Chapter Three: Attack on Trost Pt 1
The subtle wind blew her long, deep-brown hair back. Erica walked along the pathway of the wall that she was on. She had grabbed a small baguette for breakfast and was drinking some water when there was a huge crack of lightning in the sky, almost right next to her. The sky was bright blue with almost no clouds, so it made absolutely no sense. But she had dropped to the ground in fear and could hear ringing drowning out any and all other sounds in her head.
"Ahh what the hell!" She clenched her emerald eyes shut holding her ears, and then opened one eye, gasping from what she was. "Ho..." She whispered as she slowly stood. Once her hearing slowly started to return, she could hear citizens screaming down below, as well as some of the newer cadets around her. "Shit!" Against her better judgment, she started running towards the source of the lightning crack... the Colossal Titan.
"Eren!" She was supposed to be training and running through cannon set-up with the twerps today. Her little brother had made it into the top ten, which meant he could live in the lap of luxury of the Military Police. Erica couldn't fool herself though, she knew he wouldn't. She ran to where she was supposed to meet up with her brother and saw him sink his gear into the Colossal Titan's skin and her breath caught in her chest as he flew up and around the Titan, trying to slice into it.
"I'm gonna kill you!" She heard him yell out, and panic filled her. Eren was the only family she had left, minus Mikasa and Armin. She couldn't lose him, too.
"Eren, no!" She tried to reach for him, but his tunnel vision was so focused on the Titan that he didn't even hear her. Before she knew it, the Titan started to emit steam, and she had to cover her face and get down behind the wall so she wouldn't get burned. "Shit..." Once it dissipated a bit, she could see through the steam and Eren was on the other side of the wall. "Are you insane?!" She ran over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and then hugged him.
"I couldn't... I couldn't kill him..." Eren was shaking his head and Erica shook him.
"Of course not! Do you see how huge he is? That's no normal Titan, Eren. That's not even an abnormal!" Erica closed her eyes and hugged him again. She let out a small sigh of relief, but that was short-lived.
"Hey! Garrison commander wants all the cadets to headquarters immediately to stock up and get orders." A Garrison soldier ran over to them and Erica looked over at the man. "Yeager, you're on the frontlines. We've got hordes of them coming in." Erica's brows furrowed and she nodded.
"Right. Eren, you heard him. I have to take care of business out here, but when it's all said and done I'll come to find you, okay?" She leaned over, getting in Eren's view. "Hellooo?"
"Yeah... I heard you." Eren was looking down at the ground below him, but then looked up at his sister. "Stay safe, sis."
"Always do." Erica pulled her hair back into a tight, low ponytail, and pulled her blades out, running over to join the other front-liners.
Meanwhile, Hazel ran from building top to building top, flying when necessary. Her facial expression was locked in a grimace. This was Trost district, how would they come back from this? There wasn't enough room for all the citizens... all the families in the Stohess District. She closed her eyes. The nobles would have a field day...
"Hazel!" She heard a deep voice and looked around, finally seeing the source of the voice a few rooftops away.
"Marco.." She whispered as he flew over to her, landing next to her.
"You're covered in blood. Are you okay? Do you have any injuries?" He asked her, looking over her. Hazel shook her head, holding her blades in her hand. Her hands were shaking.
"Titan.. had kids... backed into a corner.." Marco nodded and held her face in his hands. He could tell she was shaken up but didn't want this battle to be her demise.
"Hey, you're alive. The kids are fine. Pull yourself together." He let go and gave her his usual reassuring smile, and turned her body to look the other way. "Gas and blade refill stations are over there." He was talking, but Hazel heard his voice fading in and out of her ears.
'Pull yourself together, Haze.' She heard Reiner's voice echoing in her head and shook it. Marco pointed.
"They're trying to get all the citizens out that gate, so direct them that way if you can. I'm not sure where Jean and the others are right now, but check in with them when you can."
"Got it..." Hazel let out a deep breath and gave him a small smile. "We're gonna get through this, Marco." Marco gave her a quick salute.
"It's our first big assignment, we have to prove ourselves right?" Hazel smiled and put one of her blades in its' sheathe and saluted him back.
"Right. See you on the other side."
Hazel made her way from one side of Trost, heading back to where the hole in the wall was. She had taken out two more Titans on the way. She could feel that she was caked in blood. Blood that was steaming hot. She breathed out, wiping her face with her arm.
Where the hell was everyone else? She had seen Garrison members who told her to get with her squad, that she shouldn't be alone. Hazel stopped in her tracks, hearing a blood-curdling scream coming from nearby the church. It sounded like...
