Attack on Titan: Survival and Dedication - Male Reader

PART THREE

Anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment. That was the name Engineers brought forward. The plan was simple and the idea flawless. Instead of trying to cut down your fellow man, you could gun them down from afar. The idea was sound and could be a solid foundation for countless improvements that were otherwise easy to implement. The only problem there was keeping it a secret.
  There would come a time when the corrupt officials behind the walls would fall. It was only a matter of time before someone did it. Y/N bet his money on the Garrison. They had the numbers and know how to try and get anything done.
  Whoever these brave souls would be, the Engineers would be there to back them. But now that plan seemed to be in the garbage. Now there wasn't telling who had their hands on this sort of equipment.
  Y/N searched the houses one more time, scouring their floors and walls for anything hidden. He even went as far as going into more condemned areas, walking over a married couple lying beside a pool of dried blood and a used pistol Y/N pocketed.
  In the end, there wasn't any clue as to who it may have been. The person was a professional, or a victim from other villages the traffickers ravaged. Or, to make matters even worse, they had stolen it or bought it from behind the walls. If that were the case, then this equipment was on someone's list and anyone spotted with it was as good as dead.
  Taking the equipment with him spelled a slow and painful death. Leaving it behind was like leaving a crate filled with gold.
  Y/N sat on the edge of the wagon, his brows furrowed in thought. He contemplated the choice ahead of him and the consequences of said choices.
  In the corner of his eyes, he gave the equipment a second look. The build was rough and flawed, obviously as some sort of sabotage from the Engineers.
So you guys didn't go down quiet, huh? He thought with a blink wiping away a sad veil in his eyes.
  The maneuvering gear was deeply flawed. Someone had swapped the location of the anchors, placing them under an even worse rendition of a firearm they had in mind. This essentially left your back open to attack and cut your firepower in half. Not to mention you could dislocate your shoulder if you overextended your reach or pushed too hard on the gas.
  Finally, that presented the final problem. The gas system was improved. With only one tank and improved exhausts, the output of gas was significantly increased. Taking advantage of this meant snapping your arm in half or ripping it from its socket.
  The tubes the firearms used as ammunition were simply preloaded barrels, held in special bandoliers for quick reloads. They may be inferior to the original design, but you didn't need to worry about pouring powder or stuffing the barrels, cutting the reload time down to just a few seconds as opposed to the thirty or forty it took to properly reload current firearms.
  Nevertheless, in the right hands, this equipment could cut down an entire squad of soldiers in a matter of seconds. Like a bolt of lightning, you could strike and then simply vanish. It was the perfect weapon.
  Dammit! Y/N released a frustrated sigh and hopped down from the wagon. He couldn't bring himself to destroy it. He didn't know what he was going to do with it. For now, he did what he thought was best.
  Removing his harness, he donned the anti-personnel gear. With a bit of fieldwork, he removed the gun from the extended brace. He didn't intend on breaking his arm so keeping it hooked to his waist was the next best option.
  The tank would be hidden underneath his pack and the harness covered by his cloak. As for the ammunition he kept strapped over his abdomen. It was an awkward fit but he wouldn't risk flaunting it about.
  It was the best he could do for the moment and it had to do. Next, he stowed the stolen goods in his pack and pouches until they threatened to snap a button. If he wasn't careful and took a tumble he would be stuck sewing in a new button or leaving something behind. He could only stomach one of those possibilities.
  Throwing the additional harness on and his pack over his shoulders nearly had him tip over. He grunted with effort and caught his balance, whispering a curse while doing so.
  A groan left his throat when he thought of the days ahead. Snow was guaranteed and the thought of trudging through the cold powder for roughly a hundred kilometers always made him want to quit.
  "Come on, let's go." He whispered to himself. For just a second or two he considered hunkering down back at base as a precaution, but there was no guarantee when he'll see the Scouts again. Or if he would even survive that long to see them. Besides that, he would rather sit in a warm room than a cold manor.
  For now, he turned back to the wagon one final time before taking one of the bottles of liquor and popping it open. With a long piece of cloth in hand, he stuffed it down the neck, soaking it.
  This place would be a harsh reminder of man's inability to survive outside the walls. If it were to be seen again it would be a ghost town, a pile of ash created both out of respect and a necessity to cleanse it.
  Before Y/N turned and made his way to Shiganshina, he clicked his lighter open, set the bottle aflame, and threw it.

