Vista - Attack on Titan x Reader

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: Forcing a Goodbye

⚠️Detailed gore warning⚠️
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I had a stronger stomach than I had realised.

It hadn't occurred to me just how much a human body could be broken down until I began to scoop up minced wads of flesh. Strewn down the streets, across the walls, dangling from ledges. Soldiers and civilians alike were merged together in unidentifiable clumps.

Shit...Levi says I'm messy...

I lost count of how many body parts I accidentally stepped on whilst making my way down the narrow streets, and I quickly numbed myself to the nasty crunch or squelch that was partnered with it. I was in a cleaning crew with Jean and Reiner, who were a little ways behind me, trying their best not to be sick as well. The medical masks did nothing to mask the reek of decay, as we were now on day two. The sun was beating down on us as we scraped and hauled, and I had no idea just how many corpses we had completely salvaged.

"Now I get why Petra and Eld told me I should've sat this out..." I muttered to myself, starting over towards a limbless mound I saw hunched over itself by the old tavern. My steps slowed as I got closer, and my mouth turned dry when I realised exactly who i had stumbled upon. "W..Wilbur..?"

There was no doubt in my mind that it was him. With wide, empty eyes, his head was lolled forward, and his mouth was gaping and filled with flies. Part of me wanted to scream once I came to a stop by the edge of the bloody pool surrounding him, but the other half felt completely unphased by the sight.

Reiner wouldn't have..? No..No, never. He got himself caught once...it just happened again...

"Do you recognise this solider, miss?" I snapped my head around when a young woman approached me. She freed a few strands of platinum blonde from beneath the frames of her glasses and pointed her pencil to my brother's remains. "I thought he looked a little familiar, but I can't seem to place him."

Swallowing my shock, I looked back into those dead, drying blue eyes and toyed with the tip of my tongue between my teeth for a few moments.
"Nope. Never seen the unlucky fucker in my life..."

Now you can be just like Dimitri...Rotting in an unmarked grave...

"Shame...Another family who'll just sit and suffer..." The woman frowned, meeting my eyes from behind foggy lenses. "I admire your skill, by the way. I saw you out there...We Garrison soldiers owe a great deal to you Scouts, and the cadets. You have my gratitude."
"Oh...uh, thanks. You guys did really well, too. I'm...um...sorry for all of your casualties...uh..?" I couldn't put a name to her face, and she quickly tucked her clipboard beneath her arm, extending her hand to me.

"Rico Brzenska. And you are..?" I stared at her hand for a moment before lifting my own, showing her that it was covered in less than pleasant fluid and gunk.
"(Y/N) (L/N). I'd shake your hand, but...yeah..." She laughed dryly, realising that it probably wasn't a good idea, before she hummed in thought.
"(L/N)...Huh, you wouldn't happen to be a relative of district commander (L/N), would you?"

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

Sweating, I shook my head frantically, likely startling the poor woman, who looked like she'd seen better days.
"N..nope! Uh, I've heard of him, though? Didn't he...um, die in the first wall breach..?" I questioned in a panic.
"Oh, yes, DC (L/N) senior fell in the Shiganshina tragedy. I'm talking about his son, Nicholas (L/N)." She explained, and I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth, trying to suppress a barrage of upchuck.

Nicho...

"Well, what a coincidence having the same name, huh? A..anyway, I better get back to work...I'm, uh, sorry for your losses, Rico." I gave her a brief wave and rushed past her, clutching my shovel tightly in my hot little hands. After the whole Wilbur incident, then finding his butchered body, I definitely wasn't prepared to deal with Nicholas as well. I could still see those teal green eyes staring down at us as he dangled us over the edge.