Dangerous Territory

The Window in the Attic

Eren reached the officer's hotel, climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, but a group of men were standing near his door. For a few seconds, utter dread engulfed Eren, and his heart pounded at the horrific thought of Levi being caught by Gestapo hiding up in the attic. However, the men were laughing as they passed around a photograph of a scantily clad woman. They glanced over as Eren approached.

"Pardon," Eren said. "That's my room."

One of the soldiers leaped forward. "You must be the new guy who just arrived today. Welcome to the Lieutenant's Floor." The others laughed, as if this was a great joke. The blond officer shot his hand out. "The name's Holger."

Eren shook his hand. "Eren Jäger."

"Great to meet you, Jäger. These are Surma, Wim, Phil, Samuel, Daz, Oliver, and the stern guy over there is Greiz."

Eren nodded to the group of men. "Nice to meet you all."

"Bringing food back?" Surma asked, pushing up his oval glasses as he eyed the paper bag.

Greiz scoffed, "You should eat with the officers, not alone in your room."

Eren looked down at the paper wrapping. "Ah, this is just ... I was out with my platoon, we drank so much, I know I'll probably vomit. I asked for a sandwich to go, so I can eat after my stomach wages an insurrection."

"And another beer to defeat the hangover," Samuel teased.

Eren laughed. "And cookies to exterminate the taste."

They all laughed, and Holger pounded him on the back.

"Eat with us tomorrow after roll call," Holger offered.

Greiz said, "Yeah, stick with us, and I'll show you the really nice restaurants where officers go."

Oliver had a welcoming smile. "It'd be nice to have another lieutenant in our group."

"That sounds like fun," Eren said, happy to get to know more officers. "How long have you men been here?"

Greiz scoffed. "I've been here since 1942."

Phil rolled his eyes. "Not again!"

Greiz ignored him. "All the rest of these invaders to my territory arrived over the past two weeks, and I was forced to move into this hotel."

Daz grimaced and dramatically threw his hands up. "There he goes, thinking he's the King of Metz just because he's practically married to one of the locals."

Greiz snapped, "Hey, we're gonna get married after the war. She already accepted my proposal."

"Sure, sure," the men laughed. "And that's why she took off on you."

"She left to the countryside for safety, dimwit!"

"How about you, Jäger?" asked Holger. "Do you have someone special?"

"Ah..." Eren looked down at the bag of food. "Well..."

Phil waved the picture of the sexy model. "Maybe you want a night with her and your hand."

The men roared in laughter.

Another set of footsteps came up from behind. "Jäger."

They turned and saw Ian Dietrich and Gunther Schultz just coming up the stairs.

"Oberleutnant," Eren greeted. "Men, this is Dietrich and Schultz. We served in the same company over the summer."

"Cheers," the men shouted.