Chapter rating: K+

Important note! I'm moving to a new house tomorrow, which means I'm not going to have my computer until I unpack it, which is going to take like, a day or two. No computer = no new chapters. So yeah . But don't worry, I'll make sure to unpack it as fast as I can!

Gates [Chapter 3]

I quickly got on my horse, carefully settling Petra behind me. I looked at Erwin and the others, they continued riding towards our destination. I sighed and started riding towards the lower middle, where the carts were. This was also the place where they took care of injured soldiers.

"Just hang on…" I whispered, feeling Petra's unstable arms around my neck, her head laying on my right shoulder.

I saw the carts in the distance, a few people looking at me with weird glances. "Captain Levi! What are you-" I ignored all the people asking me questions. I finally reached the infirmary cart. A few nurses looked at me confused.

I quickly handed them Petra. "She's seriously injured" I said. "Make sure she stays alive" I finished. "Eh, isn't that Petra Ral? Wasn't she dead?" One of the nurses said. "It doesn't matter right now! Just take care of her!" I shouted and started riding back towards Erwin.

I saw her corpse. I felt her cold skin. How is she alive. The thoughts won't stop running in my mind. "Tsch" I spitted out. This whole deal is confusing and I shouldn't think about it right now.

I finally spotted Erwin and the rest. I squeezed my horse, making it go faster. "Sorry for being late" I said while catching up. "Who was it?" Erwin asked, again, not looking at me. "I'll tell you later" I murmured.

-4 hours later (sorry, I'm not good at describing battle scenes)-

"Everyone retreat!" Erwin shouted, turning his horse towards the direction of the wall. Everyone followed him. Yellow colored signal flares were everywhere in the sky. I sighed. We failed again.

Soon enough, we all regrouped. All the squads were at the same place. I glanced over to the infirmary carts, I saw a person that looked like Petra, laying down on one of them, a Survey Corps blanket covering her body as a blanket.

"Corporal Levi? It seems like something bothers you" Eren said, I shot a glance at him, making him gulp a little. "Shut up, brat" I spitted out.

How many have made it? Way fewer, I could tell.

We made our way back to the Survey Corps' headquarter. As soon as we entered the wall, people started staring at us, whispering stuff, the usual.

Soldiers running to their families, people talking about how worthless we are for not finding information, I was used to all of that. Yet, my brain couldn't exactly accept the fact of what happened 4 hours ago.

We finally reached the headquarter. Everyone brought their horses back to the stables, went inside, some of them stood outside, crying. I couldn't blame them.

Finally, the infirmary carts arrived. The nurses and doctors quickly moved all the injured people to the stretchers, bringing them inside the HQ, and into the recovering rooms.

I walked between the stretchers, searching for Petra.

I finally spotted her orange hair from the distance. I hurried towards her, and bent down beside her stretcher. Half of her face was covered in bandages, and she had a Survey Corps cloak wrapped around her as a blanket.

I looked down at her. A miracle? Or maybe… maybe she's a titan shifter? I considered that as an option. She survived outside this entire time. And more important, she's made it out alive. Petra being a titan shifter made sense, but I'd rather not jump to conclusions so fast.

"Excuse me, Corporal Levi" I looked up. A nurse looked down at me. I stood up. She nodded and bent down. Another nurse bent down on the other side. They grabbed both sides of the stretcher, and picked her up.

They started walking towards the HQ. I looked around, it doesn't seem like Erwin needs me here, I guess I could go with them.

I followed the nurses, until we made it to the floor with all the recovery rooms. They opened one of the doors at the end of the hallway, and walked inside, I followed them in.

They carefully laid Petra down, removing the cloak.

All she wore was her sport bra and her pants. Her entire left side was covered in bandages, same with her right ankle. They covered her in the bed's white blankets and stood up. I blushed a little, of course I did, I just saw her half naked. I tried to hide it though.

"We'll come again soon to give her some medicines, you can stay here" one of the nurses said. I nodded, and they saluted me and exited the room.

As soon as the door shut, I grabbed a chair and pulled it next to her bed. I sat down and rested my elbows on my laps. I sighed and closed my eyes. "Such a mystery…" I whispered.

The door suddenly opened, which made me jump a little. I looked up, annoyed. "Ah, Hanji" I said, looking at the super excited Hanji standing in the doorway. Eren shyly stood behind her.

Hanji ran inside and quickly bent down next to Petra. "Petra! I thought she died! But now she's alive, breathing, here! What happened?" She shouted excited. "Shut up, she's still recovering" I spitted.

Soon enough, we all sat down around her bed, thinking about the possibilities of her coming back to life. "I thought that she's a titan shifter, like Eren" I said crossing my arms, and then staring at Eren. "Uh-o-" "After you got eaten, you 'came back to life' afterwards, since you're a titan shifter, correct?" I asked Eren, and he nodded.

"Correct, however, I don't think she is a titan shifter. Remember that day when we all sat down around that table? Everyone tried to bite themselves, including Petra. Yet, she hadn't transformed" hm, that is true. I laid back on my chair.

"I… have a feeling I know what happened" Eren murmured. "Go ahead" Hanji said, and Eren looked at Petra. "My dad used to tell me about this, it's about people dying but… not really. They do die, but they come back to life afterwards" I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked resting my hands on my laps.

"People having a temporary death, and then a while later their body functions again. I think it's called… Clinical Death? It's really rare" Eren whispered, looking down and scratching the back of his head.

"Clinical Death huh" I said looking at Petra. "We'll find out soon" I finished.

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