In the early night of the city of Trost, muffled cheers leaked onto the street. The upbeat graduates could be heard from behind the walls of the cadet corp's headquarters as a lively atmosphere spread across the mess hall. The 104th took to celebrating the beginning of the next chapter of their lives shortly after concluding the graduation ceremony.

"Cheers!"

"No more hunger!" Sasha excitedly proclaimed in a toast with her fellow cadets.

A cloud of depression lingered over the figure of Connie Springer, head buried between his arms and glued to the table. His entire body had gone stiff from the dreadful news as if encased in a layer of rust. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach like a bad meal, haunted by the revelation of his ranking even several hours later. Dark thoughts piled up like a malignant growth as he listened to their cheery discussions, Most were content with the Garrison, few were relieved to be Military Police, and none had brought up the Corps.

'How did this happen? All of that work... Three years for nothing, How do I explain this to mom and dad? ...Martin... Sunny... How am I going to help them now? Shit...'

He stared over his shoulders and watched their celebrations with contempt. He has sacrificed far too much to be met with a result like this. And yet, someone like Krista was able to reach his dream goal. Connie shook his head, pushing all of those negative thoughts away. He sighed, and resumed his sulking in the corner of the room, away from all of the hubbub.

Floch, Sandra, Ruth, Hannah, Gordon, and Franz were all seated together, enjoying each other's company and discussing their future. Gordon proposed a toast as the six of them raised their cups together.

"For the future!" They all spoke in unison except for Sandra.

"I still can't believe it's been three years, time flies doesn't it?!" Hannah said.

Franz wrapped his arm around her waist and grinned, pulling her closer. "I can, anywhere away from Shadis is good enough for me!"

"You mean anywhere next to your girlfriend." Gordon teased.

The couple went red in the face and turned away from him in embarrassment. "D-Don't say things like that, Gordon!" Franz stammered.

"Honestly!" Hannah added, hands covering her face.

"I-I wonder where they'll station us after we finish our two-day assignment with the Garrison," Ruth said.

Franz cooled himself down and shook off the embarrassment before speaking. "Depends on your score, the better you are the closest to the capital. Everyone here is in the top thirties so we are set!"

"I wouldn't be so sure, The Garrison has been saturated with troops ever since, you know..." Hannah spoke as she gazed up at him.

A smirk formed on Franz's face. "Let's not worry about that. Man if only we scored higher huh? Isn't that right, Floch?"

"Yeah, sure."

Gordon sent him an annoyed look. "Dammit, you won't even pay attention to Franz? When are you listening?"

Floch propped his elbow on the table and pressed his chin against his palm. "I always listen, and I can give you an answer but you wouldn't like it."

"Honestly you're so damn annoying, you have a spot in the MP and you're still going on about joining the Survey corps?"

"I already told you, Gordon, The Garrison and MP life isn't for me."

"Suicidal bastard. Well, you won't have to worry about smelling Titan's breath any time soon anyway."

'Any time soon?' Floch wondered inwardly.

The atmosphere around the table grew uncomfortable by the topic, most were unsure of how to deal with Floch's borderline suicidal tendencies. A stone-faced Sandra lingered her gaze on the boy, eventually, amber met silver, and held each other hostage. Sandra removed her gaze from his a few seconds later and focused on her cup, seemingly unaffected by the conversation. Gordon turned to her for support, nudging her side and practically begging for her to help.

"Come on Sandra, knock some sense into this idiot!"

Sandra barely reacted, she lowered her cup and her lips parted to speak words Gordon wished he never asked for. "It's his choice, let it be Gordon."

Floch's eyes had the smallest hint of worry in them studying the unusually rigid girl, feeling equally surprised as the rest of the table. Gordon's breath caught in his throat, heartbeats quickening. He shook his head, refusing to process whatever these two have said. He turned to the meek redhead at the opposite end of the table and smirked in willful ignorance.

"Right, What about you Ruth? I can only imagine what it would be like to not have Floch around to beat you mercilessly every day." Gordon laughed but his joke didn't land.

"I-It's fine, those days won't be missed," Ruth replied, managing a strained smile.

