I'm glad you all are enjoying this so far! Special thanks to my friend for helping my fact-check my WWII references and details :) All your comments help me to improve me writing so remember to review when you finish reading!

Chapter 3

"You should be more careful around people like that," Armin said as he bandaged Eren's head. "You never know what desperate people could do. They could have killed you!"

"But they didn't. Besides, I knew I'd be able to convince them I wanted to help."

"Liar."

Eren scowled up at his friend. "And stop calling them those people. They're human just like you and me. There's nothing different about them!"

"I know, but the Commander says…."

"Screw what he says! They're no different than us!"

"Hey, Eren!" Reiner's deep voice called from outside the tent. Reiner and Bert ducked through the opening in the tent. "Heard you hit your head pretty hard. You challenge Annie or something?"

Eren frowned. "No way I'm doing that again! I don't wanna end up on my ass."

"What happened?" Bert asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was dark in town and I just…ran into a cart," he lied.

"Into a cart?" Reiner arched an eyebrow.

"You got a problem?" Eren asked.

"No. Never mind."

Despite having become friends and comrades in their new life, Eren still felt a little on edge around Reiner and Bert. After all, they had betrayed him in their past life. There was no way he could tell them about Corporal Levi. What if they ratted him out to their superiors? No, it was better if he kept his plans just between him and Armin.

"Eren? Eren!" Bert snapped his fingers in front of Eren's face.

"Huh? What?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You still seem out of it," Bert said worriedly. "Maybe you should talk to the Commander, have him take you off duty for a day or two."

"I'm fine!" Eren stood up quickly. His head suddenly felt heavy and the dizziness returned in full.

"See? I knew you weren't fine!" Bert protested.

Armin gently grabbed his arm. "Eren, maybe you should listen to—"

He yanked his arm free of Armin's grip. "I said I'm fine!"

Snatching his jacket from the back of the chair, he stormed out of the tent. He knew his friends were just worried about him, but he couldn't afford to sit still. He had to keep going. If they sent him on leave, something could happen to Levi and Petra while he was gone. He wasn't about to risk the safety of his friends for a few days of rest. It was something he didn't have the luxury to do. And what if more of his friends were like Corporal Levi—frightened Jews hiding in someone's basement? He had to find them before another soldier did and sent them to the camps. This time around, he wasn't going to lose any of his friends.

V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V*

Over the next few days, Eren and Otto were sent on more Jew hunts. It was impossible to sweep the city in one day, which meant they would be raiding houses for several days in the future. But whenever he could manage, he slipped out at night to visit Levi and Petra. He pressed them for names of other Jews still in the city. Maybe Connie or Yamir or maybe even Hanji were still in Belfort somewhere. But Corporal Levi was reluctant to tell him any names.

Otto slammed his fist against one of the doors. "Open up!"

A meek-looking woman opened the door, her long brown hair was tied in a loose pony tail and draped over her shoulder. She kept her eyes downcast as they trudged inside. Eren glimpsed her crumpling a letter and stuffing it in her apron pocket. A little boy leaned around his mother to catch a glimpse of the soldiers. He appeared to be no older than five. The boy clutched his mother's apron tightly as he hid behind her.

"Anyone else in the house?" Eren asked.

"My daughter," she said quietly, her voice wavering.

"Bring everyone to the kitchen," Otto demanded. "I want everyone gathered together. Now!"

"Y-yes, sir!" She scurried upstairs. Her son raced into the kitchen. The boy peeked around the doorframe, too afraid to move. Eren could hear the woman's frantic footsteps on the creaking floorboards above them. A pair of smaller feet scurried around as she and her ten-year-old daughter frantically ran back downstairs. The mother shooed her into the kitchen. The woman reminded Eren of his own mother.

Otto immediately set to work, turning the house upside down as he scoured the home for any signs of hidden rooms. Eren started upstairs, but before he could make it to the first room, Otto shouted his name.

"Eren! Look what we have here!"

Trudging back down the stairs, he glanced into the main living room. "What is it?"

Otto held up a few sheets of paper. Eren approached him slowly.

"What's that?"

"Read them for yourself," Otto said with a smirk of satisfaction.

Taking the first paper from him, Eren skimmed the contents. It was a letter, but it was all in French. Frowning, he mustered up what little he could remember from learning French. It was from a man—a soldier by the sound of it—probably the woman's husband. But as he read, it slowly dawned on him. It wasn't just a letter from a French soldier, it was information for the French Resistance. Eren looked back at the woman standing in the kitchen.

Snatching the letter back from Eren, Otto waved it in front of the woman.

"Lady, do you know what this is?"

"I-It's a letter from my husband."

"You think I'm stupid? This is a letter for the French Resistance!" He snatched her by the arm. "Are you a spy for the Resistance?!"

"No! Please, it's not what you think! I wasn't planning on—"

Otto slapped her. The little girl shrieked and covered her eyes.

"Mom!" the little boy cried.

"Bitch!"Otto shouted. "What do you take me for? Shitty French whore!" He dragged her out of the kitchen. "Let's see what the Captain has to say about this letter. He can decide what to do with you."

"No! Wait!" She struggled against Otto's firm grip.

"Mommy!" the little girl shouted. She trotted after them, her brother close beside her.

Otto marched the woman out the door. Eren followed close behind. Otto was too eccentric about rooting out traitors and Jews. He was like a hound dog. If there was any hint of it, he would latch on and never let go—not until the perpetrators were arrested or killed. It was the thing Eren disliked most about him. The two children cowered in the doorway of their little house, watching in fear as the soldier dragged their mother toward the Captain.

