Chapter 12 Chapter 12: The Adventure Wheel

I climbed into bed and sighed deeply.It has been two full days since the fight with Pete, and the bruises on my body have turned purple-blue. I am also used to the excruciating pain that accompanies every movement. time. Despite my bruises, the fight went on as planned.Luckily, it was Myra who was fighting me this time, and she wouldn't be able to punch well if I grabbed her by the arm.Before the opening two minutes, I landed a good punch, and Myra fell down and was too dizzy to stand up again.It stands to reason that I should have the joy of victory, but what victory is there to defeat a girl like Myra?

As soon as my head touched the pillow, the dormitory door suddenly opened with a creak, and a group of people rushed into the dormitory with flashlights.I sat up so suddenly that my head almost hit the bed above me.I squinted in the dark to see what was going on. "Everyone get up!" Someone shouted.The flashlight shone from the back of the man's head, and his earrings shone brightly. It turned out to be Eric!A group of Dreadnoughts surrounded him, some familiar faces I had seen in the base pit, some I had never seen before.The fourth child was also among the crowd. Eric turned his gaze to me and never looked away.I also looked at him, forgetting that all the transfer freshmen around me had gotten out of bed, and I was still sitting on the bed.Eric stared at me with sharp eyes, and I stared at him not to be outdone.

"Zombie, are you deaf?" Eric shouted.I snapped back from the stare and slid out of bed from under the blanket.I'm glad I'm used to sleeping with all my clothes on, because Christina was only wearing a T-shirt with her long, bare legs showing.She stared at Eric with her arms folded.Suddenly, I wish I had the audacity to look people in the eye half naked, but I may never be able to. "I'll give you five minutes to get dressed, and you must gather at the track on time after five minutes," Eric said, "The next round of field training will start immediately!"

I hurriedly put my shoes on my feet, huddled and followed Christina, and ran on the way to the railroad tracks.We ran up the passageway along the rocky walls of the base pit, pushing and shoving past other members of the crowd, a bead of sweat rolling down the back of our necks.They didn't look surprised when they saw us, maybe they are used to it, I don't know how many crazy running people these people have to see in a week. We followed our freshmen to the train tracks.Next to the track was a bunch of black stuff, a bunch of long gun barrels and trigger guards. "Are we going to shoot?" Christina whispered in my ear.

Beside the pile of what looked like boxes of ammunition.I moved forward a little, and one of the boxes had two words written on it: "Paintball." I hadn't heard it before, but the name is pretty self-explanatory.I smiled. "Each get a gun!" Eric yelled. We all rushed towards the pile.I was the closest so I grabbed the first gun I saw, it was heavy but I could handle it, I grabbed a box of paintballs, stuffed the box in my pocket, and slung the gun on my back , with straps slung across the chest. "What time does the train arrive?" Eric asked the fourth child.

The fourth child looked at his watch: "Anytime. In what life will you be able to memorize the train timetable?" "With your reminder, why should I remember that stuff?" Eric pushed the fourth brother's shoulder. I vaguely saw a few halos of light in the distance on the left. The halos got bigger and bigger, and the light became stronger and stronger. The light hit the side of Lao Si's face, and a small faint shadow was drawn under the cheekbones.The train is coming. The fourth one hopped in the car first, and I followed him, not waiting for Christina, Will, or Al for the first time.As I was striding over the side of the train to jump into the car, he turned and held out a hand, I grabbed his arm and he pulled me up.It turned out that the muscles on his forearm were also so strong and well defined.

I quickly let go of his hand, not daring to look him in the eye, walked to the other side of the car and sat down. As soon as everyone arrived, the fourth child spoke. "We'll capture the flag in two teams, each with an equal number of members: a mix of freshmen and transfers. One team gets out of the car and finds a place to hide its flag; then the second team gets out Car, also hide your own flag." The carriage shook suddenly, and the fourth child grabbed the door handle and stood firm, "The capture the flag competition is a tradition of the Dauntless, so I suggest that everyone take it seriously and not take it lightly."

