Your Promise | Shingeki No Kyojin ;; Eren Jaeger |

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rose

The remaining cadets soar through the city, avoiding contact with any Titans to reach HQ unscathed. Mikasa leads us, speeding ahead to the point where it's difficult for us to keep up.

"If she keeps using her gas like that, she won't make it!" As soon as I think this, her tank runs out of gas and she crashes to the ground in an alleyway.

"Mikasa!!" I call out. I try to go help but Conny and Armin beat me to it.

"Keep going! Jean, you lead everyone now!" Conny then disappears in Mikasa's direction and I catch up to Jean in the front.

Jean's eyes shake with worry as he stares off at the hoard of Titans ahead. "Jean, we'll be alright," I reassure him. He clicks his tongue, ignoring my words and shaking his head, going further ahead of everyone.

• • •

We stand on a roof, catching our breath and checking our tanks. As I look toward HQ, the number of Titans has grown steadily. "Will we make it...?" I quietly question.

"Help! Please, help!" Someone shouts. Everyone looks below to see a fellow cadet, running in the streets.

"He ran out of gas!" A Titan chases from behind, quickly gaining on my classmate.

"I'm coming-" I reply only to be held back by a hand grabbing my wrist. I turn to face Jean, his brows furrowed and his forehead wrinkled. "Jean let me save him! I can't let him die!"

"And I'm saving you because you can't die either!" He spits back.

I look back at the boy in the street being picked up and swallowed whole by the Titan, screaming for his life until the bitter end. I cover my mouth with my hand, clenching my teeth. "I'm sorry..."

"Come on! Head to HQ while it's distracted!" Jean announces and we all follow.

As everyone tries to evade the attacks of the Titans, I hear the screams and cries of my fellow soldiers behind me. I grip the handle of my gear tightly, trying to keep my cool. I glance back to the group and announce, "We're almost there!"

When I face forward, a Titan's hand grabs a hold of my left leg, tightening its grip on my leg and crushing the bones inside. I shriek in pain as I feel blood seeping out of my skin, and tremble as I bring up my blade, slicing the hand of the Titan off. It releases its hold and I make my escape, suppressing tears from the pain of my injuries. As I approach the window of HQ, I cross my arms in front of my face for protection and kick the glass with my uninjured right leg, rolling on the ground once I reach the inside. The broken glass cuts my face and legs until I hit a wooden desk. I reach for the top of the desk to help myself up and use one of my blades as a cane to support myself. I look upon the group of soldiers that made it out alive; our numbers have decreased significantly.

Desks clatter to the ground and I look to my left, seeing a soldier who guarded HQ sprawled on the ground with Jean about to charge at them but Marco restrains him. "You guys are the ones who abandoned us!" Jean shouts in rage. "People died because of your actions!!"

"The Titans overran the supply room!! There was nothing we could do!" A girl yells back, blood splattered across her face.

"That's your job to deal with, you idiot!!" Jean fights back.

A roar from the outside silences everyone in the room, making the air still creating nerve-wracking anticipation. The wall on the other side of the room from where I stand crashes, sending people flying. Titans stare into the gaping hole in the wall, smiling as if to mock us. "There are too many people here!!" Everyone rushes to the exit, crowding the door and pushing one another to flee.

As I limp to the door, I notice Jean staring back at the beasts in horror. "Jean, we have to go!" I yell over everyone.

I look to the Titan's faces and freeze for a moment, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. A fist collides with their faces, shooting them away from the walls of HQ. The Titan who sent the two to the ground walks into the view of the hold on the wall. I rush over to the hole and hold on to the edges for support. Their shaggy brown hair rests like a mop on its head. Their turquoise eyes gaze at me, making eye contact with a murderous glow in them. The Titan then turns back to the Titans and proceeds to kill them.

"What on Earth is that thing?!"

"Rose, you're here!" Armin calls out to me and I turn to see him entering with Mikasa and Conny.

"Thank God you guys are still alive!" I exclaim, tears almost coming to my eyes.

"You can't stop us that easily!" Conny winks and I chuckle.

"What about you? What happened to your leg?" Armin questions with alarm in his voice when he notices that I'm struggling to stand.

"A Titan got to me... I'm alright though-"

"No, you need to be treated, that looks really bad, Rose," Mikasa comments. I can't even disagree with her, my leg looks disfigured like a willow tree's branches. I'm shocked that I'm enduring the pain--it must be from the adrenaline. 

"Come on, we have to go to the basement and rid of the Titans down there so we can restock and treat your wounds," Mikasa says as she wraps my left arm around the back of her neck so I can use her for support. Conny offers the same support to me on my right side even though I can walk on my right leg. 

"Wait, Mikasa, what's that Titan out there?" I hastily inquire.

"It's... Quite a remarkable Abnormal Titan. But it'll help us, we just need to stay out of their way for it to do its job. It's our only way of surviving right now."