The Walls We've Built - ◈ ARMIN ARLERT X OC ◈

Chapter 23 - Crimson Red

I wake up to the distant, yet near voices of Armin and Gen yelling my name. Opening my eyes to the blinding light of midmorning, I am overwhelmed with agonising pain to my temple and left arm. "Zariya! Are you ok?" Armin cries as he looks over me blocking the light of the sun. Unable to form words I reach for my head to try to reduce the pain that is causing me. However, Armin quickly grabs my wrist pulling it away, "Don't touch it!" He warns, adjusting his seating position, that's when I realise my head is resting in his lap.

"Where is Annie?" I manage to croak out but everything burns with pain. Armin slides his hand under my back guiding my body slowly up into a sitting position. "Don't worry about Annie! We need to get you off the street, it isn't safe!" Gen says at my side, I am too weak to respond, the pain at my side is throbbing, blocking out everything else. Weakly turning my head to see what is causing the pain at my side, I see a large chuck of wood has penetrated through the sleeve of my jacket and into my arm, my sleeve is covered in blood. I quickly look away from the gruesome site hiding my face in my opposite shoulder, I clench my teeth holding back tears as my arm continues to feel worse by the second.

Gen and Armin quickly help me onto my feet, however considering my state I can't use my ODM gear so Armin has to lift me up to the rooftop. I wrap my good arm around Armin's neck and he holds me with my legs in one arm with his other secured around my waist. We gently land on the rooftop and Armin puts me down and begins pacing back and forth. Gen whispers at my side, "What is he doing?" she asks confused, I weakly laugh under my breath in response. "That what he does when he is trying to think of an idea in a pressuring situation." I explain, in response Gen just looks at me blankly. "Right" she responds looking back at him.

We don't have time for this, I need to deal with this fast before Armin's head explodes. Who knows where Annie has gotten to by now? We need to be with the others helping capture her not dealing with this. I quickly unbuckle my belt and begin removing it from around my waist. "What the hell are you doing!" Gen exclaims, making Armin turn around. He glances at my belt then at me before quickly turning around again.

"Relax Gen, I am going to use my belt to tighten around my arm to stop the bleeding" I explain while cautiously holding the chunk of wood still stuck in my arm. "Wait! Don't you need to disinfect it?" She ponders grabbing my good arm pulling it away from the piece of wood. I look at her unimpressed, "Well unless you have suddenly taken up drinking or Armin has a secret flask hidden on him, this is my best option." I reply pulling away from her, suddenly aware of the pain on my forehead again. "I guess you could search Armin." She jokes, Armin spins around avoiding eye contact with me with a scared look on his face. "That really isn't necessary. I have never had a drink in my life let alone kept alcohol on me!" Armin begged, I hold my temple with my good hand trying to fight the urge to hit Gen. I gesture to Gen, "She was joking Armin, I am not going to search you." I explain. The rose tint across Armin's cheeks fades, "Oh, Ok." He says relieved.

Not wasting any more time I quickly rip the piece of wood from my arm before Gen or Armin can stop me. It's just like ripping off a band aid, but 1000 times worse. I feel the wound begin to throb more as blood begins gushing from the area. Looking at the wound makes me feel faint and my legs begin to give out beneath me, wobbling on my weak legs I feel Gen and Armin secure their arms around my body keeping me up. "Zariya, why did you do that! I was about to come up with something!" Armin cries, examining the wound as they gentilly sit me down on the rooftop. The agonising pain from the wound begins to leak into my brain and soon all I can think about is the feeling of wooden splinters in my arm and the sensation of blood dripping down my arm and soaking through my uniform. Captain Levi is definitely going to make me wash this when we get back.

The sun beams down on us as Gen sits next to me with her hand over my wound, she holds up her hand which is soaked in my blood. "Ah, Armin, we need to do something quick. She is losing a lot of blood." Gen warns. Unable to form a full sentence I grab Armin's hand beside me and place the belt in his palm before pushing his hand to my injury. "Wrap it around the bleeding-" I manage to croak out, "make sure it's tight." I whisper. Armin rapidly nods his head gently moving my arm and placing the belt under it. I watch him as he grabs both ends, feeding the leather through the buckle and guiding it so it is placed on top of the wound, adjusting the buckle so metal does not touch the puncture. "Like this?" He asks concerned, I nod my head quickly trying not to focus on the pain.

Once it is secured around my arm I instruct Armin to begin tightening the belt inorder to stop the bleeding. He looks at me apologetically as he begins pulling the leather towards himself. My arm burns with pain, the throbbing becomes too much to bear and I do my best to hold back my screams as the pressure on my arm continues to increase. I bit on the sleeve of my jacket to stop myself from yelling out in pain, I feel tears rolling down my face and blurring my vision. Once Armin has finished, he secures the excess leather in the buckle of the belt, "I am so sorry Zariya!" He apologises in front of me with his hands resting on my shoulders.

I shake my head wiping away my tears, how embarrassing I am crying in front of him. "No, Armin, don't be sorry, thank you." I mutter, still trying to compose myself. My arm has gone completely numb, which is good, not only because it means I'm no longer in pain, but also because it means the bleeding has slowed and most likely stopped. A loud crash followed by screams catches our attention. Armin jolts up looking towards the direction of the sound whispering "Mikasa" under his breath.

"Go Armin, they need all the help they can get capturing Annie." I acknowledge, he looks back at me anxiously. "What about you, and your arm!" He hesitates, "and Gen?" I shake my head, "Don't worry about us, we will be right behind you. I just need a minute. Really Armin go help them, you're no use to the mission staying here with us." I insist, he looks at me and then back to the direction of the sound torn on what to do. "Ok, but don't hurt yourself anymore, please Zariya." He exclaims, I enthusiastically nod my head in response. Armin smiles back at us before addressing Gen, "Make sure she is ok." He adds before engaging his ODM gear, flying towards Annie and the others.

Once Armin is out of view I turn to Gen, burying my face in her shoulder. I begin to weep uncontrollably, although the pain is practically gone, the aching in my head has gotten dramatically worse. "Zariya! What's wrong?" Gen questions wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. "Ev- Everything hurts, all I can feel is pain." I cry in her uniform, she holds me close, comforting me as I continue to sob.