We stood there and watched as many people walked away from Commander Pixis' plan.
It felt as if 50% of soldiers gave up to be with their families rather stay behind and fight.
I looked back at Commander Pixis as he eyed the area.
"For the many of you that stayed, I thank you for your bravery." He projected his voice. "
Everyone who were still in the assembly saluted towards Pixis.
We all picked up our equipment and headed towards the inner gate of Wall Rose.
We were told that Eren, along with Mikasa and the Garrison Elite troops are to obtain a boulder that could plug up the hole in the middle of the district.
The rest of us were ordered to the far corner area of Trost District as a source of distraction to allow Eren's group to get the boulder.
If a titan escapes from the corner, we have the right to kill it. If the plan goes bad, we must go separate ways to defend the district.
With that, I was grouped up with Jean, Armin, Annie and Conny.
"Be careful everyone." Armin said.
"Right. Distractions only. Kill only if necessary." I said, giving a thumbs up to everyone.
"Let's go." Annie said.
We all entered Trost District and taunted the titans.
Pretty soon, we had a few of them following us while we ran towards the far corner of the district.
From a far, I could see Eren, Mikasa and the Elite troops moving ahead.
Everything seems to be going according to plan so far. I thought.
We all regrouped along the corner of the inner wall and stood above to continue taunting the titans.
Some people even hung on ropes to tease the titans as well, to give them as much distractions as possible.
Unfortunately, doing so actually caused the titans to bite a few people's legs or actually eat them whole.
The sacrifices we're making just to gain this victory...
After another couple minutes of distractions, we all noticed a red smoke flare appearing across the district.
"Red smoke?" I questioned.
"No. Something's wrong." Armin said.
"Did Eren and the Elite troops failed!?" Conny asked.
"Not sure. Something must've happened." Jean said.
"Something's not right with Eren!" Armin shouted.
He hopped off the wall and geared his way towards the middle of Trost District, possible where Eren and the others are.
"Armin! No! It's suicide if you go alone!" I yelled out to him.
I was just about to chase after Armin until Annie grabbed my arm.
"Eri. Don't." She said.
"But he's all alone!" I shouted.
"Leave it Eri! It's his friend. Armin probably knows what he's doing." Jean said.
Pretty soon, all the titans we were supposed to distract finally ignored us and went their separate ways deep into the district.
"Shoot! Their leaving us!" Conny yelled.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"We go on our own." Annie said. "Defend the district."
"That's the best option. Too many of those titans are leaving here." Jean said.
"Alright." I said. "Be careful everyone."
"You too Eri." Jean said.
With that, we all hopped out from the wall and ran separate ways.
I was running around different parts of the district to kill as many titans as I could.
As I kept moving around, I witnessed many people getting eaten alive.
I tried my best to save them but I always ended up getting there too late.
It truly is a horror to be a part of this.
"Eri!" I heard someone call my name.
I turned around to see Marco running towards me.
"Marco! I'm so glad to see you." I said, smiling at my friend.
"Where were you coming from?" He asked.
"I had to split up from everyone because the titans were moving away from the corner. I do plan on heading deeper in the district to meetup with Eren's group." I said.
"Okay. Just letting you know, don't head to the West area. There's too many titans there. I've been ordered to go east so you can head there if anything happens." He said.
"Thanks. I'll keep a mental note of that." I said.
"Alright. Please be careful Eri." He said with a faint smile. "Especially for Jean's sake."
"I will." I smiled me. "You be careful too."
"Don't worry about me. I'm always careful." He said.
Marco placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Jean and I will find you once this is over." I said.
"I'll do the same. I promise we'll hangout before we go our separate ways." He said.
For some strange reason, my stomach was turning knots.
It felt as if something really bad is going to happen.
But I don't know what it is.
With that, I hugged Marco.
"Stay safe Marco. For mine and Jean's sake as well." I said.
"I will." He said.
I let go of him and we saluted towards each other.
After that, we went our separate ways.
I continued to kill more titans and maneuvered my way around the district.
It's been a while since I departed from Marco and I wasn't able to find Eren's group or any sign of my friends.
Pretty soon, I heard some screaming at a distance.
I immediately ran where the screaming came from.
There, I found a titan running around, chasing someone.
As I looked closer, I noticed it was chasing after Conny.
"Crap!" He shouted.
"Conny!" I called out to him.
I jumped down to the ground and ran after the titan.
I pressed the buttons for the anchors to attach to the titans back.
I pressed the button again and reeled myself onto the titans neck.
With a huge swing, I swung my blades and slashed the nape of the neck.
After that, I jumped next to Conny and grabbed his hand.
I could see two more titans making their way towards us.
"Run!" I yelled.
So we both ran and maneuvered our way along the roofs.
As we were roof hoping, I noticed a hand reaching towards Conny.
