AN: I'm feeling good. Season 2 is off to a good start, school is almost over, and I commissioned a portrait of Dillon Amsdale that will be the title picture...until I decide to commission an actual title picture!
Chapter 10: The Price of Survival
The rain didn't last very long in the city of Trost. Within twenty minutes, it had subsided, but its work was finally done. The blood of the slain soldiers had spread throughout the city like a river, as if wanting to constantly remind the survivors that sacrifices were made today. They didn't need such reminders, for the memories of their comrades getting killed by the Titans were branded into their memories.
The 104th gathered on a collection of rooftops, exhausted and traumatized. They had seen so many horrible things today that they would never forget. Lives snuffed out at a moment's notice, screams of the dying echoing in their minds, and the thought that they, too, would suffer the same fate.
"Hey, Jean!" Connie exclaimed, one of the few that put aside the trauma. "What are we gonna do?"
The brown-haired teen didn't even look at him, finding the roof a far more interesting sight. "We can't do anything. They finally gave us the order to withdraw, and we're all out of gas. Of course." He sighed. "I can't believe this is how it's gonna end…because of those damned cowards."
"You mean the supply depot?" Connie asked, confused. "What is going on? Where are they!?"
"They all lost their will to fight," Jean explained. "I can understand why…but they abandoned their duty to supply us, barricading themselves inside HQ. And, of course, Titans have swarmed the place which means we can't get the gas ourselves."
Connie was getting more aggravated by the situation. "Then why are we waiting!? We gotta go! Start thinning their numbers so we have a chance! Sitting here on this roof is completely pointless! Eventually, the Titans are gonna come for us."
Jean didn't say anything and only gave him a cold look.
"We don't have much gas left," he went on. "We'll just waste what little we've got if we try to run. And without our mobility, we're completely screwed!"
"You're using your head for once, Connie," he noted. "Nice going, but I'm not sure if we've got the numbers needed to pull this thing off. The veterans in the vanguard force have all been killed. How exactly do a bunch of rookies pull off a suicide mission like this? I mean, let's assume half our forces survive the initial assault. Then what? The supply room is probably crawling with Titans in the three to four-meter range. I don't see us accomplishing much there."
The words sunk in as Connie lost the drive he had. "It's…hopeless."
Jean let out a sigh. "God, what a dull life this turned out to be." He looked up for a second. "Any sign of him?"
He shook his head. "Annie asked me the same question not too long ago."
Jean chuckled a little. "Bastard's too stubborn to die. If anyone has a chance of making it, it's him."
On another part of the roof, Sasha was attempting to rally the troops. "Come on, guys. We can do it! Right? Let's go. If we all work together, we can make this happen. I know we can. All right? I'll take the lead."
Her words fell on deaf ears. The cadets were too traumatized to even move. They had seen horrors they never imagined in their worst nightmares.
Discouraged, she looked around for a kindred spirit and found Armin sitting in a corner, looking down. She quickly ran over to him. "Armin, it's time to go!"
He was just like the rest of them: petrified and motionless.
Nearby, Annie kept a sharp eye out for any sign of Dillon. She knew he wasn't dead given that their mind link was still open, but her attempts at contacting him mentally were met with silence. There were lots of reasons why that could be, so she kept her ears and eyes out.
"It's not like you to hope," a voice suddenly noted.
She forgot that she was standing next to her squad. "He's still alive, Reiner."
"How can you be sure, Annie?" Bertholdt asked, giving her a confused look. "None of have seen him since the debriefing earlier."
"I can't explain it…but I know he's not dead," she replied.
"You really care about him, don't you?" Reiner realized.
Annie didn't answer that for a moment, but then she said, "He's my boyfriend. Of course I do."
"Must be nice to have someone like that in your life," Marco stated, giving that same traumatized look everyone else had. "Someone that cares about you, someone that loves you. When I die, I'll have no one."
"Hey, don't talk like that," Bertholdt rebuked. "We're gonna get through this."