Floch sighed. "Truth is.." His slow trailing caught everyone's attention, "I lost the right to join the Military Police a year and a half ago after my stunt with Annie, Shadis gave me an ultimatum, either disqualify or be kicked out of the program altogether. I only stood there among the top ten because I earned my right to, but in reality, my ranking was all for show." He confessed much to their bewilderment.

"You massive idiot." Gordon gaped.

"So that means... Whoever is eleventh on the rankings will take your invitation to the MP's..." Franz deduced leaving Floch to hum in acknowledgment.

"I wonder who could that be?" Hannah spoke.

"Beats me, Good luck asking around though." Floch shrugged.

The discussion eventually moved on to different topics with everyone doing their best not to bring up the sore subject again. Floch felt his impatience with Sandra rise by the second as the two kept getting into silent staring matches, though both had remained stoic on the outside. He couldn't help but notice that something about her changed, he just couldn't pinpoint it precisely. Floch's mind drifted off to different things, like a certain letter he sent to a key individual several days ago at Ehrmich.

Come to think of it, they should be arriving tomorrow if memory served him right. Floch decided to make sure, interrupting a conversation between Gordon and Franz. "Sorry, Does anyone know when will the Survey Corps be coming through town tomorrow?"

Those who didn't have an answer glanced around for the others, and those who did regard Floch strangely. Hannah tilted her head, confused by his question. "What do you mean?"

Perhaps it was instincts or a trick of the mind but Floch foreboded the worst when he heard that simple question. "Their next expedition I meant, when are they coming?"

Hannah raises a brow in evident confusion. "What are you talking about? I thought you of all people would have heard already."

A knot began to form in his stomach.

"...Heard what?"

"The Survey corps has been suspended from going on expeditions for the last year or so, they're settling matters in court with the Military Police."

His entire world came crashing down at the revelation, ice shooting through his veins. He quickly thanked her and removed his gaze, eyes reflecting nothing but pure terror. The voices coming from his surroundings are drowned out by his frantic thoughts, horror creeping up on him at the implications. His throat went as dry as a desert and his body stiff as stone, his nearly emptied cup suddenly feeling like it weighed tons. He runs the calculations in his head, if the wall were to be breached tomorrow morning then it would be nothing short of a disaster. The time it would take for the news to reach the Scouts' office in Ehrmich and for them to respond would take too long, far too long. That was an entire day of Titans pouring inside, an entire day of fighting within the streets of Trost, an entire day of Eldian blood being spilled everywhere, comrades dying left and right.

A dull pain builds up behind his eyes as he contemplates his next move, this was bad, extremely bad.

"Goodnight, everyone."

Floch and the others watched Sandra retreat out of the mess hall, it wasn't until she took the last step up the stairs that Floch regained his senses. He exchanged a quick look with those remaining before he ran after her, knees nearly giving out as he stood up. He pushed his way through the confused crowd of cadets and hurried up the stairs leading outside.

"What's hish deal?" Krista asked, walking to their table with a wobble in her step.

"What's her deal?!" Gordon asked in return, eyes darting towards the brown-haired girl.

Ymir grinned as she walked to them, resting her elbow against the blonde girl's head. "Can't hold her alcohol, but tell you what, she's been holding up the conversation quite well."

"I can see that." Gordon grimaced as Krista collapsed on their table.

"You can't beat them!"

The entire hall went deathly silent.

Floch came to a complete halt upon realizing there had been no trace of the girl anywhere outside, He sighed, giving up on the futile attempt to search for her. He leaned against the wall and ran his hands through his hair, momentarily exposing his forehead. He didn't have time to deal with Sandra anyway, he needed to think... He needed to think.

'That letter must have reached them, they must come. I have to stop Bertholdt, or else Trost will be lost.'

He was about to make his way back inside before the door slammed open, revealing a furious and teary Eren Yeager. Floch was about to follow him before Mikasa and Armin cut in front of him to chase after the boy, The two of them shot him a passing glance as they caught up with Eren a few steps down the street. Floch watched them from afar, sitting down and talking amongst each other, he couldn't help but picture himself, Gordon, and Sandra in their place.