"Conny! Move!" I screamed.
I darted forward and pushed Conny out of the way.
Instead of grabbing Conny, I got grabbed instead.
The titan held me in a tight grip, preventing me from escaping.
"L-Let go!" I shouted.
"No! Eri!" Conny shouted.
I tried to squirm my body around for freedom but it was no use.
I looked at the titan and it was looking at me with those menacing, hungry eyes.
This is it.
I'm really going to get eaten.
I won't be able to become an Elite soldier like my father or a researcher like my mother.
I'll never get my chance in admitting my feelings towards Jean or hangout with Marco.
This is the end of my life...
The titan still held onto me and started to slowly bring me to its mouth.
It's breath was terrible.
I felt like vomiting from the stench.
"Eri!" I could hear Conny scream.
I closed my eyes and accepted defeat.
Goodbye Jean. I thought as my final words.
*Swash*
That was the noise I heard.
With my eyes still closed, I was expecting gigantic teeth biting onto me.
But I felt nothing.
Instead, I felt the titans grip loosening and I was falling to the ground.
I opened my eyes to see myself falling down at a fast speed.
With my quick reaction, I shot the hooks and reeled myself back to the rooftop.
Once I landed, I dropped to my knees to think about what just happened.
"Eri!" I heard Annie shout.
She appeared in front of me and kneel to my level.
Conny showed up behind her.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"D-Did you save me Annie?" I asked.
"Yeah." She said.
I leapt up and hugged her.
"Thank you Annie! Thank you for saving my life!" I shouted, holding back the tears in my eyes.
I don't know how Annie is reacting but pretty soon, she hugged back lightly.
"It's no problem." She said quietly.
"Eri!" I heard Jean call my name from behind.
I let go of Annie and turned around.
Jean was standing there with an insane look of fear in his eyes.
Did Jean witness the whole thing?
Did he almost watched me get eaten?
"Jean..." I said his name quietly.
His facial expression changed to anger.
"What do hell do you think you're doing!? You almost got yourself killed!" He yelled.
I was shocked to see him yelling at me.
"I-I saw that titan's hand reaching for Conny! I had to save him!" I yelled back.
"That doesn't mean you should be reckless and gotten yourself grabbed!" He yelled.
I stayed quiet.
All I could do was stare at Jean.
I realized that death can happen any moment, anywhere.
Jean was the only person I thought about when I thought I was going to die.
I realized that all I want to do is just to be with Jean, along with my other desires.
I should stop being stubborn and making him worried about me.
Marco did say that I need to stay safe for Jean's sake.
Why is it that I now realized my feelings for Jean are even stronger than before?
I am actually in love with Jean.
Without saying another word, I ran towards Jean and hugged him.
I let go of the tears that I've been holding back.
All I could do was hug him tight and cry.
"I-I'm really sorry Jean. I-I was really scared when that titan got me. I really thought I was was going to die!" I cried out.
I could feel Jean's strong grip hugging around me.
"When I saw you in the hands of that titan. I thought I lost you Eri. I thought about the three of us. You, me and Marco." Jean said.
"I'm sorry for making you worry Jean. I promise to be more careful. Please don't be mad at me." I said.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm just really relieved that Annie saved you." He said.
I let go of Jean and looked at him.
He used his thumb and wiped the tears away.
"Now, no more crying. We need to continue defending Trost District. This time, you stay with me okay?" Jean said.
I stopped my sobbing and nodded my head.
"Uhm. Eri." Conny walked up to me. "Thank you. For saving me. You're always there for me and Sasha. I am forever in your debt."
Conny bowed towards me.
"O-Oh! You don't need to bow down. I'm just doing whatever I can to protect my friends. I don't want to see anyone I care about get hurt or worse, die." I said.
I gave a faint smile towards Conny to not make him feel bad.
"Still. Thank you for everything Eri. You really are a great friend." He said.
"It's no problem." I said.
"You guys. Look." Annie said.
She was pointing up ahead, where the hole was.
There, we can see the same black haired titan, or Eren's titan form, lifting a giant boulder.
He was making his way towards the wall.
"E-Eren's doing it. He's actually bringing that boulder to the wall..." Conny said.
"I still can't believe...that titan is Eren." I said quietly.
I was truly amazed to see that Eren has the power to become a titan.
This is something that must be researched in order for humanity to understand what 'titans' really are.
As soon as Titan Eren reached the wall, he dropped the boulder down and blocked the hole.
Now, titans can no longer get through.
"H-He did it!" Jean shouted.
"W-We won!" Conny shouted in joy. "We won back Trost District and saved Wall Rose!"
I couldn't help but to smile.
Today, humanity won the battle over Trost District.
"We should go. We've just been ordered to kill the remaining titans in the district." Annie said.
"Okay. Let's do it." I said.
With that, we all did our best in eliminating the remaining titans.