"Sir!" Otto saluted him, holding his right arm stiffly up at an angle—the heil Hitler salute. "Sir, I confiscated letters to the French Resistance that this woman was hiding." He handed over the papers.

As the officer red through the letter's contents, Eren watched the woman from a distance. He could see her shaking as Otto held her tightly. Her eyes were wide with fright and the color had left her face. The woman's fearful eyes were fixed on the officer before her.

"This is pretty dangerous material." He nodded to Otto. "Good work."

"Thank you, sir!" He yanked the woman forward. "What should we do with the bitch?"

The Captain shrugged. "Whatever you want. The truck is full this time, there's no room for her. You could work on your marksmanship, Private."

It felt as if Eren's stomach dropped.

Otto smirked. "Yes, sir."

The daughter raced out the front door, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mommy!" she cried. "Mommy!"

Eren snatched the girl by the arm.

Otto shoved the woman to the ground. "Run, bitch. Make this fun," he said darkly.

"Mommy!" the girl cried, breaking free of Eren's grasp.

The woman looked up at her daughter for the last time, her eyes wide with terror. Tears streamed down her face. "Leticia!" Her lips quivered as she tried to remain strong. "Mommy loves you. Take care of you brother."

"Mommy, what's gonna happen? You're coming home right?"

"Please, Leticia, listen."

"No! Mommy!"

"Please, just listen to me!"

Otto kicked the woman, hard. "Enough talking!"

"Leticia, Thomas!" the woman cried, her voice cracking with fear as tears streamed down her face.

Eren snatched the girl and turned her face away. Gunshots exploded in the empty street. Otto shot the helpless woman several times. Blood splattered Eren's cheek. The woman's terror stricken face sent a cold chill through him. Suddenly images flashed through his mind. His own mother's terrified face filled his mind. Images from that fateful day all those lifetimes ago filled his mind. His mother, trapped beneath the crushed house in Shiganshina, the titan that lifted her out of the wreckage. He remembered watching his mother struggle in the titan's grasp as the enormous hand crushed her, and the chilling smile the monster had as it devoured her, blood dripping from its mouth.

"Eren."

Someone called his name, but it sounded as if it came from far away.

"Eren!"

It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Eren gasped, taking in greedy breaths. Otto was staring at him, an annoyed look on his face. Eren was still holding onto the little girl tightly, so tight in fact that the girl was crying in pain. He glanced at the woman's corpse, her lifeless body riddled with bullet holes.

"Geez, Eren," Otto said. "You look like shit." He gestured to the girl he was still holding on to. "Take care of the brats. I gotta clean this mess up."

"Yeah," he said absently. "Yeah. Got it…."

Dragging the little girl behind him, he trudged toward the five-year-old boy who still stood in the doorway. The boy's eyes were wide with horror, the color drained from his face. His eyes were fixed on his mother's unmoving body. Eren recognized the look in the boy's eyes. It was despair. Despair and horror at what he had just witnessed. It reminded Eren of himself. It was something he remembered well when he had seen his own mother killed before his eyes. Grabbing the boy's hand, Eren headed in the opposite direction. He caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window. His face was pale, splashes of crimson coloring his ashen face.

He glanced back at the children he dragged behind him. The boy's face was expressionless, as if the life had been drained from him. The girl was wailing, tears and snot dripping down her face. Guilt clawed at him, tearing at his insides like a ravenous beast. There was nothing he could do or say to the children to console them. It was his fault their mother was dead. Their world had been utterly destroyed, ripped from their grasp in an instant. And it was all his fault. He led them to the outskirts of Belfort, to a small orphanage.

Finally the little girl started to struggle against him. She tried to pry his hand off her arm. "Let go! Mom! I want my mom!" She kicked him. "It's all your fault!"

Eren stopped. She flailed, hitting him with her free hand. She wasn't strong and her fists didn't feel like much, but it hurt. Her words stabbed at him.

"Because of you, mom is…." She choked on a sob. "Mommy!"

"I'm sorry…."

The girl looked up at him, her features contorted with fear and grief.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stop it…I couldn't save your mother." He started walking again, pulling the two children with him. "But at least you can live. Your mom would have wanted that."

"Mom…" the little boy muttered. The realization of what happened finally seemed to sink in. "Mama…."

The two of them wailed at the top of their lungs, screaming and crying with grief. The sound alone was enough wake up the entire orphanage. A nun came rushing out the front door. When she saw Eren in his blood-stained uniform and the two children, she covered her mouth in horror. Eren stopped and let go of their hands.

"Can you take care of these kids?" he asked, his voice hollow and emotionless. "Their mother was killed and they have nowhere to go."

Hesitantly, the nun approached. She knelt before them and scooped the two tearful children into her arms. She glanced up at Eren skeptically. Usually children whose parents had been arrested or killed for treason were arrested and sent to the camps or were killed on the spot. It was rare for them to still be alive, and to have been taken to an orphanage by a German soldier no less.

"Yes," she finally said. "They will be safe here."

"Thanks."

Eren stole one last glance at the forlorn children. They clung to the nun's dress as they cried. His heart sank as he thought about what their lives would be like from that moment on—what kind of hell they would endure through the remainder of the war and the hatred they would harbor deep in their hearts. It was a feeling he knew well. But he never imagined that he would be the one creating such emotions in others.

Chapter 4 will be up on Friday!