"It's no use," he replied, lost in despair. "There's too many of them. I don't think any of us are going to survive this. I've come to accept my impending demise." He looked up at the wall ahead, so close but not close enough. "I just…wanted my death to mean something."
At this time, there was nothing they could do to help Marco. Not while he was like that.
Their ears perked up at the sounds of ODM gear being used. Some of the cadets look over to see four other cadets arrive at the scene, practically crashing onto the rooftop. They recognized this group as Squad 31, but one of their members was clearly injured as he was carefully lowered onto the—
"Dillon!" Connie exclaimed, running towards him.
Jean and Sasha's eyes widened, quickly joining him.
The blacksmith didn't look injured save for some blood running from his nose.
"He got dizzy and nearly passed out," Franz explained. "He needs water." He turned to Hannah. "Hannah-"
He knew the slap was coming and made no effort to dodge it. Seeing that look in her eyes, that look of betrayal, it hurt him more than the slap. Unable to look at him anymore, Hannah sat on the edge of the rooftop, burying her face in her hands.
With a sigh, Franz sat next to her, his face still stinging. "I know you're furious with me, Hannah…but I had no choice."
"We could've saved her," she wept.
He shook his head sadly. "No, we couldn't. The tanks were too low to attempt attacking the Titan and Dillon was too incapacitated to help. I didn't want to leave Elsa either."
"Then why did you?" Hannah questioned, giving him that same look. "Why did you tell us to leave?"
"…Because we had to live," he answered, pulling her close.
She couldn't find it in her to resist his attempt to comfort her, so she just let him.
Connie handed him his canteen. "Here."
Like earlier, Dillon knew to take careful sips as he sat up in a sitting position. "Thanks."
"Move!" Quickly, his friends moved aside to make way for Annie as she knelt down next to him, worried. "What happened?"
"I didn't…recover fully from the Colossal Titan's attack earlier," he lied openly, but on the mental side… "Too much strain on my powers."
She let out a sigh. "You just don't know your limitations, do you?"
Normally, Dillon would've had a snarky comeback, but not this time. Not after losing Elsa. He was still shaken up over her death.
Annie picked up on his pain. "Something happened."
He nodded sadly. "We lost someone: a girl named Elsa Glöckner. She…she didn't tell us that she was almost out of gas and…she was eaten." A tear fell from his face. "I can still hear her screams."
Doing the only thing she could do, Annie embraced him gently, rubbing his back. "I'm sorry, Dillon."
"Why are they doing this, Annie?" he asked quietly. "Why do they hate us so much?"
"I don't know," she answered.
"There is no reason," Reiner stated, kneeling down to their level. "The Titans are feral monsters who want to kill us all. That's what they want."
"Thank you for your help, Reiner," Annie spat, annoyed.
He sighed, ignoring her. "Amsdale, I know today has been hard on you. It's been hard on all of us-"
Fricking. Understatement. Dillon thought to himself.
"-but you've gotta put all of this aside. We have a mission to complete."
It was really strange for him to get sympathy from Annie and a dose of reality from Reiner. Nevertheless, he nodded. "You're right. We're not done yet."
"Annie!"
The blond-haired girl glanced at Mikasa, who had just arrived on the scene. Seemed like she decided to abandon the rearguard after they evacuated the civilians.
"Wait, is Dillon all right?" she asked, concerned.
"Shaken up and dizzy, but I'll live," he answered, turning around to face her. "Appreciate the concern."
Satisfied that he wasn't critically injured, she went back to talking with Annie. "I know how bad things have gotten. It's selfish, putting personal matters on the forefront, but have you seen Eren's squad?"
"Some squads made it back," she answered, "but I don't know about Eren's."
Reiner pointed his thumb to Armin. "We found Armin. He's over there."
Seeing the blond boy, Mikasa ran towards him. "Armin!"
He continued to stay silent, and even curled himself into a ball as she stopped in front of him.
"Armin, are you okay?" she asked gently as she knelt down in front of him. "You're not hurt, are you?" With every second of his silence, she grew more worried. "Where's Eren?" Her voice took on a tone of desperation. "Armin!"
