Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Entering the base for the first time

After all the freshmen jumped off the roof and stood firm, Lauren and the fourth child led us into a narrow passage.The four walls of the passage are stone walls, and the stone wall above the head slopes all the way and disappears into the distance, giving me a feeling of walking on the road leading to the center of the earth.The lights in the passages are far apart, so that there is a large dark area between the two lights.I was afraid that I would lose my way, and I was not relieved until I panicked and bumped into someone else's shoulder.Many people surrounded me with flashlights. Seeing the light, I felt safe again.

It turned out that the boy from the Erudite School ahead of me stopped suddenly, and my nose touched his shoulder.I took two steps back, rubbed my nose, and my senses slowly returned.The whole procession stopped, and the three chiefs stood in front of us with their heads held high and their elbows folded. "We separate here," Lauren said. "The freshmen of our faction follow me. I think you are very familiar with this place, so you don't need to visit it." She smiled and waved to call out the freshmen from the faction. They left the team and quickly disappeared into the boundless darkness ahead.Watching the last figure leave, I looked at the rest.Most of the freshmen came from Dauntless, so there were only nine left: of course, I was the only Disinterested spinoff, there was no Friendly, the rest came from Erudite, and surprisingly, Honesty.Hasn't honesty always required courage the most?But why did they transfer?unknown.

Next, the fourth child spoke: "I work in the control room most of the time, except for the next few weeks. I am your mentor. My name is the fourth child." Christina exclaimed, "Fourth? One, two, three, four, four?" "That's right," the fourth child replied, "Any questions?" "No." "That's good. Attention everyone, we are about to set off to the deep pit of the base, one day you will fall in love with it, it..." Christina snickered: "The base pit? That's a good name." The fourth child walked to Christina's side, and slowly moved his face closer.He narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a second or two.

"What's your name?" he asked softly. "Christina," she answered sharply. "Well, Christina, if I could stand the chattering mouth of the Honest faction, I would have joined their faction," he hissed. "The first lesson I learned from you is to keep your mouth shut. Understand?" She nodded. As the fourth child walked towards the end of the passage, in the shadows, a group of transfer freshmen silently followed behind him. "What a bastard," she muttered. "Maybe he doesn't like people laughing at him." I said. I realized at this moment that it is wise to be careful around this man called the fourth child. Although he had a kind face when he rescued me on the platform before, there seemed to be danger hidden under this calm appearance.

The fourth child pushed open several double doors, and we walked into what he called "the deep pit of the base". "Oh, I see." Christina said softly. The Base Pit is a fitting name, it's a huge subterranean cavern, at the bottom, and from where I'm standing there's no end in sight on the other side.The uneven stone walls, several storeys high, have constructed places for food, clothing, supplies, and entertainment, connected by narrow passages and steps cut into the stone.There are no guardrails on both sides of the passage and stairs, and people can easily fall if they are not careful.

An orange light shot obliquely from a stone wall.The top of the base pit is a glass pane, and above the glass, there is a building that allows sunlight to filter in.It might just be an ordinary building outside the window when we pass by on a train. Above the aisle, blue lights hung casually, very much like those in the selection ceremony hall.They get brighter as the sun's light fades. There were people everywhere, all dressed in black, all shouting and talking, with exaggerated movements.Oddly, there was no elderly person in the crowd.Don't the Dauntless have old men?Did they not live that long, or were they sent away when they couldn't afford to jump off the speeding train again?

At this time, a group of children ran down the narrow path without guardrails. Seeing this, my heart suddenly tightened. In order to prevent them from being injured, I wanted to shout "slow down".Before I knew it, the neat streets of the Selfless Faction came to my mind: a group of selfless people on the right and a group of selfless people on the left. Silent.My stomach twitches at the thought, and I suddenly miss the life of the Selfless, and of course there is something beautiful about the chaos of the Dauntless. "Follow me, I will show you around the Grand Canyon." The fourth child said.