He continued to stare, lost in his thoughts and dread mounting by the second. He frowned, turning around and wandering off into the streets of Trost, each step growing louder in his ears as the inevitability of the breach dawned on him. He walked until his legs give out and collapses between one of the alleys. Floch clutched his head tightly, a crazed faraway look on in his eyes as he gazed at the dimly lit cobblestone beneath his feet.

Floch, Sandra, Gordon, and a few other cadets are huddled together in an office inside of the headquarters, as a horde of Titans rampaged across the castle. The trio were cramped underneath a desk and could only listen in fear, as they hid from the monsters.

'Alright!'

Floch barely suppressed a flinch from one of the cadets' sudden disembodied shouting.

'What good is that going to do?'

The trio hidden underneath the desk were all startled as a shot rang out within the room, they stared into the wall with horror plastered on their faces. A few cry out in terror behind them, eventually nothing but muffled sobbing and a stream of blood spilling against the polished wooden floor could be heard.


"Humans cannot defeat Titans." - Thomas Wagner 850 AD , The night of the 104th graduation.


On the first day, 06:00 AM

Bertholdt found it amusingly ironic that today out of all days would he wake up feeling refreshed, oddly enough. He sat up from his bed and looked around from left to right with a steeled expression. He solemnly took in his surroundings. Ranging from the morning routines of the cadets in the barracks to the busy sounds of the streets outside. He made his way to the bathroom with a single thought in mind, all of this life in front of him had to come to an end today, unfortunate but necessary.

He washed his face and stared into his reflection, briefly hallucinating his Titan form in the mirror.

A drowsy Tom walked beside him in the shared bathroom. "Morning, Bertholdt."

He didn't bother to reply, instead opting to nod in his direction. He doesn't bring himself to utter a name that will be brought to an end by the titans in a matter of hours. By the time Bertholdt finished getting ready for the day, most of the cadets were outside each doing their separate tasks. He joined their ranks and stood shoulder to shoulder with the people he was about to kill.

'We do what we have to.'

He repeated these words to himself like a mantra until the chatter around him became unbearable, soon enough they'll stop though. The more time he spent listening to their upbeat chatter the more that his disgust with himself grew, to think that he'd crush whatever minuscule amount of hope these people have built up over the years was sickening. He breathed a sigh of relief when he received his issued ODM gear, the boy nearly bolted out of the compound to get them out of his mind.

Bertholdt caught his breath at the gates of the castle, he looked up to be greeted with the faces of his squadmates and a Garrison officer. Anders and Hilde whom he hadn't regularly spoken to waved, Ruth smiled and gave a good morning, Sandra looked off to the side with disinterest, and Forster burned a hole into his head.

Bertholdt was taken aback by his gaze, his heart skipping a beat. But that intense heat faded as quickly as it came as he looked off elsewhere, and the officer initiated.

"Alright, The 35th, that's you guys. You've been tasked with aiding supply runs around the city for the next three days. Your current assignment will encompass all of our posts along the southern entrance, from east to west. Go around to the rear of the castle to the entrance of the armory and that's where you'll find the ammunition cache, cleaning kits, and anything of the like. We're not so cruel as to force you to carry around boxes all day across Trost, so feel free to take a carriage or two, unless you like the added challenge. Once you're done, report back to HQ for your next assignment. Now go look busy and make humanity proud." The officer said with a hint of sarcasm, a clipboard in hand.

Floch walked up to the officer and tapped his side. "Sir, did you happen to drop this?" He asked, holding up a pencil.

The officer turned his back to the other cadets, face lighting up in surprise at seeing the item in Floch's hand.

"Why yes I did, and here I am wondering what I forgot, thanks, cadet." The man said.

And so they set off in carriages to the front gate, where he would quickly find any excuse to slip out and begin their mission. They spent the better part of an hour loading the crates up and down for the various squads stationed along the wall. Soon enough, Bertholdt began to notice that he couldn't quite find a good excuse to slip away, and it was all thanks to a certain someone.

He cursed under his breath, as he glared at the back of Floch's head who was unloading empty crates from the lift. His frustrations mounting by the second as he found no window of opportunity to slip away and get this over with. His nerves were burning up like a long fuse, threatening to burst at any second as the stress increased. What the hell was the redhead playing at?

