"This can't be real. This can't be fucking real!" I muttered to both myself and Terrence
I had turned all of the lamps in the room on, just to make sure that Terrence's nose wasn't some illusion. The dim lights clearly illuminated Terrence's perfectly healed nose without a splodge of blood in sight.
Terrence gulped as he nervously ran his fingers against his fixed nose. There was no trace of an injury, no scarring or inflammation. It had healed in a matter of hours, when in our world, the real world, this type of shit doesn't even happen with plastic surgery.
"I know. I know," was all Terrence muttered
I had told him about the money in my purse, how my coins, notes, and cards had been turned into this world's currency. This had freaked Terrence out as when he looked around for his wallet in his bag, the same had happened to him. All of his 'real world' money had been turned into a range of different coins.
I sat down beside him before taking a deep breath:
"You remember we both had that realisation earlier to, you know, help free humanity?"
Terrence nodded.
"Briefly," he replied
"You're going to find this completely fucking mental, but I spoke to some soldiers in the bar and they explained what the titans are," I said slowly
Terrence sat up,
"And what are they?" he inquired
"Giants. The titans are man-eating giants that live outside the wall," I replied shakily
The thought of giants still didn't sit right with me, but after seeing Terrence's nose completely fix itself after being torn off his face and the faces of the soldiers explaining what the titans were, I had little to doubt. The impossible has become possible, and this situation that I had gotten myself into, what our group has gotten into was possibly more dangerous than we first thought it would be.
Terrence shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.
"Giants, huh? Fuck me, that can't be possible," he murmured
I gulped nervously,
"You should've seen the soldiers at the bar. They weren't drunk or high or anything, it…they were terrified to talk to me about them, the giants I mean," I stammered
Terrence grunted and stretched his arms behind his back and a few 'clicks' came from his back. Terrence sighed in relief and brought his arms back around himself.
"You're sure they weren't trying to trick you or anything?"
"Why would they do that? Even if it was because I was an outsider, what would they gain from it? Remember when we saw the…bodies being towed through the streets and the remainder of soldiers? Why would they lie about something like this if they need people to fight these things?" I asked
Terrence shrugged.
"I…I don't know but whatever's going on, it all just feels like a bad trip, y'know? Like this feels so real, but it can't be…it can't be," Terrence sighed heavily and sniffed
I silently agreed with him and wrapped my arm around him. Sometimes, we all need comfort when things seem to be moving too quickly and when reality feels miles away, just having someone to help slow things down can bring clarity and make things just that slightly bit easier.
Terrence took one of my arms that was slung around his shoulder and gently held it.
I've always found it astonishing how daunting situations can pull people together, creating binds and connections that can take years to form. The basic human need for comfort and warmth can do astonishing things like that.
"I know this may be too soon to ask, but you know that subliminal mission we were given, you know, the fallacy of the cave, freeing humanity, and whatnot?" I asked
Terrence nodded and looked at me.
"What of it?" he asked
"The military are recruiting tomorrow morning and taking the recruits to train at some trainee corps camp. I was wondering if-"
"I'd be willing to go?"
I nodded.
Terrence nodded his head and swallowed a bit of saliva before opening his mouth.
"I would. If that brings us closer to the truth, and possibly out of here, then I'm in," he replied
I unwrapped my arms from around his shoulders and sat on my hands.
"Do you think these two will be coming with us? It's…short notice to say the least, so if they do say no, what should we do?" I asked as my gaze flickered between the dimly lit sleeping figures of Peter and Carmen.
Terrence sat in silence and shrugged before shaking his head.
"I guess we leave them. Give 'em some of the money in our wallets and let them find a place to stay I guess. Charlotte, it's all happening too quickly I… I don't know, if anything, we should at least try and convince them to come with us," he replied
I shivered. We went from 'we have to stick together' to 'I guess we could leave them', which made me mentally take a step back and try and analyse this mess we were in and why the hell we were so determined to join the army. There was something…unnatural about the intent, as if there was some form of extreme hypnosis involved. But that couldn't be the case as I know first-hand how hypnosis and brainwashing works, and only in fantasy novels does this form of hypnosis exist.
Oh.
That man, no, that thing. He was the one that ingrained this idea of freeing the people in my head, and possibly Terrence's, but for what cause? Why would he want us to freely risk our lives without any proper thought? Surely he wanted us to live, right? I wanted Carmen and Peter to come with us, I really did, but even I seemed slightly disappointed at the thought of being almost held back by them.
"Well, according to the lads downstairs, we'll need to be at the military headquarters by half nine tomorrow morning, so should we be up at around half seven?" I asked
"You know where this place is?"
I nodded.
"We keep walking straight from the entrance, apparently it's easy to find,"
"Sounds alright,"
I looked over again at Carmen and Peter and just hoped that they would be alright with this plan as my eyes started to feel heavier from the drink from earlier.
