Resurgent

Part 5

Welcome to the pit, you will learn to love it,” Uriah hesitates before saying “Or despise it.”

Christina shows us some basic moves and lets us go practice. I can't help but feel like i’m being watched when Four and Tris walk into the pit. I feel like all of the instructors are hovering over me, just me, like they are waiting for me to do something.

Tris slowly walks over to me and put her hands on my shoulders, “You have strong shoulders and elbows, use them.” Then she moves onto the next initiate.

We train all day then are finally done for dinner. I sit between Sam and Kenzie, and Jake and Dylan sit across from us.

“Is it just me or does everyone here look really young?” Kenzie points out, looking around at all of the Dauntless members.

“Hmmm” I pause thinking about what Kenzie said

“Yeah, everyone here was given a serum that stops physical growth, after the war.” Dylan says, his Erudite is showing. “Before the war, when there was still the Factionless, older Dauntless members were forced to leave Dauntless in one way or another.”

“Dylan, your Eruditie is showing,” Sam complains

“Do you want to know why everyone looks so young here?” Sam stays quiet “Thank you. Anyway, because a once a person becomes a full member of a faction they are members until they die. The serum the Dauntless members were injected with makes their body stop growing but leaves the mind alone.”

“So what you're saying is that everyone here gets to stay young forever? Awesome,” Kenzie says

"I wonder how old Four, Uriah, Tris,and Christina really are?" Jake says

“They can’t be too old,” Dylan says “based on their body age and the year the serum was developed i would say Tris, Uriah, and Christina were 17 when they were injected so they would be 32 ish now. Four looks older, maybe 19 when he was injected so about 34 now.”

“Your Erudite is showing again.” Sam says again, I can tell she is getting annoyed.

I continue eating my cake without saying a word, as the conversations about our trainers drags on. The conversations vary from what faction they came from to what kind of cake they like best, but it never strays too far from our instructors.

After dinner was over we wandered around the compound for awhile, eventually we end up at a tattoo place.

“What should I get?”

“We should all get the dauntless flames so we don’t remember what we left behind but a new beginning for all of us.” Sam says.

“I like the idea.” Kenzie says.

Sam and I go last, and everyone else ditches us. It doesn’t feel right, just getting the Dauntless symbol. I ask the tattoo artist to put all of the faction symbols down my back. I was done before Sam even started. She just sat, staring at a picture of the Dauntless flames.

“Come on, you can't bow out now,” I tell her but I can see in her eyes that she doesn’t want to go through with it. “I will be right here the entire time, and it isn’t as bad as you think”

“Fine, where did you get yours?”

“On my back,”

“Okay,” She pulls off her shirt and lets the tattoo artist start. She holds my hand and squeezes her eyes shut until the tattoo is finished.

“Now, that wasn’t too bad,” I say

She laughs a little then says “Shut up,”

We walk around the compound for almost an hour. As we walk by the chasm she slips her hand into mine, and we walk hand and hand back to the dormitory. When we get there everyone is already asleep.

Sam starts walking over to her bed when I grab her arm, “You can sleep in my bed again,” I hesitate “if you want.”

I see the corners of her mouth lift into a smile, even in the dim light. I hold my hand out and she takes it. I guide her to my bed, both of us slipping off our shoes before we climb under the covers.