Attack on Titan: Survival and Dedication - Male Reader

PART FOUR

The trench stretched for as far as the eye could see. It was composed of tight turns and deep tunnels. And as tired as they were of the awful stench of war, the occasional breeze was a welcome change from the musty infirmary.
  "This was the fallback point?" Yvonne whispered.
  Between her mask and the ringing in her ears, Alessandra had to scoot closer to even make out what she said.
  "It was." Black, sooted rock and sand crumbled beneath the nurse as she got comfortable. The crater they rested in gave them a good view of the land and the trench they had run.
  "What happened? We had them on the run. The Warriors had pushed—"
  "The Female Titan's dead." Alessandra sighed. "It was a trap and the Eldian Vanguard... I heard they made them pay for it in blood."
  "How much further did they advance?" The news hit Yvonne harder than her nurse knew. The mask hid it well.
  "At least another twenty miles to their capital. From there they pushed us back. We... we were the unlucky few who couldn't make the evacuation."
  "Right..." Yvonne removed her helmet and placed it at the end of her bayonet. Then with a slow and steady hand, pushed it to the edge of the crater, barely showing the upper dome before revealing the lower crown.
  "Do you think they followed us?" Alessandra asked, worried.
  "No." Yvonne donned her helmet and stuffed its straps up toward her temple. "But they'll know we're here. Our best chance at getting out of here is through all of that."
  She threw a quick thumb at the barren landscape. No Man's Land, miles upon miles of craters, corpses, and barbed wire. It stunk of death and chemicals, making Alessandra's stomach go sour.
  "We'll wait until nightfall." Yvonne sighed. She reached over and plucked a couple of grenades from Alessandra's waist before peeking out from their crater.
  "Wait here." She ordered and then was off. She didn't stray far enough for Alessandra's nerves to get the better of her. The faint sound of her slow and cautious footsteps eased her worries.
  She pulled the pack from her shoulder and took inventory. Rummaging through it she found hastily added items Yvonne deemed a necessity over everything else.
  She'd packed two canteens of rainwater, what little food the scouts had with them, and a few clips for her rifle.
  Setting the bag aside, she added the pouches of medical supplies and personals that gave her pause.
   Her book had been added into the mix. With only a light stain of dust over its hard cover it was otherwise fine.
  Later. She thought and set it aside.
  At the very bottom of the pouch was a leather flap holding pages of notes, possibly letters. The writing was far more soft in appearance when compared to the yellow parchment in later pages.
  Paging through the leather out of a morbid curiosity, she let out a soft gasp of shock.
  A picture was framed inside, showing a mustached man with a woman and child. She couldn't make out anything else when the journal slipped from her hands and lay in the dark sand.
  She swallowed and shook her head in denial; the smell of blood suddenly coming to her nose. With hands clamped over her mouth, she sobbed.
  The soft aroma of her looted uniform made her stomach churn as the man returned in a mental flash. She could remember him all the way down to the liver spot on his cheek and the mustache that was longer and thicker than in the photo.
  His pale visage made her want to puke but she was only met with a painful dry heave.
  She sniffled and coughed, expelling what little saliva she had. When Yvonne returned it took a mere glance at the fallen journal to tell her what had happened.
  "Forget all of that." Yvonne whispered coldly as she took the journal and tossed it into the trench.
  "How—" The nurse frowned in what seemed to be disgust. "h-how could you be so cruel?" Alessandra croaked.
  "I..." Yvonne hesitated with a frown growing underneath her mask. Never did she consider such feelings. Such things were as worthless as money out here.
  Was that a bad thing? To be so cold and unforgiving? She couldn't find the answer and was fine with that.
  "Here." She relented and handed her nurse a looted gas mask. Alessandra only fixed it with a look of distress.
  "Get a hold of yourself." She told her. "What did you think was going to happen? That they would've just sent you home...?"
  "I don't know." Alessandra whimpered with a shake of her head. "I-I don't know..."
  "Now put it on." Yvonne shoved the leather mask deep into her stomach. "You'll thank me later..."