He focused on breathing- in through his nose and out of his mouth as he ducked for tree branches and weaved between trees. He could hear the shots firing behind him. He should have just fucking listened to them. Now here he was separated from his entire group as a clan of maniacs were on his tail. To hunt or be hunted and Eren was just that- the hunted. This place they called earth was now one giant fucking cluster fuck. The government went down. The whole system corrupted and now it was literally every man for their selves.
Which placed him to where he was now- running for dear, sweet fucking life. His main goal was to escape and eventually find his way back to the group. It sure as hell was a damn good thing that they all had coordinates of where they should meet up if they were ever to get separated- a safe house that they had claimed.
"Shit." He gasped out as he tumbled down a hill hitting his ankle on a rock causing him to suck in a breath of air in a gasp and bite his lip as the world stopped spinning as he lied on his back arms splayed eagle out as he stared up into the blue sky. He just stared taking it all in, just how peaceful the sky looked with the scattered clouds in all shapes and forms.
Soon his little rest came to a halt when the all too familiar shots resonated in the air. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to get up- hissing at his ankle but he had to ignore it. There was no way in hell he was going to die here. It just wasn't an option. Plus, Levi would bring him back and send him back to hell if he shall ever let himself get killed.
His eyes widened. Levi. Oh boy he was not ready to feel his wrath. He could already imagine the shorter man gut kicking him and rubbing his face in the dirt with the toe of his boot pressed on his face. He shuddered at the imagine as he hobbled on. They had told him to stick close, not to be an idiot and trek on by himself. What did he do? Get fucking distracted thinking he saw something and strayed from the group. Then the shots fired and he ran. He ran like the fucking wind. Most likely farther away from his group. He had distantly heard his name yelled panicky, but he didn't stop. He could only imagine the hissy fit Levi threw and Eren thought Levi would have tried to follow but there was no sign of anyone from his group.
"Well, fuck me." Eren sighed as he came up to a creek. He stood putting his weight on his un-injured foot as he contemplated his decision on what to do. Did he follow it or cross it?
"Come out little birdie. We know you went this way! We can smell yer fear boy!" A voice hollered. Eren's eyes widened as he booked it following the creek before the creek widened and the path was getting narrow. He looked around. He was running out of options. He would have to cross it. Not to mention he was now at a more reasonably deeper part of the creek. A shot fired behind him making him jump.
"Ah, we knew we would find you sooner or later cutie. Why don't you be a good boy and come play with us?" The man chuckled with a toothpick in his mouth as he started walking towards Eren. Several more men appeared coming up behind him.
"Not interested." Eren said through clenched teeth as he stared at the water- well aware that he had several guns pointed at his back. He wondered if he could still hold his breath for longer than a minute.
"Well, too bad you really don't have a choice unless you want to die." The guy chuckled as his fingers reach up and twirled the toothpick in his mouth. "We just want to have a little fun."
"Fuck you." Eren spat before he jumped into the creek without looking back. He could feel bullets whizzing all around him. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky and one punctured his leg, the same one he had hurt his ankle on at least. Not that that was any fucking better. He tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut even though he wanted to scream bloody murder. He pushed himself lower before he started swimming as fast as he could to reach the other side. The only thing he would now have to fear is them shooting at him when he came back up.
Feeling his lungs burn from the lack of oxygen, he had to risk it. He had to come up for air. He pawed his way as fast as he could before his head broke the surface and he gasped greedily for air. He wasn't quite to the other side but he was farther that he imagined. He heard shots being fired at him again, some whizzing past him on his sides. He took a deep breath before going back under. He decided to change his course and swam to the right to get further up the creek before trying to reach the other side. Hopefully he was deep enough to where they couldn't see what direction he was going in.
He resurfaced once again seeing he put quite a distance between him and the others. His eye caught a tree root growing over the surface of the creek. He quietly paddled towards it trying to hide behind it. The water was cold, his leg was numb and now he was soaking wet. God only knew the water in his combat boots were going to be atrocious to walk in.
"What a pity. The kid must have drowned." A voice said after a while as they were waiting for him to resurface.
"Maybe one of yer bullets hit him Tank." A different voice commented. Eren squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear the men moving as their boots kicked rocks into the creek. He silently prayed they left and back into the other direction away from him.