"What can I get if I win?" someone shouted. "This doesn't sound like a question that a fearless person would ask." The fourth child raised an eyebrow, "Of course, you will win." "My fourth brother and I are your team leaders." Eric said as he looked at his fourth brother, "Let's assign the transfer freshmen first." I threw my head back: If they had to choose, I would definitely be the last one chosen.I have this hunch. "You come first." The fourth child said to Eric. Eric shrugged: "Edward." The fourth child leaned on the door frame and nodded, the moonlight brightened his eyes a lot.He quickly scanned the group of transfer freshmen, and said without thinking, "Zombies."

The snickering immediately spread throughout the car, and my face burned instantly. I didn't know whether to be angry at the person who laughed at me, or flattered that he chose me first. "What do you want to prove?" Eric's iconic smirk appeared again, and he said sarcastically, "Or, do you only choose the weak one, so that if you lose, you can blame her?" The fourth child shrugged: "Almost." Angry, of course I should be.I glared at my hands.Whatever the fourth's strategy was, it was based on the idea that I was weaker than the other freshmen.It left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.I want to prove him wrong, I have to prove it.

"It's your turn." The fourth child said. "Pete." "Christina." This is against his strategy.Christina is not part of the weak wave.What on earth is he going to do? "Molly." "Will." The fourth child bit his little finger. "Al." "Drew." "The last one is Myra, so she and I," Eric said, "The next is the freshman." Once I finished selecting those of us who were transferred, I stopped listening to it.At this moment, my heart is full of doubts: If the fourth brother didn't want to prove something by picking the weak, then what did he intend to do?Looking at who he's chosen - do we have anything in common?

When the selection of the freshmen of the school was halfway through, my eyes suddenly brightened.Get it, except for Will and a few others, we're all the same build: narrow shoulders, small frame.Another look at Eric's team members, they are tall and strong.Just yesterday, the fourth child said I was quick.That's it, I suddenly realized.All of us were faster than Eric's team, which could have been good for capturing the flag—even though I hadn't played it before, I also knew that the game wasn't about brute force, it was about speed.I covered my mouth and smiled, Eric is indeed more ruthless than the fourth child, but the fourth child is smarter. After selecting the players, Eric put on a smirk again. "Your team can start late," he said. "Don't take care of me," the fourth child replied, and smiled slightly, "You know I don't rely on this to win." "No, you will definitely lose, no matter when you start." Eric emphasized while biting a lip ring on his mouth. "Since you don't appreciate it, take your skinny monkeys and go first." We all stood up.Al threw me a desperate look, and I returned him a smile that hoped to comfort him.If Will, Christina, Al, and I had to have someone on the same team as Eric, Pete, and Molly, Al was the best choice, and they usually didn't bother him much. The train was about to reach ground level, and I decided to land on my feet when I jumped. Just when I was about to jump, someone pushed me, and I almost fell out of the carriage.I didn't look back to see who it was—Molly, Drew, Pete—it didn't matter.I jumped down before they could do it again.This time, I was prepared for the momentum brought by the train, so I ran a few steps first, so that I could buffer myself and maintain my balance.A wild pleasure suddenly filled my whole body, and I couldn't help laughing.It's a small achievement, but it makes me feel like a Dauntless. A freshman from the faction patted the fourth brother on the shoulder and asked curiously, "Where did you hide the flag when your team won last time?" "It's against the spirit of training to tell you, Marlene," he said coldly. "Don't be like this, fourth child." She said sweetly, reaching out to caress fourth brother's arm, and smiled provocatively.The fourth child was unmoved at all, and pushed her hand away.Seeing this, for some reason, I found myself smiling from the bottom of my heart. "Navy Pier." Another freshman from our faction shouted suddenly. I sized him