Back at Headquarters

"Just like in training, split up into your individual squads. You will be under the Garrison Command. Your duties are to assist in providing supplies, communications, and sweeping up the titans! The first line of defense will be the front line unit of the Garrison! The second line will be cadet squads under our command! The rearguard will be the Garrison's elite units! We've already received word that the vanguard has been annihilated!"

As the superior of the cadets spoke, they all let out audible gasps at the devastating news.

"The outer gate was destroyed, and titans are roaming upon the city! This means that the Armored Titan might show up at any time to breach the inner gate!"

Murmurs broke out amongst the cadets, as you stood weakly with a bandage tied tightly against your head. The fall that you had taken was from 50 feet above, and you so happened to crash into someone's pots, earning you a concussion.

You were found by Krista and Reiner, which you were very grateful for.

"Silence!" the superior yelled, causing you to wince from the sound. He shot you a quick apology as he then continued. "The front line guards are already in battle! There is but one goal in this defensive operation. defend Wall Rosé until every civilian has evacuated! Also, in case you forgot, let me remind you that desertion is a capital offense! Vow on your hearts to devote your lives! Dismissed!"

"Sir!" each cadet that had gathered saluted upon their hearts, making a silent vow to give up their lives for humanity if they have to. With courageous eyes, they all had the same goal:

Defend Wall Rosé.

As you and the cadets scampered to fill up their gas tanks and double-checking their 3DMG, one certain cadet wandered through the hall as he sighed deeply.

"Aaah... why does it have to be today?" Jean Kirschtein whimpered. "I'm supposed to go to the interior tomorrow!"

As Jean stood still and sulked, vomiting and gags echoed and bounced from the walls all over. As he turned his head, his eyes landed on none other than Daz, who was emptying his stomach and his fears in front of him while Krista Lenz was rubbing his back soothingly.

Jean took one looked at Daz, and that was enough for his whole body to tremble. If he hadn't skipped breakfast, that would have been him right here and right now.

He shook the thought and expression away as he stomped away, deciding to replace his fear with anger over the whole situation.

And just like that, Jean bumped into someone a little short than him, causing him and the person to stumble back a bit. When his eyes landed on none other than Eren Jaeger, he had found his one scapegoat.

"Fuck off," he spat, purposefully shoving Eren harshly away. That didn't sit well with Eren, as he felt that Jean had no reason to blame all of this on him.

Eren grabbed Jean's upper arm and squeezed it tightly, burying his nails into his jacket. "Hey, Jean!" he spat back. "What's wrong with you?!"

What's wrong with him? What's wrong with him?! Did Eren fucking Jaeger really just ask Jean what's wrong with him?!

Jean made a full U-turn and grabbed Eren by his jacket, lifting him into the air with an unknown strength. "Don't give me that crap, you suicidal asshole! You wanted to join the Survey Corps! You were prepared to feed yourself to the titans already!"

Just then, at that very second, a worried Mikasa walked past them, ultimately stopping at the last second to glare at Jean.

"But for me?" Jean spewed his venomous words onto Eren. "I was going to the interior tomorrow, goddammit!"

"Calm down!" Eren objected, grasping Jean's balled-up fist. This seemed to anger Jean even more.

"Just chill out and accept my death?!"

"No!" Eren managed to get free from Jean's grasp, feeling the familiar coppery taste on his tongue as he clenched his teeth. "Remember! Our three years of training!"

As Eren shoved Jean into the wall, he gasped for air and his eyes widened.

"We've been on the verge of death many times during those three years. Some actually died, some ran away, and some were sent away! But we survived!" when Eren was left unanswered by a shunned Jean, he got furious. "Didn't we?!"

Silence overtook everything as Eren finished his sentence.

"And we're gonna survive today too."

Jean, Eren, Mikasa and every cadet that had been watching turned their heads to look at you, taking long, prideful steps towards both Eren and Jean.

You walked past Mikasa and clapped her shoulder once.

You now stood in front of Jean, beside Eren, who dropped everything to look at you stunned. He couldn't believe his own eyes. There you were, although a little messed up, but otherwise perfectly fine after having been dropped from 50 feet up.

You took a second to let your glare on Jean ease into a calm expression. You then kneeled down to where he was sitting, staring out into the thin, blue air.

He jolted up when you slammed your hand beside his head, trapping him.

"You'll survive today," you said, leaning your face closer to Jean's shocked face. "And you're bloody well going to the interior tomorrow. The world is cruel, but your friends that you've endured these three years with are not."