"Armin!" Hazel was sent into overdrive, hearing her friend cry out. It sounded like he was in pain. What had happened?! Hazel used her gear to fly out in the direction of where the scream came from, gritting her teeth. She saw him kneeling on the edge of a building staring off into space. He was basically Titan bait just sitting like that.
"Armin, move!" Hazel grit her teeth and saw a Titan reaching for him. "No!" She cried out, and as she got closer to the Titan, she did a little spin and sliced it right in the back of neck and landed next to him, dropping her blades as the Titan steamed out and fell to the ground. "Armin!" She pulled him away from the edge and kneeled next to him. He was still spacing out, and she heard someone land next to them.
Connie.
"H-hey... I heard him screaming. What happened?" Hazel looked into Armin's eyes and she snapped her fingers in his face.
"I don't know. He doesn't look injured." Hazel said as her brows furrowed, and Armin grabbed his head shaking it.
"No no no! I don't deserve to live! It should have been me, not him!" Hazel shook her head.
"Who, Armin? What happened?!" She stared into his wide eyes and Connie crossed his arms next to her.
"Where's your team, Armin? What about yours, Hazel?"
"Armin's team is dead." Ymir appeared next to the two and Hazel looked at her. "Just look around, they're all gone." Connie glared at her.
"Hey shut up! Armin hasn't even been able to tell us what happened yet!"
"They're all gone and he's freaking out. The Titans probably thought he was already dead and wasn't worthy of being a meal." Ymir continued. Armin was still holding his head, shaking it side to side. Hazel sighed as Ymir pressed on, "All those people and Eren died for nothing."
"Eren?" Hazel whispered, looking at Connie. No wonder Armin was freaking out...
Ymir and Connie were going back and forth, but Hazel couldn't hear the words they were saying. Eren was gone...
Krista ran up from one of the other roofs, she had tears in her eyes.
"Stop it you two! Stop fighting. We've lost a lot of friends, it's no wonder he's upset." Krista frowned, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Ah, that's my Krista! Always the voice of reason! Marry me after this battle, will ya?" Ymir side-hugged Krista to her and Krista sighed, looking away from her.
"We can't stay here, Armin." Connie held out his hand to Armin who's eyes widened as soon as he saw Connie's hand, and stood.
"I-I'm okay guys. Sorry for freaking out... I have to go." Armin shook his head and both Hazel and Connie watched him fly away.
"Armin..." Hazel frowned and then looked over at Connie. "I don't even know who's team I'm supposed to be on. I didn't get to go to headquarters..."
"Come with me then! We could always use an extra set of hands. This-a way." Connie launched his hooks into the next set of roofs and flew away from where they stood. Hazel looked back in the direction that Armin flew, then followed after Connie. "So, you look like you're a bloody mess. What happened?"
"I... took out a few Titans... I didn't realize their blood was so hot." Hazel murmured, looking at her bloody hands and Connie's eyes widened at her. The next thing they knew, the sound of the retreat was playing. Had they succeeded? Was it over? No... there were still Titans parading around.
So, why?
"You killed some already? Here our friends are getting murdered left and right and you're out here being a badass!" Connie tried to crack a joke but Hazel sighed, looking away from him. Her eyes trailed over the nearby roofs. She tilted her head, seeing someone sitting on the roof nearby them.
"Is that...?" Connie looked in the direction she was.
"Jean!" Connie called out and ran over to him, Hazel followed closely after. The roofs were close enough together that they didn't need to waste gas. Hazel ran after him, again and stopped short of where Jean was sitting. His demeanor was completely defeated, he had his head in his hands and he was hunched over.
"I'm fucked." He sighed, shaking his head.
"Aww come on Jean, it can't be that bad." Connie kneeled next to Jean and slapped him on the shoulder.
"I'm out of gas, Connie. They sounded the retreat and I'm out of gas. I can't make it up the wall." Jean looked at his friend who's eyes widened.
"T-that's okay, you can just go get a refill." Connie tried to reason with him. Jean shook his head.
"They barricaded headquarters. No one's getting in there for a refill." Hazel hated how broken Jean looked. Would an executive order from her force them to open the barricade? She looked over at the headquarters. No... if they locked it up tight, even she probably wouldn't be able to get in. "We're all dead... those cowards sent us to our death." Jean shook his head. "Not that I blame them..."
"Well then... we'll fight our way in there! This isn't the end. I'm not letting it be!" Connie shook his head, Jean scoffed and Hazel fell to her knees beside both of them. The adrenaline she had from before was wearing off. Eren's death was finally setting in to her.