"Come on boys, lets move on. Maybe we can find that other group of kids that were roaming around. Wouldn't that be fun. More toys, more pleasure." The guy who was chewing on the toothpick laughed. He could hear their footsteps disappear as they got farther away. Eren finally released the breath he had been holding and relaxed his body. He waited a few more minutes to be on the safe side before coming out.
"Fuck that was close." He mumbled quietly as he swam towards the shallow part of the creek where he collapsed onto his knees before rolling to his back. What was he going to do now? And that group of 'kids' they were talking about was probably his group. Yeah, the group he was separated from because he's the fucking idiot. He pushed himself up with his legs stretched out before him as he leaned to the side to look at his right thigh. Blood soaked through his pants, seeping through the whole the bullet had created. The bullet was still in his leg. He dug into his pocket trying to retrieve his compass. There was water in it which made it almost useless. He chucked it angrily. "This seriously cannot be fucking happening." He cried out punching the rocks next to him. Probably wasn't the smartest idea. He wanted to cry if he wanted to be honest.
Ignoring the searing pain in his thigh, he pushed himself up. He needed to continue following the creek up in hopes that it will put him back on the right path. He just wished he could run into someone- anyone that was from his group. Did Levi seriously not come after him or realize that he had wandered off?
He traveled for what seemed for hours but his pace was severely slow and he was cold sweating. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, tripping over a rock as he tumbled forward into a tree. His breathing was erratic and he probably looked haggard. His hands shook as he tried to unbuckle his belt to make a tourniquet around his thigh. He cried out in pain as more blood seeped from the wound. He turned his back to the tree as he slid down it. Okay so he was going to die from a bullet wound. Maybe it would have been better to have been shot by the men in the head so he wouldn't have to suffer. He closed his eyes letting the exhaustion wash over him. Maybe he wouldn't wake up?
"Oi Eren! Wake up damn it!" He felt hands on either arm as they were shaking him. He groaned still feeling dizzy. "Fuck Yeager, wake up!" The voice was real and he recognized it all too well. He slowly opened his eyes to slits as a blurry person was squatted in front of him.
"Am I dead?" His hoarse voice whispered as his eyes closed again. He had absolutely no energy. He felt a sting on his cheek making him jolt and his eyes fly open wide. He was seriously just slapped.
"You better keep those fucking eyes open you hear me?" The voice demanded. He saw four Levi's in front of him. Eren swallowed as the nausea hit him.
"'Onna be ick." He grumbled as he slouched to the side and dry heaved. He felt arms on him again keeping him from falling.
"Levi, coast is clear. Is he coherent?" A worried voice asked. Eren panted as he felt sweat drip from his head.
"Eren, listen to me. You have to stay awake. If you go back to sleep, I'm not sure if I will be able to get you back. It took me over twenty minutes just to get you awake now." Levi said sternly with concern in his voice.
Eren spit weakly trying to rid the god-awful taste in his mouth, weakly drawing the back of his hand to his mouth to wipe it. "Seven men. Guns. Hunting people." Eren mumbled. "Shot in leg." He tilted his head back trying to close his eyes.
"Damn it Eren. Open your fucking eyes." Levi demanded shaking him. "Hanji, come help me. Grab his right." Levi hooked Eren's left arm around his shoulder as Hanji grabbed his right.
"Erwin and Jean are straight ahead." Hanji commented. "Mikasa is going to have a heart attack. What the hell happened Eren?" They asked worried. Eren leaned all his weight onto Levi as he grimaced every time his right leg jostled.
"I-I strayed from the group because I uh, saw something and then I heard shots. I took off running. They cornered me. I jumped into the creek and one of them shot me. I swam up the creek ways away from them. I tried making it as far as I could and next thing I know, I was being slapped." Eren hissed as Hanji tripped causing the trio to shoot forward and weight went on his leg. More blood spilled from the wound causing another dizzy wave washed over him. "Bullet still in me leg." He mumbled.
"Shit." Levi hissed. "We need to get that bullet out. Look, we just need to make it a little further. I see Erwin and Jean now." Levi said trying to quicken the pace. Eren didn't respond as he focused on not getting sick and keeping his heavy eyes open.
"'ou mad?" Eren asked in a small voice. He could tell Levi was pissed but he was more pissed from having to worry.
