You're Not Alone

•81•

(NOT EDITED)

I watch the man next to Erwin take the taller blonde by his collar. My fingers tighten on Jeans sleeve, worried about how we're wasting time arguing.

"What the hell are you thinking Erwin?!" The man shouts in the Commandera face. "If we don't get these civilians out of the city, they'll die by the thousands! That Hawking monstrosity will be a stones throw from the wall by morning!"

"That Titan is an abnormal," Hange leans onto the table with her good arm and eyes the dark haired man holding Erwin.

"Right, and what the hell does that even mean?" He turns and looks and Hange who is in front of Jean and I.

"It behaves strangely. Unlike most Titans we encounter, it's only attracted to large groups of people. Hence the word 'abnormal'," Hange explains. "Put simply, given the choice between a few soldiers right next to it and a distant, but densely populated city, it'll choose the city."

Right...I forgot he isn't a shifter like I am. Maybe it's because I've never seen an abnormal that large before. Well any Titan... It's even bigger than the Colossal.

"So if we were to evacuate Orvud's populace to the interior of Wall Sina right now," Hange narrow her eyes. "The Titan would change its course, destroying the wall and anything else in its path. Left unchecked, it would make for the city with the greatest density of people, Mitras. The ensuing rampage would deliver a devastating blow to humanity."

I look to me left and see everyone listening to Section Commander Hange very intently. She always explains things clearly for everyone. It's amazing.

"As we rode for Orvud, we had Eren and Sophie Jeager attempt to use their recently discovered power to control Titans. Rod Reiss' Titan didn't react in any way.

~flashback~

"Stop moving, now!" Eren shouts and punches the air. "I said stop!"

Everyone watches my brother skeptically. He continues to punch the air like a crazy person and Levi makes eyes contact with me. He shakes his head and glares at Eren.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you! Hey, asshole! Ya hear me? Come on you stupid old bastard! Why won't you listen?"

"Give it up," Levi groans. "Sophie you try."

I let go of Bodts reigns and trust she'll continue on track as I turn my upper body to the fat caterpillar lookin Titan.

"Stop!" I scream with all my might, but I don't feel the power I felt that one day. The moment my fist hit that Titan, I felt a shock. But right now...there's nothing.

I look up at Levi and shake my head...

~end~

"If we're to stop this thing, it'll have to be outside the walls of Orvud District," Erwin looks down at the man. "For that to happen, we require the citizens here to activate. However, this doesn't change the fact that our first and foremost duty of soldiers is to protect the people."

Jean shakes off my grip on his sleeve and interlaces his fingers with mine. He squeezes my hand gently as Erwin continues speaking.

"In the event that we're unable to hold the target, we'll take measures to minimize civilian losses. We'll announce a district-wide evacuation drill tonight. The people will be gathered away from the outer wall, ready to scape if the bottle is lost."

The room turns silent and I look over at Vic who has his arms crossed over his chest and is watching the commander and the Garrison member. I turn my face to Levi who is just watching and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else but here.