He waved us forward.As a fearless man, the fourth child looks gentle from the front, but when he turned around, I inadvertently saw the looming tattoo on the collar of his T-shirt.He took us to the right side of the pit at the base, where it was pitch black.Squinting my eyes, I saw a metal railing extending from the ground beneath my feet.As we approached the railing, I heard a roar—it was water, rushing water, crashing violently against the rocks. I looked down tremblingly, and the steep hillside suddenly slid down to the bottom of the valley, and there was a river below the height of several stories of buildings.The turbulent water hit the stone wall at the bottom of the foot, and the water droplets splashed upwards.To my left, the water was calm, and to my right, the water lapped against the rocks and whipped up whitecaps.

"The canyon reminds us that there is a thin line between bravery and recklessness." The fourth child shouted loudly, "A valiant jump will only kill you, it has happened before, and it will happen in the future. Don't say I didn't warn you .” Hearing this, we involuntarily stepped back. "It's incredible." Christina blurted out. "It's incredible." I nodded. The fourth child led the new students through the deep pit of the base and came to a big hole in the stone wall.The room next to it was brightly lit, so I could see exactly where we had arrived: a restaurant full of people and the clang of silverware.Seeing us enter the restaurant, the people inside stood up in a swish, and the sounds of clapping, stomping, and shouting filled our ears.Christina laughed, and I couldn't help but chuckle too.

Let's go find a vacant seat.Christina and I found a barely-occupied table in the corner of the restaurant, and when we sat down, I found myself sitting between her and the fourth child.On the table was a strange plate of food I had never seen before: several round slices of meat sandwiched between two slices of bread.I picked one up between my fingers and didn't know how to eat it. The fourth child touched me lightly with his elbow. "This is beef," he saw my confusion, "here, dip this in." He handed me a small bowl of red sauce. "Don't tell me, you've never had a hamburger before?" Christina stared at me with wide eyes.

