It is nearing the end of summer when I meet him. The heat still rolls in periodic waves across the cracked pavement and the rare breezes still stir up layers of sticky dusts, but the nights are getting shorter and the delivery trucks will soon be coming more often. I'm in the middle of a street fight when he shows up. Granted, I'm the one who started it, but the man deserves the beating I swear he will get for trying to snatch food off my best friend. Except, it's me who is getting a beating now.
At any other time I'm sure he would have stood on the corner of the street, eyes narrowed against the powerful sun and body relaxed against a telephone pole, simply watching as if he saw teenagers getting pummeled in every street he traveled upon. But something different happens with this fight.
I don't notice it at first. The man I'm quarreling with stops moving, but I am too occupied with taking advantage of the situation and retaliating his merciless blows, all the while trying not to choke on the blood that is gathering in the capsule of my ventilation mask to think much of it. The man had halts in mid-pursuit then doubles over, proceeding to cough violently. A thick substance of dark brown mixed with blood oozes from the crevices of his mask. I'm unsure as to what is happening, but I do know that this is the perfect opportunity to be the one to throw the last punch.
"Don't." He's between us in seconds; a leather gloved hand curling around my fist, stopping it, and choppy black strands of short hair swing in momentum to follow after the sharp snap of his head as he looks towards my offender. He watches, unfazed, as the man sinks to his knees then hits the hot asphalt. My mind is still spinning in shock when he lets go of my hand and turns towards me.
I instinctively take a step back when I see his face. He wears a permanent crease between his eyebrows and his eyes are small, heavy-lidded, and the color of dull silver. He's a full head shorter than myself but everything about him is intimidating. His gas mask is tipped with an upright triangular vent which extends from where his nose must be down to cover out to the corners of his mouth. Two large cylindrical filters rest on the sides of the mask and the thick leather extends from across the bridge of his nose to wrap around below and above his ears and then down to encompass his neck. A short chain extends across the front of his neck, connecting the two sides of the slit in the leather, for flexibility, that resides there. It was a fairly old model compared to mine.
He looks me up and down once then shifts his eyes away towards the crowd forming around the fallen man.
"You better find some other place to hang around, kid. The virus is probably trying to claw its way under that pretty mask of your's as we speak."
Right. The virus…the virus?! I glance over at the dead man. This is what the virus does to people? I'd never seen it with my own eyes. People had always worn these masks from the moment they are born. The air hasn't been safe in a long time. One only survives if they manage to scavenge a new mask as they grow up into adults. My late mother used to tell me that when the outbreak first began the government mass produced and handed out these ventilation masks to everyone and had stations for free supplies and nutrient and liquids injections. However, supposedly that all stopped only a month after. Now, the only sign that the government still exists out there somewhere is the periodic arrival of delivery trucks carrying our food, water, and occasionally spare amounts of other supplies as well. Yet, even to reach the trucks, one has to fight his way through the frenzy. With this sudden interruption of the virus' affects spewing forth before my eyes, however, my ignorance is shattering.
I look back down and start to open my mouth with a reply, but the man had already slipped away. I let out a shaky breath. I want to get away from this and forget it ever happened as soon as possible. I find the friend I'd been defending at the front edge of the crowd, mouth slacked open and eyes wide and terrified.
"Armin, let's scram!" I grab his arm and start to pull.
"Eren, he's—they—" He sputters, eyes glued to the infected man.
"No." It was all I could offer as an explanation right now and I pull him along, taking the long way back to the space we'd been inhabiting lately in an old office building, not wanting to run into any more people. In a place with no one to enforce rules, it was hard to settle down permanently in one city or even one dwelling. We moved to this city only four days ago, and already my sister had been talking of hopping towns again.
I enter the small office on the upper floor, letting go of Armin's hand and moving straight to the space beneath the desk, digging beneath an old blanket to where I hid the last of our nutrients needles. They were gone.
"Looking for something?"
I nearly jump out of my own skin and let out what could only have been the most embarrassing squeal of my life. I whip my head around shooting a glare at whoever chose to invade my privacy now of all times. Armin still stands by the doorway staring at the intruder as well. It seems he hadn't found his voice again in time to warn me. The shorter man is leaning inconspicuously in the back corner of the room. He drops one empty syringe and holds up the last few. I scramble to my feet and make a lunge towards him, which he all too easily side-steps away from.
