Useless

His arm had been broken in the expedition.

Gunther grimaced as he stumbled over a knot in the road, jostling the the useless limb. He owed his life to Eld this time, who'd severed one of the cables of his gear to knock him out of the way of a lunging titan. Unfortunately, the momentum had sent him crashing into the nearest tree and resulted in the compound fracture now plaguing him. He was in so much shock at surviving the incident, he hadn't even noticed the break until he'd seen the blood on his hand and seeping through his uniform. The field medics had been forced to cut his sleeve open to reset the bone and bind it.

Eld, on the other hand, hadn't been so lucky, now lying in the back of a supply wagon as the column slowly made its way across the fields of Wall Maria to Trost. Gunther hadn't seen what happened to him in the chaos, only found the man unconscious at the base of another tree. And Eld himself had no memory of the crash either. Though with a gash that big spanning the left side of his head, it was a wonder he'd ever woken up again, let alone grin up at Petra, Levi, Oruo, and himself, inviting them all back to Karanese for dinner.

"Crazy bastard." Oruo had stated. "How about we make it back to Shiganshina before having that discussion? Don't count chickens before they hatch as they say."

Once making it back to the South City, and enduring the scorn of its people, Gunther had chosen to make the remainder of the journey home on foot, relinquishing his horse to a comrade with a wounded leg. Shiganshina was a few hours behind them now, and the sky was turning a dark purple streaked with gold as the sun was setting. A rather ominous sky, he observed but decided not to point it out to his comrades. "How's Eld?"

Petra raised her head from tending to their fallen comrade. "Still asleep."

"I see you're taking him up on his offer." Gunther smiled knowingly. "Since you didn't part ways with us in the city."

"I'm just being supportive of an injured friend. And I happen to like his family's cooking." Petra had proved in the early months of their friendship she was an awful cook. She messed up even field rations, which literally only required pouring a cup of boiling water into a packet of powder and letting it sit for a couple minutes. "And don't tease me about not being able to cook, Gunther. It's not like you're any better at it."

"Yes, but I have the excuse of being a man. Cooking and cleaning is a predominantly female role."

"Explain Levi then."

Gunther laughed at the sour glare their friend sent back to them. "How about I answer that when my head's not in danger? Anyway, how about-"

"Turn back!" A raw-throated scream cut him off, sending knives into his heart. He whirled around in time to see a rider wearing a green cloak race by them on a frenzied horse. The animal was squealing in terror, the white corners of its rolling eyes visible even at the dangerous speed the rider was driving it at. "Turn back now! Back to Shiganshina!"

Gunther widened his eyes in astonishment. That was the Thorns of Protection sigil on his uniform, not the Wings of Freedom. What was a Garrison soldier from the South City doing here? He swallowed a lump in his throat and glanced around at the Scouts surrounding them. Dread and confusion had come over everyone's face as they craned their necks to follow the desperate soldier as he surged toward the front of the column, stopping before Commander Shadis and nearly collapsing to the ground when he dismounted.

Barely able to manage a salute, the Garrison soldier wheezed a message none of them could hear and sank to his knees. Gunther pictured a series of worst case scenarios his mind, but he blotted them out, telling himself not to worry. Those thoughts were irrational, not to mention unrealistic, yet he could tell from everyone's faces they were thinking something similar. Even Levi looked rattled, his pale face even more ashen than usual. Oruo approached the wagon, glanced around at all of them, then turned back the way they'd come. Everyone else followed his gaze, but there was nothing to suggest anything was amiss. No tendrils of smoke rising toward the heavens, no sounds of conflict. All Gunther could see was the river winding across the peaceful grasslands of Wall Maria.

Yet a cold pit of dread had settled into his gut, and no optimistic muttering from a nearby soldier could quell it. "It's gotta be nothing, right?" The trembling woman asked, looking hopeful. "It's nothing. The man's just out of his mind, that's all."

"A man that frightened doesn't raise a hue and a cry over nothing, girl." Oruo said gravely.

Petra climbed out of the supply wagon, landing nimbly on the dirt road and clenching her fists as they all waited for the verdict ahead. It came quickly, and Gunther felt a knife twist when he heard Commander Shadis shouting down the line, "All units, prepare to return to Shiganshina!"

"What?" Gunther swallowed again.

"The situation is dire! Wall Maria's outer gate has been smashed open by a monster titan! The city is overrun! The wounded and medical teams are to continue on to Trost as planned! All other able-bodied soldiers will return to South District! All officers, to me!"

"Impossible!" Petra whispered, her face becoming a ghastly pale shade. "No, that's not possible, they couldn't have. That Wall has-"

"Petra!" Oruo snapped his fingers in front of her amber eyes, successfully bringing her back to awareness. "Calm down and focus."

"Sorry." She cleared her throat and composed herself, taking a deep breath. "Right, first things first, we'll have to locate what's left of our squad. Gunther, since Captain Addario…." She faltered, then Gunther remember his right arm hanging limp in a crude, makeshift sling. "No. I suppose you'll be going back to Trost."

Part him wanted to argue with her, to cut away the bandages like they were nothing and clench his fist, to return to the fight for humanity no matter how much the thought of facing another titan so soon sickened him. But he could barely move his thumb or little finger or anything in between without shards of glass stabbing him all the way up to his shoulder. He couldn't go back to the southernmost outlier district, not without being a hindrance to the others. All he could do was watch as their wounded men who could still walk returned their mounts.

Oruo nodded an uncomfortable, wordless goodbye and raced off to find the remainder of his squad and Captain Fairbairn. Then Levi turned away in search of Smith. Petra stayed where she was, unsure of where to report. Their squad leader, Addario, had been an unresponsive wreck ever since they returned to the Walls, shaking erratically, muttering about blood on his hands, and not even recognizing his own son when the fighting was over.

"Where should I go?" She asked of him. "Should I just find another officer for instructions?"

"I'm sure Shadis will direct the Addario Scouts to another brigade shortly." Gunther assured her.

"That's absolutely right!" A new voice announced and Squad Leader Hange crossed in front of them, astride her brown gelding. "Addario's troops are with me. Schultz, Ral-oop, looks like it's just Ral. How many were left in your squadron?"

Gunther made a quick count in his head. "There are thirty-seven of us total. Eleven are currently incapacitated, and eight were confirmed, so that leaves eighteen of us."

"Excellent!" Hange clapped her hands together with a maddened smile, then drove her heels into his horse's flanks. "Fall in! I'm assuming command of all Scouts under Captain Addario!"

"That man is either seriously sadistic or completely insane." Petra remarked, as the remnants of their regiment began to gather. "You'll look after Eld, right?"

He nodded. "I'll tell him you're sorry, but you're taking a rain check on that meal."

"Sounds good." The woman smiled, then disappeared into the crowd, calling her goodbyes over her shoulder.

Then Gunther turned south, squinting into the distance as though trying to see the abominable giants lumbering toward them. Gritting his teeth in anger, he kicked a stray rock and sent it rolling across the turf. I should be going back with them! Damn it!

If only his arm….

He shook his head. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe they wouldn't survive just because he wasn't there, but if they didn't come back…. Damn it all. But there was nothing he could do but watch as his comrades and friends made their way back into the hellhole from which they'd come.

-0-0-0-

Author's Notes: Wow, this is the longest Venture I've written since the first one. Hope you enjoyed it. I always wondered what these poor guys were thinking when they heard about Shiganshina, coming back all battered like that earlier that same day.

Also, I'm trying to keep true to Hange's ambiguous gender, so I go back and forth with pronouns.

Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan is owned by Hajime Isayama.