Attack on Titan: Bloodline – Chapter 34 (April 18, 2022)
A gunshot rang out.
Jean took a shaking breath, realizing that his heart was still beating and he hadn't been shot. The woman in front of him fell off the side of the wooden cart and Armin stood with a handgun aimed where her head had been just moments before. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were shimmering with tears. Armin dropped the weapon and turned back around, taking the reins of the horse-drawn carriage, but before they could get much further, Levi had called to them. He and Sasha swung into action and yanked the two to safety as four more soldiers looped around the corner and over the rooftops, firing an array of bullets at them. Mikasa continued to chase them, skillfully blocking and dodging their continued firing, but Levi wrapped his arms around her, holding her back as the kidnappers made their final escape from Trost District with Eren and Historia in tow.
"Eren! No!"
Levi shouted, "Damn it, let him go! We're running on fumes! Time to regroup!" Mikasa struggled against his grip for a moment, but then she nodded. She sheathed her blades and turned around, walking beside Levi as he said, "Don't worry. We'll get them back. We just need to think about this."
Armin stood by Sasha, his entire body trembling. He felt dizzy, like he could pass out any second, but he knew they had to return to the warehouse. His eyes were glassy and empty. His stomach churned.
"I did it," he thought, walking behind Levi and the others, "I pulled the trigger." His heart pounded in his head.
"That woman is dead because of me."
Sasha grabbed his shoulder and said, "Armin! Hey, pull yourself together. You don't look so good." Armin shook his head and furrowed his brows.
"Gotta keep moving. We have to get the group together."
The world around him felt like a blur and sounds around him were muffled through his thoughts. He took deep breaths in and out, trying to calm himself and steady his shaking body. The long walk seemed short as his head replayed the moment over and over.
Grabbing the gun.
Her aiming at Jean.
Pulling the trigger.
The impact of the bullet in her head.
The blood and brain matter that had exploded from her skull.
Armin felt suddenly sick and gagged, stumbling towards the nearby canal, his hands clutching his stomach as he retched violently, vomiting into the steady stream of water. Mikasa ran to his side and placed her hands on his back, silently attempting to comfort him as he coughed and sputtered, trembling more by now. She looked up and nodded to Levi, who guided the rest of the group into the warehouse where the kidnappers had been tied up and hidden away.
"M-Mikasa," Armin gasped, "Was it like this...for you...?" He looked up, tears streaming down his face as he wiped his mouth, still panting and gasping for air through his panic. Mikasa sighed, rubbing his back gently. He sobbed repeatedly, "I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright," she responded softly.
"Armin? Mikasa?"
Lorraine ran out to them, but stopped upon seeing Armin's panicked and tearful state. She gasped.
"Did...did something happen?" she asked.
Mikasa nodded, silently mouthing the words, "I'll tell you later." Lorraine looked between them, unsure of what to do.
Later that night, the group sat inside the warehouse, gathered around the light of a small oil lamp. Lorraine, having taken her aching arm out of its sling so she could have more use of it, was in the process of stitching up a gash on Levi's shoulder, her medkit laying open on the ground next to her. He winced a little bit as the small, sharp needle pierced his skin and was pulled closed by the threads.
"Sorry," she said softly. He shook his head.
"No need to be. You're doing your job. Thank you."
She pulled the final sutures tight and snipped the threads before cleaning off her tools and wrapping a bandage tightly around the wound. Armin, still glassy-eyed, stared past his small portion of field rations into the flickering flame of the lamp.
"What's wrong," Levi asked, "Did all this filth kill your appetite?"
"No," Armin muttered in a dull, lifeless tone, "Jean...there's something I don't understand. When I turned around to try and save you," he took a shaking breath in, "th-that woman already had her gun to your head." His hand clenched around his field rations and he started to shake.
"How...how could I have shot before she did?"
"You shot first because she hesitated," Levi explained, pulling his light grey shirt over his head and adjusting it, "It's as simple as that."
Armin and Jean both looked at Levi, their eyes wide. Jean sighed, "I'm sorry, Armin. You wouldn't have had to save me if I had just done my job."
Armin said, "I know what it is...the woman I shot back there...she...she must have been a really kind person...with a lot more human empathy than I ever did." He slumped forward, resting his elbows on his knees, tears welling up in his eyes once again.