"I'll set an alarm for seven, we should at least try and get some more sleep before tomorrow. If you can't, the bar has this really strong drink, I can't honestly remember what it's called, but just ask for their strongest," I said as I walked over to my own bed and took off my shoes before laying down on the bed and pulling the thin material duvet over me.
"Cheers," Terrence grumbled as I heard him shift into bed
I closed my eyes and drifted into yet another dreamless sleep.
The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of running water splashing rapidly onto the wooden floor. Sure enough when I groggily sat up with a slight headache, Terrence stood there with his hand on the wall.
"Charming," I grumbled as I started getting out of bed.
Terrence flinched before shaking and putting his trousers on properly so that his dick wasn't hanging out.
"Oh, sorry," was all he said
I tutted as, to my horror, I realized we had nothing to sanitize our hands with. No soap, running water, nothing. I shifted as I stood up when I noticed the uncomfortable sensation of my own bladder being filled.
"I need a piss," I said as I walked over to the hay and just stared at it in disgust.
"I'm not looking or listening," said Terrence as he put electric blue earphones in
I hummed as I squatted and took my first piss. Not really anything worth mentioning, but it was like a milestone. Like the first time you step into a new apartment or your first kiss with your current partner. Nothing flashy or special, but something you make note of to remember.
After I had finished, I wiped my hands on my shirt as a way of 'washing' them before walking back over to the bed and stripping myself of the clothes I wore to bed and putting on the olive green dress I had bought the day before. Noticing how well it fit, I smoothed it down and twirled a bit, letting the end twist around my legs like a child would.
I looked across the room to the window to see that the sky was a yellow hue from the rising sun with smudges of pink filtering through. I'm not sure why, but it made my heart tighten a bit as I was reminded of…simpler times. I'm not sure how to word it, but times when I didn't have much to worry about.
Now, I'm not sure what I should be worried about.
"Should we wake these two up?" Terrence asked
I nodded before kneeling on the bed and shaking Carmen's shoulder.
"What is it?" Carmen asked groggily
"SHHIIIIITT!" Peter yelled from the other side of the room.
I looked across the room and saw that Terrence had taken a different approach in waking Peter up as Peter was now sat up in bed with Terrence sitting on his legs. I assume Terrence had jumped on them as a way of waking Peter up.
Terrence looked at me and gave me a nod that aid: 'Start talking'.
I took a breath before letting the words form in my brain and letting them smoothly out of my mouth. After all, that was something I was trained to do. Convince others with smooth words and ad-lib what I'm not sure about. Just as long as I make it sound pretty or sexy or cool (depending on who I'm talking to), anything can work.
"I have a feeling you might disagree and try and stop us, but Terrence and I have decided to join the Survey Corps. You remember the soldiers we saw walking through the city yesterday, well, there's this inkling that there's more to why the minute man sent us here and the Survey Corps is the only conclusion we've drawn up and is the one we are certain about. Signing up is today and we've decided that although we've only just gotten here, we have to go. If you guys don't want to come, that's fine, we can give you money to find another place to stay and get your bearings, but please don't try to convince us not to go or that this is a bad idea, because I'm certain that this is what we were sent here for, but if you want to come with us, then pack your things up and be ready by eight," I pronounced
It wasn't exactly Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator speech, but at least we had broken the news to both Carmen and Peter, who were now looking at both Terrence and I as if we were pissing and shitting in the middle of a busy street whilst waving around our middle fingers.
"And do you know who the Survey Corps is fighting?" Carmen asked
Terrence replied for me:
"It's going to sound mental, but it's giants. Man-eating giants that live beyond the walls and are what the Survey Corps are fighting and Charlotte and I thought that it would be best to explore the surrounding areas as well as aid the soldiers, I mean, what else could we do?"
Peter gasped.
"Giants?"
"I know, hard to believe, but you saw the injuries on the soldiers yesterday, they looked a tad extreme to have been made by humans," said Terrence
"How did you find out it was giants living beyond the wall?" Carmen asked
"Charlotte spoke to two soldiers yesterday who, from what she told me, were shaken up at the thought of them,"
There was a heavy silence before Carmen huffed.
"Do you know how dumb you two sound right now? Risking our lives even though we've only just got here? This type of idea needs time and planning and I don't think I can do it," she whispered
I nodded as if I understood the words she was saying, yet it was like I couldn't let them sink in. If Peter wanted to go with us, how could we leave Carmen behind? Would we stay in touch? All of these confused and angry and scared feelings bubbled up inside, yet I kept my composure as I looked to Peter, who was staring at the ground.
"How about you, Peter?" I asked
Peter looked down and shrugged.
"I want to-"
Carmen gasped.
"But I can't leave Carmen on her own, so I'm staying with her, I'm sorry," he whispered
I nodded in return.
"It's ok," was all I said before going onto the ground and finding my backpack.
"Why do you feel the need to do this? Surely from yesterday you know how dangerous it is out there? Why do you want to risk your lives for a cause that you don't even understand?"
