I do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters.

Laid to Rest

Adam lifted another body, ignoring the blood that instantly soaked him, ignoring the disgusted looks of those around him. He carried it to where the bodies were being gathered for funeral rights and set it down.

"Do you know who she is?" one of the Garrison Regiment soldiers who was in charge of getting the bodies identified asked.

"Laura Lane," Adam said. "She was a trainee who just graduated."

The Garrison soldier nodded and Adam turned, heading back for the other two teammates he had allowed to die. One had been crushed by debris, and was barely more than soup with limbs thrown in. The other had been in the process of being chewed. As he returned with the last, or at least, what little he could find of him, Annie arrived with a body of her own. He glanced at her and she stared at the blood covering him before turning and walking into the city again, Adam following. They both silently agreed who to collect next. A few minutes later, they reached Marco's body just as Jean told a Garrison Regiment soldier who he was. Adam helped Jean carry him back, Annie bringing another body nearby.

Once they had delivered Marco's body, they all set off to find more again. They had already been working for two days to recover the corpses. And there were so many already that Adam was shocked they'd identified most of them. Of course, there were some they couldn't. After filling its stomach, titans puked the bodies back out, leaving them in an unidentifiable mess thanks to the stomach acid, and the people having been chewed. And yet there were still so many more.

Adam stopped as he reached the gate. The boulder didn't quite fill the hole, there was a small gap at the top, but it was only maybe a foot high and barely six inches wide. He looked around. There were countless bodies lying strewn across the ground here in various states of dismemberment. And a few spots of blood looked suspiciously like they might have been bodies at one time. He spotted a cart with two wheels and a place for a horse or an ox to pull it. He began to pile the bodies on until he could barely move the cart, then began to push, wheeling it through the easiest path he could to the gathering area. Then, he and several others offloaded the cart. As he was headed back, Reiner came with him. They made several more trips, Reiner's strength helping immensely with the task. However, they worked in complete silence until their final trip to the gate.

"When Marco died...what did you see?" Reiner asked. "I was...out of it, of sorts."

"I was with Annie when we heard him screaming, but I got separated by a titan attacking and had to deal with it," Adam said. "Then, when I arrived, all I saw was three of my friends watching in shock as another friend was brutally killed by a titan. There wasn't anything we could have done, though. All we could do was watch."

Reiner nodded and fell silent again. When they reached the gathering point, they offloaded the bodies and it was declared that all of the bodies that could be found had been collected. They set to work building funeral pyres for the bodies, piling them on the pyres by the dozen before lighting them. Finally, the last of the bodies was burning and Adam stood, watching the pyre on which he had laid his team, along with a dozen other people. The rest of his friends were off in the distance, closer to where a little ways to his left, but Adam didn't feel like going over there. He'd been nothing but an anchor to them when they were trying to survive Trost, and he had gotten his team killed. He hadn't known them well, but he had been responsible for their deaths. Somehow, some part of him knew that he had attracted that titan by swinging too high. It was ridiculous, but he couldn't shake the feeling. He stared at the flames. He should be up there too. It was no less than he deserved.

"You okay?" Annie asked.

"Did...did I get them killed?" Adam asked, voice trembling. "Did I attract the titan by swinging to high?"

Annie watched him for a moment before shaking her head. "No. The titan that killed your team happened upon them by chance. It wasn't your fault. This is what happens when people fight titans. It's why I'm joining the Military Police. I don't want to watch friends die. I...I wish you could come with me."

"So do I," Adam said. "I could...join the Garrison Regiment. It wouldn't be as safe as the Military Police, but it would be safer than the scouts."

"That's true," Annie nodded.

"If...If I joined the scouts...would I..." Adam trailed off, staring at the ground.

"You'd survive," Annie said. "If you trusted your instincts, you'd be just fine."

"Not that," Adam said. "Would I be able to see you? Whenever we weren't out scouting, I mean."

Annie's eyes widened as she stared at him. After a moment, she stared at the ground.

"I don't know," Annie said. "Would you want to? If you were out there risking your life, and I was hiding in the inner district?"

"I think...that's what I want," Adam said. "For you to be in the inner district, where it's safe. I...I don't want to have to...ever find out what I'd do if you died."

Annie stared at him in silence before slipping her hand into his. "If you join the scouts, I'll try to make as much time for you as I can. But I can't promise anything."

Adam smiled slightly and nodded, still staring at the fire. "I've been thinking. I know it's kind of random, but...I killed three titans...I think...and dulled my blades entirely each time. You would think humanity would have made a more durable kind of sword by now."

Annie smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. I suppose you're right."

Adam remained silent as they watched the pyres burn. Eventually, they and all of the others headed back to their barracks to sleep. In a few days they'd have to choose their regiments. But first, Adam expected there would probably be a big deal about how to deal with Eren.

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