up. He was tall, with bronze skin and dark eyes, and handsome. "My brother was on the winning team. They put The flag was placed in the carousel." "Let's go there, then," Will suggested. No objection means approval, and we headed east, straight to the Great Swamp.There used to be a lake.As a child, I used to imagine what the lake would look like when it was in the mud and before the fence was put in to keep the city safe.But it's hard to imagine having that much water in one place. "Are we close to the headquarters of the Erudite School?" Christina touched Will's shoulder with her shoulder. "Yes, it's not far south from here." He looked back, and for a moment, his eyes were full of longing, but then disappeared. I am less than two kilometers away from my brother.It's been a week since we've been that close together.But soon, I shook my head off the thought.I can't think about him today, I have to concentrate on passing the first hurdle.Not only today, I can't think of him any day. We crossed a bridge - still needed because the mud under the bridge was too wet to pass.Looking at the swampland under my feet, I really wonder how long the lake has been dry. Once across the bridge, the city suddenly changed into another look.Behind us, most of the buildings were in use and looked well tended to if they weren't.And there is peeling concrete and broken glass everywhere.In this part of the city, there is an eerie silence that makes one's hairs stand on end as if one has stepped into a nightmare.It was past midnight now, all the lights had been extinguished, and the whole city was shrouded in an ink-like night, and it was impossible to see where to go. Marlene took out her flashlight and showed us the way ahead. "Are you afraid of the dark, pony?" the black-eyed freshman taunted. "Uriah, if you want to step on broken glass, do it yourself," she said angrily, but turned off the flashlight anyway. I've come to realize that being Fearless sometimes requires complicating things and making things difficult in order to feel fulfilled.Loitering on a dark street without a flashlight has little to do with being brave, the point is that Dauntless never needs help from anyone or anything, not even a flashlight. I like it very much.Because there might come a day when there will be no light in the world, no guns, no help, and when that day comes, I think I'm ready. Buildings come to an abrupt end near the swamp.A long and narrow piece of land stretched out into the swamp, and a tall white wheel emerged from the ground. There were dozens of red cars on the wheel, hanging one at intervals.That's a Ferris wheel. "Imagine, people used to have fun riding on this thing." Will shook his head. "It must be the Dauntless," I said. "Yes, but that kind of crappy Dreadnought, right?" Christina laughed. "The real Dauntless Ferris wheel should not have a car. The brave Dreadnought just needs to hold on to it with both hands, and then I wish you good luck." We walked down the pier, and the building on the left was empty, all the signboards were removed, and the doors and windows were closed. It was a clean and orderly emptiness.I feel like the people who left here did it by choice, cleaned up the streets before leaving, and then evacuated in a leisurely manner. "Dare you jump off the swamp?" Christina said to Will. "you first." We made our way to the carousel, some of which were scratched here and there, weathered and faded from exposure to the air, with broken tails or broken saddles.The fourth child took the flag out of his pocket. "Ten minutes later, the other group will start to choose the location of the Tibetan flag," he said, "I suggest you use this time to formulate strategies. We may not be the learned school, but everyone remembers that mental preparation is also part of the training of the fearless school. aspect, and arguably the most important aspect of becoming a qualified dauntless.” He's right, what's the use of a well-trained body if the mind is messed up? Will took the flag from the fourth hand. "Some people should be stationed here, and some people should go out to scout Eric's Tibetan flag place." He said. "Really? That's what you think?" Marlene pulled the flag from Will's hand, "Are you the boss here? Who told you to make your own decisions, transfer guy?" "No one," Will said, "but someone has to run the show." "Maybe we should develop