Now the group was falling apart. I felt like we were supposed to stay together, but at the same time, maybe it was for the best. I knew that my decision was rushed and that I hadn't properly thought everything through, yet there was this feeling of fulfilment of joining up that didn't seem to sit right with me.
Then it hit me.
The lads from yesterday, the guards, were saying how a small minority join the Survey Corps, the only ones who fight, meaning…
"What if you didn't have to fight the titans with us? Yesterday, when you two were asleep, I talked to these military guys who didn't even properly fight titans, they guarded the wall or something. Look, I don't want to leave you guys alone, I know we've only just met, but maybe this is what we were sent here to do, to fight and protect," I said in a slightly pushy tone
I looked between Carmen and Peter exchanging glances.
"I guess this could be a way of finding stuff out, I mean, I can't live in an inn my whole life, that would just be pathetic, so, I guess I'm in," said Peter
YES! One down, one to go.
"Carmen?"
Carmen rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but I'm not going on suicide missions, just guarding," was all she said before getting out of bed
Everything was now properly falling into place. We all had a drive (some higher than others) and it was going to take us on an adventure, like Bilbo and the dwarves or the Pevencie's except more gruesome and (hopefully) less religious connotations.
I checked the contents of my bag for the first time since coming here, so that I could make room in my bag for my clothes as I didn't want to lug the woven sack around with me and I pulled out: my ebook along with two other books: (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Lolita), a solar panelled charger (YES!), my makeup bag, a hairbrush, a few hair bands and grips, my laptop, toothbrush and toothpaste, tampons, a pair of (granny) pants, a shit tonne of Chinese sweets, my purse, my stuffed cat teddy called Pippin, and SOSO documents (which I didn't take out of my bag).
I grabbed the bag of clothes and rolled them up and stuffed them into my bag before skilfully shoving and fitting my other items in until everything was densely compacted in before closing up my bag and putting it onto the bed.
I made the decision to wear my beige coat in order to stop me from hauling it around with me, but before putting it on, I noticed that my hair was a complete mess and I still had peroxide white hair and pink tips. Not a good look for the army.
So, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Has anyone got any scissors?" I asked as I pawed through my bag for my hairbrush
"I do," Terrence replied before walking over to me and handing me a pair of scissors.
"Cheers," I replied as I put the scissors down on the bed and pulled out the brush from my bag. I brushed through the long strands of my hair until my hair was slightly wavy. I had no idea what I was doing but I took a deep breath and picked up the scissors before taking medium strands of my hair and cutting it just above where the bubblegum pink started.
Snip. Snip. Snip.
My pink ends had been cut completely off, my hair now just tickling the fullest part of my bust. The pink hair that I had cut off laid lifelessly on the ground. The sign of the break I was going to take from SOSO to fully focus on university as SOSO doesn't allow 'outlandish' hair on agents that could be sent on missions. They allow breaks where I could keep my apartment, use the facilities, and still go on-site; I just wouldn't go on missions.
It was just ironic that I had started a break and I was all of a sudden back on a form of mission.
I tied my hair up into a messy bun with two small strands of hair left out to frame my face in order to cover up my botched haircut before putting on my coat and buttoning it up. I then sat down on the edge of the bed and checked the time.
7:32. Date: 8th March ?
My eyes narrowed at the date. It was the day after I was in the crash, making it look like not much time had gone on since I had died, but I was in a different timeline altogether which made my head feel slightly woozy. But it also made me wonder where I was. My phone was able to change the time, just not tell me where I was.
My mind then took me back to Terrence's nose and how little Carmen and Peter had said about it.
I was actually surprised that Carmen and Peter hadn't bought up Terrence's nose and how it had miraculously healed up overnight. They possibly didn't even remember the events before as they appeared to have been passed out all night, which would make anyone have a form of short term memory loss, but now my head wasn't (as) influenced by alcohol, I pondered how Terrence's nose healed over, but all of the ideas I had defied the laws of physics and/or biology.
Once everyone had packed their bags, we all checked under our beds and pillows to make sure we hadn't left anything behind before leaving the room that smelt of damp and shit.
Terrence returned the keys to the front desk and exchanged brief conversation with the man at the desk before coming back over to us and giving us a brief nod that told us that we had officially checked out of the inn.
Once we were outside, we started walking straight, just like the soldiers had told me to yesterday. As we walked, I noticed just how old our surroundings looked. Thatched roofs on some of the houses, beams of wood that were patterned in criss-crosses on the front of some of the buildings, the wagons pulled by horses with an array of crops being taken to what I assume would be the farmers market.
I don't really think any of us were in the mood for talking as Carmen was still wiping the sleep from her eyes and Peter was continually yawning. Terrence strode at the front next to me, occasionally cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders.
The day was a lot brighter than yesterday as there was only white fluffy clouds lazing across the sky. People were out in the streets early, not in an extremely busy way, but it was certainly busier than yesterday.
I heard a group of girls giggle lightly and whisper coyly. When I looked up, I saw that they were looking and pointing at our group. More specifically, at Terrence.
