divergent-excerpt

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Will’s eyes that wasn’t there before. Does he really believe he can win One hard shot to the head and Al will knock him out cold. 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 him hard in the jaw. I watch the light leave Will’s eyes, which are light green, like celery. They roll back into his head, and all the tension falls from his body. He slips from Al’s grasp, dead weight, 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 we wait 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 him up,” Eric says. He stares with greedy 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. 96
Four turns to the chalkboard and circles Al’s name. Victory. “Next up—Molly and Christina!” shouts Eric. Al pulls Will’s arm across his shoulders and drags him out of the arena. Christina cracks her knuckles. I would wish her luck but I don’t know what good that would do. Christina isn’t weak, but she’s much narrower than Molly. Hopefully her height will help her. Across the room, Four supports Will from the waist and leads him out. Al stands for a moment by the door, watching them go. Four leaving makes me nervous. Leaving us with Eric is like hiring a babysitter who spends his time sharpening knives. Christina tucks her hair behind her ears. It is chinlength, black, and pinned back with silver clips. She cracks another knuckle. She looks nervous, and no wonder—who wouldn’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 to me. Will I be Al, standing over a man’s body, knowing I’m the one who put him on the ground, or will I be Will, lying in a helpless heap And is it selfish for me to 97
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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
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chapter three I wake to sweaty palm
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or more of the factions, but in you
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I mean you should never share them
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subways, that I have to be careful
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chapter four I reach my street five
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way he does when he suspects someon
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natural goodness, his inborn selfle
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surprise me, but now they chide me.
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child. The infant died minutes late
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of books on his desk. He closes the
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as I walk up the front steps. The e
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Caleb on the shoulder, grinning.
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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 and 72: “You know. Like a bed of nails.
Page 73 and 74: “But we started with twelve,” p
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: think this is a leisure activity Sh
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