a more defensive strategy and wait for them to come and kill them in one fell swoop," Christina suggested. "You've come up with such a motherly idea," Uriah retorted. "I suggest everyone go out. Just hide the flag so they won't find it." Everyone immediately scrambled to express their opinions, and the voice was louder and louder. Christina supported Will, and the freshmen of the faction supported the offensive plan. Everyone was arguing about who should make the decision.The fourth child was deaf to the debate. He sat on the side of the carousel, leaning on the plastic hooves, and stared at the night sky. There were no stars in the night sky, only a round moon piercing through the thin clouds.He rested his hands on the back of his neck, his normally tense arm muscles relaxed, and with the gun on his shoulders, he looked relaxed and relaxed. I closed my eyes for a moment, what happened recently, why can he always easily distract me?I can't do this anymore, I need to concentrate, so I close my eyes and calm down. How can I speak convincingly if I shout out my opinion in the face of the danger that comes next?We cannot act until we know where the other team is.They could be anywhere within a two-kilometer radius, and the only place that could be ruled out was probably an empty swamp, but it would be too late to take action if they were found.From this point of view, the best way to locate them is not to argue about how to search or how many people to send to search. The best way is to "climb a height and look far away", and climb to a high place as much as possible. I looked back to make sure no one was paying attention, and luckily no one was looking at me.With the light, I pressed the gun on my back with one hand to prevent it from making a sound, and tiptoed to the side of the Ferris wheel. When I looked up at the Ferris wheel from the ground, my throat constricted.It was much higher than imagined, so high that the car hanging on the top could not be seen clearly.The only good thing about being this tall is that it's designed to carry weight.Surely it wouldn't collapse if I climbed on it. My heart beats faster.In order to win the so-called competition that the fearless faction likes, I risked my life, is it worth it? Everything in front of him was shrouded in darkness, and the car above could hardly be seen clearly.Staring at the huge, rusted runner bracket, I saw the rungs of the ladder, each about as wide as my shoulders, and without handrails, but I was content enough that climbing a ladder was better than climbing a ladder. Spinner spokes are much better. I grabbed a rung, which was old, rusty, and thin, and always felt like it would crumble in my hand.I put my full weight on the bottom rung to try it out first, and jumped a bit to make sure it would hold me, but twisted my ribs and I flinched in pain. "Tracey." A deep voice came from behind.But for some reason, it didn't scare me.Probably because I have become more like the Dauntless, mentally prepared to fight at any time.Or it could be that the voice is hoarse, flat, and soothing.But anyway, I turned around.The fourth child stood behind him, like me, with a gun on his back. "What's wrong?" I said. "I'm here to see if you know you're being stupid." "I'm just looking for a high spot," I said, "and I don't feel like I'm being stupid." I vaguely saw him laughing in the dark. "Okay, me too," he said. I froze, he didn't look at me the way Will, Christina, Al did—as if I was small and weak and useless, so he always had sympathy for me.But if he insists on coming with me, he probably doubts my ability. "I can climb up." I said confidently. "Without a doubt," he replied.I didn't hear a trace of sarcasm, but I always felt that he must be hiding it.definitely. I started to climb.When I was about a meter off the ground, he followed.His climbing speed was obviously much faster than mine, and after a while, my foot had just left a rung before his hand touched it. "So, tell me..." He panted, "What do you think the purpose of this training is? I mean capture the flag, not climbing." I looked down, and the ground was far away from us, but I hadn't climbed one-third of the way yet.There's a platform up there, just below the center of the wheel, and that's my first target.I struggled to climb up without even thinking about how to get down.The breeze that had gently brushed against