I nudged Terrence lightly with my elbow and gazed pointedly at the girls. Once his eyes trailed over to them, they all started giggling hysterically and speeding off in the opposite direction from where we were heading.
"Looks like you've gotten yourself a fanbase already," I giggled
Terrence's eyes widened slightly before he chuckled and scratched his neck.
"What can I say? I'm just that irresistible," he said saucily
I cocked my eyebrow and giggled.
"Someone's modest," I teased
Terrence playfully nudged me in the ribs, making me giggle harder.
"Do you guys know what we're doing for breakfast?" Peter interrupted
Shit. I forgot we had to eat.
"I have some sweets in my bag we can share out once we get there," I said quickly
"Healthy choice," Carmen commented
"Better than nothing," I shrugged
I saw a building with three emblems on it around fifty yards away: a green unicorn, blue and white pair of leaves (or something), and a pair of roses. That should be it. I recognised the leaves as the emblem on the backs of the soldiers from yesterday and the roses from the guys I spoke to yesterday. The unicorn? I had no clue.
Terrence chuckled to himself.
"A unicorn? Who came up with that as a sigil?"
I smirked.
"A bunch of pansies, I assume,"
Once we had gotten to the large brown building, I noticed a group of four soldiers standing at the doors with clipboards in their hands, all in deep conversation with one and other as they seemed to be attempting to carry on gripping their clipboards whilst talking quickly with their hands. As we got closer, I noticed that there was only one girl within that group, looking unimpressed.
They soon noticed us and straightened their backs, pretending that they didn't notice each other.
Once we were nearly in the doorway, the group approached us. As soon as they were close enough, I noticed they were wearing the rose badges. The stationary guards, who Carmen and Peter were going to join.
"Are you here to sign up?" the girl asked
She couldn't have been older than me. Her freckled face seemed to beam with youth as a slight blush dusted her cheeks and her eyes were still wide and innocent. She was a good five inches shorter than me, yet her voice was deep and seemed to hold at some authority.
The other soldiers approached other members of the group.
"Yes," I replied
"Can I have your name?"
"Charlotte Hill,"
"Age?"
"Twenty,"
"Date of birth?"
"January 7th,"
"Birthplace?"
Shit what was this town called again? I remembered it began with a T and sounded very similar to 'Trost', but I couldn't be too sure. Shit. My mind was now scrambling for answers, the Capital? Was that a place? I'm pretty sure I heard it mentioned, do I run with that or do I go with Trust?
"Um, the Capital?" I said with a slight waver in my voice
"Hmn, the Capital? You must be bored," she commented snarkily
Even so, she wrote down my birthplace as 'Mitras' on the sheet with my details which, I was assuming, was the capital of this country or land or however this place could be described.
She then put down her pen and gestured me to go through.
"You're gonna need to get measured and given your gear, keep going straight and someone will get you sorted," she then tore my paper from the clipboard and handed it to me "and give this to whoever's measuring you,"
I walked ahead before turning around to see if the rest of the group had finished with their profiles, and after a few seconds, we were all united with sheets of paper in our hands with our details on them.
"Where did you guys say you were from?" I asked as we walked down the wide corridor
Peter chuckled nervously.
"I just said that I was from around here, so they put 'Trost' on my sheet,"
"According to mine, I'm from 'Krolva' as I said that I was west from here and waited for them to name a place and said yes to the first one," Carmen chuckled
I looked over at Terrence.
"And you?"
He shrugged.
"I remembered the name of the place, unlike you idiots," he sneered
"Gold star for you," I muttered darkly
I admit to being slightly jealous of not being able to remember what this place was called.
Once we had gotten to the end of the wood panelled corridor, we were greeted with a doorway to a wide room that was full of windows that blazed the room with the sunlight from outside. The room was full of chairs and only a few were occupied by what looked like guys and girls in their early teens. All of them were wearing white trousers with a shirt and a waist length beige jackets with a different emblem on it. This one had what looked like two swords crossed over each other, possibly what every new kid wears?
We were spotted by another group of guards who ushered us in separate directions, Carmen and I went left with a tall woman with brown hair that was tied in a loose bun, and Terrence and Peter were taken right with a guy with a buzzcut.
We were led into a small room with a series of jackets, trousers, boots, belts, and bandage along with a tape measure that was laid out on a table in the centre of the room and a set of large scales.
"Ok, so if you," she motioned Carmen "come over to the wall where you see the numbers, I'll get your height, weight and measurements sorted and if you," she motioned at me "take a seat and just wait for me to finish with your friend but could you just take your coat off?"
"Sure," I said in a breathy voice before unbuttoning my coat and taking it off, being careful not to let my phone slip out.
I then took a seat and averted my eyes away from Carmen who had just been told to strip down to her underwear and had gone a vivid shade of crimson and kept her eyes down. It was more for Carmen's benefit than anything as she was already in an uncomfortable position and I didn't want to make it worse.