Finally, Armin looked up with her, tears falling down his agonized face.
Inside, Mikasa felt her life being torn apart as she finally realized the truth.
At this point, many of the cadets had gathered around, wanting to know what happened.
"They were…" Armin spoke, his voice breaking. "The cadets of Squad 34: Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Mylius Zeramuski, Mina Carolina-"
Dillon's head popped up at that name. No! Not Mina!
"-Eren Yeager. These brave five…upheld their duties. They died valiantly in the field of battle." Unable to take it anymore, Armin broke down completely.
The cadets grieved with him, though none of them had the strength to break down like Armin dead. Many of them bowed their heads in mourning, and some were staring at Armin, trying to comprehend the things he said. They couldn't believe that Eren Yeager, of all people, met an untimely end.
Mikasa felt like some pulled out her heart and crushed it before her eyes. She failed. She failed to take care of him when she needed him. She broke her promise to his mother, and now he was dead too. Once again, Mikasa was alone, and this time, it would stay that way.
Dillon did his best to hold back the emotions he felt. It was insensitive, but while he was mourning the loss of those people, the one he was truly grieving for among those names was Mina. He remembered how she was the one to come with a good plan to help save Krista from those kidnappers two years ago. How she carried him to Headquarters after the Colossal Titan attacked him. How she was more…hopeful about things.
"You're not alone, Dillon,"Annie told him mentally, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.
He let out a deep breath, shedding a few more tears in the process. Right now wasn't the best time for him to break down.
"I'm so sorry, Mikasa," Armin wept softly, wrapped up in survivor's guilt. "It should've been me that died. Not Eren. I couldn't do a thing. I'm worthless."
Letting out a sigh, Mikasa knelt down and placed her hand on his. "Armin…calm down. There's no time to get emotionally right now."
Armin looked at her and nearly flinched at the sight. Mikasa's eyes were completely devoid of…anything.
"On your feet," she ordered, pulling him up. She began walking to the other side of the roof. "Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the Titans at HQ, we can refuel our gear and get over the Wall? Is that assessment correct?"
"Well, uh, yeah, I guess so. Sure," he answered, a little put off by the change in demeanor, "but there's just too many of them out there, even with you in point."
Mikasa stopped and glared at him. "I can do it!"
Marco instinctively back up.
"I'm strong," she stated, pulling out her sword and raising it in the air. She had everyone's attention now. "Real strong. None of you come close! You hear me? I am a warrior!" It sounded like her voice was beginning to break.
Dillon tilted his head. Mikasa…who are you trying to convince? Us…or yourself?
"Know this," she went on. "I have the power to slay all of the Titans that block our way…even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I am surrounded by unskilled, cowardly worms."
The cadets stared at her, surprised. Some were upset that she had the gall to insult them, though it was getting them out of their traumatic state. Dillon clenched his fist at her words, but he didn't verbally retaliate. He knew she was in mourning and idiotic things were gonna come out of her mouth.
The rant continued. "You all can just sit here and suck on your thumbs and watch how it's done!"
"Wait, Mikasa, are you out of your mind!? That's crazy!" Hannah protested, brushing away the final remnants of her tears.
"You can't be serious, trying to take them out by yourself!" a male cadet added.
"Mikasa, we have to stick together," Dillon interjected, realizing what she was really going to do. "You can't just go off and-"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Amsdale," Mikasa warned darkly. "If I can't be beat them, then I'll die, but if I win, I'll live…and the only way to win is to fight."
Before anyone could stop her, Mikasa took off, ready to kill…or die trying.
Dillon shook his head. "She's throwing her life away," he muttered.
Jean scoffed. "You know, I was expecting something more motivational. Her way with words was kind of a letdown." He drew his swords, shaking. "I blame everything about this on you, Eren."
"See you at HQ," Dillon said mentally, drawing new blades.
"Be careful," Annie warned.
"Hey, don't just stand there!" Jean shouted to all the cadets. "We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone! Unless you are a coward, in which case, stay out of my way!"
With that, Jean and Connie dived off the roof, heading towards their objective.
