Fear

Chapter 11: The Commander

Commander Erwin is tall and for the first time, I get to see the entirety of him in the light.

He looks to be taller than me by a bit, and he's broad. His shoulders are thick and he's fairly muscular- much more so than I am. He has a strong jaw and high cheekbones. His hair is neatly cut and blond in color, and his eyes are a sharp blue that look really intense. All in all he looks fairly young, I wouldn't think he'd be more than 30. Not that I'd know- I suck at guessing ages.

If he wasn't the Scout Commander, he could've easily been one of those models in wall Sina.

"Gabriel Brandt, I'm Commander Erwin Smith of the Scouting Legion." His words are spoken firmly, demanding respect as he shakes the teen's hand.

'His hands are huge compared to mine...'

"Please take a seat." Gabriel says nothing as he sits in the seat across from the Commander. His back is straight as a board, and he tries not to shift as Erwin looks over him, "This shouldn't take long."

The boy nods, swallowing tensely as Erwin looks away reading over a manila file.

"You were ranked #10 in the camp before the mission to reclaim wall Maria?"

"Yes sir,"

"It says in your file you got 28 solo kills and 53 assists on the titan dummies- most of those benefiting another cadet- Michael Brandt. This allowed him to be ranked #4." The blond looks into his eyes, "Why is that?"

Gabriel clears his throat, struggling to maintain eye contact, "We're brothers, sir. Twins actually. I wanted to make sure he placed well."

"Raphael Brandt was also your brother, was he not?"

"He was. However we had a falling out before the camp." Erwin nods, looking back into the file.

"You and your brother were one of the 160 that made it out of Wall Maria. Most of the survivors made it out within the first 3 days, but not you." Erwin looks up again, "Why is that?"

"Luck, mostly." Gabriel swallows harshly, looking down into his lap. " Michael lost his arm on the first day- he lost it after..." Gabriel's stomach stirs uncomfortably- the image of Raphael's corpse being swallowed is still fresh in his mind and Michael's screams as his arm was bitten clean off still rings in his hears. He can still see the blood leaking out of the stump as he tried to-

"-Brandt?" A hand on his shoulder shakes him from his daze, but his stomach still feels sick- the image still creeping behind his eye lids.

"Michael lost his arm after killing the titan that ate Raphael Brandt." Gabriel, continues on taking on a detached tone as if he was a historian telling details of a war he had no part in, "After that he passed out and the titans deactivated..."

"Deactivated?" Erwin prods, as Gabriel's brows furrow.

"It's like after sunset the titans just... shut down, like a toy with the batteries taken out." Gabriel shifts, " We stayed alive by making fire with the debris from houses. I..." Gabriel tries to swallow down a bit of bile, "I cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding. During the day, I killed any titans that got close, and at night I raided houses for supplies. Then on day 14, you guys showed up."

"And the two of you managed to do this while Michael was down an arm?"

"Michael was unconscious for the first 10 days. We just got lucky- My guess is that since wall Maria is so big, the titans just spread out."

"Even so, you must've taken out quite a few titans to have survived- all while taking care of someone injured and unconscious. That's impressive." Gabriel just shakes his head in response,

'I couldn't save Raphael, and Michael lost an arm because of me- I wouldn't call that impressive' Gabriel thinks bitterly.

"I just did what I had to in order to survive." Gabriel glances up at the stoic commander, but his face reveals nothing.

"I am curious about something- how did you know to cauterize the wound? They don't go over that in standard training," Erwin arches a brow at the teenager.

"They don't, I was Dr. Jeager's apprentice in Shiganshina."

"I see. I have no further questions for you regarding the Wall Maria reclamation mission." Gabriel stands, ready to finally go and visit his brother, "However, after seeing your extraordinary survival skills I would like to formally invite you to the Scouting legion as a part of the Special Operations Squad."

"I-" Gabriel swallows for what seems to be the hundredth time, "Can I give you my answer another time? I'd like to see my brother."

Erwin smiles, as if he knows something that Gabe doesn't, "Of course, you're dismissed."

Gabriel nods, disappearing behind the door in which he entered as Erwin leans back in his chair. He only waits a few more minutes before someone else shows up in his office.

"Where's the brat?" The mystery man crosses his arms over his chest, scowling at the commander.

"All in due time," He smiles gesturing for the other man to sit in the recently vacated chair.

"Tch. Scheming 1connard."

Meanwhile, Gabriel maneuvers through the empty halls. He doesn't know where he's going, but he just lets his mind wander as he tries to find the infirmary.

'Haven't I sacrificed enough? I just want to go home.'

~Translations~

1Connard means asshole loosely.