The room had only one window but it was pretty big which allowed for a lot of light to be let in, yet the windows had a frosted glass effect on them, making sure that no one else could peak in and see anything that happened in the room, which was a relief.
Then I realised that the woman getting my measurements would see my underwear and body. Not that I was ashamed of them, but they look out of place for a medieval Amish community. Especially if I'm supposed to come from the upper class area (well from how the soldier from earlier reacted, I assumed so). I mean I could say that my bra and pants were part of the fashion. Black and purple lace with matching pants. Ok, I could try and get away with that excuse, but my body…
From what I remembered from 'Horrible Histories' most upper class people were either really overweight or wearing a corset, no tone or definition in their muscles. I had to lose muscle before I went on the mission in order to look frailer, yet as soon as the mission was over, I did a load of weight training in order to gain the muscle I had lost. I wasn't completely ripped, but I was toned and that would look out of place for the place I was supposed to come from.
I could just tell them that I was rebelling and I wanted to get some training in before I left home. Could that work?
I bloody well hope so.
When I looked up, Carmen had changed out of her clothes and was now being belted in to some form of bondage wear. Belts on the thighs, across the chest, down the shin, by the waist. What were they going to be used for?
Carmen was then handed a pair of knee high brown boots and a beige jacket before the woman called me up.
I placed my jacket on the chair and walked over to her.
"Ok, so can you take your clothes off, please and go and stand by the wall where the numbers are, oh and hand me your information sheet, please?" she said in a gentle voice
I walked back over to the chair and stripped my dress off and folded it before putting it down on the chair and taking my sheet of paper before walking back over to her.
"Here," I said as I handed the paper to her
She looked down before putting it on the table in the centre and walking over to the part of the wall that measured our height.
"Ok, so you are 1.76 metres, ok now can you walk over to the scales, please?"
I walked over to the scales and gasped slightly as the metal plate that I stood on was freezing cold.
"71 kilos," she noted
I stepped off the scale, back onto the polished wooden floor.
I was honestly surprised that she hadn't really said anything that deviated from my measurements, which was actually a huge relief as I wasn't really in much of a talking mood as I started to become more aware of the emptiness of my stomach and the dryness of my mouth. I didn't have water, but I had Chinese sweets to look forward to, and surely, an establishment like this should have water, right? Possibly infested with cholera, but I had yet to see disease and plague infesting the streets.
The woman took my measurements from my neck to my feet before telling me to take my 'brassiere' off and I complied. I unhooked my bra, letting my breasts breathe for the first time since I changed for the airport 'yesterday' as I had completely forgotten to take my bra off.
Yet my relief was short lived when the woman took a bandage, told me to lift my arms and started wrapping the bandage around my chest, binding my breasts, making them look small and flat and giving me more of a boyish figure.
Once she deemed the bandage sufficient, she ran her hands across my chest, just to make sure my chest was flat enough before going over to the table.
"Do you have a shirt with you? Preferably white, but any colour would do," she asked as she looked for trousers
"Yes, I do," I said as I walked over to my bag and opened it up before nabbing the first material that came into contact with my hand. Thankfully, it was the white shirt I wore yesterday and I put it on and buttoned it up over my flat chest.
The woman gestured me back over and motioned me to put on a pair of white trousers, which after I put them on felt so comfortable. They were tight but not too much so and were pretty flexible.
Then she handed me a pair of calf length white socks which, again, were very comfortable.
Then came the belts.
They were already attached to each other, leaving it to me to just step into them and adjust them as I see fit. Once the woman had helped me step into the brown leather and led my arms through the loops, she helped me adjust the tightness of the belt across my chest, around my waist, and on my thighs. Once I was sorted, she then gave me this leather skirt thing, which I was able to slip on over my belts before being handed boots and a jacket as the next girl to be measured came in.
I sat in the chair and quickly slipped on the boots and jacket before bundling my dress into a ball and shoving it in my bag as well as my bra. I then grabbed my coat (and again making sure my phone hadn't dropped out) before leaving to sit in the waiting room with the others.
Terrence, Peter, and Carmen were sat in the corner the furthest away and were talking quietly amongst themselves with wooden cups in their hands.
"Oh hey, Charlotte, how's the binder?" Terrence asked whilst giving a side glance to Carmen, who had probably told them about the binder.
I shrugged.
"Not too shabby. Hey, where did you get the drinks from? I'm parched," I groaned
Peter pointed to a small table by the entrance with a multitude of wooden cups placed on it. I quickly got up and speed walked over and nabbed a cup before walking back over to the group and guzzling down the water because not only was I parched, but my breath tasted sour on my tongue and I needed the water to dull the tanginess on my tongue.
Once I had sat down next to Peter, I went into my bag and made sure to stay as silent as possible as I opened the packet of marshmallow rabbits in my bag and emptied them into my cup so that no one saw the wrapper and got suspicious. Peter looked down at what I was doing and surreptitiously handed me his cup, where I emptied out some sour plum sweets and handed him back his cup.