You used your hand to clamp down onto Jean's shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting manner. His eyes slid into eye-contact with your own ones.

He seemed to get the message from you.

Good, you internally sighed.

Then you stood up and took Eren's hand, practically dragging him with you to Mikasa.

Once Jean had recovered from your sudden appearance, he scrambled to his feet. Yes, your message was clear as day to him, and he couldn't believe he just lost his cool in front of not only his enemy and crush but also someone he looked up to.

He scowled at himself and called over his shoulder; "Let's go, Daz! You can't keep cowering forever!"

"Eren..." Mikasa, who had stood by and watched the whole scene unfold, called out to her brother who was being dragged by you to her. She nodded and you and you let go of Eren's hand, watching as Mikasa took in both of his hands in hers.

"If the battle gets too chaotic, come find me."

Eren looked as if he was in another world for a few seconds, as he seemed to space out. You, however, expected Mikasa to propose such a thing. You knew how much she loved Eren, so it honestly shocked you that you were the one interrupting his and Jean's quarrel, and not her.

You elbowed Eren in the back as he finally seemed to snap out of it. "Huh?" he mumbled, shooting a confused look at Mikasa. "We're in totally different squads!"

Mikasa felt the disappointment in her stomach. All she wanted was for Eren to be safe and not die.

"In the midst of the fray, nothing goes according to plan I'll protect you!" she kept on insisting, making even you feel a little bit safer.

"What are you going on about╴"

"Trainee Ackerman," someone called out.

Mikasa, you and Eren looked at the superior which strut towards you. "You were specially assigned to the rear guard. Come with me."

For the first time since 5 years ago, Mikasa felt scared. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. She was anxious and scared to leave Eren, for she knew that he was quite a spontaneous idiot in battle.

The superior's ears fell deaf upon Mikasa's pleads to move her into Eren's squad.

"Dammit, Mikasa!" he yelled.

Before you could stop him, Eren had already banged his forehead into Mikasa's, making you hook your arms under his armpits and heaving him away.

"No one cares about what you want! Accept orders and follow through with them!"

You sighed and clenched your teeth, hauling Eren in the other direction, causing him to slip and fall onto his butt somewhere around where you stood.

A few seconds passed by where neither you nor Mikasa said anything.

That was until she mewled your name. "Please, Y/N," she whimpered, stalking over to you and taking your hands in hers. "Make sure he doesn't die."

You nodded and reached up to her raven hair, stroking it gently.

You nodded.

And right then and there, Mikasa broke down into quiet, aching sobs, burying herself in your arms for comfort. She knew that if something happened, she wouldn't be able to live on.

She had to trust you to keep a leash on Eren.

You took a deep breath in, various scents being carried by the wind hitting you in the face. Blood, smoke, metal and something sweet got carried by the wind around you, reminding you of the grim reminder of humanity's condition.

On a rooftop, somewhere amongst the chaos, stood a cadet squad, consisting of 7 cadets.

Eren, Armin, Mina, Thomas, you, Nac, and Mylius

You were all standing still, taking in the horrible scenery that used to be beautiful Trost. Now, it was like a replica of Shiganshina, mere moments before Carla was snatched.

It all came back to you.

You took a long, deep breath, easing your head and worries. Mankind was on the brink of extinction, and it was your job to give up your life if necessary to make sure the remaining percent lived.

Everyone's hair got lifted by the wind in the same direction until it stopped and let your hair fall down.

"Hey, Armin..." Eren mumbled, looking down at the ground, but then shooting his gaze up at Armin. "Don't you think this is a great chance?" he asked, which caught everyone's attention. Eren surely was a suicidal bastard, but you didn't think he would also be crazy.

Eren saw all of the cadets and you looking at him with a weird look, which only urged him to continue and explain himself. "Think about it! If we prove ourselves in this first battle, before even entering the Survey Corps, surely they'll promote us right up the ladder!"

Eren was sweating buckets, and everyone could see the true purpose behind his choice of words. He was trying to encourage and cheer up everyone.

You internally smiled at Eren. You wondered if you had kept your promise to Carla?

You broke out of your thoughts when Armin bumped his hip with you, and you looked at him curiously when he looked right into Eren's eyes with a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Yeah, without a doubt."

"Not to burst your bubble, but quite a few of us are aiming for the Survey Corps this year!" Mina giggled, having been calmed down by the ecstatic talk between Eren and Armin.

Several others agreed on having a titan slaying contest, and of course you, as well, had to partake in it. With that, you all ventured out into the open battlefield, expecting nothing but survival ahead.

