'The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.' -Jim Hightower
In a society divided into five factions, two girls must make a choice.
Amity-born April Dexter 'Dex' Meadows has always known that s...
I lie awake in bed that night thinking over what Amar had said. Once I'd told him everything he knew about Isaac, he didn't look surprised at all, but his expression was grim.
There had been someone like that last year, in his group, called Max. Max transferred from Erudite, was an expert in martial arts, and did fairly well in the Second stage of Initiation. And he is now a Dauntless leader.
It's good having an ally like Amar. Before, I felt all alone. I couldn't talk to anyone about my Divergence.
But with someone like Amar, maybe I have a good chance of surviving and we could help the others make it into Dauntless too. After all, Amar managed to hide his Divergence last year and got into Dauntless.
I roll over into my bed to shift into a good sleeping position, when suddenly I hear a noise. I freeze, trying to remain as still as I can to hear better.
Someone is climbing down from a top bunk near me. My breathing sounds loud and I hold my breath, listening as the person tiptoes away from me.
I twist my head as silently as I can and see the tall form of Isaac leaving the dorm. I wait a few seconds until I know he's in the hallway and then, releasing the breath I'm holding in a gasp, I attempt to quietly climb down from my bunk.
I walk as silently as I can over to the door of the dorm. Thankfully, he's left it open so I don't have to worry about it creaking, and I peer round the doorframe. Isaac has got his back to me and his walking fairly quickly down a corridor.
I wait until he's round the bend, and then try to move as silently as I can after him. At the next bend, I stop and then waiting until he's round the next one before following. I keep up this pattern for the next few corridors, and it doesn't take me long to figure out where he is going: the first room we entered in the Dauntless compound.
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"I need you to focus, Brooke," says Amar as he brandishes the needle, "We need to average out your time to about ten minutes, so I need you to stay as long as you can in the simulation until you crack." I nod. Fairly simple mathematics. If my time is too short, I'll definitely stand out.
Amar injects me the needle and when I next open my eyes, I'm standing barefoot on a beach, the sand in between my toes. Makes a change from the fire I think and I smile, but my smile fades as I realise that I'm slowly sinking into the sand.
I'm tempted to just remind myself that it's just a simulation and to make myself float in mid-air or something. But I know I need to delay my time as much as possible.
I have to do the unthinkable: I have to force myself to panic.
I try to quicken my breathing, even though my brain is screaming that it's the least logical thing to do. I remember a phrase my mother used to say to Clara when she was younger. When you panic, she's say you look like a headless chicken.