"No," I replied, "is this called a hamburger?" "Zombies eat coarse food." The fourth child nodded at Christina. "Why?" she asked. I shrugged. "Because the disinterested view luxury as self-indulgent and completely unnecessary." "No wonder you didn't choose Selflessness." She forced a smile on her face. "That's right," I said, rolling my eyes, "I left because I didn't eat well." The corner of the fourth child's mouth twitched. At this time, the door of the restaurant suddenly opened, and the whole room was instantly silent.I turned around and saw a young man walked in. There was such a dead silence that I could even hear a needle drop to the ground.He had more piercings all over his face than he could count, and his long hair was black and greasy.But it's not all that that makes him look threatening, it's the ruthless look in his eyes as he scans everything. "Who is he?" Christina hissed. "Eric," replied the fourth, "he's the leader of the Dauntless faction." "Really? But he's too young." The fourth child gave her a serious look: "Here, no one will rely on the old to sell the old, and the age is not important." I bet Christina was on the point of asking a question I also cared about: So what matters?But at this moment, Eric suddenly stopped scanning and walked to a dining table. He walked towards our table and sat down next to the fourth child.He didn't say hello, so neither did we. "Why, aren't you going to introduce me?" He asked coldly, nodding towards Christina and me. The fourth child replied: "This is Triss, and this is Christina." "Oh, Triss, zombies?" Eric said, suddenly grinning smirk, the smile pulled the lip ring, and the ring hole was stretched wide, which made me cringe, "I Let's see how long you can last." I was about to say something, to reassure him that I could carry on, maybe—, but I swallowed the words again, for some reason.Probably because I didn't want to see Eric's face again, didn't like him staring at me, and never wanted him to look at me again. He kept tapping his fingers on the table, and his knuckles were covered with scabs, and I always felt that if he punched something hard, it would tear there. "What have you been up to lately, fourth child?" he asked. The fourth child shrugged one shoulder and responded, "It's nothing, really." are they friendsI looked back and forth between Eric and the fourth child.Everything Eric did—sitting here, asking Four questions—showed they were friends, but the way Fourth sat tense didn't look like they were friends.opponent?Maybe, but how could it be, Eric is the boss and the fourth is not. "Max told me that he's been wanting to meet with you lately, but you don't show up," Eric said. "He asked me to see how you're doing." The fourth child stared at Eric for a few seconds, and then said: "Then tell him, I am very satisfied with my current position." "So he's trying to give you a new job." The metal ring Erik wore on his brow reflected the harsh light.I seemed to understand their relationship, and Eric saw the fourth child as a potential threat to his position.I remembered what my father said: People who expect power and achieve their goals live in fear all day long and live in fear of losing power, which is why power should be given to people who do not expect power. "It seems that there is such a thing." The fourth child said. "Aren't you interested?" "For two years, I've never been interested." "Fine," Eric said, "then hopefully he understands that." He patted the fourth brother on the shoulder, as if a little too hard, then got up and left.When he walked away, I felt all my nerves relax, and only then did I realize that I was too tense just now. "You two are...friends?" At this juncture, I couldn't restrain my curiosity. "We're in the same freshman class," he replied. "He's from a learned family." All of a sudden, all the thoughts that I should be cautious around the fourth child left me: "Are you also a transferer?" "I can't stand people asking questions. I couldn't stand the honesty before," he said coldly. "Zombies are like this?" "It's not all because of your kindness," I said coldly, "like a hedgehog." He stared at me, and I didn't look away.He's not a dog (a vicious dog on a personality test), but the logic is much the same: looking away is tantamount to submission, looking him in the eye is provocation, and that's what I chose. My cheeks were getting hot, and I don't know how this tension could be stretched to the limit. But the fourth child said lightly: "Tracey, you'd better be careful." My heart sank like swallowing a boulder.At this time, the Dauntless member sitting at another table shouted the name of the fourth child.I turned to look at Christina, and she frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I have come to a conclusion." "what?" She picked up the burger and grinned at me: "You're courting death." After eating, the fourth child disappeared without a word.Eric led us through one passage after another without telling us where we were going, let alone why he was managing the freshmen as a leader, maybe just tonight. A blue light hung at the end of each passage, but it was dark in the middle.I had to walk very carefully so as not to trip over the bumps.Christina walked beside me in silence.No one told us to shut up, but no one spoke. Eric stopped in front of a wooden door, arms folded across his chest, and we surrounded him. "Maybe some of you don't know me, my name is Eric," he said, "I am one of the five leaders of the Dauntless Sect. Our testing process here is extremely strict, and I volunteer to supervise your training." This statement makes me sick.The idea of ​​Dauntless sending a leader to oversee our freshmen is bad enough, but having someone like Eric look even worse. "Tell me a few basic rules," he said, "you must arrive at the training room at 8 o'clock every day, and the training runs from 8 o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock in the evening. After each test is over, you can also have some free time." The words "whatever you want" are deeply embedded in my mind.At home, I was never free to do what I wanted, not even in the evenings.As altruists, we must put the needs of others first.So, sadly, I don't even know what I like to do. "Leaving the base is only permitted if accompanied by at least one Dreadnought," Erik added. "This room behind the door is where you will sleep for the next few weeks. When you go in, you will find ten beds inside. But there are only