"Woah, kid, learn to take it down a notch and breath." I must have still been glaring when he spoke. I keep glaring afterwards too, though, and he soon shrugs and sighs.
"I found this place unattended. That makes it mine for claim, fair and square." He tosses me the couple of capped needles. "If you don't mind sharing the place for the next couple days, I'll let you have these back."
I caught it and watch, not knowing if I should just move us out, wait for my sister, to come back, or try and fight him for the space, as he sits down and stretches. Too bewildered by his peculiar demeanor to make up my mind right now, I give in and sit down across from him. Armin follows my lead and sits to my left, occupying himself with carefully injecting his arm with one of the needles.
"Only a couple days? Got somewhere to be?" I ask slowly.
"I'm going to the capital. It's about time the rest of humanity makes its move. We should start standing up for ourselves." The way he continues to speak such strong ideology with such a straight face and even voice throws me off and confuses me. I push past it though in favor of trying to learn more.
"The capital?!" I reply quickly, "You want an audience with the King? No, there's no way they would see just anyone! That is, if you can even get past the city walls in the first place." I waved my hands dramatically and hope I don't look too surprised. No one from the outside would ever go near the capital. It's untouchable for those like us without wealth, power, or even families or a home.
"Something like that comes way later." He draws out the last words to match the rolling of his eyes. "I'm meeting some acquaintances there. We've been hired out to transport something. We'll receive details onsite. But, it's a good opportunity…" He trails off, obviously realizing that he'd begun to share more than he intended to with a kid he just met. He looks back at me and must see my eagerness and intrigue, for his eyes soon reflect a brief inner struggle to go on.
"The capital is full of nothing but cowards," he begins, "micromanaging out food supplies with their own benefits in mind and leaving the rest of us out here to struggle day to day just to survive. They've left us at the mercy of the virus, while they've probably already discovered the cure within their cushy walls. We grow up with stories of the virus, yet the concept seems other-worldly to all of us. Yes, we believe it exists. But it was in the same way people pray to a god; a strict religion you grow up your whole life believing in, yet never really experiencing yourself. But now you too have seen it first-hand. More and more people are seeing it now; the virus is becoming more active. I'm not about to stand by and watch humanity fall again."
I stare back at him as he speaks calmly and try to picture him storming the capital with a cape and an anarchist flag, cannon fire sounding off from behind him. The image is absurd. Yet, he was right in a way. I did watch, for the first time, as someone practically exploded, with all those liquids pouring from him, and fell dead at my feet. I can't deny something is changing. Can I seriously look the man before me in the eyes and tell him he's crazy? No, I can't, and something in the back of my mind tells me I should consider his ploy seriously. I glance over at Armin and he too is looking upon the man before with awe and fascination. I can practically see the cogs churning in his brain as if picking apart and analyzing every detail of his story and philosophy, if you could call it that.
I then remember I am still holding one of the needle he'd practically stolen off of us, so I uncap it and jabbed it into my arm for good measure. I'm still in a bit of a bad mood from his little stunt of invading our room. I toss the empty syringe away and is about to grab our blanket and start ignoring the man for the night when he spoke again as if my lack of reply to his noble speech was to be expected anyway.
"You're name, kid? I'm Levi."
"Eren. And that's Armin. This is the only blanket." I say, throwing the item over Armin and myself, "And this place is small, so if I catch you too close, or if you kick me in the night, I'll have your head, got it?" I lay down before he can retort or before Armin can scold me and pull the large blanket over my head. I feel a twinge of guilt when he doesn't argue back and I peeked out to look back at him. He is settling down against the wall beneath the window, closing his eyes. I turn away hesitantly, and try not to dwell on it. The sound of Armin's light breathing soon permeates the silence. I think I can hear a second rhythm of breathes, but it's hard to tell. My sister won't be back until later into the night, but before I can consider if I should stay up and wait for her, I'm already falling into a deep sleep.
A/N: Next Chapter will be up within the next few days! Please follow for updates! Also, please drop some feedback~… Thank you!