Floch turned around and motioned for him. The lift had already gone up by that point.

"Bertholdt, get the crates over here, make yourself useful."

"Right." Bertholdt blinked.

The Colossal walked over to the wall and leaned for the crates, finding them quite heavy. Strange, weren't these supposed to be delivered above? Perhaps they didn't need them, no matter. Bertholdt was about to walk back when his ears suddenly picked up on a strange sound coming from above, he looked up to find the platform descending towards him at an alarming speed. His eyes widened in shock, before he could move an inch someone had tackled him away from the danger as the platform crashed to the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust.

"RUTH! BERTHOLDT!"

"Is everyone okay!?"

Bertholdt coughed as he inhaled some of the dust, he looked down to see the redheaded girl's face pressed against his chest, unmoving. He frowned, while still in shock from what had just happened. Ruth looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes as she gazed into his, his breath caught in his throat at the sight.

"T-That was so scary, not even the Garrison is safe!" She nearly cries.

"Are you two okay!?" Sandra and their other two squadmates rushed to their side.

"Yeah.." Bertholdt managed to breathe out.

"Ruth?"

"I-I'm fine." She replied, standing up to dust herself off.

Bertholdt stared up at her, she quickly noticed his gaze and her eyes widened by a fraction. She quickly offered her hand to help him stand back up, it was only then that they both noticed his hand had been bloodied from the freak accident.

"Y-you're bleeding." She pointed out.

"It's fine, I'll get it looked at." He said as he stood up.

'Now's my chance.'

He only took a couple of steps away when Floch suddenly spoke. "Hold on, Ruth I think you should go with him too. Sandra, take them back to HQ and get them checked for any other injuries, we'll clean up here." He commanded.

The girls nod and go along with Bertholdt much to his dismay, he cursed inwardly at Floch before begrudgingly walking with Sandra and Ruth away from the gathering crowd. Their two other teammates move closer to the damaged lift to inspect it.

"The hell? The rope just snapped like that?" Anders said.

Floch glanced back at them as people kept gathering around them, his eyes narrowed with a glint of frustration.

'You'll die one way or another.' He thought to himself as he slid a knife into his jacket.

'Don't worry.'


"So this is wall Maria. It's so big and we've got to destroy It? Can I really do It?" - Bertholdt Hoover 845 AD, the day humanity received a grim reminder.


11:00 PM

Two figures stood in the dark in the seclusion of the top courtyard of the Trost castle, both visibly irritated by the unexpected delay of their plans.

"That still doesn't answer where the hell was he?!" Annie cursed, glaring at the frustrated Reiner.

"I don't know, It was supposed to start at ten sharp."

"It was supposed to? You wanted this, didn't you? Grow a damn backbone and look for him! Take some damn responsibility, that's your entire thing now, isn't it? Marcel."

Reiner gazes back at her with steeled emotions, though the fire that danced around in his eyes couldn't be mistaken, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Bertholdt isn't a baby that I have to coddle around, he's a capable warrior. Don't get it twisted Annie, we're all in this together now. It's your responsibility as much as it is mine."

"Take a few steps away from me, you and your empty words are making me sick."

"...In any case he'll come around, if not we'll find him. I'll even destroy that gate myself if I have to."

"Is that your thing now? Getting people around you killed to further your own goals? Because I don't want any part of that." She hissed.

"You know that's not what I meant, our window of opportunity is closing."

"Stop arguing you two."

Both of their heads snapped in Bertholdt's direction, a mixture of emotions on their features. However, they both glare at him accusingly, visibly demanding an explanation for his side of things.

A vexed Reiner was the first to ask. "Bertholdt, where the hell were you?"

"Long story."

Annie clicked her tongue in frustration. "Please don't tell me you got cold feet after what you've done years ago, I can't deal with two half-assed assholes."

"No, not cold feet."

"Then what?"

"Forster."


On the second day, 08:57 AM

The next day wasn't any easier for Floch, for lack of better words he was a mess. He has yet to receive any indication that Erwin Smith received his letter, and he could only do so much to prevent Bertholdt from leaving on his own without causing a ruckus. He felt like weights were attached to his eyelids, his eyes burned like he made a habit of gazing into the sun, finding it difficult to concentrate, all signs of sleep deprivation.

