"

He just shrugs and says, "I told you, that was the first part of initiation."

"Did you see that other Amity guy who didn't manage to get in?" he asks.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Amity guy? Didn't get in? What is he going on about?

"What?" I ask back.

He sighs. "I guess you were too busy trying to get yourself on the train to notice. I can't blame you," he says. "Some Amity kid didn't make it onto the train. He's factionless now."