Chapter 2

"The Choice"

Farlan and Isabel's heads snapped up once they heard the sounds of guns going off. Levi stayed still for a moment before going to retrieve his own weapons.

"What's going on out there?" Isabel asked, rushing over to the window to take a peek outside.

"It's those damn zombies," Farlan said, clicking his tongue. He went to follow Levi. "At least we finally get some action, right Levi?" He nudged an annoyed Levi with his elbow.

"Tch. Just get your weapons, will you?" he huffed under his breath. After making sure he had everything ready, he made his way to the front of the house.

Risa and Eren fought off the creatures one by one, firing bullets at their heads. Risa preferred to avoid close combat if it was possible, so she and Eren stayed on the porch so they could fight from a distance.

But the sound of gunshots lured the zombies toward them. It was a complete mystery as to where they were coming from. They eventually started coming from different directions. If any more came, they wouldn't be able to avoid fighting them off close up.

Risa's gun unexpectedly ran out of bullets, so she had to reach into her bag quickly to reload. After searching her bag, she couldn't find any more ammo.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself.

Eren looked over at her, widening his eyes from noticing her dilemma. He continued to fire his gun as he talked to her. "It's okay. I have some more in my bag!"

As she was searching around in Eren's backpack for more bullets, she heard a gun firing behind her. She turned to see Levi pointing a revolver, with Farlan and Isabel behind him.

"Don't worry guys! We're here to save the day!" Isabel said enthusiastically.

She grumbled as she reloaded her gun with the bullets Eren gave her. "We have everything under control," she stated matter-of-factly.

A small laugh escaped Levi's lips. He wasn't buying her claim. "Not from where I'm standing," he said smugly, eyeing her as she fumbled with her gun.

Risa narrowed her eyes at him before turning her head to face the infected again. This time, she was ready. Aiming her gun again, she was determined to prove to Levi that she actually knew what she was doing.

"Isabel, shall we?" Farlan asked, looking at Isabel and then nodded his head toward the horde.

Isabel grinned and shouted, "Let's go!" She sprinted off into the field with Farlan behind her so they could get closer to the zombies.

Risa watched as they attacked the zombies with their knives. She didn't even bother to fire her gun at the others. As long as they were there fighting, there really was no point for her to deal with the undead at this point, so she stepped back to let them take over. She accepted the fact that they had everything under control.

She observed Isabel as she gracefully fought off the zombies one by one, careful to not let them touch her. Farlan was just as graceful as she was. It amazed her how much they looked like professional killers.

Levi continued firing bullets at the enemies, looking calm and collected the whole time, but he had a look of determination on his face. Risa would have admired his handsomeness in that moment if she weren't holding a grudge against him for violating her. Every time she thought about it, her hatred for him grew. She felt frustration bubbling up inside of her as she thought about how good he was at slaying the infected.

"Risa, snap out of it!" Eren's voice interrupted her thoughts. "There's just a few more left."

She gave him a nod. "Right."

Before long, all the zombies had been taken out. Having Levi there along with Isabel and Farlan helped Risa out a lot more than she would have liked to admit. The five of them went back into the house to relax.

"Damn, where did they all come from?" Farlan asked, leaning against the wall. He was breathing heavily with his eyes closed, feeling worn out.

"I don't know, but there's probably more coming," Levi said, putting his collection of weapons in a bag. "We should get out of here quickly."

Isabel and Farlan followed suit in collecting their weapons, which really only consisted of a couple small guns and a few knives. Levi had the bigger selection, which wasn't very fair in Risa's opinion.

Risa looked over at Eren, wondering what the two of them should do. Sensing her worried expression, he just shrugged his shoulders.

But if they were leaving, wouldn't Risa and Eren be able to have the house for the night? The realization excited her. Now she couldn't wait until they left.

"Hey, Brother, can they come with us?" Isabel pleaded, smiling brightly.

Risa mentally face palmed herself.

'And I really wanted to rest,' Risa thought to herself. But it looked like she wouldn't be able to if she and Eren went with them.

"No."

'Oh, thank God,' Risa thought, feeling relieved from Levi's answer. Besides, she didn't really want to go anywhere with them considering the way she was treated earlier.

Yes, Risa weren't really good at letting go of things easily. She was exceptionally great at holding grudges. That's just how stubborn she was.

Isabel frowned, then suddenly regained her confidence after a moment. "Oh, come on! Please! I could really use a friend who's a girl and Risa's a girl!"

"No," Levi said again more forcefully.

But Isabel continued begging. "Brother, please! It'd be nice to have a few extra people around to help out and back us up!" If she kept this up, there would be no way that Levi would be able to resist her.

Levi stared at her, resisting the urge to slam her into the wall to get her to shut up. After she went on with her speech, Levi finally let out an exasperated sigh. "If I say yes, will you shut your mouth?"

Isabel nodded happily. "Does that mean it's a yes?"

Levi took one glance at Risa and Eren before turning around. "It's their choice," he replied, walking towards the front door. "I'll be waiting outside. Hurry up and make up your minds."