"Gee what gave that away brat?" Levi sneered before sighing. "You're an idiot. Stupid."
Eren bowed his head. He already knew and he could only imagine Mikasa when he saw her. "'M sorry." He whispered guilty. "I really didn't mean to separate from the group. The gun shots startled me." The forms of Erwin and Jean were becoming more clearer as they got closer.
"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need to focus getting to you back to base. You're fucking burning up and we need to get that bullet out of your leg." Levi grunted. Erwin and Jean turned towards them greeting them with a wave.
"Yeager?" Jean's voice asked. "Holy shit, what the hell happened?" he asked as he jogged towards them swinging his rifle behind him.
"No time. We need to get him to base." Levi shrugged off walking past Jean. Erwin gave them a weak smile as he let them pass and followed behind them.
"How far do you think we are from base?" Hanji asked with a worried concern on their face. "He's concerning me." Hanji peeked at Eren to see his eyes half lidded and his feet stumbling. "Eren, honey, stay awake. Can you do that for me?"
"Eren." Levi said. "Come on you pain in the ass. Fight it." More blood if that was even possible ran down his leg. Eren was holding on by a thin thread. He so desperately wanted to close his eyes. He stumbled a couple more times before he was stopped and pushed down to his back.
"Levi, we're not going to make it. His fever is extremely high, he has loss who knows how much blood and he's deathly pale. I have to at least get that bullet out." Hanji urged. They reached over unclamping the makeshift tourniquet making it tighter as Eren cried out. "I'm sorry honey, but this is going to hurt like a bitch." Eren's eyes widened as he looked at Levi frantically.
"What's about to hurt like a bitch?" He asked with a panic as his hand came up seizing Levi's arm. Levi's lips pursed but he didn't respond.
"He needs a gag." Hanji mentioned as they hoovered over Eren's leg. There was swelling, no doubt. "Anybody have something we can shove into his mouth?" They asked looking up.
"Okay seriously. What are you about to do?" Eren asked trying to sit up as Levi shoved him back down.
"Stay down. She has to remove the bullet." Levi explained as he stood up digging through his pockets and pulled out a handkerchief then kneeled back down shoving it into Eren's mouth.
"Erwin. Jean. Come help. I need you both hold down his legs. I will pin his right arm under me and Levi you are on his left. On the count of three, put your weight down because this baby will probably try to buck." Hanji ordered. It dawned on Eren about what Hanji was about to do. He watched as their bag swung to their front side as they dug through pulling out a pocket knife some whisky. Jean and Erwin had followed their orders and he felt the pressure applied to his shins. His eyes connected with Levi's as Hanji's voice called three. Eren tried with all his might to arch his back, the pain unbearable. He screamed through the handkerchief, Levi's fingers intertwining with his squeezing his hand. Tears were streaming down his face.
"Hanji, how much longer?" Levi growled as Eren tried to thrash. Jean had to look away but his grip didn't loosen.
"Shut up please. The bullet is rather wedged in there. Give me a second." They said sticking their tongue out of the corner of their mouth. They reached back one handed didn't through a front pocket of their bag pulling out tweezers. They leaned down with steady hands and swiftly removed the bullet. "Got it." Everyone released their hold as Eren cried, his chest heaving from the pained sobbing. "That's quite a bullet." They examined holding it up. Hanji dropped the bullet to the ground pulling off their jacket to wrap around Eren's thigh.
It burned. It burned like the fiery pits of fucking hell and he wanted nothing more than to chop his fucking leg off- however the pressure was gone. Now it just hurt. The pain didn't stop the tears from pricking his eyes as they still fell down his face. He felt a gentle squeeze on his hand as he turned his head to look over at Levi. Eren couldn't remember when it had happened since days seem to just blend, when he and Levi have gotten more affectionate towards each other. Nothing has been set in stone yet, but everyone knew.
"What the hell happened?" Jean asked turning his attention down towards Eren. Levi pulled the handkerchief from Eren's mouth.
"I was fucking shot. Isn't it obvious?" Eren hissed breaking eye contact with Levi closing his eyes. "As I was telling Levi and Hanji. There was seven of them. They're looking for play toys. They think I'm dead."
"Play toys?" Erwin asked as the words sounded sour on the tip of his tongue. He understood plenty that the world they lived in now was all or nothing, but still- the idea that humans get off on that type of torture was plain sick and it disgusted him.