nine of you, and there are more people than we expected to survive this level." "But there were only twelve of us in the beginning." Christina protested angrily.I closed my eyes and waited for the upcoming reprimand, why didn't she learn the lesson from last time, she really should learn when to shut up. "According to my past experience, at least one transferee cannot join our base every time," Eric shrugged as he tore his finger skin, and continued, "In short, in the first stage of the test, transfer new students You will be trained separately from the new students of this faction, but this does not mean that you will be evaluated separately. At the end of the training, your ranking will depend on the results compared with the new students of this faction. They are already stronger than you. Therefore, I hope..." "Ranking?" asked the taupe-haired Erudite girl to my right. "Why are we ranking?" Eric smiled, and under the blue light, the smile looked evil, as if a knife had been carved into his face. "The ranking has two purposes." He said, "First, after the test is over, everyone will choose a job position based on the ranking, but good positions are limited." Hearing this, my heart tightened again.Seeing him smile, I guess something is wrong, just like the moment I stepped into the personality testing room. "Second, only the top ten freshmen are eligible to become members of the Fearless Sect." There was a twinge in my stomach.Everyone stood there like statues, and Christina said, "What?" "This time there are eleven freshmen from our faction, and you have nine," Eric continued, "four of them will be eliminated at the end of the first test, and the remaining six will be eliminated in the final test." That would mean that even if we weathered all the tests, there would be six unlucky people who wouldn't be able to become full members.Out of the corner of my eye I saw Christina looking at me, but I couldn't look her in the eye, I was staring at Eric and couldn't look away for a moment. I, Beatrice, the smallest freshman, the only selfless transferee, really don't have a good chance of winning. "What happens to us if we get eliminated?" Pete asked. "Leave the Dauntless faction base," Eric said indifferently, "become a non-faction." The tan-haired girl covered her mouth and sobbed.I remembered the nonpartisan man with the gray molars snatching dried apples from my hand, and his dull, staring eyes.But unlike this weeping erudite girl, I will never cry, and will only become colder and more determined. I will be a full member, I will. "But it's not...fair," cried Molly, the broad-shouldered, honest girl.I could hear the anger in her voice, but what I saw was a trembling her. "If I had known this earlier..." "You mean, if you knew our rules before the selection ceremony, you wouldn't choose the Dauntless faction, right?" Eric suddenly interrupted her and said sharply, "If that's the case, then I advise you to choose Pack your bags and leave. If you were really one of us, you wouldn't care so much about losing. If you did, you'd be a complete coward." Eric pushed open the dormitory door. "You chose us, now the choice is in our hands." Eric said. I lay on the bed, listening to the breathing of nine people. I've never slept in the same room as a guy before, but now I have no choice but to sleep here if I don't want to sleep in the aisle.Everyone else changed into the clothes Dauntless gave us, and I slept in Dauntless clothes, and I loved the soapy smell and the smell of fresh air, it smelled like home. I used to have my own bedroom, and from the window I could see the lawn in front of the house, and beyond, the misty horizon stretching out.I really miss the quietness at that time, I am still used to sleeping peacefully in the silence. Thinking of home, I felt hot in my eye sockets, and in the blink of an eye, a tear fell out.I covered my mouth, not wanting others to hear me cry. Can't cry, can't cry here, I have to calm down. I'll be fine here, and I can look in the mirror whenever I want.I could make friends with Christina, I could cut my hair short, and I could let other people clean up their own messes. My hands were shaking, tears were streaming down my eyes, and my vision was blurred. The next time I see my parents on "family visiting day" - if they can come - it doesn't matter if they don't recognize me at all.To think of their voices and faces for a moment—even Caleb, though his secret hurt me so much—would make my heart hurt.I try to keep myself breathing in line with everyone else.None of this matters. At this time, a choked sob broke the sound of breathing, followed by a burst of sobbing.Some gigantic figure swayed, the mattress springs creaked, and then the pillow muffled the crying, but the sound escaped.The voice came from the bunk next to me. It was Al, the honest boy, the tallest and fattest of the freshmen, covering his face with a pillow, but the sound of crying was still intermittent.Unexpectedly, Al would be the first to collapse. His feet were inches from my head, and I was supposed to comfort him, and I should have offered to comfort him, because I was raised that way.Instead, I find it disgusting to do that.Someone who looks so strong shouldn't be so weak.Why couldn't he cry quietly like the rest? Thinking of this, I swallowed hard. If my mother knew what I was thinking, I could imagine the expression she would look at me: the corners of the mouth were drawn down, the eyebrows drooped above the eyes-not a frown, more like a tired look.I put my face in my hands. Al cried again.There was a sudden itching in my throat too.He is only ten centimeters away from me, within reach, I should comfort him. No, I can't do that.I withdrew my outstretched hand, turned sideways to face the wall, and thought, no one knows that I don't want to help him, and I can keep this secret in my heart.I close my eyes, drowsiness sets in, but whenever I'm about to fall asleep, Al's cries wake me up. Maybe my problem wasn't that I couldn't go home, I did miss my mother, my father, and Caleb, the fire at night, the soft clink of my mother's knitting needles, but that wasn't the only thing that felt so empty and lost inside me. reason. My problem is that even when I get home, I don't belong there - the group of people who give without thinking and don't expect anything in return. The thought gave me a jolt.I buried my ears in the pillow to block Al's crying, and fell asleep with a circle of wet tears.