Attack on Titan: Shira's Eyes

New Genesis

YEAR: 2090

LOCATION: NEW YORK CITY

TIME: FRIDAY, 5:21 PM

"I'm serious, Shira, humans are evolving."

Joshua's words kept echoing in Shira's mind.

Shira paced down the sidewalk. From what she could tell, it was a beautiful evening.  The sun warmed her skin, soft and comfortable. Few people were out and about, but she could hear cars whizzing past her, their engines roaring or sputtering, and she could feel a rush of air as they passed.  Her dog trotted confidently in front of her, its nose always pointed forward, always resisting the alluring activity around it.  Shira had been down this street a number of times before, so she was fairly acquainted with its inhabitants, but she knew she was also being reckless.

Nowadays, you weren't supposed to go anywhere without a group of three or more people.  Unless you had a weapon, of course. But Shira, being an unpopular and a seventeen year old, had neither of these.

You see, in the year, 2089, the world had hit an all time record for violence. That's what Shira's grandparents said, since they were the kind of people who kept track of such statistics like this.  They had also lived in an earlier age, when the world  hadn't been so cruel and dark.

"Stay away from alleys," Shira thought, reciting her grandparents' warnings. "And away from behind buildings. Or underneath bridges. And don't go out after dark."

Shira's grandparents were her only living family. Both her mom and her dad had abandoned her and, whether they were living or dead, Shira didn't know.  She didn't count them as family. It was her grandparents that had always looked out for her, so she did her best to listen to them.

The only other person who really cared about her was Joshua, her best friend. Joshua was literally everything to Shira: she loved no one on earth more than him.  He was smart, kind, patient, but also strong and brave.  He, like her grandparents, was always looking out for her. And he looked down on the way the world had become.  In fact, Shira thought he was going a little too far, because he kept on saying things like, "Something bad is coming" or "humans are evolving".

The odd thing was, no one appreciated Joshua's presence like she did. I mean, he was such a nice boy, she didn't understand why people didn't pay more attention to him. Her schoolmates made fun of her whenever she brought him around, and her grandparents spoke to him awkwardly, in an exaggerated sort of way. Shira couldn't understand. Did he look funny? Did he actually do strange things that she wasn't aware of?

How could she know? After all, she was blind.

That's right, as blind as a bat.

"I'm an idot," she thought, quickening her stride. "I shouldn't be out alone like this."

It was true. The fact that she was alone and a girl was bad enough. The fact that she was blind made it ten times worse. Anyone could overpower her. She was helpless.

Unfortunately, that was the way you had to think nowadays.

"You shouldn't have to feel so insecure," she remembered Joshua telling her. "The world shouldn't make you feel like this."

She agreed with Joshua.  The world needed to change. Right now, actually.

Because she felt as if someone were following her.

What if she was wrong though? Maybe she was just being paranoid. Her hearing made acute by the fact that she was blind, she could hear footsteps behind her. She reasoned that someone else might be out walking; after all, it was a beautiful day, and it was a Friday night.