Chapter 6: Gratitude

"The rain is gone. Now would be a good time to go after Levi and Mira," Erwin said, "June, I want you and another slayer to go with Levi's squad to fetch them."

"Alright sir, Ace and I will go."

As I was about to walk out, a soldier ran over to us with an anxious look on his face, "Commander Erwin, Alpha June, I have good and bad news."

"What is it?" Erwin replied.

"Levi and Mira were able to make it back on their own," the soldier said.

"Really?! That's great news!" I exclaimed.

"That's the good news. What's the bad news?" Erwin questioned.

"Mira is severely injured and requires medical attention," the soldier replied.

I went up to the soldier and tried to stay calm as I told him to lead me to her. The three of us all travelled to the entrance of the village. That's when I saw Alph waiting outside a small shack.

"Alpha!" he called.

I hustled over to him, "How's she doing?"

A pained cry could be heard from inside.

"She's alive for the most part, but regeneration is taking it's time to kick in."

I walked in and saw Con clutching his sister's hand and Mira, with a pained expression, breathing heavily and sobbing silently in pain. I went over and clutched her other hand while placing a hand on her cheek.

"Mira, you're going to be alright. Just focus on regenerating your body," I told her.

"It hurts…" she whimpered quietly and painfully.

"I know and I'm sorry," I replied, "but you've been through far worse than this. You're strong Mira, remember that."

She nodded and slowed her breathing. I gently stroked her hair as Mira's grip began to loosen. She closed her eyes and past out as her body started to heal. I let go of her hand and looked at Con, who let out a relieved sigh.

"She's going to be alright. Her body is going to be fully recovered when she wakes up," I told him.

Con nodded, "Thank you June. If you don't mind I want to stay here with her. Is that alright?"

I nodded, "I understand."

I walked out and saw the other slayers waiting outside worriedly.

"She's going to be alright," I assured them.

They all put on relieved faces and smiled from hearing the good news. That's when Commander Erwin came up to us.

"I'm assuming your comrade will be alright," he said, "I'm sure you are all exhausted so I came to tell you that we will be serving food for everyone in a few minutes. I'd suggest heading over to the serving area now if you want a good meal."

"Thank you very much Commander," I replied.

Levi walked in the shack that Mira was being kept in. Con looked up at him and greeted him with a silent nod. Levi stared at Mira who was fast asleep.

"Her body made her fall asleep so that it could heal here rib cage," Con explained, "She should be awake by morning."

"I see," Levi replied while sitting down in a chair o the other side of Mira. The two were silent; the only sound that could be heard in the space was Mira's calm, heavy breathing.

"You were the one she was trapped with right?" Con asked Levi.

"Yah, what about it?"

"Did she… Did she try to hurt you?" Con asked hesitantly.

Levi looked up at him with a blank expression, "Other than some growling, we kept our space from each other as much as we could."

Con let out a relieved sigh, "That's a relief."

"Anyways, I wanted to thank you for saving my sister's life," Con told Levi.

Levi got up from his chair, "I was simply repaying a favor. She risked her life to save mine; I did the same for her."

And with that he left.

Slane polished his rifle and tampered with the barrel slightly. He paid close attention to it and tried to improve its fire power by fixing the barrel. He glanced over to his right and saw Petra hesitantly coming in his direction. He focused back on his weapon. Petra walked over and greeted the half-slayer.

"Good evening Slane," she said.

He kept his eyes pinned on the rifle, "Evening Ms. Ral."

"What are you doing here by yourself? I saw your pack by the cabins," she asked him.

He shrugged, "They were hanging around a large group of people and I don't really like groups."

"I see, that's understandable," she replied, "So what are you doing?"

"Nothing much. Just giving my rifle a check-up," Slane replied.

Petra sat down on the bench he was sitting at. There was a moment of silence and that's when Slane realized that he should probably put the gun down and talk. He did so and looked up at the stars.

What exactly do I say though?

As if sensing his hesitation, Petra spoke up, "I have to thank you and the other slayers today. Because of you, everyone who came out the walls was able to come to the camp alive."

Slane then looked at Petra and nodded, "You're welcome. Though it is our job to make sure you all survive."

Petra brought her hand up to her ear and pushed her hair behind it. Slane lower his head slightly as he leaned up against the table.

"Slane? How long will the slayers be staying with us?" Petra asked.

Slane shrugged, "I don't know. If we can get positive results for the scientists then we may be able to stay for longer."

"I hope you can stay. With the slayers, who knows how far we can get," Petra commented.

Slane looked at Petra and she smiled back. Slane smiled as well and stared back at the sky.

"I hope so too."