"You look like shit." Hazel heard Jean's voice and looked over at him. He was staring at her, a depressed look on his face.
"Annie, I need to ask a favor of you." Hazel heard Mikasa's voice and froze. Her head perked up, and she looked over at Connie who had a similar look on his face to hers. Mikasa wasn't going to handle this well... "I have a pretty good assessment on the situation. Where is Eren's team? I need to inform him, too."
"You may want to ask Armin over there." Reiner pointed at Armin and Hazel looked away.
"Guys!" Erica landed next to them and ran over to Mikasa. "I haven't seen Eren at all since this all started. Oh, Armin. Captain said he was on your team."
"Armin, where is he? This is important." Mikasa pressed. Armin hunched over, and tears started to come out of his eyes.
"We... Cadets of Squad 34... Thomas Wagner, Nack Zius, Millius Zerunski, Mina Carolina... and Eren Yeager, gave their lives... putting up the most courageous and heroic fight..."
The silence...was deafening. Hazel could feel her lip quivering. So it was true. They were all gone.
"No..." She could hear Sasha whisper.
"Squad 34 is...decimated?" A random cadet asked from behind them.
"No..." Erica shook her head and walked over to Armin, pulling him to stand by his collar. "No. Eren's not dead. Did you see him die? Or is he just missing?" The look on Erica's face was pure anger, and Armin had tears streaming down his face.
"I watched him get eaten... he saved me from getting eaten. I should be dead." Armin managed out, his legs giving out beneath him, and Erica let him go. "I'm so sorry Erica... Mikasa. It's all my fault."
Mikasa bent down next to him, and placed her hand atop of his. "Armin, now is not the time to be getting sentimental." She stood. "Marco, if we wipe out the Titans, we can get into headquarters and refuel, right?"
"Y-yeah.. but even with you, we're screwed." Mikasa looked around and saw Hazel, kneeling next to her. "Do you think you can manage to take out a couple more?" Hazel looked up at her, and nodded.
"As long as I don't run out of gas, I'm good." She dropped the blades that were attached to her handgrips and attached two more. Mikasa nodded and stood.
"Then I need anyone who still has gas to be back-up for Hazel and myself. I'm strong, stronger than any of you. I plan on making it out of here." She stood on the edge of the building and held out her weapon. "If I can kill them, I live. If I can't, I die. It's that simple." Almost everyone on the roof was looking at her in an exasperated manner.
"Hey, you don't have to do this." Jean tugged on Hazel's arm as she started for the edge of the roof. "You're not Mikasa, this is basically a suicide mission." Hazel pulled her arm away from him and sighed, rolling her eyes. Of course, he would compare her to Mikasa.
"I've already killed a few Titans. What's a few more to make sure everyone can get to safety?" Hazel tightened the straps around her thighs and waist. "Besides, you're out of gas, remember? It's not like she can ask you to do it." Hazel looked over as Mikasa launched herself off of the roof, and took the other side. "Okay, everyone remaining, I'm going to clear a path to headquarters. As soon as they're down, I want you to follow after, got it?" She heard a few murmurs of approval and let out a short breath. "Can you get to headquarters with what you have left?" She asked Jean, trying to calm her nerves.
"Y-yeah..." He placed his hand on his gas canister and Hazel nodded, squeezing his hand.
"Don't let this go to waste then. See you there."
"Right behind you, Haze!" Connie yelled out as Hazel took a running start and launched herself towards a few more Titans.
'I can do this... I have to do this. They're counting on me.' Hazel nodded to herself and pressed forward with her gas. There was a group of three Titans ahead, and Mikasa had taken out a couple on her side. She looked over and Mikasa nodded to her. If they teamed up, they could take them out. Hazel pressed on her gas release flying through the air at insane speeds, she swooshed past the Titans that were grouped ahead and turned her body in midair so that she floated in front of them.
"Hey!" She called out, and the Titans came after her. An abnormal was in the group, and caught up to her, making her heart pound in her chest, but at the last second, Mikasa sliced through its' neck, and then Connie got the next one. There was one left, at the perfect angle for Hazel to slice. She ran forward on the roof below her and launched herself forward again slicing right through the Titan.
"Wooohoooo!" Connie cheered out, and Jean watched the scene from below. He was shocked at how brave Hazel had been and actually pulled it off. Not only that, but her teamwork with Mikasa was flawless. There was a clear path to Headquarters now, so the cadets all flew to reload their supplies.
