Will of the Broken (Levi x OC)

Chapter 41: Near Death Experience

Warning: description of a death.

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Armin's plan was working, and that filled me with pride for him.

Honestly, leading the Abnormal to the desired area was easier than we initially thought.

After killing the two the Abnormal was fighting, the rest was a breeze.

"Brace yourself, Section-Commander!" Armin yelled jerking his head in the direction of the building we desired to be in. "You may sustain more minor injuries."

I looked. We were heading directly towards the windows of the building. Breaking through the glass was easy enough, but landing after the fact was difficult.

You've got to be kidding! Of course I am going to gain more injuries! It's been more than two hours... Can I just sleep now?

"Do what you have to, Armin. I trust you." My mouth had spoken without my mind, and before I knew it we were flying full speed at the windows. I shrunk into his body and prepared myself. He was warm, so I focused on that aspect and let the rest happen while I was relaxed.

As we crashed through one of the giant, gorgeous windows glass sprayed around us and Armin dropped me. I knew it was unintentional, but the weight my body already had on it was unbearable. Armin rolled next to me and then sat up much quicker than I could in the moment.

The boards below me were cold, and rough on my skin despite being new. Air hit me from the right side. When I looked there was a gaping hole in the wall and Jean standing there like a sitting duck and a deer seeing light in the distance. Connie and Mikasa followed close behind us, shattering the window close by and sending glass everywhere just like us.

Glass surrounded the area while I groaned on the ground. This floor was likely disgusting. Why did it smell like blood?

I sat up and looked around. That was a mistake. I should have ignored the acrid metallic scent of blood.

Tables boxed in a section of the room and held cowering recruits. In one of the corners sat a body with a mangled, lifeless face.

His jaw was hanging open with blood sticking to his chin and neck. The back of his head was torn open and painted the bookshelves behind the table. Beside him laid a bloody rifle with a black ring around the barrel.

Blood danced along those bookshelves behind his corpse. There it sat with chunks of brain and bone. As if the smell alone wasn't bad enough that sight made me sick.

Poor things must have been terrified out of their minds, both seeing that and the Titans.

Nausea flooded my senses and I turned my head away. My stomach churned and dropped simultaneously, leaving me feeling absolutely disgusting. This was a nightmare.

How's that for a reminder? Do you remember your first day seeing someone like that?

The nasty voice in my head took hold and I shook it away desperately. Now wasn't the time. I didn't want to remember it.

I had seen something like this before. It made my head hurt just thinking about it, and how I could have done something. How I could have reached out more.

In the end, I couldn't carry that regret with me.

"If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions."

Erwin's words rang true in every situation, even if the accident took place a few years before he even said them.

"Section-Commander. You should get some rest now. I'll wake you up in 15 minutes, okay? Apparently things have worsened here." Mikasa muttered, grabbing me from the ground. She took me downstairs into a dimly lit room with a lift in it. It must have been used for moving heavier supplies.