But, as you passed the corner of Trost to look out into the chaos, you never expected the situation to be this bad. It was pure manslaughter.

And as if it couldn't get any worse, you had to watch as what humanity calls 'an abnormal titan' shot up from beneath you like a piranha looking for prey.

And it terrified you when its jaw clamped down with an audible smack, forcing you to slide onto a roof, roof tiles being forcefully jerked away from their original position.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck╴ a deep shiver shot up your spine. 1, 2, 4, 6 including you, you counted.

You counted 6 cadets.

You were 7, to begin with.

"That means..." you swallowed a lump in your throat as you turned around slowly towards the tower where the titan had crashed into.

And with horror shaking your heart, you watched as it tilted its head to the side as if showing off the prize and meal that it had captured.

"No..." you whispered, feeling your throat tighten and the place under your ears begin to cramp. "Thomas..." the tears that gathered in your eyes escaped like a waterfall, staining your cheeks and nose red.

You reached out your hand towards Thomas, who was clearly lacking his legs and abdomen. He had been bitten over by the titan, which had swallowed his half body.

The young cadets on the rooftop watched with horror as the titan looked them dead in the eyes, then tilted its head up, swallowing the rest of Thomas in the process.

A scream erupted from Mina as she broke down right then and there, and you not noticing Eren storming off towards the creature that had stripped a way too young man of his life.

Thomas died. Right in front of you, and you could feel the familiar guilt bursting your heart, spreading its way around your body.

Not long after you and Mina had regained your senses, you both took off, storming after a rage-blinded Eren.

Thump

What... what happened?

Thump

You couldn't remember anything. Everything was dark.

Thump

Have you gone blind?

Thump

Where's everyone?

Thump

No, you remember now...

Thump

Squad 34 was wiped out by titans in the area.

Thump

But then... what happened to Eren and Armin?

Thump

Shit!

As you remembered your dear little brothers' names, adrenaline sparked through your entire being, waking you up in an instant. It appeared you were sat in an alleyway. Broken windows and shards of glass littered the ground, daring you to take a step.

That wasn't necessary.

Your concussion made your head pound with every second that passed by. Pain literally coated your body as you tried to inspect what other injuries you might have.

You checked your breathing and rib-cage. Yeah, ouch. Definitely a broken rib or two. Your pants were torn up on one leg, literally thousands of small glass shards penetrating your every skin acre.

Everywhere. Your body was coated in glass, some shards deep, some not-so-deep.

"Shit," you cursed under your breath. You looked around for any sort of support that could help you stand up, trying your best to ignore pulsing pain that covered your body.

You desperately searched for anything, until you spotted a barrel not long away. Only about a meter or two.

"Okay," you said to yourself. "I can do this."

You carefully slid over to the barrel, clamping your hand onto the lid as you used all of your remaining strength to stand up.

Bad idea.

As soon as you had stood up, your legs gave out under you, making you fall down and rolling onto the floor, getting the full impact. Everything seemed to flicker as if someone was switching the light on and off.

The pain was so intense. You bit your lip in an attempt to stop the scream that made its way up your throat, almost letting it out. But you knew that one scream could lead something that would result in death.

And you needed to avoid that.

Unfortunately, you remembered that the rest of your squad wasn't that lucky.

Flashbacks of everything that happened flew past your eyes, and suddenly the memories came flooding back. You had watched how everyone in your squad got annihilated by the titans, while you were swatted away at the end by an abnormal titan like a fly.

And that's how you landed here.

Alone, scared and cold. You had always imagined your final moments to be those of bravery and pride, never abandonment and loneliness.

It made you think of everything that's happened until now. The first death you experienced and the deaths you've encountered through your training years. Then the thoughts of all your friends ran through your mind, every single one of their faces flashing before your very eyes.

And suddenly, a very familiar yet unfamiliar face showed up. It was the man that you had met on the day you enrolled into the military trainee corps. His face was oddly familiar, yet you couldn't place your finger on it.

Haha... would these be your final moments? To think about a strange man you met once?

No.

You were gonna fight and survive. Even if you were gonna lose a leg or an arm to achieve that.

As I sat there, mourning over my friends and wondering over the questions in life, I decided for myself that I was not going to face from this world with unanswered questions.

I was gonna live to see another day.

I was determined to continue everything and to live out Eren's words that had muttered out of pain on that day 5 years ago.

Despite the pain, despite how much I wanted to stay and sleep into my death, despite how much it hurt mentally and physically, I forced myself to stand up.

I stood up, and I continued.

And then, I saw something I never thought was a possibility.

It was something I would never be able to forget