"I'm glad we're finishing early, there's still one supply run left and we're done! I can't wait for the ceremony tonight! There's going to be a lot of people here for that Military Police parade!" Ruth excitedly spoke beside him on the carriage.

"Same, I suppose."

Ruth turned to him, a troubled look on her face as she scanned his features.

"You're really joining the survey corps aren't you..."

"I am."

"...I know it's... I know you spent all this time helping me overcome my obstacles, I can't be grateful enough for your help. I don't think... I don't think I'm brave enough for that, a-at least not yet..." Ruth trailed, looking down at her feet.

"It's alright Ruth, you have nothing to prove. I don't judge people for fearing for their lives, each of us has something to live for."

"I know that, It's just that all of us will head to the Garrison and you'll be the odd one out..."

"And that's perfectly fine, I didn't offer you my help just so you could feel indebted to me, the last thing I want is for you to risk your life just because you think you have to repay me or something stupid like that."

"I do owe you though, nobody did what you had done for me."

"Then do me a favor and stay out of trouble, not for my sake but your father and brother. The Garrison offers decent pay, it'll go a long way for them."

"Yeah, that's true..."

An awkward silence settled between them for some time before she felt the need to ask.

"Floch, are you okay?"

"...Yeah."

"Your eyes are baggy, are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Just a little excited, Ruth."

"If you say so..."

He turned towards her and weakly smiled. "Don't worry about it... bunny rabbit." He said as he lightly tapped the top of her head with his knuckle.

"Oww, Stop doing that! And please don't call me that, that was a long time ago!" She whined, unpleasant memories of campfires, bunnies, and broken twigs replaying in her mind.

"Carrot-top." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing! hahaha..." She straightened up and nervously laughed it off.

Floch chuckled and hopped off the carriage, he looked behind him to see the rest of his squad. His gaze lingered over Bertholdt and Sandra riding the second carriage. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inwardly coming to terms with the idea of losing the power of the colossal titan. He removed his gaze and helped Ruth with unloading their leftover cargo, acutely aware of everything around him.

After nearly half an hour of moving supplier back into the armory, the boy took a second to lean back against the wall inside of the castle's courtyard and closed his eyes for a momentary rest. It was at that near moment that he heard the distinct sound of the ODM gear in the distance and the thudding of feet against the dirt.

"Floch!"

He opened his eyes and dragged his vision towards the disembodied voice of Franz, the boy approached him as the other cadets watched him with growing interest.

"Morning, Franz."

"Morning, You're being requested downstairs at the armory," Franz said.

Floch cocked a brow in surprise. "What for?"

Franz shrugged. "Beats me, I'm just passing the word around."

"I see."

Floch looked over his shoulders, coming eye to eye with Bertholdt. His heartbeats quickened as dread settled in his stomach, he was about to leave him unattended, and that was bad.

He looked back at Franz with a worried look in his eyes. "Are you absolutely sure they need me?"

"Since you're squad leader, I guess so."

Floch swallowed the lump in his throat, he closed his eyes momentarily. "...Alright."

"Bertholdt, you'll be in charge of the squad while I'm gone." He said, in hopes that it would be enough to tie him down.

Bertholdt narrowed his eyes. "You got it."

Floch walked at a brisk pace towards the armory, he gave his squad one final look over his shoulder before taking a turn and heading inside the long corridors of the castle. His heartbeats became louder and louder as he made his way through the empty halls, he came to a stop in front of the door leading down the stairs.

Floch opened it and took a foot inside before pausing, his eyebrow raised in question at the lack of light below. Without a warning, he felt a pair of hands push him towards the flight of stairs, his eyes widened in shock as he let out a gasp. Floch barely managed to cover his head in time as he fell into the abyss, his head smacked hard against the concrete at the bottom where he found himself losing consciousness, the last thing Floch saw before the dark claimed him had been the door closing and taking all of the remaining light with it.