the cheek before now turned into a strong wind, blowing over with a whistling.The higher we climb, the stronger the wind will be.I have to be mentally prepared. "Learn about strategic planning," I replied, "and maybe teamwork." "Teamwork." He repeated the words, and broke into a wheezing laugh that caught in his throat and sounded a bit like a panicked gasp. "Probably not, teamwork doesn't seem like a priority for the Dauntless," I explained hastily. The wind roared more and more furiously, and I stuck tightly to the white pylon to avoid being blown down, but it was even more difficult to get up this way.The carousel below has become very small now, and I can barely see my companions under the awning clearly. From a distance, it seems that there are few people missing, and the search team should be on their way. The fourth child said: "Teamwork should be the top priority. It used to be like this." I listened to him absently, for the height was dizzying.Hands ached from clutching the rungs, legs chattered, but I wasn't sure why.I was very surprised that this height did not make me panic, on the contrary, it made me feel full of strength, and all the organs, blood vessels, and muscles in my body were excited, as if singing. Then I understood what was going on.It's him.There's something about him that makes me feel like I'm falling, or melting, or burning. Thinking of this, I almost missed the next rung. "Now, tell me..." He gasped, "What do you think strategic planning has to do with bravery?" Hearing this question, I realized that he is my mentor and I should learn something from it.At this time, a dark cloud floated across the moon, and the changes of light and shadow cast on my hand. "It...it makes people ready for action." I hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Learn strategic planning, and it will come in handy later." I heard him panting quickly behind me. "Fourth, are you okay?" "Triss, are you still human? Climbing to such a high place..." He gasped heavily, "Aren't you afraid at all?" I turned around and looked down. If I fell now, I would definitely die, but I firmly believe that I will not fall. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from the left, and I was blown violently to the right by the wind. I couldn't help gasping for air, and immediately clung to the rung, with my center of gravity a little out of balance.The fourth child stretched out a cold hand to support one of my buttocks, and stuck a finger on the exposed skin at the edge of my T-shirt.He held me hard, stabilized me, and gently pushed me to the left, and I regained my balance again. At this point I couldn't breathe anymore.I calmed down and stared at my hands, feeling my mouth go dry.The skin seems to still have the feeling when he touched my skin, and the fingers are thin and long. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. "Yeah." My voice sounded unnatural. I continued to climb, without saying a word, until I reached the platform.There are metal railings around the platform. Judging from the blunt round ends, handrails should have been installed before, but now, the handrails are gone.I sat down and moved to the other side so that the fourth child had a place to sit too.Without even thinking about it, I hung my legs outside the platform and swung in mid-air.The fourth child was half curled up, his back was tightly leaning against the metal bracket, and he was panting even harder. "You're afraid of heights," I said, "so how did you survive at the Dauntless base?" "I try to ignore my fear," he said. "When I make a decision, I pretend it doesn't exist." I stared at him for a while.I have no way to restrain myself.To me, not being afraid at all is a completely different thing than pretending that fear doesn't exist like he did.Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look at him. I probably stared at him for a long time. "What's wrong?" He still asked softly. "nothing." I looked away from him and looked at the city below me.Concentration is a must, I didn't climb this high on idle time. The city was pitch black, if not so dark, it was not too far to see, and a building blocked the view.I can neither see clearly nor far away now. "We're not tall enough." I looked up, and there was an intricate pile of brackets above, which were the scaffolding for the Ferris wheel.If I'm careful, I can put my foot between the crossbar and the bracket for safety.Or as safe as possible. "I'm going to climb up." I stood up, grabbed a support above my head, and pulled myself up. In an instant, my bruised ribs were pulled painfully, but I didn't care about it. "God, you zombie," he yelled helplessly. "You don't have to come up with me." I made up my mind, looked up at the maze-like criss-cross brackets, found the place where the two brackets intersected, stuffed my feet in, propped myself up, and then grabbed the other with all my strength. stand.I hung in the air and shook for a while, my heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and I couldn't feel anything except its violent beating.All thoughts are condensed in the heartbeat, beating with its rhythm. "No, I'm with you," he called. This is crazy, I know it in my heart.A little mistake, half a second of hesitation, life may be gone.A wave of heat surged up my chest, but as soon as my hand caught the next bar, I smiled again.I pulled myself up, my arms were trembling, and I forced myself to put my feet on another support, adjusted my standing posture, and when I felt stable, I looked back at my fourth child.I wanted to look down at him, but I saw the "distant" ground straight ahead. I couldn't breathe anymore. I thought of Rita's sister who died tragically because she failed to jump on the rooftop, and if I was not careful, I would have the same fate as her.I imagined my body falling vertically, hitting the support, and then falling from the running wheel tens of meters high, blood spattering the Ferris wheel.Corpses were lying crookedly across the road.The fourth child was behind me, holding a horizontal bar with one hand, and propped himself up with agility, as if sitting up from the bed.But I could see that he was also very tense, with bulging veins and tense muscles in his arms.However, when a person is more than thirty meters above the ground, it is really stupid to think so wildly. I reached for another bracket and found another place to tuck my foot in.Looking around again, the building finally no longer blocks the line of sight, and I can see the distant horizon extending to the sky.Under the dark blue night sky, only the outlines of most high-rise buildings can be seen, but the red lights on the top of the central building are still on, and their flashing speed is less than half of my heartbeat. The streets between the tall buildings look like winding tunnels.For a moment, darkness covers the land like a blanket, with only an indistinguishable difference between buildings, skyline, street, and ground.Suddenly, a tiny light on the ground broke into my eyes. "Look!" I shouted in surprise, pointing at the spot of light. The fourth child crawled behind me, then stopped, and got very close to me. When he looked back, his chin was close to my head, and the sound of breathing shook my ears, and I was a little dizzy again, like climbing a ladder It feels the same. "I see." There was a smile on his face. "It's coming from the park at the end of the pier," he said. "As expected. It's surrounded by an open field with some trees for cover, but it shouldn't be very well concealed." "Okay." I turned my head and looked at the fourth child.We were so close that I forgot where I was, and forgot that I was at an altitude of more than 30 meters. On the contrary, I also noticed that the corners of his mouth were slightly turned down naturally, just like me, and the chin There is a scar. "Well..." I cleared my throat, "Let's climb down now, I'll follow you." The fourth child nodded and began to climb down. His legs were so long that he could step on a support without any effort. His body followed the trend and climbed down easily.Even though it was still surrounded by night, I could see his arms were red and trembling. I tentatively put one foot out and put all my weight on the crossbar where the brackets intersect.The crossbar under his feet suddenly rattled, loosened, and slammed into several crossbars below with a harsh bang, and finally fell on the road.I tightly grasped the bracket with both hands, and my whole body was hung on it, kicking my feet in mid-air, as if something suddenly strangled my neck, suffocating me. "Fourth!" I want to find another place to put my feet on, but the nearest foothold is more than one meter away from me, and my feet can't reach it at all.My