Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Dauntless

I hid behind the freshmen of my faction, staring down at the ground.They were all taller than me, even if I raised my head, I could only see the shoulders in black.The selection ceremony ends when the last girl makes her choice, the Friendly Pie.The Dauntless were the first to leave.I fixed my eyes on the back of someone's head as I passed men and women in gray—those who had been with me. But I have to look at my parents again.At the last moment when I was about to pass them by, I looked back, and then I wished I hadn't done so, and my father's accusing eyes were burned into my eyes.At first, I thought that the burning sensation in my eyes was my father somehow setting fire in my eyes to punish me for my treachery, but that was not the case, it was tears burning my eyes.

Strangely, right beside him, my mother smiled at me. Pushed forward by the flow of people behind me, I gradually moved away from my family.They're probably the last to leave because they have to help with folding chairs and clearing bowls after the other factions have left.I turned my head, trying to find Caleb among the learned crowd behind me.Standing among the new students of the Erudite School, he was shaking hands with a transfer from the Honest School.It suddenly occurred to me that the easy smile on his face was an act of betrayal.Thinking of this, I felt a spasm in my stomach and turned my head.If it's that easy for him, maybe it can be easy for me.

I glanced at the boy on the left. He came from a learned family. He looked pale and nervous at the moment, just like me.I spent all my time worrying about which faction to choose, never thinking about what would happen if I chose Dauntless.What will be waiting for us at the Dauntless faction base? The Dauntless team did not walk towards the elevator, but turned towards the stairs, preparing to walk down the stairs.Before this, I always thought that only selfless people would take the stairs. Suddenly, everyone started running, cheers, shouts, and laughter surrounded me, and the sound of chaotic footsteps was deafening.For the intrepid, choosing to climb the stairs is not an act of selflessness, just an act of wildness.

"What the hell?" the boy next to me shouted angrily. I just shook my head, ignored him, and kept running.When I ran to the first floor, I was already out of breath, and the people from the fearless faction rushed out the door.The air outside was fresh with a hint of chill. The setting sun turned the sky orange, and the black glass of the central building reflected the afterglow of the setting sun. Dauntless men scatter in the street, blocking the way of the bus.The team walked very fast, and I sprinted desperately to barely keep up with the tail of the team.As I ran, the confusion in my heart gradually dissipated.Haven't run in a long time, and selflessness doesn't advocate doing things just for self-enjoyment, which is what I'm doing: lungs burning, muscles aching, full-throated sprinting delivering a high-pitched thrill.I ran across the street with the Dauntless group, and just around the corner, I heard that all-too-familiar sound: the train horn.

"Oh, my God, are we going to jump on that thing?" the boy from the Erudite muttered. "Yes." I replied breathlessly. I just discovered that watching Dauntless people come to school every day was also useful.With the sound of the horn echoing in the air and the flashing lights of the front of the train, the train came towards us along the track.The doors of every car were open, waiting for the Dauntless to squeeze in, which they did—jumping aboard in groups until only the freshmen were left.The freshmen from the fearless faction have long been familiar with jumping trains, and in a blink of an eye, we, the transfer freshmen, were the only ones left standing there.

A few other freshmen and I got up and started jogging.We followed the car and ran forward a few steps, then jumped at an angle.I wasn't as tall or strong as some of the freshmen, so I couldn't jump into the car all at once.On the fast-moving train, I clung to the handle of the door and slammed my shoulder into the carriage.Just when my arms were shaking and I was about to give up, a freshman from Honesty grabbed me and pulled me in.While still in shock, I panted and thanked. Suddenly, I heard a rush of shouts, and I turned my head to see a short, red-haired erudite transfer freshman waving his hands and desperately chasing the train.A girl from the learned school at the door reached out to grab the boy into the car, but despite her best efforts, he fell too far.When we left, he knelt down by the railroad track in despair, with his head in his hands, heartbroken.

At that moment, I felt sick all over.The boy who had failed Dauntless freshman orientation just now had been eliminated, and now he was a Non-Faction.This kind of thing can happen anytime. "Are you all right?" the honest girl who gave me a hand asked briskly.She is tall, has a wheat complexion, and has short, neat hair. I have to say, she is beautiful. I nod. "My name is Christina," she said, holding out her hand to shake mine. It's been a long time since I shook hands with anyone.The usual practice of altruism is to nod as a sign of respect.I took her hand and shook it twice timidly, hoping I didn't hold it too hard or too lightly.

"My name is Beatrice." "Do you know where we're going?" Christina yelled against the wind.The wind was blowing in through the open car door, blowing harder.As the train started to pick up speed, it occurred to me that shifting my weight down would help with balance, so I sat down.Christina stared at me puzzled. "The faster the speed, the stronger the wind. The strong wind will blow people down. Sit down." I looked up at her and said. Christina sat down next to me, moved back a little bit, and sat against the wall. "I guess we might go to the Dauntless base, but don't know where."

