divergent-excerpt

one told us to be quiet, but none of us speak.
Eric stops in front of a wooden door and folds his arms.
We gather around him.
“For those of you who don’t know, my name is Eric,” he
says. “I am one of five leaders of the Dauntless. We take
the initiation process very seriously here, so I volunteered
to oversee most of your training.”
The thought makes me nauseous. The idea that a
Dauntless leader will oversee our initiation is bad enough,
but the fact that it’s Eric makes it seem even worse.
“Some ground rules,” he says. “You have to be in the
training room by eight o’clock every day. Training takes
place every day from eight to six, with a break for lunch.
You are free to do whatever you like after six. You will also
get some time off between each stage of initiation.”
The phrase “do whatever you like” sticks in my mind.
At home, I could never do what I wanted, not even for an
evening. I had to think of other people’s needs first. I
don’t even know what I like to do.
“You are only permitted to leave the compound when
accompanied by a Dauntless,” Eric adds. “Behind this
door is the room where you will be sleeping for the next
few weeks. You will notice that there are ten beds and
only nine of you. We anticipated that a higher proportion
of you would make it this far.”
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