"Squad 31, move out!" Dillon ordered, taking charge again.
The remaining members looked at him, shocked.
"For Elsa," he stated.
Nodding, they gathered around him. "For Elsa."
Giving Annie a smirk, Dillon charged off the building with Squad 31 right behind him.
"Never expected that from Jean," Reiner commented as he, Bertholdt, and Annie followed them.
With a sigh, Armin put one foot in front of the other, catching up to Marco who waited for him.
"Hey!" Sasha shouted while on the edge of the roof. "Seriously, come on, you bunch of chickens!"
Properly motivated, the rest of the cadets gave a shout of determination before following Sasha off the roof. Even the sun was starting to shine its way through the clouds.
The entire group followed Mikasa, who was taking down the Titans that came near them, towards the path to Headquarters. They had to avoid fighting to conserve gas and blades, and they did their best to jump from rooftop to rooftop, using gas sparingly. Dillon aided by launching quick, precise, mental attacks on the Titans Mikasa didn't get, stunning them long enough for the rest of the cadets to get through.
"Don't overdo it!" Annie warned.
"We're going to make it," he swore.
Up ahead, the cadets watched in horror as Mikasa, who was far ahead of them, run out of gas. She crashed onto a rooftop before falling to the street below. Armin and Connie broke off from the group to go help her while Jean continued onwards to HQ, the group of cadets following him. For now, he would be their leader.
Unfortunately, Mikasa wasn't the only one who ran out of gas.
As the cadets grew more confident and began to split apart to reach HQ a different way, a couple of them plummeted to the Titan-infested streets below. Seeing the fallen soldiers as easy meals, Titans of various sizes charged at them, jaws wide open and arms outstretched.
Jean, who landed on a nearby rooftop, could only watch in horror at the carnage that was about to commence.
"Tom, hold on!" a cadet cried out, jumping into the fray.
"We're coming!" Vaughn exclaimed, joining them.
"Vaughn, no!" Dillon shouted, about to charge in himself.
Jean held him back. "Don't! It's too late."
Dillon's eyes widened as an eight-meter snatched Vaughn out of the air, snapping his spine in half. He was killed instantly, his body going completely limp in its grip. The soldier they went to save, Tom, was bitten in half, his blood coursing down the hand of his devourer.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! A feeling of rage coursed through Dillon's body. They were dying down there and there was nothing he could do. He was still too weak to try anything drastic. His hand turned into a tight fist as he listened to the death throes of the cadets, begging for help. The worst one was seeing a girl get her arms torn off as she screamed in agony. They were taking their sweet time eating her, and they had to listen to it too.
Jean, who was watching the scene with him, came to a cruel truth and he shouted it to the others. "Let's go! Make a break for HQ while they're distracted!"
Snapping out of his stupor and brushing away his tears, Dillon followed Jean without looking back. If he did…he'd probably do something stupid. The others trailed behind him, ready to be done with this horrible day.
"Thanks for stopping me," Dillon said.
"Trust me, I wanted to go down there too," Jean replied, "but there's nothing we could've done. Give it everything you got!" He made sure he shouted that to the others.
As they got closer to Headquarters, they had to use their ODM Gear to get past a group of Titans that were waiting for them. Jean got caught by a Titan, but a quick slice of the ring finger allowed him to escape and keep going.
"We're so close, guys!" Dillon yelled, running on a rooftop. "This is the final stretch! Don't stop for anything!" Or anyone.
Never in all their lives did the cadets try so hard to get to safety. The building was practically an arm's stretch away…with at least a dozen Titans between them. The soldiers' numbered began to dwindle as the creatures managed to catch them with their hands, or run out of gas at an ill opportune time. Ignoring their screams, they pressed onwards.
Finally, the window drew near and Dillon used the rest of his gas to reach it. Shielding his hands and face, he smashed into and through the window, landing unceremoniously on the ground. Several other smashes indicated that more of the cadets made it as well. He had to move out of the way as a few went through the same opening he made. At long last, they arrived where they needed too.