"Who knows?" She shook her head and smiled at me. "They just popped out of the ground or somewhere." Strong winds rushed into the compartment, and under the impact of the airflow, other transfer freshmen fell to the ground like arhats stacked on top of each other.Christina laughed. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but I managed to force a smile. I turned to look to the left, the orange light of the setting sun reflected on the glass building, and I vaguely saw the train passing the rows of gray houses that used to be my home. It was Caleb's turn to prepare dinner tonight, and who was going to do it for him—father or mother?What will they find when they clean Caleb's room?Books were stuffed between the closet and the wall, I guessed, and books were hidden under the mattress.The erudite's thirst for knowledge fills all the hidden spaces of the room.Did he always know that he wanted to choose the Erudition School?If so, why didn't I notice it at all?

He is such a natural actor, the thought makes me feel extremely sick, even though I also chose to leave my parents, but at least I am not good at pretending, at least everyone knows that I am not a selfless person. I closed my eyes heavily, and the picture of my parents sitting at the dining table without saying a word appeared in my mind.My throat tightens when I think of them. Is it the selflessness that remains in me?Or was it just selfish because I knew I would never be their daughter again? "Look, they jumped off." I looked up, my neck ached.Listening to the whistling wind and watching the city pass by outside the car, I leaned against the wall, curled up my legs, and lay there for at least half an hour.I sat up straighter and the train slowed down for the past few minutes.The yelling boy was right: the Dauntless in the front car were jumping out as the train passed some rooftops.I looked down, and instantly felt creepy: the railway tracks here are as high as a seven-story building.

