divergent-excerpt

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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.” 70
“But we started with twelve,” protests Christina. I close my eyes and wait for the reprimand. She needs to learn to stay quiet. “There is always at least one transfer who doesn’t make it to the compound,” says Eric, picking at his cuticles. He shrugs. “Anyway, in the first stage of initiation, we keep transfers and Dauntless-born initiates separate, but that doesn’t mean you are evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, your rankings will be determined in comparison with the Dauntless-born initiates. And they are better than you are already. So I expect—” “Rankings” asks the mousy-haired Erudite girl to my right. “Why are we ranked” Eric smiles, and in the blue light, his smile looks wicked, like it was cut into his face with a knife. “Your ranking serves two purposes,” he says. “The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available.” My stomach tightens. I know by looking at his smile, like I knew the second I entered the aptitude test room, that something bad is about to happen. “The second purpose,” he says, “is that only the top ten initiates are made members.” Pain stabs my stomach. We all stand still as statues. 71
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VERONICA ROTH
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chapter one There is one mirror in
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shoulders. But she must hide that b
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glass and steel. In front of it is
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I pause by a window in the E Wing a
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we can’t prepare for the test in
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Susan to the exit. The people I pas
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an electrode to my other temple, an
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of the dog’s foul breath and try
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word “murderer.” It has been a
Page 21 and 22: chapter three I wake to sweaty palm
Page 23 and 24: or more of the factions, but in you
Page 25 and 26: I mean you should never share them
Page 27 and 28: subways, that I have to be careful
Page 29 and 30: chapter four I reach my street five
Page 31 and 32: way he does when he suspects someon
Page 33 and 34: natural goodness, his inborn selfle
Page 35 and 36: surprise me, but now they chide me.
Page 37 and 38: child. The infant died minutes late
Page 39 and 40: of books on his desk. He closes the
Page 41 and 42: as I walk up the front steps. The e
Page 43 and 44: Caleb on the shoulder, grinning.
Page 45 and 46: I have never liked Candor. “Those
Page 47 and 48: higher each moment, and the glass r
Page 49 and 50: I look at Caleb, who now stands beh
Page 51 and 52: Beside him, my mother is smiling. T
Page 53 and 54: sideways. I’m not as tall or as s
Page 55 and 56: What a good actor he was. The thoug
Page 57 and 58: On three we launch off the train ca
Page 59 and 60: dark skin and gray hair at his temp
Page 61 and 62: I hit something hard. It gives way
Page 63 and 64: chapter seven When all the initiate
Page 65 and 66: your mouth shut. Got that” She no
Page 67 and 68: strikes the wall beneath me and spr
Page 69 and 70: and drops into the seat next to Fou
Page 71: “You know. Like a bed of nails.
Page 75 and 76: now. If you are really one of us, i
Page 77 and 78: the wall. No one has to know that I
Page 79 and 80: difficult, to drastically improve y
Page 81 and 82: hit the target at least once by now
Page 83 and 84: “Sorry, am I being rude” she as
Page 85 and 86: +++ After lunch, Four leads us to a
Page 87 and 88: of his palm even after he’s gone.
Page 89 and 90: know.” I close my eyes and hold s
Page 91 and 92: Christina dark and lean, Will pale
Page 93 and 94: chapter nine “Since there are an
Page 95 and 96: oth Peter and Molly, but he’s bui
Page 97 and 98: think this is a leisure activity Sh
Page 99: Four turns to the chalkboard and ci
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