09:36 AM

Sandra felt somewhat worried about him, Floch had yet to return. Though it wasn't the end of the world, He could take care of himself well enough. It wasn't long enough before A garrison officer, namely, Kitz Woermann, came in and chewed them out for seemingly standing around doing nothing. So under the leadership of Bertholdt, the remainder of the squad got to work without their sixth member.

She sighed, mind racing back to the night of their celebration. She couldn't handle sitting around them much longer, knowing that it could potentially be one of the last times she sees him. She felt helpless, talking to him wouldn't work, she wasn't suicidal enough to go after him, and neither was Gordon. So at this point, she slowly came to accept the bitterness that settled in her mouth and learned to live with his decision.

All she could hope for was that he would pull his weight and survive.

"Sandra!"

She looked up from the crate she had been moving, she had begun to hate these things, was this all she would be doing with the Garrison?

"Hey, Ruth."

"I-I'm all done on my end, I-I wonder what we've been moving around, what do you think is inside these?"

Sandra raised a brow, somewhat intrigued herself. She looked down at the crate between her feet but fought the urge to open it, she didn't need trouble from her superiors. "

"Ammunition or something important like that."

"I-I see, A-are you excited for the ceremony tonight?"

Sandra stared at the ground for a few seconds, seemingly disinterested. "I guess..." She trailed.

"I-I tried to speak to Floch about his decision, but he made his mind about it. I- I don't think anything could convince him otherwise at this point."

A weak smile reached the corners of her mouth, and Sandra looked up at the redhead. "He's always been stubborn like that, should have seen him when he was a little kid."

Ruth snickered at the thought, shortly after the other two members of their squad joined them.

"Hey, you two! We're all done here! What should we do now?" Anders asked them.

"Where is Bertholdt? We have to go back to the castle to find Floch first." Sandra replied.

"I don't know, I thought he was with you guys."

Sandra looked around the street, where was he?

"Great, now we have to find him! They'll chew us out if we go back without him." Hilde whined.

"It's fine, you guys look below. Ruth and I will go up top."

The group was suddenly alerted by a thunderous crack emitting from behind the walls as the streets of Trost were momentarily shaken. The group of four stilled in shock and turned around to look at the top of the wall, seeing none other than the head of the colossal titan. A mortified Sandra felt her entire body shake in fear as something dawned on her.

Her eyes lowered down to the fortified gate. "GET DOWN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Though at that point it had already been too late, the foot of the colossal smashed through the gate annihilating everything within proximity as debris flew everywhere. Sandra found herself getting knocked back by the pressure of the wind as she hit her back against a wall and lost consciousness. The Titans would be here soon enough.


10:15 AM

Sandra's eyes fluttered open as she woke up to the sound of screaming and fighting, she sat up with a groan, wincing at the sharp pain shooting from her back. She gasped in fright upon realizing what had occurred, mortified eyes scanning the carnage ahead of her. The worst had happened, to her city as well. A couple of hundred meters ahead of her the Garrison were in combat with the Titans, it felt surreal to watch them for the first time.

In the distance, Sandra saw one of the soldiers which she recognized as the officer that handed them their mission yesterday.

"There are too many of them coming through! We have to retreat! Everyone get ou-"

Without a warning, an aberrant lunged at him and held him in front of its face. The officer was petrified by the monster, though she hadn't heard him scream. He reached for his pockets, and the second he realized it wasn't there his cries for help echoed throughout the street, until they were ultimately silence by the pressing of teeth.

Sandra froze in terror, as they slowly approached. She looked around to look for her teammates and soon enough received her answer. Anders and Hilde looked to have been crushed by a small part of the gate, as the only proof of their existence was a blood trail, mangled limbs, and organs squished underneath a rock. Her heartbeats quickened as bile rose to the back of her throat, she desperately looked to her other side to find Ruth.

Her breath caught in her throat, and tears burned as they streamed down her face.

Ruth's bloodied hand stuck out of the debris lifeless, blood pooling underneath.


RIP Ruth, it's been fun.

Hello, hope you're having a good day/night

Anyway here's Trost! Next chapter some of your favorites might or might not die, expect some Floch speeches, more "cat and mouse" games as one reviewer described it and more tension rising between the cadets.