Thinking of jumping from the Mercedes-Benz car onto the roof, and there is still a gap between the edge of the roof and the edge of the rails, I suddenly felt a little nauseous. I struggled to stand up and stumbled to the other side of the car. There stood in a row. "Then we'll have to jump off later?" said a girl from Honesty.She has a big nose and uneven teeth. "Excellent," replied an honest boy, "you have a point, Molly—jumping from the train to the roof." "Peter, to join the Dauntless faction, you have to follow the rules." The girl pointed out. "I'm definitely not going to jump," said the friendly boy behind me.He was olive-skinned and wore a brown shirt—he was the only one transferred from the friendly side, with tears streaming down his face. "If you don't want to be out, you have to jump down. Come on, it's okay." Christina encouraged him. "No, I haven't lived enough, I'd rather not have a faction." He shook his head, his voice full of horror.He kept shaking his head, his eyes fixed on the rooftop approaching in front of him. I am completely different from him. I would rather die than live an empty and meaningless life without factions. "Don't push him." I looked at Christina.Her big brown eyes widened, her lips were pressed so tight that the color changed, and she suddenly reached out to me. "Come on," she said.I raised my eyebrows and looked at her hands, just as I was about to say that I could jump off by myself without help.But she said again: "I... I... can't do it by myself, unless someone pulls me to dance together." I grabbed her hand, and the two stood together at the door of the carriage.When the carriage passed the roof, I counted out loud: "One... two... three!" On the count of three, we jumped out of the car.After a moment of weightlessness, my feet slammed into the hard ground, and the heart-piercing pain instantly spread from my calf bone to my whole body.The violent impact when I landed made me lie on the roof, my face covered with gravel and gravel.I let go of Christina's hand and she laughed. "It's so exciting and fun." She seemed to enjoy the process. Christina fits well with the Dauntless, and certainly with those looking for adventure.I wiped the gravel off my face and looked around: Except for the friendly boy, all the freshmen managed to jump to the rooftop.The honest girl with the crooked teeth, Molly, had her ankles in her hands and a pained look on her face.Pete, that honest, greasy-haired boy, had a smug smile on his face—he must have not fallen when he landed just now. At this time, I heard a wail, and turned my head to look for the source of the sound.I saw a Dauntless girl standing on the edge of the roof, her neck stretched out looking at the ground below, screaming in horror.A Dauntless boy behind her hugged her waist tightly to keep her from falling from such a height. "Rita, Rita, calm down, listen to me, Rita..." the boy said. I looked down from the edge of the roof, and there was a female corpse lying on the sidewalk downstairs, her hair was fanned out, her arms and legs were twisted at strange angles, it was too horrible to look at.Staring at the train tracks, my heart sank, as if being crushed by a boulder.The next test is to jump from the rooftop, not everyone can do it, even the truly fearless ones are not sure about landing safely. Rita suddenly fell to her knees and sobbed, and I hurried away.The more I look at her, the more I want to cry, but I can't cry in front of so many people. I told myself in the harshest possible way that here it is.People will continue to do dangerous things, and people will continue to die.Even when someone dies, we move on to the next dangerous thing.The sooner you understand this truth, the better your chances of surviving the ordeal of freshmen. However, I have begun to doubt whether I can pass the test. I told myself that when I counted to three, I would jump off.One...I shudder at the thought of the girl's body lying on the sidewalk.Two... Rita's sobbing and the boy's murmur of comfort behind her can be heard.three…… I squeeze my lips together and move away from Rita and the edge of the roof. I suddenly felt a tingling pain in my elbow, and I rolled up my sleeves to check, my hands were trembling.It turned out that the skin was scratched in some places, but there was no bleeding. "Look, are you ashamed! Who does the zombie want to show his flesh to!" Pete taunted. I look up. "Zombie" is the nickname of the altruistic faction, and I am the only altruistic faction here.Pete pointed at me, smirking.There was laughter all around.My face felt hot for a while, and I pulled my sleeves down. "Listen, my name is Max, and I'm the leader of your new faction." A man standing on the other side of the roof yelled in our direction.He was older than the others, with deep wrinkles on his dark face and gray temples.I saw him standing calmly on the edge of the roof, as stable as standing on the sidewalk, as if no one had fallen from there and died just now.He continued to shout: "A few floors down is the entrance for new members to our faction. If you don't have the courage to jump down, you don't belong here. Freshmen have the right to jump first." "You mean we're going to jump off this side?" asked a girl from the Erudite School.She was a few centimeters taller than me, with taupe hair, and her trademark large mouth, which was now open in surprise. It was so obvious that I wondered why the girl was so taken aback. "That's right." Max replied with a funny expression on his face. "Is there any water or protection downstairs?" "Who knows?" He raised his eyebrows. I recommended myself and was the first to stand up.The crowd in front of the freshmen spread out to both sides, giving us a wide path.I looked around, no one jumped down in a hurry, their eyes wandered around, but they didn't dare to look at Max.Someone brushed off the gravel and dirt from their bodies, and someone was busy treating the wound.I glanced at Pete, who was rubbing the tops of his fingernails, pretending to be nonchalant. I'm proud, maybe this will get me in trouble sooner or later, but today it gave me courage.I went straight to the edge of the roof, and there was a snicker behind me. Max moves out of the way to make way for me.I went to the side and looked down.The wind whizzed towards me, and my clothes slapped me.Four tall buildings form a quadrilateral in the sky, and the building under my feet is one of them.The square in the middle of the four buildings is like a big black hole with no bottom, and it is impossible to see what is at the bottom. It was a scare tactic, and the thought that I was sure to land safely became the only thing holding me up to the edge of the roof.Teeth chattering.Now I have no way out, especially when everyone behind me is betting that I will fail.Never let them see a joke.I couldn't help but tremble all over, and slowly stretched my hands to my chest to feel for the neckline. After trying a few times, I finally unbuttoned all the buttons, and then pulled off the coat forcefully. Underneath it was a gray T-shirt, the tightest thing I ever wore, and no one had seen me wear it before.I scrunched up my coat, turned my head, looked at Pete, and threw the coat over with all my might, clenching my teeth.Clothes smacked against his chest, he stared at me, and there was booing and yelling behind him. I looked down at the "black hole" under my feet again, a layer of goosebumps crawled up my arms, and my stomach convulsed.Let's dance, I said to myself, if I don't dance now, I may never dare to dance again.Thinking of this, I couldn't help swallowing. Without thinking about it, I bent my knees and jumped. The air whistled in my ears, and the ground rushed towards me, getting closer.In other words, I rushed straight to the ground, with a huge sense of fear coupled with the effect of weightlessness, my heart beat faster, and there was a burst of pain.Every muscle in my body tensed, and the feeling of falling tugged at my stomach.The big hole surrounded me, and I fell into darkness. I was waiting for the god of death to come, but I was blocked by something hard, it fell down, and then supported me.I was almost suffocated under the huge impact, and my arms and legs were tingling. A big net, the net at the bottom of the cave saved me.Looking up at the building, I couldn't help laughing: half relieved at last, half excited.I was trembling all over, covered my face with my hands, and my body was shaking with the big net. I couldn't believe it: I jumped down from the high roof. I had to stand back on solid ground again, and was about to climb down from the net when a few hands stretched out beside me.I grabbed the nearest hand and crawled out.If he hadn't grabbed me, I would have fallen face first to the ground. "He" is the young man I grabbed my hand. His mouth is very special, with a thin upper lip and a thick lower lip. His eye sockets are so deep that the eyelashes almost meet the eyebrows, and his eyes are dark blue, a dreamy, misty and calm color. He grabbed my arm, and when I regained my footing, he let go. "Thank you." I said to him. We stood on a platform ten meters above the ground, surrounded by a large open-air hole. "It's incredible." A female voice came from behind him, from a dark-haired girl.Three holes were punched in her right eyebrow, and three silver rings were nailed on. A hypocritical smirk appeared on her face: "Is the zombie the first to jump off? It's really unheard of." "There's a reason she left the Selfless, Lauren," he replied, his voice deep and deep, "what's your name?" "Uh..." For some reason, I became hesitant, but I always felt that the name "Beatrice" no longer fit me at the moment. "Think about it," he said, with a slight smile on his lips, "You only have one chance." New place, new name, this is where I was reborn. "Tracey." I said firmly. "Tracey." Lauren repeated, then grinned, "Fourth, read the name." The boy named fourth turned around and shouted: "The first jumper is Triss." After my eyes adjusted, a group of people suddenly emerged from the darkness, shaking their fists, cheering and jumping for joy.At this time, with the screams falling from the sky, another person fell onto the big net. I took a closer look and it was Christina.Seeing the scene in front of them, everyone laughed, and then started cheering again. The fourth child put his hand on my back and said, "Welcome to the Dauntless."