The War Hammer ( AOT x Male Reader story)

Chapter 15: Ascendancy

As church bells sounded in the distance, I opened my eyes to be greeted with the morning breeze in my face, the whisps of clouds lazily making their way across the sky above me, and the looming form of Wall Rose a short distance in front of me.

I took a moment to allow my eyes to wander while they adjusted. I sat beneath an archway in a small alleyway, the sunshine of the morning rising to greet me. I stretched my arms and legs and cracked my neck and bit before pushing myself to my feet and dusting myself off. There was a light pounding in my ears and the sudden fall of blood pressure caused my vision to go dark for a moment before it cleared. As I gave myself another pat down, my finger caught in one of the holes in my jacket. I looked down, examining it, and realising there were multiple other holes in my clothes, mostly from where the debris of Berthold's kick had destroyed my body.

I gave a light hum of disappointment, before looking up and beginning to walk, exiting the alley, and making my way through the city, the square my destination. It was where the Wall Rose military and government were providing rations for all the refugees.

As I picked my way through, every man, woman, and child I passed wore the same expressions: Hurt. Anger. Sorrow. Confusion. Trauma. All these humans, having been fortunate enough to survive the destruction of their homes and escape the clutches of the titans, were now being forced to bear witness and memories of the horrors that had ensued.

As I got closer to the square, I began noticing more military personnel, all walking in groups of two or three, carrying a symbol of roses and a shield on their back, along with looks of disdain and disgust as their eyes wandered over the refugees, clearly indicating they did not approve of our presence, nor the fact we were living off their food rations.

I kept my head up, fixed my gaze in front of me and took time for each step I made. I avoided direct eye contact with anyone and paid no mind to anyone. While I felt eyes burning into the back of my head, and from every side for that matter, I did not flinch and continued, spacing out my strides.

After another five minutes, I exited a street into a clearing lined with stalls along with ques and groups of people. There were also a few open doors leading to large buildings, with large quantities of people entering, leaving, and standing outside. Must be emergency accommodation.

The sound of slow and dragged movement, along with hushed conversation and the cry of children echoed throughout the square. It was deafening. The sun cast down shadows on peoples pale and beaten down faces, all gazing to the floor as they made there way from place to place, almost rhythmically, like the dead had risen and was walking amongst us.

I began approaching a que near the end of the square, on with slightly less people. The whole system worked in a circular fashion, with people collecting their food, their details and features being noted to prevent queuing multiple times, before being ushered to the right and away from the stalls.

As the line moved slowly forward, I reached up and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of my eyes, before pulling it back. I should cut it soon, always hated having long hair. Giving myself a wash would be preferable as well, usually never went a day without it.

As I neared the front of the que, someone passed me on my right that caught my eye; a young girl around my age, maybe younger with bright blonde hair tied in a bun at the back with strands hanging over her right electric blue eye, carrying a small piece of bread in her hand. Just as she was about to take a bite, she happened to glance up and met my eyes. We watched each other for a second, before her eyes widened in recognition and shock. She looked as through she was going to say something but was moved on quickly by one of the military.

I raised an eyebrow lazily as I watched her move on into the middle of the square, before returning my gaze back to the stall in front of me as I neared the front of the que, my stomach rumbling in anticipation. When my turn came, I took the small loaf handed to me, gave the guard my name and waited while he took down my features and noted what I looked like and what I wore. I then turned right and began walking, taking a small bite from the loaf, and chewing, my mouth instantly going dry from the starchy taste.