palms were sweating cold, my mind flashing through the selection ceremony, the personality test, and before all the big moments, I wiped the sweat off my palms on my pants and resisted the urge to scream.I will fall!I will fall!I always feel that my hands are sore, and I always feel that I will die on the Ferris wheel. "Hold on!" he yelled, "Must hold on, I have a way." He continued to climb down, but in the wrong direction, he should have climbed up to save me, instead of getting further and further away from me!I stare at my hands, the knuckles white from gripping the narrow brace above my head.The finger turned dark red, almost turning purple, and it was about to fail. I can't stand it any longer. Will die at any time. I close my eyes, it's better not to look, it's better to pretend it's all unreal, it doesn't exist.At this moment, I suddenly heard the squeaking of sneakers against metal, and the sound of footsteps stepping on the crossbar rapidly. "Fourth." I yelled.Maybe he has left, maybe he abandoned me, maybe he wanted to test my strength and courage, but no matter what, he didn't climb up to help me!I inhaled deeply through my nose, then opened my mouth and exhaled, silently counting my breaths to calm myself down.one, two.Inhale, exhale.All I can think about is the fourth child.Come on, think of a way, fourth child. Suddenly, I heard the creaking sound of the wheels turning, and the bracket I was holding shook. I clung to the bracket desperately and screamed from between my clenched teeth. The ferris wheel is spinning! The whizzing wind blew against my ankles and wrists like a surging fountain.I opened my eyes and found myself moving - rushing to the ground with the wheels!The ground was getting closer, and I laughed, hysterically until I got dizzy.I have to speed up, and the speed of the wheel is getting faster and faster under the action of gravity. If I don’t find the right time to jump off, I will be swept away by the accelerating support and car, and then I will really die. I rushed down with the wheel, every muscle in my body tensed.When I saw the crack in the pavement, I jumped and slammed my body into the ground, feet first.My legs gave way and I fell to the ground. Fortunately, I hugged my knees with both hands and rolled to the side of the road as fast as I could. My face was rubbed against the concrete a few times.I turned my face and saw a car approaching like a huge shoe about to crush me, and I rolled over again, the bottom of the car brushing over my shoulders.What a thrill. Fortunately, I am safe. If you survive a catastrophe, you will be blessed. I stretched out my palm and pressed my cheek tightly.I didn't want to stand up, even if I stood up, I would fall down again, so I simply lay on the side of the road.Footsteps sounded, and the fourth child grabbed my wrist.I let him pry my hands away from my eyes. He wrapped his hands tightly around one of my hands, and the warmth of his skin drove away the pain of my fingers gripping the bar without a trace. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern, gripping me even tighter. "fine." He burst out laughing. After a while, I couldn't help laughing too.I supported the ground with my free hand and struggled to sit up. Only then did I realize that the distance between us is so close, only a dozen centimeters at most.The air solidified, and some kind of chemical change seemed to be crackling in this distance.I think it should be closer. He stood up and pulled me up too.The spinning wheel continued to spin, and the wind caused it to blow my hair back. "You should have told me earlier that the Ferris wheel is still moving," I said casually, "so that we don't have to waste time and effort to climb up." "If I knew, I would have told you. I can't keep you hanging in the air, so I came down to take a risk, pushed the wheel, and it happened to turn. Come on, let's grab their flag gone." The fourth child hesitated for a moment, pulled my arm, and pressed the inside of my elbow with his fingertips.In any other faction, he would have given me a break, but he's Dauntless, so he just smiled at me and dragged me toward the carousel.Our team members are still there to protect the flag.I was half-running and half-limping after him, tired but sane, especially when he was holding my arm. Christina sits cross-legged on one of the carousel horses, wrapping her