"I pulled that trigger so easily...without a thought...I'm-"
"A killer," Levi said. Lorraine and the others looked at him in shock. He added, "Now that your hands are soaked in blood, the person you once were is gone for good."
"Dad-"
"Why would you say that?"
Levi said, holding up his hand, "And you shouldn't regret it for a second because if you'd chosen to keep your hands clean, Jean would be a corpse on a cart right now." Lorraine stared down at him, holding her medkit to her chest. She looked at Armin, turned to Jean, then looked back at Levi.
"I'll tell you why you pulled that trigger. It's because your comrade was about to die."
He leaned forward and picked up his mug from the ground and said reassuringly, "Armin. Everyone on our squad survived today because you got blood on your hands. So, thank you." Lorraine's grip tightened on the medical kit in her hands. She watched as Armin's face fell to the floor, but she noticed that his body seemed to relax a bit. She turned and walked towards their supplies in order to stash away her medical kit, but as she walked, she heard a soft whimper from one of the men. She glanced over absentmindedly, but stopped as she saw a small puddle of blood on the ground beside him. His sleeve was soaked in it, but it didn't look old. It looked like a fresh wound, so she looked back at the group. Everyone was still lost in their conversation.
"Hey," she muttered, "That's...that's a pretty bad cut." She stepped closer. The young man, rather heavy set with a round, freckled face and red hair, looked to be only a few years older than herself. He flinched as she approached him, but she knelt down next to him and said, "Hey, it's alright. I won't hurt you, you know." His skin was damp with sweat, no doubt from the pain of his injury. She set her kit down and opened it.
"I will have to untie your hands," she said in a low voice, "Don't try to run. It won't work. Captain Levi and Mikasa would be on you before you could blink." She looked up at him. He looked past her at the group, then back at her. He nodded. She stood up and walked towards his side. He shifted slightly so she could reach the knot. As she untied the ropes, she noticed that the blood had been dragged up his sleeve.
"He must have been trying to wiggle himself free and scraped open his injury."
She set the rope beside him and then knelt in front of him again. She reached up and untied the knot behind his head, folding the cloth gag and setting it with the rope. He took a breath, gently massaging his uninjured wrist.
"Why...why are you helping me?" he asked in a deep, yet shaky voice, "W-we just tried to kidnap two of your buddies a few hours ago. Why do you care that I'm hurt?" Lorraine dug around in her kit, pulling out a pair of scissors.
She shrugged and said, "I don't know. Maybe it's because we're both human. Maybe it's the right thing to do. Maybe I just feel sorry for you. It's...hard to say." She held out her hand.
"I'll buy you a new jacket," she said, "but I'll have to cut this one."
He looked down at her hand.
"No. It's alright. Just...do what you need to."
He placed his arm in her outstretched hand and she smiled. She slipped the scissors under the newly-stained fabric and cut through it, revealing a loose, blood-soaked bandage. She grimaced as she unwrapped the cloth.
"It was done in a hurry. I'm sure they just didn't have time to properly bandage his arm. At least they slowed the bleeding."
She grabbed a small cloth and poured a little bit of the alcohol from her medical supplies on it. She started wiping the excess blood away from his unscathed skin, moving closer gradually until she could finally see the extent of the cut on his arm.
"Brace yourself. This will sting."
She ran the cloth over the last bit, causing him to pull away and gasp. She put the cloth on her lap and grabbed a pair of small forceps to remove a chunk of wood that was embedded in the flesh, holding his arm as still as possible while she gently moved it back and forth to try and loosen the shrapnel. He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain.
She threaded a curved needle and he said, "You...you're being really nice to me." She looked up at him for a second before returning to her work, wiping away more blood and starting to slowly stitch the tissue back together.
"You don't seem like much of a fighter."
He shook his head. She asked, "How did you get stuck doing dirty work like kidnapping?" He grunted, the sharp needle piercing through the skin of his arm again.
"W-well, my dad...he made some kinda deal...and I-I got wrapped up in it."
She said, not taking her eyes off her work, "I see. So you were just following orders."
"You...don't either," he said, looking her up and down for a moment. She shook her head.
"I'm not here to fight against people...I'm here to fight against Titans...but I'm also following orders. If that's what we have to do to protect Eren and Historia, then so be it."
