Eric stops in front of the wooden door and folds his arms across his chest. The newbie gather around him.

"In case anyone doesn't know, my name is Eric," he informs them. "I'm one of the five leaders of the Dauntless. We take initiation very seriously here, so I oversee most of your training, which will be conducted by the Four. In the first step of initiation, we keep transitioners and newbie dauntless apart, but that doesn't mean you will be ranked differently either. At the end of initiation, your ranks will be measured against the ranks of the newbie dauntless. And they're already higher than yours. So I think..."

"Ranks?" interjects the girl to your right. "But why rank us?"

Eric smiles, and in the bluish light his smile seems malicious, like it's been cut through with a knife.

"Ranking has two purposes at once," he explains. "The first is to determine the order in which you will select jobs after initiation. There are only a few really good places."

Looking at his smile, you realize something bad is about to happen.

"The second goal," he pronounces. "Is that only the top ten newbie will be accepted as faction members."

A pang of anxiety pierces your chest. Everyone stands as still as statues. What?!

"Newbies dauntless are eleven, you are nine," Eric continued. "Four newbies will be eliminated at the end of the first step. The rest after the final test."

This means that even if the newbies pass all the steps of initiation, six newbies will not become members of the faction. Your chances as the smallest newbie as the only Abnegation transitioner, are slim.

"What are we going to do if we get dropped?" asks another boy.

"You'll leave Dauntless," replies Four indifferently instead of Eric. "And become factionless."

The girl with mouse-colored hair presses her palm to her mouth and suppresses a sob. You remember fractionless with gray teeth who snatched bag of apples from your hands, his dull, intense gaze. But you can't let yourself cry.

You will become a member of the faction. You have to do this.