Peter then nudged Terrence, who handed me his cup, in return, alerting Carmen who handed me her cup. Once our cups had been filled with sweets, I proceeded to demonstrate how to hide eating sweets as I took the mug to my lips and tipped some marshmallow rabbits into my mouth before putting the cup down on my lap with my palm covering the top so that no one could see what was in the cup.
We mostly sat in silence with the odd sound of chewing and swallowing until everyone had finished their nutritious breakfast, crammed with shit tonnes of sugar. Not that I really cared, as long as I was eating something that tasted good and set me up for the day. I mean I would usually start the day with porridge with honey or buttered toast or bacon and egg, depending on how much time I had that morning.
Once I had finished my breakfast, I put the cup down on the floor and laid back in my chair, watching as the room steadily got fuller and fuller with kids as young as thirteen going in to get fitted and sat down. Since there were now more people coming in, more staff were going into the separate changing rooms to get the soldiers fitted into their uniforms and belts.
"I didn't think we'd be in with younger kids, holy hell," Peter murmured
"It's definitely weird," Carmen replied as a girl that looked around fourteen sat next to her.
I did see two trainees that looked around my age, maybe slightly younger? Either way, when they noticed the two chairs in the seat next to me were vacant, they came and sat next to me with a look of relief on their faces.
One of them was a tall guy with chin length wavy dark brown hair and light brown eyes. His companion was a girl who looked very similar to him with the same dark brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail and light brown eyes, but the thing that gave away her feminine identity was that her hips were slightly wider than his, making me believe they were related. Brother and sister or cousins.
"Hey, do you mind if we sit next to you guys? I can't be asked to deal with kids this early in the morning," the girl asked
I send her a friendly smile.
"Sure," I replied
Both her and her companion sat down in the empty wooden chairs and let themselves lean back and make themselves comfortable.
"It looks like we're the oldest ones here, like I thought there would be more oldies," the guy said
I turned to him and cocked my eyebrow.
"And what do you consider an 'oldie'?" I asked mockingly
The guy looked down at his lap and chuckled.
"Anyone over eighteen," he stuck out his hand "I'm David and this is my sister, Ros,"
I took his hand and shook it,
"I'm Charlotte and these are my friends, Peter, Terrence, and Carmen," I gestured towards each person
"So, what regiment are you wanting to join?" David asked
"Charlotte and I are hoping to join the Survey Corps and Carmen and Peter are joining the Garrison," Terrence replied
David and Ros' eyes widened before they looked at each other then back at us in disbelief.
"You two want to join the Survey Corps? That's pretty extreme," Ros said quietly
Terrence shrugged,
"It's better to explore while you have the chance," he replied
Before David could retort, a tall man with tanned skin and mousy brown hair came into the doorway and coughed to get everyone's attention. All eyes were drawn to him and the room went from being full of nervous chatter to complete silence within an instant.
"Outside are the wagons that will take you to the training grounds. Once you get there, you will be shown to your dorms where you will stay and train for three years, unless of course, you believe you made a mistake and want to pull out of the military, then by all means, do so. After you've settled in, your instructor will want to talk with you all before being dismissed for lunch, then you have the rest of the day to conserve your energy for training tomorrow, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" everyone replied
"One more thing, the salute. To salute like a proper soldier, left fist behind your back, right fist over your heart, like so," and he demonstrated the salute of a soldier
We were then led out of the room and back down the corridor to the outside area where we came in. There was a limit of fifteen people per wagon, so Terrence, Carmen, Peter, and I made sure we stuck together as we bundled into the horse drawn wagon that smelt slightly musty, making sure to get a seat in the corner.
The wagon was covered by a white canvas that kept the sun from entering the sides, but the door to the wagon was only half of the doorway, letting us see the wagon behind us and the surrounding areas of the places that passed us by.
Once the horses were moved into gear, the slow and bumpy journey to the training grounds began. The chatter from the waiting room started up again and everyone was introducing themselves in a huge fifteen person conversation.
I had learnt that most of the people in here were around sixteen, but that was only because the older kids wanted to sit in the wagon without the youngsters, which I cannot blame them for. I was sandwiched between Terrence and a girl who had introduced herself as Mara and was seventeen and from an outside town called Shinganshina. It was like everyone was introducing themselves in order, so after Mara finished introducing herself, everyone's eyes were now on me. Pressuring me to introduce myself, so I held my composure and did just that.
"I'm Charlotte, I'm twenty and I'm from Mitras," I said in a slightly sweet voice
There was a hum before a boy spoke up.
"Why did you leave the capital? It's the safest place in the walls," he said
I thought for a few moments before replying
"What's the point in staying behind the walls when you can discover the outside? I guess I felt suffocated in the capital and if that's the safest place in the wall, I want to make the rest of the walls just as safe, if not, safer," I replied
There was another hum before attention was drawn to Terrence
"I'm Terrence, I'm from Trost and I'm twenty two,"
This whole say a bit about yourself then answer a few questions then move on to the next person carried on until everyone had spoken, then another boy with short, spikey hair asked about the branches people wanted to join. Out of the fifteen of us in there, nine wanted to join the Military Police (who I learnt guarded the king and got to live in the capital), Carmen and Peter were the only ones wanting to join the Garrison, and Mara, Terrence, and I were the only ones wanting to join the Survey Corps, something everyone found both intriguing and in their opinion, stupid.
