HOPE AND DESPAIR ࿔ 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏

TWO.

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IRENE TURNED her head to the side, eyes widening once again when she saw a piece of the wall on top of a bloody hand. she felt revolted. irene got up from her crouching position, her legs trembling. she looked at her surroundings, observing the people who were running away from the wall.

"what am i doing?...i...i have to get out of here!"

with shaking hands and legs, irene turned her feet, following the direction people were running in as she herself had no idea where to go. there were screams of terror that filled the air, along with shouts from titans and crunching of bones that were sure going to traumatize irene for the rest of her life. she was terrified to look back.

underneath the many fragments of buildings laid bodies with pools of red blood. the sight of it wasn't as heartbreaking as the people next to the fragments, trying to pry it off. not looking where she was running, irene tripped over something, making her knee scrape onto the ground. she winced at the scratch that was dripping with blood. she got up carefully, looking back at what she had tripped. her eyes watered, realizing that she had tripped over a head, detached from its body. her stomach churned and she quickly looked away, continuing to run as fast as her legs could take her. 

she saw a crowd of people and sighed in relief at the sight of the remaining humanity. there was a large crowd near a ship that would bring them to wall rose. that ship was the only gate away from the titans that filled the city. with the bustling crowd, irene found herself getting nudged and pushed several times by the desperate people around her. her eyes watered once again. she wanted to get out of here alive.

with blurry eyes, the female snaked through the front of the crowd, just in front of the wooden plank that leads to the ship. one of the guards caught sight of the girl and ushered her to get onto the ship in which she quickly did. 

irene couldn't hear anything as she squished herself somewhere in between strangers. her heart was still racing as if it was going to jump out any second. the young girl pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her shaky jaw on her bleeding knees as she allowed herself to cry. she couldn't forget the head that she had tripped on. nor the bodies underneath the fragments of the building. or the terrorized screams. 

if only she didn't venture into wall maria.

if only she didn't step out of her house. 

snapping herself out of her thoughts, she heard a loud scream from the ship. like before, there was a thundering sound, followed by flashes of yellow light that came from the blue sky. there stood another titan. it was much smaller than the one at the wall. its body was covered with tanned spots. irene could only stare at it with slight amusement and terror.  

without warning, it charged up into the inner gate of wall maria, creating a hole. cannons that were above it immediately fell off, along with the garrison guards. the booming noise of the crash-filled irene's eardrums once more, followed by loud terrified chatters of the people around her. the titan let out an ear-shrieking roar before disappearing out of everyone's sight. there was an eerie silence.

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irene waited in the long line where soldiers were handing out rations. the sight was devastating. everyone looked traumatized and gloomy, included the young girl herself. once it was her turn in the line, she placed her hands out, gladly accepting the dry loaf of bread that fell into her hands. 

it was scary. she was alone. completely alone. more alone than ever. she was in an unknown place where the only person she knew was herself. anxiety trickled up her body like a menacing snake. she didn't like the feeling of being in a foreign place all by herself. she wished that she stayed home that day. 

the girl took a bite of the hard loaf of bread. she didn't realize how hungry she was till she realized that she had devoured it all in a matter of seconds. her hands trailed to her sling bag, patting on it. she gave a relieved sigh, knowing that her apples were still in there.

"i should be cautious of what i eat," she told herself.

her mind then wandered to her mother. it had been a day since the incident. how did her mother react when she realized that her daughter was missing? did the titans get to wall sina too? even though her mother wasn't the best, for the first time in her life, she had missed her.

a young boy around her age who wore a shirt along with a blue cardigan looked at the three loaves of bread in his arms. he was thankful to his grandfather for asking the soldiers for more bread for his two friends. he was too busy carrying the bread in his arms, making him bump into a figure.

the boy fell onto the ground with a small 'ouch,'. he opened his eyes, greeted by irene who stood still, staring at him. his eyes were locked on her knees which were bandaged, then trailing to her flats which had spots of red that bled through the fabric.

 there was a few seconds of silence before he jolted up to his feet, clearing his throat,

"s-sorry!" his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. he only then realized the scarlet eyes that stared at him with interest. irene's eyes stared to the loaves of bread in his arms, then to the one that had fallen (which he seemed to have noticed). with no words, the girl pointed to the loaf of bread that laid on the ground.

confused, the male turned around, then looking at the bread he dropped. as soon as he was about to grab it, another pair of hands quickly snatched it away. the young boy's heart dropped as he saw the figure running off with it.

irene looked at the boy in pity.  she was about to leave before she remembered the apples stashed in her bag. she gently tapped on his shoulder, placing a green apple in his hand before running away.

"thank you!" he watched as her petite figure wandered back into the halls, her short black hair bouncing as she did so.