"Dillon, you all right?" Franz asked, helping him up.
He nodded. "I'm alive. That's all that matters. Where's-?"
"I'm here," Hannah answered, walking towards them.
Dillon sighed with relief, especially when he saw that Annie was one of the cadets that made it. "Thank God."
The sound of a punch impacting someone's head caught their attention. The remaining members of Squad 31, and everyone else, saw Jean standing over an unconscious soldier, fuming with rage. Said soldier happened to be part of the supply team that never did their job to help them when they needed it most.
"Jean, stop!" Marco exclaimed, holding him back.
"You cowards!" the teen roared. "You left us out there on our own! People are dead because you didn't have the guts to do your job!"
"The Titans were coming at us from every angle!" a female soldier tearfully wailed, shielding her fellow comrade from further harm. She was almost incoherent when she spoke. "They drove us out of the supply room, okay!?"
"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!" he shot back.
Suddenly, they were cut off from an unearthly roar. It sounded like a howling wind containing the souls of the damned. The Titans were not finished with them yet.
"Hit the deck!" a cadet shouted as a wall exploded, sending that cadet flying down the hallway.
Two Titans smashed their heads into the building, attempting to eat whatever came near to them. Panicking, the soldiers attempted to flee for the exits, but there were so many of them, it was a jumbled mess.
"Annie, do you still have your boot knifes?" Dillon asked, pulling them out.
"Yes, but we're not gonna kill them that way," she responded.
"We're not going to kill them. We're going to buy some-!"
He was cut off as a giant fist slammed into the Titans' head, sending them flying away from the building.
Dillon's jaw dropped at the sight of their savior. It was a 15-meter Titan with green eyes and pointed ears like an elf. He wasn't trying to attack the soldiers; he was going after the Titans that were attacking them.
"Did…did that just happen?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, it did," Annie replied, equally shocked.
A window smashing caught their attention. They looked to see Mikasa, Armin, and Connie entering the building scratched up, but alive.
Jean was the first to say something to them. "Mikasa…you're-"
"Man, that was a close one," Connie interrupted, sounding a little excited. "I was running on fumes. We made it here, though. It was crazy, but we did."
"I'm happy to see you guys, but how the hell did you all make it?" Dillon asked.
Connie started patting Armin on the back, a wide grin forming on his face. "You're a certified genius! As far as I'm concerned, your word is law." Finally, the bald cadet looked up at them. "Check it out! We found an Abnormal that's got a bone to pick with its own kind. And the best part? He couldn't care less about us! That's right, you heard me! This big, beautiful S.O.B. is our ticket out of here!"
Jean looked at him as if he was insane. "Are you serious? A Titan's not gonna help us. You're out of mind if you think this can work."
"It is working," Mikasa shot back. "For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me. You'll see. Either way, what choice do we have? Right now, that thing is our best chance at survival."
The Titan, which they would later call the Rogue Titan, gave a loud roar, drawing the Titans closer to it.
"It did save our lives," Dillon reminded him.
Jean brushed his hands through his hair, trying to come to grips with everything, so he just gave a frustrated grunt and headed towards the exit along with everyone else.
Mikasa, Armin, and Connie followed him, but before Dillon left, he looked over his shoulder and saw Annie staring at the Titan intently.
"Thinking about asking him out?" he teased.
Annie rolled her eyes and turned around. "Just wanted to make sure that Connie wasn't mistaken about his assumption."
"If he is, we'll take care of it," Dillon assured.
"Ever the optimist, aren't you?" she commented, walking with him towards the exit.
"I try to be," he said, "even when things are looking bleak."
"You're not blaming yourself for what happened today, are you?"
Dillon shook his head. "No one could've predicted what happened today. I did the best I could and even pushed past some of my limits. No soldier should do less." Despite those words, he was still shaken up over what happened, and Annie could see he was desperately trying to hold it together.
"Just a little longer, Dillon," she assured. "Hang in there."
Taking a deep breath, he responded with a simple, "I will."
