Chapter 8: Blushes and Warnings
"Here it is," Levi announced. We came upon a site located several miles from the Trost Gate with multiple tents pitched for the refugees from Sina. I rubbed my eyes, still dazed from the epic nightmare.
"Hey are you sure you're okay?" Levi asked coming over to my side of the car.
"Yea I'll be fine... you're really sweet for caring so much though. I'm... glad I came with you," I admitted with a tender smile. Levi blinked slowly and then stepped forward. His hand went to the small of my back and he pushed my face to his. I squeaked with pleasure as he tentatively moved his lips against mine and I mimicked him, holding steadily onto his arms.
"I have to go..." Levi said, eventually breaking away from me.
"Wah...?" I responded, a bit dazed.
The officer hesitated. A hint of smugness appeared on his features before he repeated himself, prompting a somewhat more coherent response from me.
"Oh...oh! I... yea. I guess I'll see you when this is over then?" I asked not bothering to hide my hopeful tone.
"Yes. You will," he promised. "Take this. It's a back up badge I carry around. I made a note on the back of it, so show it to anyone if you have...'problems'," he explained. I gave him an incredulous look.
"Hey! Be careful out there," I said as he returned to the car. I watched as he drove away, reaching up to touch my lips, unable to help the fluttery feeling in my stomach.
"Hoh. So that's the jerk officer you were talking about," a familiar voice quipped.
"Huh, he's pretty short," a male voice added.
"Mikasa! Eren!" I spun around.
"Yep. We're here, and so are some of the others from our floor. Um, Jean, Armin, Sasha, and Annie. Connie, Ymir, Krista, Bertolt and Reiner went to some other camp just a few miles from here," Eren mentioned. My face brightened at the news. At least my friends were safe...
"Eren, you should go let the others know Caria's back," Mikasa said without looking at him.
"But aren't we going to see them now. We can g-"
"No. Go now," Mikasa ordered. I raised a brow at her odd behavior and Eren sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to win against Mikasa. He stalked off towards the long line of tents just behind us.
"That man... I saw him giving you something. What was it?" the younger woman interrogated.
"Nothing," I said sheepishly. I watched carefully as her eyes lit up, and her hand pointed behind me.
"Hey it looks like he's coming back," Mikasa announced. I did a 180 only to find there was no one coming. Mikasa wrestled for the badge that was curled in a hand behind my back.
"Hey!" I protested as she freed the keepsake from my grip.
"Huh. Isn't this a police badge?" Mikasa frowned.
"Yes! And that was a dirty trick," I snapped, snatching the badge out of her hands. I took it and looked on the back of it. There was a four digit code as well as a telephone number that was presumably Levi's. I hadn't had the chance to exchange numbers with him before...
"Why are you staring at it like that?" Mikasa asked with a tone of amusement.
"Man, you're so nosy Mikasa! C'mon, I want to see what's going on with everyone else," I walked into the encampment where people were moving their belongings into tents, standing and talking, eating, or playing games. Children ran in and out of the pitched structures, and two older women hollered at them to no avail.
"Hey Caria!" a voice that sounded like Jean's called. I turned and saw Jean wearing a suit and tie.
"What's with the getup?" I asked.
"Well, tonight some of us get a ride out of this dump to Trost so I figured if I dressed up, the people in charge would be like 'look at this guy, he's way too important to leave behind,'" Jean shrugged.
"Jean, you're crazy. Why would you, a single guy without dependents, be taken over parents and their children?" I rolled my eyes.
"Good point. Hmm... well maybe we can grab one of these kids running around, you could pretend to be my wife and then we get to leave," Jean suggested.
"No," I deadpanned. "Anyways, where's everyone else?" I asked. Jean sighed, disappointed that I had shot down his plan so quickly, and ushered for me to follow him to a large tent that stood near the middle of camp. I peaked inside the tent to see multiple bunk beds, a portable toilet, a water dispenser and a cupboard. Mikasa was inside already, scolding Eren who was slouching on a table with Armin across from him, offering a sympathetic expression. Annie was on a bed reading with headphones in her ears, and Sasha was, of course, eating french fries and laughing as she pawed at her phone. I chuckled at the scene before me before pulling a seat up next to Armin.
"Oh, Caria! You made it!" Armin exclaimed.
"Mikasa I'm sorry, I forgot. But it was an honest mistake, so please, give it a rest," Eren sighed. I looked between the two of them with a raised brow.
"Eren forgot their wallets back at the district," Armin whispered as though mentioning it aloud would be dangerous.
"Mikasa, we're in a state of emergency, things like this are bound to happen. It'll be over before we know it," I beamed optimistically. Truth be told, saying something like that wasn't exactly reassuring. My mind flashed to the infected people at the Stohess gate, and then to Levi who had shot them dead without considering whether there was a cure for whatever had happened to those people.
Still, he had been so calm when dealing with them, and surely, even now, his unit was working towards a solution. If anyone could stop whatever was going on, it would be him and his Covert Unit buddies. I pulled out my phone and the badge that Levi gave me, eagerly putting in the numbers listed on the back of the badge.
"Good luck! I know you'll put a stop to this craziness," I texted.
Attention, all refugees are to report to the field in the middle of the encampment
"Alright, finally! They're probably getting ready to start evacuating people to Trost!" Jean cheered. Everyone in the tent gathered together and made way for the field.
"Hey, Caria do you have any food?" Sasha asked coming up along side me.
"Sasha, this really isn't the time to be asking for food. Besides, didn't you just have some french fries?" I responded.
"French fry chips! Yes, but I'm still hungry. Oh, I know! They'll probably give us some food before we head out!" Sasha exclaimed, excited by her own prediction.
"Hey, I heard you spent the night at a police officers house. Anything interesting happen?" Annie interrogated at my right while Sasha, at my left, started drooling and imagining all the good food that would be waiting for us in the middle of the field. My face went hot at the question, though Annie only offered me a blank expression as if her question was just a regular, "how are you?". She actually reminded me of a Levi, but in female form. Her demeanor was often stoic and she could be sarcastic as well. We both took kickboxing together, and she was always a scary competitor to go up against. Her form was perfect, she was precise, and could hit you hard if you weren't properly guarded. That said, I had earned the position of being her sparring partner since most of the other fighters were "too wimpy", as Annie put it, to put up a real fight.
"Yeah, I got myself into a pretty, er, weird situation," I laughed nervously.
"Oh yeah? From what Mikasa told me, it seems like you finally met 'the one'" Annie put in air quotations. I studied her face hard and saw the smallest curve on her lips. She found the whole thing amusing!?
"I didn't think you'd be the type for to listen to Mikasa's nonsense... he's a cool guy, but, we just met and it's not like that!" I denied. At the same time, my mind rudely replayed the image of us kissing in my head.
"Ha, what an entertaining reaction, you're blushing," Annie said with a widening smirk.
"Gah!" I walked faster, leaving Sasha's food rantings and Annie's chuckling behind me.
"Hey Eren!" I slowed, deciding to walk with him instead. He was staring at his feet, seemingly deep in thought. "Eren?"
"Sorry, I'm just thinking about my parents. They told me something strange when I called them from campus before all the commotion..." Eren confessed.
"Oh yeah, what was it?" I pressed curiously.
"You have to get outside the walls."
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***end chapter***
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I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tune in next time! Ciao!
