ZOMBIE {EREN JAEGER}

01: A Dark Day

"these zombies in the park they're looking for my heart,

a dark world aches for a splash of the sun"

-Cough Syrup by Young the Giant

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Year 845

Charlotte chased him up the hill. He was much faster than her with his long legs and lanky arms. He turned around and taunted her, urging her to go faster. So she did. But it didn't matter because seconds later she was being passed by his friends. "Come on Lottie, you got more in you!" Colin coaxed from the top of the hill. He was bent over with his hands on his knees and let out large huffs of air. When his friends reached him they pushed him playfully. He fell over laughing loudly as they threw themselves on top of them to make a pile. 

Charlotte slowed down at the sight. Her brother was no longer paying attention to her. What was the point anymore anyways? All she had wanted was to prove her speed to him and she had already failed. She used her palm to push her hair out of her face and slowed her breathing as she reached the top of the hill. The boys were pushing and taunting one another. She rolled her eyes at the sight and decided to sit at the base of the tall tree. The sight in front of her was one she had grown used to. The hill was right before the gates to Shiganshina. Flowers covered the plains to her right and a creek flowed around the base of the hill to the left. Unfortunately, the tall walls blocked her view of the city, but if she laid on her back and looked up at the sky it was as if the walls didn't exist, as if Titans didn't exist. 

The young girl dug her bare feet into the grass. Despite her mother's protests and her brother's whines she had gone barefoot from her house to the hill. She didn't like the confines shoes because it didn't allow her to feel the earth beneath her feet, grounding her, reminding her that she was alive. Charlotte curled her toes in the grass and felt the blades lightly tickle her feet. With a sigh she laid on her back and looked up at the sky. 

Ideas of the outside world never quite left her brain. Charlotte had always wondered if one day humans would be able to see the rest of the world again without the fear of getting eaten. She hoped that she would be able to explore one day.

"She's daydreaming again," one of the boys whined. 

"Why does she always have to tag along, Colin?" Another one asked. 

Charlotte ignored them as Colin came to her defense. "It's not like she causes any trouble. She's just my little sister, Mom makes her come along. I doubt she even wants to be here with us anyways." 

She wanted to be there. She wanted to be everywhere Colin was. He was her hero, and he knew it too. Colin did his best to be the person she imagined him to be but always feared he was messing it up. 

Soon enough she saw his thin face leaning over her. His brown hair flowing in the wind. He poked at her face and she scrunched her nose. "What do you want?" She grumbled. 

Colin rolled his eyes. "Just to see if you're okay after that run. I'm surprised your little body could keep up that much." 

She scoffed. "I was able to keep up fine. I'm the fastest out of my friends you know." 

"What friends?"

Charlotte sat up and pushed him, but her weak little arms didn't do much. He raised his eyebrows in a face that said, 'really?'. 

"Say sorry!" she pouted. 

Colin sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'm sorry. You're very fast for your age and size, Lottie," he conceded and put his arm around her. He pulled her into his side and ignored the strange looks his friends gave him.