"Yes. He claims they just want to play." Eren said weakly. "Other than I what I just told you, I couldn't tell you anymore. Well one of the guy's name is Tank so there's that." Eren's hand moved to his forehead with his elbow raised in the air.
"Sounds like psychopaths." Jean muttered. "Why do they think you're dead?" Eren sighed audibly. He just really, really wanted to sleep and no one would let him.
"Because I jumped into a swimming hole and they were shooting at the water. When I didn't come up a second time, they thought I was dead when really I just swam up the creek instead of continuing crossing it." Eren replied. "But can I sleep now?"
"NO!" Hanji and Levi both answered. Eren grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest annoyed. They got the bullet out so why couldn't he go to sleep now? But he did admit he still felt rather weak. He didn't even want to move, especially after all the thrashing.
They had finally made it back to their camp site by time the sun was going down. Eren was nestled on Jean's back, his head slightly resting against the back of the man's shoulder as he focused on Jean's stride. Levi walked to the right of them so he could keep an eye on Eren's eyes to make sure he didn't go to sleep while Hanji was the left and Erwin was in the middle leading the group. When Jean had been chosen to be the said transporter of one Eren Yaeger he threw a hissy fit. Eren had rolled his eyes because at the point he didn't give two shits. But now, they paused at the base of camp as everyone roamed around. Connie and Sasha were feeding the fire they had started wood while Historia and Ymir were messing with whatever they had caught. Tents were pitched and anchored into the ground. Reiner was dragging rather large like logs towards the fire with Berholdt following behind him looking lost on what to do. Annie was cleaning her gun sitting against a tree secluding herself from the other people.
"Hey welcome back! Did you find him?" A pleasant voice called walking up to them. Marco was smiling until Jean grumbled shuffling Eren on his back causing him to cry out when he jostled his hurt leg too much.
"Fucking easy horse face." Eren hissed. Jean pinched his lips wanting to retort but he ultimately felt sincerely apologetic to hurting Eren further.
"Let's get him into camp." Levi suggested. "Hanji, go find Mikasa." He demanded as he started forward towards the fire tossing a glance behind him as he headed towards the fire that Connie and Sasha had successfully lit. Jean followed behind Levi then gently sliding Eren off him with the help of Levi sitting him on the ground with the log behind him as a back rest.
"This feels nice." Eren mumbled starting in the crackling fire. Connie looked overhearing the voice freezing. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right, trying to open his mouth to say something before a blur pushed him out of the way.
"Eren." Mikasa said falling to her knees wrapping her arms around Eren's neck bringing him into an embrace. "You idiot. I thought I had lost you." She whispered squeezing tighter.
"Eren patted her weakly. "I'm fine 'Kasa." He didn't sound very reassuring, but it didn't change the fact that he had one hell of a day. And he already felt guilty enough because now he was a liability having the injured. But he would rather be injured than dead or never found.
"You are not fine you idiot." She cried with a slight shake. "How many times have I told you to stop straying from the group, handling things on your own? Christ sake Eren, you could have been killed. Hanji filled me in on what happened." She leaned back as her dark eyes started examining him. "You look like utter shit."
"Sorry sorry. I found the medical bag. Somehow had moved it." Hanji squawked jumping over a log landing on the ground in a squatting position. Eren eyed the bag the glanced up at Hanji.
"Hanji." Eren's voice croaked. "What are you doing?" Eren asked hesitantly. Hanji opened the bag and started pulling out different medical supplies and a flashlight.
"I have to stitch up that bullet wound. We can't leave it open." They said still in the bag. "We need to get those pants off of you." They pulled out a scalpel and medical scissors holding them up in the air. Eren froze. There was no way in hell he was going to let them dig around in him again.
"Hanji." Eren said again with a slight panic. A hand touched his shoulder, their fingers curling over giving him a squeeze.
"Quit being a baby. It needs to be dressed before it gets infected and infection is not something we want. We aren't equipped to deal with an infection." Levi's low voice stated. Mikasa stayed quiet as she moved from Eren's side and started to untie his boots- which were still damp and his feet felt suffocated.
"Can Marco do it?" Eren whined. "No offense Hanji." At the call of his name Marco appeared with Jean in tow coming up to stand next to Connie and Sasha who surprisingly stayed quiet as they were eavesdropping.
