The Boy I Knew

11. Beast Among Men

The stress and adrenaline of the situation must have gotten to me. All I can hope now is that Miche is alright and that he's sent someone after me. Reminding yourself that you had been brave for him, you quelled any tears that threatened to show. A heaviness in your chest was replaced by anger that this even happened. How could the titan talk? And why did it have fur when the others didn't? It was almost as if they were human.

Human... Were there other shifters like Eren? Colossal, Armored, Female... Beast.

The revelation hit you. Surely Eren couldn't be just the only one right? Not just a fluke? They were all too intelligent and abnormal in appearance to be normal titans. Breaking walls down not once, but twice. They're looking for something. Light spilled over you as you were greeted with a man, scratching his ear.

"Oh, good. You're up." He leaned back against the door frame and crossed his arms. "We weren't properly introduced earlier. My name's Zeke."

There was a moment of silence before you realized he wanted to speak. "Y/N." You didn't want to give any information about yourself without him asking for it. You were going to make this as annoying as possible. He smiled, the beard he sported was unkempt, making him look like he was homeless.

"Do you live out of that titan of yours?" You weren't expecting this lean, dingy man to come out of the monster that had carried you here. Expecting him to be older, he looked to be about thirty, give or take a couple years.

"I'll ask the questions." He snorted at your comment. "Why don't you come out here into the light?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Always, but you won't like the end results." Following him into the adjacent room, you sat across from him with a lantern lighting his face. It made the rest of the room darker, but you could hear the quiet shuffles of others.

"What do you want?" With the way he looked at you, it made him look dead and soulless. Deciding to take that at face value, you prayed that you were found.

"What is the gear that your friend was using?"

"ODM. I don't really know anything about it."

"Why were you with him, then? Are you not part of the military?"

"No."

"Is the gear used to kill the titans?"

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, you saw him use it."

"Sarcasm won't get you anywhere, dear."

"Calling me dear won't either."

"You know I can't let you leave here alive, right?"

"The Commander will find me before then." Not wanting to give him information on your relationship with him, you left him nameless. Your voice was devoid of any emotion.

"What makes you think that I'm not going to kill you right now?" He looked behind you as a gun was pressed against the back of your head. Hearing it click, you panicked.

"Because while I may not be in the military, I am a nurse. I've worked with them, hence why you found me today." The gun remained unwavering. "You said you wanted answers. I can answer them to the best of my ability."

"Pieck." A hand gesture from the man made the gun drop. A woman came out from behind you and it floored you that you hadn't even known she was there to begin with. Quiet, she had her long, black hair pulled up. She wore a white button down shirt, skirt and tan jacket with a red band around it. Remaining nearby, she kept her eyes on you and it made you uneasy.

"We're looking for someone in particular." Zeke commanded your attention again. Raising an eyebrow, you asked for more information. "We're looking for someone who is able to shift into a titan. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"I might."

"And?"

"What are you wanting with him?"

"Him? We want him and that's all you need to know." You took a moment to deliberate. Eren was the only one you knew who could change, but if Colossal and Armored were shifters as well, then there had to be someone else inside the walls who could shift as well.

"Armored and Colossal..."

"Are ours." He finished your thought. "Who we sent to get your titan."

"Then why do you need to know about him?"

"Just answer the question." You were stalling and he knew it.

"His name is Eren. He's a part of the military." You hated yourself for outing him like this, but if it kept you from dying, then maybe you could get back to Erwin and...

"Does Eren have a last name?"

"Jaeger." This was the first time he had any emotion on his face; a look of shock and maybe hurt? He changed the subject.

"Tell me about this Commander of yours."

"There's nothing much I could tell you about him other than name. However," You proposed, "If you could get me back to my friend, assuming he's still alive like you say he is, then he can get me back inside the walls."

"Do you think I'm dumb?"

"No, but I wasn't finished. Let me go back inside the walls and I can get Eren for you. He trusts me enough that he won't second guess coming with me. You can wait for me outside of the walls and have your people take him."

"You really do think I'm stupid. The second you enter the walls, you'll go straight to the government and tell him about us." He caught onto what you were thinking.

"Do you really think that they're going to believe that I saw a giant, hairy titan? This was my first time coming out with the military. They're going to think that I'm insane, especially with no one to back me up!" Hoping reasoning would work, you were surprised to hear a chuckle from him.

"I suppose you'd be right about that. I'm going to put my faith in you. I actually plan on meeting the people I sent in there later tonight. I'll have them take you in." Too stunned to speak, you were amazed that it worked. Standing up, he offered you a hand that you accepted.