The process was short and she tried her best to make it as painless as possible, though his pain tolerance was less than ideal for her as he kept instinctively pulling his arm away. She finally snipped away the loose thread and turned to put her needle and thread away.
As she rummaged around in her kit, he said, noticing a faint glimmer of reflected light, "H-hey. Can I ask you something?" She nodded, unravelling a wide bandage. He asked, "That stone around your neck...it's nice. Is it...some sort of sapphire?" She froze and looked down at her lap. He asked, "How did you even come across one that big?"
"Reiner."
She grabbed the armour shard and held it close to her heart. She felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes and the young man gasped, "N-no, wait. I didn't mean to bring up anything bad. Forget I-"
"It's a shard of hardened Titan skin."
She inhaled, then let out a shaking breath before explaining, "I...I keep it as a reminder." She let go of the shard and started to wrap the bandage tightly around his arm, making sure it wasn't so tight that it could cut off the circulation in his hand.
He cautiously asked, "Of...o-of what?"
"Not to judge a book by its cover."
As she let go of his arm, packed away her supplies, and stood up, he just stared at her. He wondered if she would explain, but he didn't want to pry, so he let it go.
"Lorraine," Levi called to her.
"Yes, sir," she responded, reaching down and grabbing the rope, "I'm sorry. I have to tie you back up for now."
He nodded and put his hands behind his back reluctantly. As she tied him up, she said, "I won't gag you. Just...be careful what you say and don't piss my dad off." He agreed and turned back around. As she walked away, he called out, "Wait a sec."
She stopped and turned to face him. He said, "Thank you...um..."
"Lorraine," she said, her lips curving into a small smile.
"Lorraine."
He smiled back. She asked, "And you are?"
He said, "Flegel."
"Well, you're welcome, Flegel," she softly said. She returned her medical kit to the supplies and rejoined the group. He sighed, watching as she walked away, her long hair flowing delicately behind her, comparable to the finest silk he had ever seen.
"Captain Levi," Jean said softly as Lorraine stepped back into the bright light of the central oil lamp, "I...I thought it was wrong for us to fight other humans, sir. I thought it was wrong that you'd ordered us to do that." He sighed.
"I mean, we became soldiers to protect people. But now, I see that I was wrong, sir. Next time, I won't hesitate. Next time, I swear I'll shoot."
Levi said sharply, "I never said anything about what was right or wrong. My moral high ground's shot to hell. I don't know who is in the right at this point." He stood up and said, turning to the men tied up and hidden between wooden crates, "Now, I think it's time we heard what our guests have to say." He walked over towards the man who looked to be the obvious leader of the group. The rather large old man, along with his henchmen, had his arms bound and had been gagged with a cloth. Levi leaned down over him, reaching up and pulling the cloth roughly out of his mouth.
"M-mercy," the man begged, his gruff voice shaking, "Please! I'm just an old man they use to move cargo! I didn't want to, but they-"
Mikasa stepped forward and said sternly, cutting him off, "I've met this man before." He looked up at her and his eyes widened. She said, "He seemed to be a prominent merchant."
Levi nodded and said, "Yeah, I know him. Deemo Reeves, right?" Deemo growled.
"Yeah. This damn job was forced on us by the Military Police," he confessed, "and now that we've botched it, they'll plunder the Reeves Company for everything it's worth." He gritted his teeth and said, "First, they'll kill me, then they'll set up little 'accidents' for all my employees and my idiot son." Levi scoffed.
"So, you're just gonna lay down and take it? There's a reason Trost recovered from that Titan attack. Mainly because of jobs and money brought in by the Reeves company. So, tell me...if your company were to disappear, how many do you think would survive the coming winter?"
A heavy silence fell over the room.
"So, what," Deemo asked, "You want me to join you?"
Levi explained, "We just need to know where Eren and Historia are. If you're in contact with the MPs, then I think I have a plan."
Deemo said, "Then can you give me your word that the people of Trost won't end up starving to death?" Levi knelt down. He spoke softly, but surely.
"I can't guarantee it, but I believe they'll have a better chance with us than without."
Deemo thought long and hard, staring at Levi and seeing the sincerity in his cold, blue eyes.
"Fine. I'm in."