hands around the poles that support the plastic carousels.Behind her was our flag, a triangle that glowed in the dark.Three freshmen from the school stood among the rest of the dilapidated and dirty wooden horses. One of them put his hand on the head of the wooden horse, and the worn out eyes of the horse "peeped" at me through the gap between his fingers.Sitting on the edge of the carousel is an older girl scratching her four-holed eyebrow with her thumb. "Where did the others go?" asked the fourth child. He looked as excited as I did, bright and wide-eyed. "Did you two turn the wheel?" said the older girl. "What the hell was going on in your head? You might as well be yelling 'We're here, come get us'." She shook her head resignedly Said, "If I lose again this year, I can't bear the humiliation. Do I have to lose for three years in a row?" "It doesn't matter if the wheels turn, we know where they are," said the fourth child. "Us?" Christina exclaimed, looking at fourth child and then at me. "That's right, while the rest of you were thumbing, Triss climbed up on the Ferris wheel to find out where your opponent is," he said. "Then what should we do now?" A freshman of the faction asked while yawning. The fourth child looked at me.Gradually, the eyes of others, including Christina, shifted from him to me.I tensed my shoulders and was about to shrug and say sorry when the image of the pier stretching out suddenly flashed into my mind, and I had an idea. "Divide into two groups," I said confidently. "Four to the right of the pier and three to the left. Our opponents are in the park at the end of the pier. Teams of four should be ready to charge from the front, teams of three will slip." Go behind the opponent and grab the flag." Christina looked at me with a shocked face, like a stranger standing in front of her.Of course, her reaction is also excusable, and I don't blame her. "That's a good idea." The older girl clapped her hands, "How about we act now?" Christina was with me, heading to the right side of the pier, with Uriah, whose smile paled against the bronze of his skin.I hadn't noticed before, it turned out that he had a snake tattooed behind his ear, so I stared at the snake's tail coiled around the earlobe for a long time.Christina suddenly started running, and I had to run too. Christina has long legs and long strides, and I can only catch up with her by using two steps as one.Running and running, I suddenly thought of a problem, that is, only one of the three of us can win the flag. If this person is not me, then my previous efforts to come up with ideas and provide information will be in vain.Even if I run out of breath, I must go all out and speed up.I followed closely behind Christina, turning the gun from behind to the front as I ran, keeping my finger on the trigger for any possible surprise attack. We finally reached the park, and I squeezed my mouth shut, trying not to let them hear the gasp and notice it.我们放慢了速度，脚步声也不至于太大。我到处搜寻光点的踪影。在摩天轮上远眺时，这里有些模糊，可现在置身此地，它更大也更容易看见了。突然，我发现了目标，指了指光点的方向，克里斯蒂娜会意地点点头，领头直奔目标而去。 就在这时，我听到一阵齐声叫嚣，声震瓦顶，吓得我跳了起来。接着我听见彩弹射中目标的啪啪破碎声。我们队的四人小组在进攻，对方冲向前迎战，旗子几乎处在无人看守的状态。尤莱亚瞄准目标，开枪射中了仅剩的一个守卫的大腿。这是个矮小的紫发女孩，由于被尤莱亚开枪打中，她大动肝火，生气地把手中的枪甩了出去。由于“敌方”疏于防范，我们很快得手。 我冲刺着赶上了克里斯蒂娜。旗子挂在树枝上，就在我的头顶。我伸手去够，克里斯蒂娜也伸手去拿。 “行了吧，翠丝，”克里斯蒂娜说，“今天你已经是大英雄了，就不要和我抢了。而且你这身高怎么也够不到。” 她居高临下地看着我，就像大人在责怪一个行事老成的小孩，然后伸手一把抓下旗子，看都没看我一眼就转身高呼胜利，尤莱亚见状也欢呼起来，不一会儿，远处也传来一阵喝彩声。 尤莱亚拍了拍我的肩膀。我正想让自己忘记克里斯蒂娜刚才看我时的那种眼神。或许她是对的，今天我已经证明了自己的能力，不需要“一而再，再而三”地“邀功”。我不想太贪婪，不想像艾瑞克那样，害怕别人的力量超过自己。 胜利的欢呼声蔓延开来，我也忍不住大喊起来，一路冲向队友。克里斯蒂娜把旗子高高举起，大家簇拥着她，抓着她的胳膊，把旗子举得更高。我没办法靠近她，就站在一边咧嘴笑，看着大家尽情享受着眼前的胜利。 有人把手搭在我肩上。 “做得太棒了。”老四悄声说。 “这么激动人心的时刻，我竟然错过了。”威尔摇头叹息。车厢内的过堂风把他的头发吹得纷乱。 “你没有出来妨碍我们的好事儿，就是最大的功劳。”克里斯蒂娜满脸喜庆，开玩笑地说。 “我怎么就没分到你们这一队呢？”艾尔抱怨。 “艾尔同学，人生本来就不公平，世界显然在跟你作对。”威尔打趣道，“我可以再看看旗子吗？” 皮特、莫莉、德鲁无精打采地坐在角落里那群队员的对面，前胸后背都溅满了蓝色或粉色的彩漆。他们窃窃私语，时不时抬头偷偷瞟一下我们，尤其是克里斯蒂娜。这就是不拿旗子的好处，最起码我现在不是众矢之的。 “是你爬上了摩天轮？”尤莱亚问。他跌跌撞撞地穿过车厢，坐到我身边，那个笑起来有些轻浮的女孩也跟了过来。 "right." “你还蛮聪明的，就像……博学者一样聪明。”那女孩说，“对了，我叫马琳。” “我叫翠丝。”在无私派时，被拿来跟博学派作比较都被视为侮辱，但她的语气听着像赞扬。 “嗯，我知道你是谁，首跳者没有谁会忘记的。”她说。 我穿着无私派的衣服跳下天台距现在已经很久了，感觉像过了十年那么久。 尤莱亚从枪里掏出一个彩弹，用食指和拇指用力挤压。这时，火车突然左转弯，尤莱亚一下子歪到我身上，他不断用手指捏着彩弹，捏来捏去，一道粉色的难闻的东西喷出来，喷在了我脸上。 马琳咯咯笑个不停。我慢慢擦了擦脸上的彩漆，趁尤莱亚放松警惕时，把手上的漆全抹在他的脸上。一股鱼油的气味飘满整个车厢。 “啊！”他又冲我挤彩弹，可挤开的口错了方向，彩漆瞬间喷进他的嘴，他随即咳嗽起来，发出一阵夸张的作呕声。 我抬起袖子擦了擦脸，笑到肚子疼。 如果一生一世都像这样，大声地笑、大胆地闯，过一种历经艰险之后虽精疲力竭但充实的日子，我会十分满足。看着尤莱亚用手指抠着喉咙干呕，我开始明白，所有我要做的就是通过考验，那样这种生活就会属于我。