"So what makes you guys want to risk your lives and throw yourselves out to the titans?" One kid who had introduced himself as Angus asked
Mara was the first to reply:
"I remember when I was younger watching the soldiers going in and out of the walls, and I want to be part of that. I want to see what's on the other side of the wall and I want to feel safe and not have to think about the titans that lurk outside the wall," she said
'Poor thing', I thought to myself
Once we had stopped, we were all told to get out of the wagon before standing in one big group made up of people from fifteen carriages, averaging at around two hundred and twenty five people. Which was strange, as I remembered that there was only around five wagons that took us. Then again, these other wagons could have come from different parts of the walls.
A short woman with blonde hair and blue eyes told us to get into groups of twenty with people of the same sex, which made me immediately stick to Carmen. What I found amusing was that I noticed that the girls seemed to want to gravitate towards our group. The older girls from other wagons would make eye contact then come over to us and ask if we wanted to be in a group with them, to which our answer would be 'sure'.
Once everyone had gotten into groups, we were teamed up with a group of boys and led to a cabin. Thankfully, our group was teamed up with Terrence and Peters and we were all led down a sandy track to a large cabin that had been split so that the left section of the cabin was for the girls and the right section was for the boys.
We were then led by the blonde woman to our cabin which smelt faintly of mildew and were slightly dark, but to my delight, there were actual toilet stalls and running showers!
There were two lines of bunks, one on the left and one on the right. The beds were all conjoined onto one block both top and bottom bunks with flat mattresses and thin duvet covers with a few tables in the centre of the room and a fireplace at the back by the window as well as a gaslight in the middle of the room that hung from the ceiling, making the room look cosy and homely. Although the mattresses were flat and looked pretty uncomfortable, I've slept on worse.
The woman then took our names and assigned bunks. Carmen and I were in next to each other on the top bunk with a girl with dark red hair called Abby sleeping next to me as Carmen got the bed in the corner by the window.
After being assigned to my bunk, we were given lockers to put all of our belongings in. They were around my height and inside were hooks and hangers to hang clothes on. Once I had shoved my bag into my locker, we gathered around the woman in the middle.
"Right, you're now going to be led down to the training grounds for a talk with your training instructor, Ralph Unger. Don't expect him to go easy on you just because you're new and if you want to go home afterwards, nobody will stop you. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am," we all replied before being led down to the training grounds whilst integrating with the boys section of the cabin.
Once we were on the training ground, we were lined up into rows of twenty five before being told to stand at ease and in silence. For around ten minutes, we stood still in the blazing sun with only a gentle breeze to cool us down when a man wearing a green overcoat stepped in front of the whole group.
For a few moments, he paced the ground in front of us with heavy feet whilst looking at all of us new recruits with a look of disdain splodged on his face. He would occasionally stop to take in the appearance of a particular recruit before continuing his pacing until he stood completely still.
"Cadets, stand at ease!" he yelled in a voice that could only be described as a stereotypical drill sergeant. Low, loud, and imposing. We all sprung to action and stood with our legs slightly parted and our hands behind our backs.
From the distance he was away from me, I could see that he had wrinkles on his face and deep hooded eyes as well as very little hair on his head which made him look a lot older than he probably was.
He started approaching individual cadets, towering over them, casting a shadow over them, intimidating them. The first girl he approached was a short girl with honey blonde hair that was tied into a bun.
"You," he stopped in front of her "Who the hell are you?" he asked
"Daisy Adler of Trost District, sir!" the young girl cried
"Trost, eh? What do you want to achieve at the end of your three years of training, given that you don't pussy out or die."
Wait, we could die in training? It's a given that most, if not all military training has some risk to it that could end in a really bad injury, but death? Was it really a good idea to bring the three others with me? Would it be my fault if they died during training? I knew I could probably make it, after all, I've had to do some pretty dangerous shit in my life, but how would my training and experience match up to this training?
"I want to join the military police and serve my king, body and soul." She replied
"The king doesn't want your body or your soul. He already has too many naïve kids with shit for brains wanting to give him their body and soul. He has quite the collection of bodies, I doubt yours is any more interesting than theirs." said the Instructor harshly before moving on to the next person.
Was this like a rite of passage? Something used to break our spirits to see if we're capable of being moulded into soldiers? If so, then this was going to be interesting. What would he pull me out on? My hair? My height? My accent? The fact I want to join the Survey Corps? Maybe he'll mash all of those factors together?
Once the instructor had finished with one row, he made them turn around, so that they could watch the one way insult match as they watched in silence. It was my row next.
