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That is, if he can actually hit Will Al tries a punch, and Will ducks, the back of his neck shining with sweat He dodges another punch, slipping around Al and kicking him hard in the back Al lurches forward and turns

When I was younger, I read a book about grizzly bears There was a picture of one standing on its hind legs with its paws outstretched, roaring That is how Al looks now He charges at Will, grabbing his arm so he can’t slip away, and punches hiht leave Will’s eyes, which are pale green, like celery They roll back into his head, and all the tension falls froht, and crumples to the floor Cold rushes down my back and fills my chest

Al’s eyes widen, and he crouches next to Will, tapping his cheek with one hand The room falls silent as ait for Will to respond For a few seconds, he doesn’t, just lies on the ground with an arm bent beneath him Then he blinks, clearly dazed

"Get hireedy eyes at Will’s fallen body, like the sight is a meal and he hasn’t eaten in weeks The curl of his lip is cruel

Four turns to the chalkboard and circles Al’s name Victory

"Next up--Molly and Christina!" shouts Eric Al pulls Will’s ars him out of the arena

Christina cracks her knuckles I would wish her luck, but I don’t knohat good that would do Christina isn’t weak, but she’s ht will help her

Across the room, Four supports Will from the waist and leads hio

Four leavinga babysitter who spends his ti knives

Christina tucks her hair behind her ears It is chin-length, black, and pinned back with silver clips She cracks another knuckle She looks nervous, and no wonder--ouldn’t be nervous after watching Will collapse like a rag doll?

If conflict in Dauntless ends with only one person standing, I am unsure of what this part of initiation will do toI’ in a helpless heap? And is it selfish of me to crave victory, or is it brave? I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants

I snap to attention when Christina kicks Molly in the side Molly gasps and grits her teeth like she’s about to growl through they black hair falls across her face, but she doesn’t brush it away

Al stands next to ht to look at hi that’s what he wants I am not sure

Molly s, dives, hands outstretched, at Christina’sher down, and pins her to the ground Christina thrashes, but Molly is heavy and doesn’t budge

She punches, and Christina ain, and again, until her fist hits Christina’s jaw, her nose, her htly as I can I just need so to hold on to Blood runs down the side of Christina’s face and splatters on the ground next to her cheek This is the first time I have ever prayed for someone to fall unconscious

But she doesn’t Christina screas one of her ar her off-balance, and wriggles free She co her face with one hand The blood streaers in seconds She screa of her shoulders that she’s sobbing, but I can barely hear her over the throbbing in o unconscious

Molly kicks Christina’s side, sending her sprawling on her back Al frees his hand and pullsout I had no syht of Christina clutching her rib cage makes me want to stand between her and Molly

"Stop!" wails Christina as Molly pulls her foot back to kick again She holds out a hand "Stop! I’hs "I’h with relief Al sighs too, his rib cage lifting and falling against my shoulder

Eric walks toward the center of the arena, his movements slow, and stands over Christina with his arms folded He says quietly, "I’m sorry, what did you say? You’re done?"

Christina pushes herself to her knees When she takes her hand froround, it leaves a red handprint behind She pinches her nose to stop the bleeding and nods

"Get up," he says If he had yelled, Iinside my stomach was about to come out of it If he had yelled, I would have known that the yelling was the worst he planned to do But his voice is quiet and his words precise He grabs Christina’s ars her out the door

"Follow me," he says to the rest of us

And we do

I feel the roar of the river inThe Pit is alh it feels like it’s been night for days

If there were people around, I doubt any of the, and for another, the Dauntless have different rules--rules that brutality does not violate

Eric shoves Christina against the railing

"Climb over it," he says

"What?" She says it like she expects hiest otherwise Eric will not back down

"Cli each word slowly "If you can hang over the chaset your cowardice If you can’t, I will not allow you to continue initiation"

The railing is narrow andit slippery and cold Even if Christina is brave enough to hang fro for five minutes, she may not be able to hold on Either she decides to be factionless, or she risks death

When I close ed rocks below and shudder

"Fine," she says, her voice shaking

She is tall enough to swing her leg over the railing Her foot shakes She puts her toe on the ledge as she lifts her other leg over Facing us, she wipes her hands on her pants and holds on to the railing so hard her knuckles turn white Then she takes one foot off the ledge And the other I see her face between the bars of the barrier, deterether

Next to me, Al sets his watch

For the first minute and a half, Christina is fine Her hands stay fir and her arht make it and show Eric how foolish he was to doubt her

But then the river hits the wall, and white water sprays against Christina’s back Her face strikes the barrier, and she cries out Her hands slip so she’s just holding on by her fingertips She tries to get a better grip, but now her hands are wet

If I help her, Eric would make my fate the sanfactionless? What’s worse: to be idle while someone dies, or to be exiled and empty-handed?

My parents would have no proble that question

But I am not my parents

As far as I know, Christina hasn’t cried since we got here, but now her face crumples and she lets out a sob that is louder than the river Another wave hits the wall and the spray coats her body One of the droplets hits ain, and this ti by four fingertips