Afterwards, the sudden arrival and assistance of the Survey Corps, along with the efforts of the Garrison's engineers, allowed Wall Rose to withstand once more. It took a full day to eradicate the remaining Titans now trapped within Trost. The barrage of fixed cannon fire from atop the walls was endless. HE rounds killed most of the Titans swarming the walls. The few surviving Titans were primarily killed by the Survey Corps. During that operation, humanity managed to take one 4-meter-class and 7-meter-class alive. However, 207 were dead or missing, and 897 were wounded. Humanity had indeed scored its first victory against the Titans, but there were far too many casualties for anyone to celebrate. The remaining soldiers were assigned to collect the corpses of their comrades to prevent another epidemic from occurring.
The smell of rotting corpses swallowed Trost, It disgusted Jean. He walked down a lone street scanning for corpses. He looked at his gloved hands for a moment before he noticed a corpse in the background and reluctantly turned his gaze towards it. His heart stopped. His eyes went wide.
"Hey..." Jean said as he looked at the corpse and realized who it was. It's left side of it's body was bitten clean off.
"You're... Marco...?" Jean asked in deny. His hands were trembling. He felt like he was breathing bricks.
"Trainee, do you know his name?" A lady covered head to toe in white carrying a clipboard came up and asked Jean.
"I knew I hadn't seen him around... But this couldn't have happened to him... Marco, what happened?" Jean turned away and walked in the opposite direction.
"D-Did anyone... Did anyone see how he died?" Jean said with every word dripped in disbelief and shock.
"What's his name? If you know, tell me now." The white lady continued to ask him. Jean stopped in his tracks and turned his gaze towards the lady, anger burning in his eyes for only being concerned what his best friend's name was.
"Do you understand, trainee? It's already been two day since the hole has been sealed. And we still haven't finished collecting the bodies. At this rate, there could be an epidemic. We must avert a second tragedy. There isn't time to mourn for your friend yet. Understand?" She calmly told Jean. Understanding the trainee's feelings. They weren't used to this. No one was. Jean looked at Marco again. He didn't look like Marco. He wasn't smiling. He was pale. His eyes were dull and lifeless. The missing side of him was covered in dried blood. This wasn't Marco, it couldn't be. But as much as Jean didn't want to accept it, it was.
"104th Trainee Corps. Captain of Squad 19, Marco Bott." Jean stated as he stared at his limb best friend.
"Marco, then? I'm glad we have a name. Let's get back to work." The woman replied as she scribbled down Marco's name and walked away. Leaving Jean to himself.
"Marco... You said we were gonna go visit Naiyamé together... You can't leave me..." Jean said to his lifeless friend. This world was beautiful. But it was also cruel.