"Hey," Elvy muttered as Alastair wrapped his arms around the younger man, tugging him flush against him. "Don't you have other shit to think of right now?"

"Hm?" Alastair didn't reply, running his hands through Elvy's long, black locks.

Elvy flicked the older man's hand away. "Zombies, you horny old man."

"Zombies'll still be there," Alastair pulled Elvy towards the bed, sitting down with him on his lap. Elvy rolled his eyes. "Come on, Elvy, take pity on your poor, rejected Commander –"

"You're such a cheesy old sap," Elvy grumbled, standing up again. Alastair whined pitifully. "What would the others say if they say you now?"

"Nothing," Alastair stood up with a sigh. "Elvy –"

"No."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"I knew what you were going to say," Elvy snapped, leaning over the table and picking up a brochure of the park. "They're right, going back to the city's a literal death sentence."

"We don't know that."

"What we do know," Elvy said. "Is that the city was full of people, and most of them have got to have been turned."

"And the ones who weren't?" Alastair wrapped an arm around Elvy's waist, pulling him closer so that his face was level with the younger man's collarbone. He pressed his face into his chest, breathing deeply, listening to his heartbeat. "There are bound to be people there who weren't turned. We could help them."

Elvy's hands stilled on his shoulders. "Is this about them?" he asked. "Tim and Amaryllis?" Alastair didn't reply. "Listen, Ali," Elvy said, disentangling himself and sitting next to the older man, curling up against his side. "Tim and Amy were soldiers – good ones, too. They're strong. And, plus, Tim would have smelled the trouble from a mile away."

Alastair wrapped an arm around Elvy's shoulders. "I know," he muttered. "But Amaryllis was pregnant – maybe she'd already given birth. Plus, they had a toddler. . ."

Elvy sighed. "Worrying about them won't help," he said. "It's not like it'll magically summon them or something."

"Most of us have been lucky, kitten," Alastair muttered. "We've got most of the gang back together, even Eren – Harou – now. But not everybody's going to be so fortunate. Alex's sister is still out there, somewhere, and Connor's siblings. Rin's parents, and Clay, too. And loads more I can't even name."

"Fuck Clay," Elvy muttered. "And, yeah, I'd be happier if we could find everyone, but it's just not gonna happen." He sighed. "'N fact, with our luck, the only people we're going to find are a bunch of Titan-Shifters falling from the sky or some shit."

xxx

"You know," Cato commented, moving a branch outside, grip tightening on his axe as he looked around cautiously. "It's kind of funny, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Rin tensed, whirling around and raising her machete, pointing it at a squirrel.

"I mean," Cato said, bending over to look at the snowy ground. "We're all here. What are the chances that all of us would end up at the same place at the same time, and then end up banding together again to survive what's pretty much another version of Titans?"

"Low," Rin glanced up at the sky. "Really low."

"So, don't you think it's weird?" Cato frowned, spotting a patch of snow. "I mean, it's almost like some sort of fanfiction cliché."

"Who knows?" Rin glanced over as Cato moved over to inspect the messy footprints. "Maybe it's just history repeating itself."

"Yes, but this perfectly?" Cato ran his fingers over the snow inside a footprint. "Frozen over," he muttered to himself. "I mean, the only way I can think of all this happening is if we're in some sort of alternating time loop, or if it's something like fate –"

"You actually believe in that sort of shit?" Rin interrupted, and Cato glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"Problem?" he asked. "What're you so worked up about?"

Rin sniffed. "I am not worked up."

Cato sighed, standing up and brushing snow off his pants. "Is this about Harou?" he asked. Rin didn't reply. "I mean, we're all pissed, but I really don't see what harm he could do to us now. Unless he can control zombies, or some shit –"

"Don't say that near Hans, they'd go nuts," Rin sighed, looking around. "I. . . I don't know, Cato," she finally admitted. "I mean, it just makes me think."

"'Bout what?"

Rin's pale cheeks took on a light tinge of pink. "Well – I'm just thinking. Most people at camp have found their 'people'. Partner, you know? And I was just thinking, well. . . do you believe in soulmates?"

Cato frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno, Rin. I mean, I guess it's entirely possible. . . if what we experienced was our souls moving into new bodies, then I guess it's just as likely –"

"Quite!" Rin suddenly dropped into a battle stance, whipping his machete out in front of her. Cato tensed, raising his axe. "Do you hear that?" she whispered.

Cato strained his ears. There were the sounds of growls from up ahead. "Zombies," he whispered. "Pretty close."

Rin slowly raised a branch, moving the needles out from in front of them. They watched as two zombies clawed at the bark of a tree. Her gaze fell to a tattered boot by the trunk of the tree. "There are people in the tree," she deduced. "Cato, if you move, can you grab the one closer to the boot?"

"Not a problem," the blond raised his axe as Rin crept off towards the side. Luckily, the zombies were distracted by the people in the tree. Must be at least two, Rin thought.

She made eye contact with Cato through the trees, and he nodded. They lunged forwards at the same time. Rin's blade cut straight through the neck of the first zombie – a tall woman with thin, patchy dreadlocks that had been falling out, leaving scaly, red scalp behind, and mottled gray skin that might once have been a beautiful, dark color – as Cato slammed the blade of his axe into the face of the second zombie – a little boy, lips pulled back over rotted yellow teeth, fingers snapped backwards and coated with congealed black blood.

She watched as the body of the woman crumpled to the ground, head rolling to the side, thick, almost jelly-like blood sliding from her severed neck. "There's less blood, now," she commented, wiping her blade clean on the woman's shirt.

"They're even deader," Cato nodded. He looked up. "Hey, are you okay –?" his jaw dropped, eyes widening.

xxx

Ailbert jumped as the two people shot out of nowhere. The first one, a young woman with a black braid, whipped her machete through the air, taking off the head of one of the zombies while the other – a young man with blond hair pulled into a short ponytail – hit the other one in the face with an axe.

"Can you tell who they are?" Cameron muttered, looking down.

Louis shook his head. "Just beanies. . . shit, they look familiar. Can't place it."

"There's less blood, now," the woman commented, wiping the congealed substance off her blade and tucking it back into her belt in a manner that seemed, to Ailbert, way too familiar.

"They're deader," the man agreed. He looked up, and Cameron nearly had a heart attack. "Hey, you okay –?" His eyes, a shade of blue to rival the sky, widened as his mouth dropped open.

"Oh, my god," Ailbert whispered, pale.

The woman looked up, black eyes widening, mouth falling slightly open. "Reiner?" Mikasa asked. "Bertolt?"

"Annie?" Cato gaped.

My son found his waifu. World peace has been achieved.