You're Not Alone

•38•

It's still night time. How much longer till we reach our destination? The front line doesn't have ODM gear, so I worry about them. Even though they have soldiers with them, that's not enough if there are multiple Titans. Well it's night... they should be fine. Titans aren't active at night.

"Hey, four-eyes," Levi's voice slices through the silent air. "Since when are you a geologist? Or are rocks just that fascinating? Looks like you're about to drool."

Levi leans forward and watches Hange who is examining a grayish- crystallized rock that's in the palm of her hand.

"What, this?" Hange holds out the object. "It's not a rock. Not an ordinary one, anyway. It's a hardened piece of skin left behind by the Female Titan."

"It didn't vanish?" Armin gasps.

"No, this random fragment broke off when Annie reverted back to her human form. It didn't evaporate. Didn't simply go 'poof.' So that got me thinking," Hange grins. " When I compared it with a sliver of the wall, it's texture and composition were, for all intents and purposes, virtually identical. In layman's terms we're hemmed in by a barricade of enormous Titans. If my hypothesis is correct, the surface was constructed using consolidated titan skin."

"You're kidding me," Mikasa voice barely above a whisper. "That's what Armin was trying to say."

Armin let's out a gasp and tries to speak, but Hange shoves her hand on his face and pushes him back into his seat.

"Easy. It's rude to steal someone else's thunder," Hange snaps with a smile on her face. "As it stands, we'd be hard-pressed to find a rock big enough to plug Wall Rose. It'd have to be just the right shape and size, and we don't have specifics yet. But, on the other hand, where there's a will there's a way."

We all watch Hange intently, ignoring the muffled words coming from Armin who is still being suffocated by Hanges hand.

"Imagine Eren or Sophie utilizing their hardening ability while in Titan form," Hange finishes.

"I could... we could patch the hole," Eren looks to the floor of the wagon and squints.

"The sealant should be composed of the same material. And the hardened bit won't dissolve once you've transformed back. This might be less of a longshot than it sounds. Thoughts?" Hange looks at us.

I look to my brother and friends, all of them thinking about her words. I'm all for it, but Eren and I have never used hardening. What if we can't even do it?

"Well, anything worthwhile incurs a little risk," Armin speaks up first. "If we can manage to shore up Wall Rose, Wall Maria starts to look fairly promising. Vital as it is, the outpost infrastructure slows us down to a crawl. The time and resources needed to transport materials are immense. But, if supply wagons don't have to be accommodated, we can make our way to Shiganshina much faster. And what if we decided to carry out our plan in the dead of night?"

"Night?" Hange narrows her eyes curiously.

"Yes!" Armin smiles. "When the Titans are affectively emotionless."

"That's not bad. In fact it's genius. Particularly if the group is small enough to slip by undetected," Hange looks at the hardened crystal in her hand. " The straits we're in are as dire as they come. But there might just be the teeniest bit of slack."

"Yeah..." Armin sighs. "Just bear in mind, though, the whole plan hinges on wether or not Sophie and Eren can seal a hole, again."