ZOMBIE {EREN JAEGER}

05: As if he could do it all on his own

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"I know you hate to be impressed

With someone else other than yourself

But you know, trying to hold back on being an asshole helps"

-the strokes, fear of sleep

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847

The snow was so deep that when Charlotte stepped out of her barracks porch and into the snow she sunk down to her chin and couldn't pull herself out. She had sat there for two hours, beginning to freeze to death as the other cadets worked to dig her out. Eren laughed in her face before the Commandant told him he sounded like a dying animal. He quickly shut his mouth and Jean gave him a shovel with a glare. All the boys waded through the snow with ease, the only one who didn't have a height advantage was Connie. Mikasa and Ymir also seemed to have little trouble.

That entire day was spent digging snow and piling it out of the way of the training grounds. Then, once it was done, Sadies made them run laps. He assigned Charlotte a 5-kilometer run in 19 minutes, which wasn't as bad as it could have been. He had once tried to make her do a 5-kilometer run in seventeen, and that had been extremely difficult. She had even puked when she finished and collapsed on the ground, much to the other cadets' horror. Jean had broken formation to come and pick her up and try and get her somewhere she could rest but the Sadies only kicked him in the gut and told him to return to formation. He did so with a disgruntled look on his face that earned him another punch in the stomach.

After the shoveling and the running, Sadies announced that they would be doing a wilderness training exercise causing collective contempt among the cadets which was the main topic of conversation at dinner that night.

Charlotte was probably the most pissed off by it all because she had been stuck in the snow earlier that morning and it had bothered her all day and given her a never-ending chill. "If you can't handle it then leave, Cadieux," Eren spat at her during dinner. She had been ranting to Jean and Marco, who had been listening intently and sympathizing with her. She was stuck in the snow for two hours unable to move, for god sake, she didn't want to do a training exercise out there in the wilderness where she could sink into a hole at any moment. Half of the cadets probably wouldn't even notice that she was gone.

Charlotte stood up so forcefully at Eren's statement that the bench was pushed backward, even with Jean's weight on it. The entire room went silent as she shot daggers at Eren and he smirked at her. She pursed her lips and turned on her heel, stalking out of the mess hall. "I guess that's my answer then," Eren called to her.

"Eren, why do you always have to do that?" Armin scolded as Charlotte slammed the door behind her. She hugged herself and stood outside for a moment. She had wanted to explode at him but held herself back. It would've been a waste of energy, she told herself. She looked out into the snowy night and sighed. Charlotte moved to walk back to the girls' barracks when the mess hall door opened again, revealing Jean.

He quickly made his way over to her and threw his right arm around her. He rubbed her shoulder to give her some warmth by friction. He blew out a puff of air that created a cloud in front of them. "You okay, Lottie? I've never seen you do that before," he said softly.

Charlotte quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do what?"

"Back down from Eren."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "He wasn't worth the energy," she said calmly. They quickly made their way to the girls' barracks and Jean followed her inside and watched as she dug under her pillow for her comb. When she found it she held it out to him and he raised his eyebrows.