I watched passively as he insulted a girl's happy disposition, as he crumbled a boy's hopes and dreams of being a member of the Military Police, as he drug a girl's self-confidence to through the mud as he pointed out her lazy eye and said that she could never make it through with an 'evil looking eye like that' causing her to cry and walk out of the training ground. He was picking out a person's weakness and weeding out those with bigger weaknesses than others and those who succumbed to their weakness.
Once he got to my row, I gave Carmen a small smile before turning back to face the front as he got to a boy called Tommy who stood shaking in both fear and admiration next to me as the instructor mocked his pre-pubescent voice that had yet to break before moving on to me.
He stood slightly taller than me and just looked me dead in the eye.
"Who are you?" he asked in a tone that was only slightly calmer than the one he used on Tommy
"Charlotte Hill," I replied confidently, preparing myself for the next blow he might end my way.
But that never happened. He just took my appearance in one more time before moving on to Carmen in a tone that matched the one he used on Tommy, making her squirm uncomfortably as he mocked her short height and thin stature, saying that she would never be able to even make it up the wall with such little muscle mass.
I pondered over why he decided to skip me and move on. Time limit? Or maybe he knew I've already been through some form of rite of passage? But how? My face doesn't always look serious nor do I look particularly 'broken in'. I look…normal. Maybe it's in the way I stand? I couldn't even begin to think of why he skipped me until I had been left to soak in each insult he hurled at every cadet he stood at.
Then it happened again, this time he had skipped over Terrence.
What was his trauma or rite of passage that made the instructor skip over him? I mean, I couldn't blatantly ask if he had been through a particularly traumatic experience as that would just be harsh and slightly impersonal. So I continued to stand in silence as theories washed around my head like a tidal wave.
It couldn't have been that I almost died as he would have skipped over Carmen too. Ugh, all of these questions buzzing around my head were starting to give me a headache. So I kept on staring ahead until the instructor had made his way around all 225 of us. Once he had finished, he stood in silence again until he broke the silence.
"You useless lot are dismissed for lunch," was all he said waving us off to go and queue up for a belated lunch.
We all herded together and made a beeline for the large wooden building that was being pointed out by one of the soldiers as the dining hall. I was able to catch up with Terrence and Peter with Carmen right behind me.
"Well, that was interesting," Peter said nervously as we got into the queue that had just started to go outside the dining hall
"Yeah, I liked the part where he insulted me and skipped over you two," said Carmen saltily at Terrence and I
Terrence quickly looked over at me and shrugged.
"Probably because of the way we stood or something, he probably thinks we've done something similar or had some form of rough life that has already broken us in," he said
Well, I did have a bit of a rough life and I have seen things that are both gruesome and downright disheartening, but I highly doubted it showed in my appearance. The mission in China was certainly one of the rougher ones as I did have to perform 'certain acts' and listen to how the girls would use the little money they were allowed to purchase either heroin or cocaine or alcohol or maybe a mixture of all three just so they didn't have to go through being raped, which some might think would cause trauma, but to me, it was work. Horrid and uncomfortable, yes, if I needed information, I was willing to do anything and just shut off my emotions, even if that did mean having to get treated for multiple STDs (thankfully not HIV or AIDS). I think it was on that mission that I decided it would be best to take a bit of a break.
Carmen then looked over at me as I stared at the floor and looking at the patterns and seemed to think that she may have struck a nerve (which she hadn't. The patterns on the floor were pretty intricate) as her voice softened and she changed the subject.
"What do you think we're having for lunch?" she asked
Terrence peered over at someone who had gotten his tray and hummed.
"Looks like vegetable soup with bread, a potato, and water. It doesn't look too appetizing," he grimaced
Once we had gotten to the front and grabbed our wooden trays with a metal bowl filled with soup with the consistency of vomit, and side plates with an undercooked potato and slightly doughy bread, we made our way over to an empty table and sat down on the slightly rough surface.
"Bon appétit," Peter said cheerfully as he plunged his spoon into his soup and took it to his mouth.
"How is it?" Terrence asked as he swirled his spoon around is bowl
Peter shrugged.
"Could do with some salt and pepper but there isn't any that I can see,"
So the three of us picked up our spoons and started eating the soup, which to be honest wasn't too bad, save for the dark hair that I pulled out of my mouth one too many times. The bread was a bit undercooked, as was the potato, but all in all, not too shabby of a meal. I mean it could have been worse like cold tinned spaghetti or a cold tin of baked beans (which I have had the pleasure of having whilst training for SOSO).
Once we had finished we took our trays over to a rack and placed them on it before walking outside to bask in the spring sunshine and spend the last few hours together before our training really began.
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Thank you so much for reading this chapter and I'm sorry it's so long (and late). I really appreciate the comments that have been made so far and the release of season 2 of the anime helped give me a kick up the backside to update.
Anyway, I really need help with my studying as I can't seem to concentrate or get into the groove of it, which is starting to worry me as my exams start in May and the revision I have done I can't even remember ;_;
Again, thank you so much for reading and any comments and criticisms made are always appreciated.