Then, the front door slammed shut.

Isabel looked back at Risa, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, what do you say? Wanna join us?"

Eren looked over to Risa, waiting for her answer. "What do you want to do? It doesn't really matter to me."

Risa gave Isabel a small smile, not having the heart to decline the offer. She sounded so enthusiastic about having them around, so she didn't really want to ruin that for her.

"Sure, why not…" Risa replied slowly.

"Yahoo!" Isabel jumped up in excitement, raising her fist in the air. "Let's go!"

Risa smiled at Isabel, slightly halfheartedly, feeling overwhelmed by her energetic behavior. It didn't surprise her that Isabel didn't notice her uneasy replies to her.

"We should really go now. We don't want to keep Levi waiting," Farlan told Eren and Risa.

He lead the group out of the house to meet up with Levi. Levi turned to their new members with a wry expression on his face.

"So you did decide to come with us," he said indifferently as he walked through the fields, leaving the rest of them to follow behind him.

"Yes," Eren answered.

"Just don't get in my way," he said curtly.

'Like I wanted to do that anyway,' Risa thought to herself, rolling her eyes. She decided to brush his harsh words away. "So, where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"None of your damn business." Levi brushed her off and continued walking. She immediately frowned at his rude reply.

Well, that wasn't exactly the answer she was hoping for. She inwardly seethed. His stubbornness was finally getting to her. Eren noticed her fists balled up in anger and looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Risa." He wrapped his hand around her fist, hoping he would be able to calm her down. "I'm sure they'll tell us eventually," he whispered. But she wanted to know now. It frustrated her that he wouldn't answer a simple question.

"Brother…" Isabel said quietly with a sorrowful expression. "Why aren't they allowed to know?"

Levi dismissed the question and asked Eren a question of his own instead. "So, where is it that you two are heading, Eren?"

Eren opened his mouth in surprise, not expecting Levi to address him. "Uh, no where in particular. We've just been wandering all over for the past five years," he explained.

Levi nodded as he listened to Eren describe the situation. His only response was a quiet hum.

Risa exchanged a distressed look with Eren, wondering what Levi's problem was. He was making it awfully difficult for them to trust him. They were traveling with his group, after all, so Risa felt like they deserved some answers at least. Due to his hostile behavior around them, she came to the conclusion that Levi felt that they were unworthy of answers for whatever reason.

If he wasn't going to trust them, then how could she ever trust him?

After night began to fall, the group stopped somewhere in a forest to rest until morning. Risa didn't know what time it was, but it was most likely way past midnight.

Isabel sat down against a tree and let out a yawn. "Boy, am I exhausted!" She stretched her arms above her head, leaning back. "I think I'll just go to sleep right now."

"You guys go to bed. I'll keep watch," Levi told everyone.

Farlan nodded, laying down. "Just wake me up when you get tired."

"How are we supposed to sleep like this?" Risa asked Eren. The siblings were still standing there, looking around like lost puppies.

Yes, Risa and Eren traveled day and night, but they had never camped out in a forest before. They had always found a house to rest in, one that was furnished with comfy beds that hadn't been slept in in years. The thought of sleeping on the hard floor of the woods was so preposterous to her.

Levi sighed and threw a blanket that he had taken out of his bag to Eren. "Here. You can share this."

Eren looked down at the cloth in his hands. "Thank you…"

Risa walked with him over to a nearby area to set up their sleeping place. She laid down under the blanket next to Eren, shifting around multiple times. The ground was not comfortable at all.

"Are you done yet?" Eren asked, feeling annoyed, after she had finally stopped moving.

"Sorry," she said quietly. Then she rolled over to face him. "Hey, are you okay with this?"

"With what?" he asked her, closing his eyes.

"You know, with joining them?" she whispered.

"Well I'm okay with it. I just thought that you wouldn't be, so it surprised me when you agreed to this," he answered quietly, opening his eyes so he could look at her.

Risa thought for a moment, feeling melancholy. "You're right about that. Levi's already being a pain in the ass," she said with a bitter laugh.

Eren laughed at her response. "He's just not very trusting. I can understand that. We're complete strangers, so he's on his guard."

"But why does he feel the need to treat us so rudely just because he can't trust us?" she exclaimed.

"He gave us this blanket. I think that's generous," Eren said. He closed his eyes again, ready to fall asleep.

Risa let out a scoff. Eren was totally missing her point. "Eren! Can't you be serious about this?"

"Just go to sleep. I'm tired," he said to her, rolling over onto his other side so his back was facing her. "Good night, Risa."

"Fine," she grumbled, rolling onto her back. 'Just don't blame me when Levi stabs you in your sleep,' she snickered to herself.

She stared up at the night sky through the trees, thinking about what the future would hold for them now that they were starting a new and unknown adventure.

Anything was possible.

A/N: I wanted to get this chapter up right away! I'm so excited for where this story is heading.

Thank you so much for reading. :)