A pillar of smoke streaked across the sky, blotting out the bright blue. Y/N watched its steady growth from a distance as he took a minute to catch his breath.
  What is that? Twenty, thirty kilometers? Y/N thought as he took a sip of his water.
Eighty kilometers to go.
   Y/N followed the river back to Shiganshina. He had to boil the flowing water but found it to be more convenient than going out of his way to collect coming snow or trek to an isolated lake.
   The bottom of his boots became flexible and the leather began to crease. He would make due but made a mental note to grab a replacement soon.
   Seventy kilometers to go.
   The sun had gone down. With a slow and calculated approach, Y/N crawled past a frozen Titan. It had feminine features over its heart-shaped face and held a strangely peaceful expression.
For a moment, he was disturbed by the sight.
   In a more ideal world, it could've been just a woman standing in a field of grass with her caramel eyes drawn to the ocean of stars overhead. It could've been a painting if it weren't for the dried blood covering her lips and chest.
   Y/N wondered if some unfortunate Scout met their end here. If so, then who?
   Sixty kilometers to go.
   The clouds hovered above, trotting along at a noticeable speed. Y/N's breath was visible as it left his lips, making him forget his aching legs even if for a while.
   As he rest his eyes, a cold speck pierced his green wear, making him flinch. The intrusion left a speck of water on his eyelid which was promptly wiped away.
   His eyes were drawn to the dark gray mass looming over him. A chill ran down his body when snow began to fall, cutting his break short.
   With grit and determination, he pushed on.
   Fifty kilometers to go.
   The wall was visible from where Y/N sat. It was hard to remember that it was no longer a bastion of military might but was now an oversized tombstone.
   A fire crackled at his feet, melting the snow and making a circle of dirt and water.
   A canvas flapped over Y/N's head, keeping out the snow and chilling wind the night was so insistent on throwing his way. Whatever greater power - if there was one - wouldn't gain the satisfaction of his mental defeat.
   Twenty kilometers to go.
   Y/N scraped at the bottom of a mason jar, picking up what little fruit was left. Eventually, he raised the jar high, downing the juice before stuffing the empty glass in his pack.
   His load became significantly lighter over the past week. This sped up his approach considerably and allowed him to enjoy a brisk walk along the river.
   Snow crunched underfoot and was occasionally packed into a small ball to eat.
   "Almost there." Y/N encouraged himself in a murmur. "Then a hundred more to go..."

  A loud pop and hiss gained a Titan's attention. It may look like an elderly woman but it pivoted back and sprinted like a trained soldier. Fortunately for Y/N, it was a very dumb one.
   The Titan stared at a cloud of green smoke before a realization dawned on her. There wasn't anyone there.
   "Not today." Y/N sighed.
   He stood over twenty meters in the air, perched far out of the Titan's reach. The distraction was well worth the cost. Now he could walk along Wall Rose without a worry in the world.
   Getting the anti-personnel gear to work was simple. The Engineers certainly didn't field test it but they were more than knowledgeable on how it worked. For Y/N it was a point, shoot, and pull routine. The gas nearly had him slam face-first into the wall but he was fortunate enough to only feel a deep ache in his legs.
   Slowly and carefully he scaled the wall. Puffs of gas left the back of his waistband, pushing him up with his anchor reeling back in. With a second anchor and more gas, he was pulling himself up the wall's ledge until he collapsed on his side.
   He took this time to catch his breath and celebrate with his last jar of fruit.

Shiganshina was swarming with Titans. The others would have hauled their gear up and over the wall. A lengthy process but it was a passage that guaranteed safety.
  Y/N walked along the wall, a clean slate of tracks and stone the snow couldn't touch. The only downside there was the winds whipping and churning about.
  The district was massive. He didn't know how many people lived here before the fall nor did he want to. The eery silence coming from within made him turn his attention to the outside.
  Despite having insurance strapped to his body, Y/N didn't dare go anywhere near the edge. The thought of a rogue gust of wind doing him in made the fruit in his stomach sour.
  Eventually, when the sun had set and he neared the junction of walls, he stood tired.
  There was no way he could make a fire here so that left him with the only option of going back down. He reached to the edge, to feel the wind and the snow pelting his palm.
  "HELLO?!" He shouted to the night sky. Of course, he didn't get a reply, but a chuckle left his lips when his voice echoed along the wall as if someone were there to say it right back.
  "I could go for a cup of coffee right about now..." He lamented before scaling back down the wall.