Will of the Broken (Levi x OC)

Chapter 65: Hell's Greetings

Warning: character death and anxiety.

"So the long-range scouting formation works just like this all the time?" Eren asked as we rode in the heat of the day, keeping our eyes focused.

"Eren, the whole formation is a forward-facing semicircle. We're all positioned equidistant to one another and can all see signal flares that fire on all sides. This is all to extend our spotting and signal range as far as it can go. You were taught all this," I said hastily, pointing out a red smoke signal from the right. "What's that one stand for?"

"They spotted a Titan." He answered sheepishly - a bit weakly too -from behind me.

"Now, what are we waiting and watching for?" I quizzed gently, trying to soothe the boy a bit - having calmed down myself.

"The green smoke signal from Commander Erwin that will redirect the formation." He responded, perking up just a little bit.

"There you go, Eren. See? When you pay attention, things work out." Eld chimed in and clapped proudly at the teen boy.

After a few more red smoke signals, a green one was shot off to the left, redirecting the whole formation in that a matter of seconds.

"This whole formation's purpose is to avoid as many Titans as we possibly can while traveling. However, it's got flaws. Sometimes, the ruins harbor Titans out of our direct line of sight." I explained casually, taking a moment to look around again.

All the red smoke was starting to fade and the world around us was starting to get quieter.

After a while, dread once again clawed at the confines of my stomach. It was too quiet, and the length of time after the last red signal was too long of an interval to be comfortable.

Could it be an abnormal or something?

Was it her?

A black pillar of smoke tore through the sky in front of us, catching my eyes and making my stomach clench painfully.

I had studied the formation and who was taking which position enough times to know who fired that flare.

Cis and Ness.

As far as I knew no one knew of our solid location, but we knew theirs. Armin wasn't too far away from that flare.

To my knowledge, Armin has only ever dealt with normal Titans from Trost. Not abnormals.

I shook my head and kept my eyes open for any more black signals.

"Captain, this doesn't feel right." I said, turning to look at Levi. He made eye contact but said nothing in response as he looked back at the fading black smoke.

"Keep your pace. The others can handle it." He ordered steadily.

Minutes later, one yellow signal fired form where Armin should be located ahead of us. Usually purple meant an emergency, why were termination rounds being fired instead?

Was it to signal a different kind of emergency?

A whole swarm of yellow signals flew high from where the right-wing spotters would be.

That only meant one thing.

Mass Casualties.

"What the hell is happening over there?" I whispered shakily, not intending for anyone to hear, but of course Levi does.

"There's many possibilities." He sighed and gave my shoulders two soft taps. Earlier in the month, we established -with each other privately - this as a signal to be on guard and watch for the enemy. It's stealthy and useful in these situations.