They entered a room where the lift had descended into the refueling station. According to the others, Armin and a few other cadets went down there to see how many Titans occupied the area while Jean took a few others to go look for some guns. For now, they could rest.
Annie joined Reiner and Connie, the latter continued gushing about how amazing the Rogue Titan was. Dillon would've made to join him, but noticed Bertholdt was sitting in the corner alone. With a sigh, the blacksmith walked over to him.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked politely.
"I thought you'd want to be with Annie," Bertholdt replied.
"I figured we could talk for a bit," Dillon said.
He paused for a moment before relenting. "Fine."
Satisfied, Dillon sat down next to him. "Bertholdt…I've noticed you've been giving me dark looks lately. What's going on?"
"Didn't Reiner already tell you?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing.
"Maybe, but I want to hear it from you," Dillon responded. "Bertholdt, I consider you my friend, and when a friend of mine is upset with me, I have the right to know why."
With a sigh, Bertholdt admitted it. "I wanted to tell her so many times…but I didn't."
"Why not?"
"Because…I didn't know how she would react," he confessed sadly. "I…doubted she felt the same way, and I thought it would upset her."
Dillon phrased his words carefully. "Look, Bertholdt…I'm sorry things didn't work out for you…but I'm not sorry for becoming Annie's boyfriend. I hate to say it, but you need to get over it."
Bertholdt didn't respond, just sitting there in silence.
Dillon decided it was best to leave him where he was a return to Annie. Just as he did that, Jean's team returned with crates of rifles while Armin's team came back from their scouting mission.
"Good news!" Jean announced, putting down the crate he was holding and opening it. "Courtesy of the Military Police." He let out a couple of coughs. "And covered with a layer of dust."
As Armin laid out a map of the refueling station, Jean cleaned out the rifle and checked to see if it was still functional. Once the inspection was complete, Jean asked, "Are you sure buckshot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well throw spit wads. Come on, guys. Are guns even effective?"
"I don't know, but they're bound to be better than nothing," Armin answered as he presented his plan. "We're looking at seven Titan in the supply room of the four meters tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to be enough to do the trick. Step 1: we lower a group into the area by a lift to get the Titans' attention. Step 2: when the Titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them. Then, the hard part. The moment of truth, as it were.
"Before the Titans have enough time to recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions. That's it. That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line. If we screw up, we're dead. That's a hell of a risk for one attack, but it's our only chance. Seven people have to slay seven Titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need the best of you. The seven soldiers most physically gifted and adept with their parring blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry. That's how it is."
"Seems like a sound plan," Reiner said with a smirk.
"When you get right down to it, the risk is the same for everyone," Annie pointed out. "Doesn't really matter who goes."
Armin started faltering. "Look, I'm, uh…ready to be talked out of this. One half-baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"
Ever the encourager, Marco stepped in. "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Come on. With what we're looking at? If this is our only option, it's a well-thought out plan. If we give it our all, we might just pull it off."
"It'll be fun," Mikasa assured. "You just have to be confident. You're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for."
Armin gave her a look of surprise.
"I'm serious. Your mind saved Eren and me more than once."
"When did I ever save you?" he asked, confused. "I never-."
He was cut off by the lift doors opening loudly.
"All right! The lift's ready to go!" Franz announced. "Guns are loaded in the stocks. Let's go kill some Titans."
"You didn't realize it at the time," Mikasa explained, helping him up. "We can talk about it later."
Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Dillon, Connie, and Sasha all volunteered to be the seven soldiers that would take out the Titans. Of course, Annie made sure Dillon was in good enough condition to pull such a feat before letting him join. While the rest of the cadets lowered the lift into the supply room, the group of seven filed down the stairs.
"So, I'm gonna ask the obvious question," Connie informed them. "Can we do this without ODM gear?"
"No problem," Reiner assured. "These guys are only four meters tall. Their weak spots are not that far above eye level."
"Size isn't the issue," Dillon stated. "The spot's still one meter high and 10 centimeters across."
'"Back of the head to the nape of the neck,"' Sasha reiterated.