"Can Marco do what?" Marco asked tilting his head watching as Mikasa chucked one boot off before starting on the other one which had Eren flinching.
"Easy 'Kasa." He gritted his teeth and hissed swearing under his breath. "Can you stitch me up?" He asked. He felt bad for doing that to Hanji, but they were too energetic for his likings and he knew they loved experimenting.
"Aw Eren. Really?" Hanji whined letting their arms fall to their side. Eren bit his lip trying to hold in from crying out as Mikasa ripped his boot off. Her eyes widened as she saw the size of his ankle. She gently peeled the pant leg off and pulled them up to see a massive black and blue bruise staring back at them. Mikasa's hand raised to her mouth.
"What the hell happened there?" Hanji screeched jumping up as Marco lunged forward. Levi's hand tightened on Eren's shoulder a little too hard causing him to try and shake the hand off.
"When I was running from them, I dropped over a hill. Didn't see it and I busted my ankle on a rock. The gun shot to the leg masked the pain so I kinda forgot about it." He said. He felt somewhat relieved with the boot off now that it wasn't squeezing the holy life out of his leg, but now it was throbbing from the lack of boot.
"Whoa." Connie finally voiced out. "What happened?" He asked glancing at Sasha to see her hand hiding her mouth and tears gathering in her eyes.
"If I could get everyone to gather around, sorry not for show on Eren but to make an announcement." Erwin announced walking towards the now larger group. More bodies gathered around, a few gasps from a few as they caught sight of Eren.
"What's going on?" Armin asked being the last to make it to the group as his blue eyes scanned everyone and landed on Eren. "Eren?" He whispered with a gaped mouth. His feet slowly started moving with his hands outstretched before him as he dropped to the ground between Mikasa and Hanji.
"The reason I gathered everyone is because Patrol will have to be increased. While everyone knows that one of our own, Eren, had accidentally strayed from the group. Within that stray he had a run in with seven individual men. They have guns and are looking for stragglers to use as play toys. As you see before you, Eren had inflicted a gun shot to the leg trying to escape. We were lucky to find him when we did." Erwin explained. Marco grabbed a sewing needle and thread along with some antiseptic disinfectant from Hanji mouthing a 'thank you' as he rounded to Eren's bad side.
"Play toys? What the hell?" Connie asked incredulously. "What does that even mean?"
"Exactly as it sounds. They want to toy with other humans. Torture them, play with them to satisfy their disgusting get off." Levi grunted releasing his hand from Eren's shoulder moving himself down on the log to put himself behind Eren as he crossed his arms over his chiseled chest that was defined through a tight black tee.
"Which leads me to say, we can't stay in one place for too long. And instead of two people patrolling at a time, we'll increase that to four. We need everyone to stay on guard but rest at the same time. Tomorrow we will pack up and move to a different location." Erwin announced causing an uproar.
"What the hell does that mean for Eren?" Mikasa asked turning around. "He can't even walk." She said lowly glaring.
"I understand that, but we can't risk staying here when they could be anywhere. Our best option is to keep moving and to hope we are moving in the opposite direction as they are. Everyone will take turns carrying Eren on their backs if that's what we have to do." He stated.
"That's absurd." Jean cried out. "That'll make us move even slower. Why can't we just sit tight here for a day or two and let him recover at least some so he can move more freely. That isn't fair to the rest of us when it was his fuck up to begin with."
Eren curled his fists listening to Jean talk. Marco had numbed his leg and had started stitching him up but Eren was starting to get too pissed to even acknowledge the pain. "You think I did this on purpose horse face? You think I enjoyed getting fucking shot? You think I enjoyed the thought of being out in bum fuck Egypt knowing I was probably going to end up suffering and die because no one would find me? You think I fucking enjoy being a burden to you guys?" He yelled turning his face toward Jean with tears running down his face. "What do you want me to do? Kneel before your fucking boots and beg forgiveness for being a grade A dumbass?" Mikasa slapped Eren across the face.
"Shup up. I never want to hear that come from your mouth again. Both of you need to shut up and stop being immature, self-centered asses." She growled. Eren raised a hand to his cheek feeling the lingering sting.
"News flash, this doesn't just effect you two idiots." Levi added. "So, I suggest you both close your damn mouths and just listen."