Resistance

Chapter 26

When I came to – the world nothing but a fog of distorted shapes and sounds that took an eternity to form into something recognizable – I had no idea where I was or how I got there. I couldn't even remember what had happened before I blacked out. My thoughts were a scrambled mess. No matter how hard I tried to make sense of it all, everything remained a blur, but there was something at the edge of my mind that kept coming back. What was it? A memory? Why did it seem so important for me to remember it?

"I think he's waking up, Hanji," someone said, their voice unnaturally low.

"Make sure you don't let him get up, you hear me? And keep applying pressure to his wound."

I forced my eyes open and saw nothing but blobs of colors that wouldn't focus. It didn't matter. Passed the dryness of my mouth, I croaked out, "Where am I?"

"Shh, you're fine. You're fine now," the voice said.

"Where's Eren?"

Suddenly the memories came rushing back to me faster than I could process them. I was shot in the arm. The sanctuary was under attack when it happened, ambushed by armed soldiers coming from the forest. I remember trying to make my way down to the medical wing before they could reach the building, but not making it far enough to evade them. If Eren hadn't come and carried me away, they would have caught up to me. What would they have done with me if they had?

And what happened after that?

"Answer me," I demanded when no one spoke up. "Tell me where he is." I tried to sit up, panicked, but someone held me down.

"You've lost a lot of blood, Levi." The voice was starting to level out and sound familiar as my senses came back to me. "You can't get up right now."

"Then answer my question. Where is Eren?"

"It's all right, Isabel. I'll take it from here." After a long pause, the other person continued, "This is Hanji, Levi. I injected you with a powerful opioid about half an hour ago, so you're probably feeling a little fuddled right now. I know you're eager to find out what's happening, but before I tell you anything, I want you to promise me that you won't try to get up. You're not in any condition to be moving around freely. I'm surprised you even regained consciousness."

"I won't get up. Just tell me what happened to Eren."

She sighed. "By the time any of us realized what was going on, it was too late to do anything to defend ourselves. The soldiers had the building surrounded and we were trapped inside. There wasn't a way for anyone to get out without running into them." Another pause, this one followed by a shaky breath. "Eren knew the only possible way to get you out of there without us being attacked or followed was if he stayed behind to distract them. It turned out to be a lot easier than we thought it would. He was their target, so they kept their attention on him as we snuck out. But we've been on the road ever since."

"On the road? We need to go back right now! We can't leave him there alone. Take me back!"

"He's not alone," Isabel said. "Your entire squad stayed behind to help him—including Farlan."

I shook my head. "I don't care. I want to go back."

"We have another problem to deal with first," someone said from the front seat. When I looked up to see who it was, my vision still blurry, I could barely make out Mike behind the wheel. "I think we figured out whose been leaking information to the enemy."

"Who?"

"Jean," Hanji told me.

"Why would you think that?" I asked. "Jean has helped us since he came to the sanctuary. He's given us no reason to suspect him."