Dangerous Territory

The Internment Camp

Galliard scoffed. "So, you dressed him up as a woman and tried to pretend he was just some whore?"

Haughtily, Eren said, "Mouths feel the same, women or Jews. That's all it was; just his mouth."

"Are you sure?" Kitz asked, obviously not believing him.

"Of course. I mean, look! I'm married, and my wife is expecting a baby," he said, leaning into that lie they told everyone. "So as you can see, I'm not homosexual. I never once let him do something as disgusting as fucking my ass, nor did I fuck his. It was only his hands and mouth." He looked over to Reiner. "You know what I did to my friends in Napola. You were there that day! I turned on those little shits for being faggots. They were disgusting, and I punished them for it. I killed Grützmacher for being a faggot too. He wanted an ass; I don't. Mouth and hands only, because I am not a faggot."

Kitz said softly, "Are you saying you have no feelings for this Jew? Did you save his life out of pity, perhaps because he fell in love with you?"

Eren scoffed and shook his head. "Love? That's ridiculous. I had to force him into it. You used to say, we kept him around for his mouth. Well, it's the same now, except instead of translating, he made a handy hole for my dick. He was convenient, that's all."

Kitz pulled out his gun and offered it to Eren. "Prove your innocence."

Eren gulped hard at the metallic shine of the barrel in the harsh light of a naked light bulb overheard. "Wait, prove my innocence?" he cried out in surprise. He had said all that hoping to take blame off Levi.

"Yes, Jäger. If he was just a hole to put your cock in and no different from some whore, prove it. Shoot him in the head, just like you did to that other Jew the day we left that godforsaken village. He won't be set free either way, but I'd be willing to overlook your transgression if you prove this was nothing more than using a Jew for some sexual release."

"Herr Hauptmann!" Galliard shouted in protest, but Kitz had a smirk twisting on his lips.

Eren looked at the gun, then over to Levi.

Although Levi had heard all this in a language he did not know, he grasped enough. Eren had a chance to go free, but the cost was to kill him.

"Do it," he whispered. "Live, no matter the price."

Eren's lower lip began to tremble. "The price is too high," he whispered, knowing there was no way he could do it, even if the consequences meant death for them both.

"Well, Jäger?" Kitz urged, nudging the revolver closer.

Eren closed his eyes in defeat.

Kitz returned the gun to his holster, looking deeply disappointed. Then he plowed his fist into Eren's gut. He was slammed up against the cold wall again, coughing in pain as the captain's fist felt like it reached all the way back to his spine. Kitz yanked Eren up by the hair and ripped the Knight's Cross off his neck.

"To think, a Jew-loving faggot would be honored with this," he snarled, shaking the medal in Eren's face.

Eren's eyes snapped open and glowered at the captain. "Do you think you deserve it, the man who stabbed himself in the leg just to get out of a battle because he couldn't handle a single artillery strike? The lowest soldat in my platoon is a million times more brave than you. At least they stayed, fought, and died for the Reich, which is more than you will ever be able to claim."

Kitz punched Eren again, and he collapsed to the ground, coughing and spitting blood from his mouth. He still turned his head up and glared defiantly.

"You're a coward, Woermann. You will always be a coward."