"Great job." Mikasa called out to Hazel. "I'm gonna go on ahead." Hazel nodded to Mikasa and watched her fly off. Hazel looked back at her comrades, as she spun herself around.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for? This window isn't going to be open for long!" She called out and Jean sunk his gear forward towards her. Before he flew, he looked at the cadets near him.
"We have one shot at this, don't waste it. Go!!" He called out and they fought their way through to the resupply building.
All around her, people were panicking. This is not how they would get out alive... Hazel closed her eyes, calmed her breathing, and looked around. They were inside the supply building. It had been an ordeal and a half to get in there... but they made it.
No word from Mikasa, Hazel only hoped that she was okay. Though, she knew that since Eren was gone, Mikasa's whole reason to fight was basically gone.
Every soldier inside the supply building was freaking out, given up, or had completely checked out.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be...
Hazel could see the panicked look on Jean's face and shook her head, cursing to herself. She walked over to him. "Hey, Kirstein." He turned to look at her, and she reached up and grabbed his face in her hands, her brows furrowed together. She could see the terror in his eyes, and as he stared back at her... she only hoped her own terror was hidden. "Pull it together. I'm not going to let you die."
Jean stared at her for a second before she released his face, then his eyes flicked to look behind her. "Stahle..." His voice was but a whisper.
She turned her head to look where he was, and there was a giant Titan arm reaching for her. 'No...' She didn't have enough time to react. She turned her head to look at Jean and knew that all of her bravery had flown out the window. She cinched her eyes closed, glad that it was her and not him getting grabbed when she felt the building starting to shake, and an enormously loud growl/screeching noise filled her ears. "Hazel!" Jean grabbed her and shielded her body with his as the Titan that reached for her was punched by an even larger Titan, flying out of the way.
"Get down!" Marco yelled out as people jumped away from the Titan arm that crashed through the building. Hazel looked past Jean incredulously as Jean turned, watching the Titan that had inadvertently saved her as it continued on to attack the Titans. Hazel pushed Jean away from her with wide eyes as she looked out to see this anomaly.
"What the..." She whispered, running to the open half of the building and looked out. A Titan, larger than the ones that had been attacking them, was attacking the Titans itself! It let out a screechingly loud roar that made Hazel cover her ears and wince. She opened her eyes, looking out as it ran in the other direction. 'Did it just... protect us..?' She wondered to herself.
"What the hell is that thing?!" She heard a voice that she didn't recognize call out and watched as the Titan disappeared. Seconds later, a few familiar faces crashed through a window. Mikasa, Connie and Armin all flew in, Armin being held by Connie. Hazel let out a sigh of relief seeing Mikasa and hurried over to them.
"You guys are alive!"
"Mikasa!" Hazel heard Jean express happily. Connie beamed at the group, setting Armin down.
"That Titan variant is destroying all the Titans out there! I dunno what the hell it is, but it's on our side! It shows no interest in eating humans!" Connie grinned at Hazel and Hazel looked back in the direction of the Titan that had saved their lives.
"So... if we stay close and follow after it... we may make it out of here." She murmured, and Armin nodded.
"That's what we figured. It's our best option as of now, with supplies running low." Hazel stared out towards the city, watching as Titans ravaged the buildings. She heard the other cadets questioning their plan, and Mikasa reassuring them that their idea was the best course of action that they had.
'Where the hell are Levi and his squad?' Hazel grimaced, thinking to herself. 'Shouldn't they be here by now...?'
"Hey." Jean put his hand on Hazel's shoulder, making her jump. She looked towards him and saw the others quickly reloading their supplies. "I'm not going to let you die here either. We're gonna make it outta here, together." He motioned with his head towards the supplies, and she nodded, refilling her gas canisters and switching out her blades. Hazel stared up at him, their eyes connecting. She could feel a burning feeling in her chest, but wasn't sure exactly what it was.
"Together.." She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Hazel wasn't exactly sure what Jean's sudden change in demeanor meant.. Maybe it was because their lives were on the line... maybe he finally had an ounce of respect for her. She squeezed the hand that touched her shoulder and pushed past him to the supplies. She saw Mikasa on the outskirts of the group and walked over to her.
"I'm glad you're okay." Hazel gave Mikasa a small smile, and Mikasa looked at her. The raven-haired girl nodded shortly and sighed.
"We're not going to die now, Hazel. We have to live for Eren." Hazel held her hand out to Mikasa who pulled herself to stand and nodded in agreeance with her.
"For Eren."
I hope you all enjoyed, let me know your thoughts!
Thank you for reading!