Hometown

Chapter 13 - The Dash to HQ

Once Armin broke the news that Eren was dead, Mikasa left us, claiming we were weak and she was strong. She said she would defeat the Titans around HQ on her own, and then we could get our gas canisters and retreat as we were ordered. Although she made herself appear calm and emotionless at the mention of Eren's death, I could tell she was crushed. Jean, who had previously been slick and calm, seemed to be losing his spark as well. I ran over to him and Connie, leaving Armin once again.

"Was that supposed to be an inspirational speech?" Jean asked demandingly. He was right. What Mikasa had said looked to have given the cadets a drop in morale. Even Reiner seemed unsure of how to proceed. "This is your fault Eren!" Jean exclaimed aloud, as though Eren were there to hear. "Listen up! Were we trained to let our fellow soldiers fight alone?! Do you really want to become cowards?!" His rage drove everyone forward. "Follow Mikasa!" Jean shouted, but in reality, we were following him.

We had to move fast, but also conserve our gas. Watching Mikasa, it was evident she was moving too quickly. She eliminated the Titans in our path, but at any moment she was going to run out of juice.

Her maneuver gear let out it's final spurts of gas, and my prediction had come to pass. As Mikasa fell, Armin and Connie chased after her. I continued to follow Jean. After a minute of speeding towards HQ, Jean stopped on a roof and we all landed with him.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked. He turned to me, with a distraught look.

"It's hopeless... We can't even get close to HQ, not unless we're willing to risk casualties." Looking in the distance, HQ was still far away and many Titans were in our path. Below us on the ground, a cadet had lost gas and a Titan picked him up. His friends came to help, but they too were devoured. As Jean looked on, the panic in his eyes was rising. His teeth were clenched, and he gripped his ODM gear tightly.

"Hey..." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You got this. Just lead us and we'll follow you. We have trust in you." He looked at me, and back at the Titans. I turned to see everyone on the roof waiting for his command. Reiner, Marco, Sasha, Bertholdt, Annie, and a few others. Everything and everyone was depending on Jean.

"Now! We run to HQ now!" Jean leapt off the roof and onto the one below us. The Titans were distracted with their meal as we switched between running and using our ODM gear along the roofs. It was sure to conserve our gas. As we got closer to HQ, we were forced to use our maneuver gear rather than running in order to avoid Titans.

"Shit!" I screamed. All at once, a large Titan grabbed my wire, jolting me back so that I collapsed to the ground. I lay there for a second, unable to move. My head was hurting. Slowly, I picked myself up off the ground and felt the painful spot at the back of my head. To the touch, my hand felt something wet. Bringing my hand back in front of me, I saw blood that covering my palm. I felt lightheaded and a bit nauseous. I saw the Titan making its way toward me. I tried to walk forward, but my surroundings appeared to move, and I couldn't balance myself.

Is this the end? I wondered.

All at once, a booming voice could be heard from behind me.

"How do you like that, bastard?!" Reiner shouted as he sliced through the Titans' nape from behind. He quickly glided back down to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright? Oh no..." He looked at the back of my head. "[Y/N], you're bleeding. Can you still use your gear?" I looked to him, but his face was blurry. No matter how much I wanted to, I realized if I could barely distinguish the features of his face, there was no way I could orient myself to use the ODM gear.

"I don't think so," I replied. He stared at me for a moment.

"Well there's no way I'm leaving you here." Reiner exclaimed. He looked at me from head to toe, trying to figure something out. "I think I could carry you... Try wrapping your legs around me." I looked at him, astonished that he would suggest such a thing.