"Worst comes to worst, you can always shove one of these up their ass," Reiner joked, holding up his sword. "That's the other weak spot."
"Seriously?" Connie asked.
"Did I miss a day of training?" Sasha wondered.
Dillon cracked a grin. "Is there a backstory to that claim, Reiner?"
"Remind me to tell you about one day," he answered.
"And as a bonus, he'll talk out his ass," Annie snarked.
Connie looked at her as if she grew a second head. "Did…did you just make a joke?"
She turned her head and gave him a deadpan expression. "What? Was it not funny?"
His eyes widened in fear and quickly answered unconvincingly, "No, it was hilarious! Ha ha ha! See?"
"Okay, that was pretty funny," Dillon admitted.
"You could learn a thing or two," Annie pointed out, turning her head back to the front.
"Are you implying I'm not funny?" he asked.
"I'll let you wonder."
With a snort, he said nothing more on the subject.
The seven grew quiet as they drew closer to the ground floor. Quietly, Mikasa opened the door, signaling the others to follow her cautiously on the walkway. The loud footsteps of the Titans unnerved them, but they remained calm. Everyone was counting on them to succeed. Carefully, the seven soldiers split off, stepping onto different rafters. The timing had to be perfect in order for this to succeed.
Amidst the stomping, they heard the lift getting closer before it came into view.
"Good," Marco whispered. "We're still at seven."
Immediately, all the cadets in the lift pointed their rifles in four directions as planned.
"Okay, nice and easy," Marco continued.
A blonde-haired Titan started walking by, but then it caught their scent. It turned quickly to them, frightening a few of the cadets!
"Don't lose your cool!" Jean exclaimed quickly. "Fire only when they're all within range."
Slowly, the seven Titans approached them, ready to make meals out of them. The soldiers in the rafters waited patiently for the attack to begin. As Marco repeated for them to stay steady, the Titans had them completely surrounded. There was no chance of them escaping. It was do or die.
"Fire!" Marco yelled.
All the guns went off, blinding all seven of them at once. With determination, the seven soldiers launched themselves off the rafters and slashed as hard as they could when they reached their napes. Five Titans fell down dead, but Connie and Sasha didn't cut deep enough on their Titans. Sensing them, the two Titans turned around, looking like they were glaring at them.
"I'm sorry," Sasha said nervously, backing up a lot. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
"Oh, crap," Connie swore, terrified.
"Sasha, move!" Dillon shouted.
The brown-haired girl lunged out of the way as the Titan attempted to body slam her. Quickly, Dillon ran to its nape while it was down and delivered several slashes, killing it. Annie got to a higher point and killed Connie's Titan in one precise slash.
"Dillon!" Sasha cried, burying her face into his chest as she cried. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's, uh, all right," Dillon replied uncomfortably. "Um…"
"Get off him, Sasha," Mikasa ordered.
Nodding, she brushed away her tears as she walked away.
"I owe you one," Connie said to Annie.
"No worries," she assured before turning to Dillon. "You only needed one slash."
"I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to get up," he explained.
"Fair enough," she conceded.
"They're all dead!" Jean announced. "Start loading up supplies!"
"It worked!" Armin exclaimed happily.
Marco grinned before falling backwards, nearly fainting. Fortunately, two cadets caught him in time.
Once the lift was lowered to the ground, everyone immediately started refueling their tanks. The ones that finished first kept an eye out for anymore Titans in case more tried to invade their Headquarters. If there were, they'd be ready this time.
Sasha, however, was in the middle of a breakdown. "I caved…in front of the whole gang. I'm never gonna be able to face any of them ever again!"
"Damn it, feel sorry for yourself later," Connie demanded. "Focus on escape."
Dillon rolled his eyes as he filled up the tanks. All that was left was to get over the wall and then it was over. Of course, there was still the hole in the Wall to worry about, but one problem at a time. The fact they had survived this long spoke volumes. He was surrounded by good soldiers, and he wouldn't trade them for anything.
"Almost done?" Annie asked, putting her gear back together.
"Just one more tank," he replied. "It's been a long day."
