Resistance

Chapter 27

Eren

The stench of blood filled my nose and hung thick in the air around me. I was covered in it, clothes stained red under the bleak sun that offered no warmth. As the dense liquid dripped from my fists onto the ground below, I became acutely aware of how none of it was mine. Not a single drop. How many of them had I killed in my rage? A number didn't come to mind. Their faces were but a blur in my memory. All I knew was that they posed a threat to Levi, so they were expendable, and when they were gone, I would be able to go to him. That's all I could think about. That's all that mattered.

A groan interrupted my musing. I turned my head toward the sound. A soldier lay a few feet away from me, clutching his side. When he saw that I'd noticed him, he shook his head, frightened.

"Please," he pleaded, digging his heels into the dirt so he could push himself back.

I felt no sympathy for him. "If our positions were switched, would you spare my life?"

"I—I would!"

I walked over to where he lay. The smell of fear rose off him. It revolted me.

"Liar." I slammed my foot down on his chest. He coughed and blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth. "You would kill me in a heartbeat."

Both his hands closed around my ankle, but he had no hopes of moving my foot from his chest. "Please," he repeated.

"Your men came here with the intention of killing everyone who took shelter within this building. If you would have succeeded, it wouldn't have mattered to me so long as one man remained unharmed. But that was your mistake. You attacked him first." I shoved the toe of my boot against his throat. He sputtered. "Now I'll kill every last one of you. I won't stop until it is done."

"Monster," he bit out. He knew no amount of begging would save him. "You deserve to die. All of you do!"

I peered down at him so he could see the unnatural color of my eyes. "You're right. I am a monster, and I'm done letting insignificant humans like you rule my life."

I brought my foot down on his throat. His windpipe caved in under the weight. He struggled against me, nails digging and scratching at my ankle as he sucked in air that granted him no relief. I applied more pressure still and his eyes bulged in their sockets before they rolled back in his head. How easy it was to take someone's life. I'd become desensitized to it. I understood now how necessary it was for me to fight back. So I felt no remorse.

The man's hands fell away from my boot; body twitching for several minutes before it went completely still. I drew my foot back then and scanned the area around me. The sanctuary was engulfed in flames. Anyone who had made it out alive was long gone by now, taken away by Erwin in an old, shabby prison bus he'd kept hidden in a garage he had told no one about. I hoped he would make it to safety. I'd misjudged him. Accused him of being a traitor when he had done nothing to earn the title.

But who could be the one responsible for this?

I would kill whoever it was when I found out.

"Eren!" Farlan came running out from behind the building. When he reached me, his eyes dragged over the fallen soldier at my feet. I expected to see disapproval in his eyes, but what I saw there was sick satisfaction. The separation from his mate had made him cold.

I knew the feeling too well.

"Did you find a vehicle?" I asked.

"Yeah, one of theirs."