"It's almost over," she assured. "How's your head?"
"Still healing. Give it a day or two, and I should be back to normal."
Annie kissed him on the lips. "Does that help?"
Dillon grinned. "Maybe another one might do the trick."
Smirking, she gave him another kiss.
"Aw, you two are so cute together," Hannah interrupted.
Dillon sighed, looking at the remaining two members of Squad 31. Normally, he would be irritated, but he was just mildly annoyed this time. "How are you two holding up?"
"We're good," Franz answered. "We've…worked it out."
Hannah nodded in agreement before introducing herself. "I'm Hannah Diament, and you must be Annie Leonhart."
"I remember you two," she replied. "Did Dillon cause you any trouble? He can be a handful."
"Quite the opposite," Franz stated. "He saved our squad earlier today."
Dillon blushed a bit. "It was nothing."
Annie punched him in shoulder. "Don't be so modest, Amsdale. You did good today."
"All right, let's get out of here!" Jean exclaimed.
Once the rest of the tanks were filled, the cadets busted out of HQ, free at last. Many of them made a beeline for the Wall, but some of them saw Mikasa get on another rooftop, staring down at something.
"Mikasa?" Armin asked, joining her. "What are you doing? We have to leave now!"
"Look down there," she said.
His eyes widened in horror as he watched two thirteen-meter Titans pin the Rogue Titan to the Wall. They were chewing on its body, attempting to devour it.
"Cannibalism?" Armin questioned as the Titan roared in pain. "Can it not regenerate like the others?"
"This sounds stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us," Mikasa admitted. "That he'd help mankind break the cycle. Turn the tide long enough just to give us a ray of hope."
"She's right," Reiner agreed as he, Bertholdt, Annie, Jean, and Dillon joined them on the rooftop. "He's too valuable to just let die. There's too much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear should be to get the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart."
"Don't even think about volunteering, Dillon," Annie warned.
"I wasn't going to," he replied.
She gave him a look.
"Anymore."
"Are you out of your mind?" Jean asked. "We have a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?"
"Think about it," Annie said. "Having an Abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right?" "I mean, we already have one already."
"Love you, too, Shorty," Dillon replied in good fun.
"…You are very lucky you're my boyfriend." "The cannons have nothing on a Titan that likes to rip apart its own kind."
Jean could not believe what he was hearing. "Do you…hear yourself? You make him sound like a new friend!"
Armin gasped suddenly. "Oh, no. It's the one that ate Thomas."
As if he heard them, the Rogue Titan charged at the blond-haired Titan, roaring loudly. Its arms were pulled apart by the two that were chomping at him, but he still ran for that Titan. He fastened his teeth around its nape and lifted it up in the air by its jaw alone. A crunching sound indicated that he crushed its weak point, killing it. Seeing a Titan coming for him, he tossed the lifeless body in it, knocking it into a building.
"Holy shit," Jean whispered. "What was that you were saying?"
With a final roar, the gravely wounded Rogue Titan fell on its knees and crashed to the ground, seemingly dead.
"Because I think it's a moot point now," Jean finished. "All right, enough of this. Let's go while we still can. We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored. We'd have been next on the menu."
"Whoa!" Dillon exclaimed, staggering back.
The brown-haired boy got a closer look. "What? What's wrong?"
The blacksmith simply pointed at the body, and like the others, their eyes were widening.
Something was pulling itself out of the nape, something…human. The flesh did not want to release him, but after a good pull, the pieces were detached. Amidst the steam the corpse was emitting, they could see a brown-haired boy that they all recognized.
"Is that…Eren?" Dillon asked quietly.
Mikasa launched herself down there despite Armin calling out to her. She ran towards him and embraced him to moment she got close enough. She held Eren against her for the longest time before feeling something. Lowering her head to his chest, she could hear…his heartbeat. He was alive!
Her composure shattered within seconds as Mikasa began to weep loudly. She wept for losing Eren, she wept for finding him, and she wept for knowing that his life had been changed forever.
The others only had one question on their minds: how was this possible?
AN: Leave reviews please!