Lightning Doesn't Strike Twice
Summary: When Erwin comes up with a plan, it's finally time to leave this warehouse.
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Unlike Mikasa, Armin and Eren, the new trio of teenagers stuck with you is much more independent, all thanks to Annie herself who is constantly out killing zombies and hunting for food. The boys help her every now and then, but she does most of the work.
Instead of staying in the same spot much like you did a couple of.... Weeks? Months? You really have no idea how long it has been since you last saw your younger friends but enough time for you to miss them deeply.
The blonde girl now wears the necklace Mikasa left for her around her neck, saying it is a better protection than any crosses you could find in churches. As soon as she put it on, she swore to find Mikasa and tell her how she felt. Gushy feelings and all.
You're pulled away from your thoughts when Annie jumps through a broken window, wrapping herself in her hoodie as well as possible in hopes to keep herself from getting cut by the broken glass.
"Ok, so pay attention because I will only say this once," She says, putting her knife on the table before running her hand through her bangs, shaking off all the shards of glass. "There are three hordes surrounding us."
Hanji pulls out a ripped piece of paper and a barely usable pencil, quickly writing down every word the blonde girl is saying.
"The one on the right has thirteen zombies total, a few are missing a leg or their eyes, so they are not that much of a threat to us. On the left there are seven more, I managed to kill half of it, would've killed the rest if I had some help."
The annoyance in her voice is evident as she looks over her shoulder at Reiner and Bert who wash the blood off their arms.
"Our main problem is going to be the horde coming from the north. It has at least forty zombies and I don't think we have enough knives or bullets to deal with this."
"I have an idea." Erwin says, putting down on the floor two undead bodies. Their mouths have been completely ripped out and so have their arms, they are harmless. "We can cover ourselves in their blood and guts."
"Fucking hot." Levi whispers to himself, taking a sip of his water. For the past few days, he has missed his tea so deeply he has been drinking plain hot water, just imagining the taste of the leaves. Quite pathetically actually.
"How do you know that's going to work?" You ask, picking a few sticks out of Hanji's messy hair as leans against your touch. She continues to scribble up a map, perfectly placing the zombies on it while Moblit calculates how long it would take for them to get there.
"I don't. It's a gamble." Erwin replies as he holds one of the undead monsters in place so Levi has enough time to stab it through the head. "But it's worth a try."
"There won't be enough guts for all of us." Moblit says, placing down the paper with his calculations and Erwin smirks.
"Moblit, have you learned nothing?" He says, pointing at handprints on the other side of the window. One of the hordes has reached the warehouse and now, for sure, there would be enough zombie insides to go around and Moblit smiles in return.
"Let's go kick some zombie ass!" Annie says, a fire in her eyes as she pulls out her gun.
Unlike Mikasa, Armin and Eren, this group of teenagers had an insatiable desire to kill every single beast presented before them, always looking forward to the next horde to come around the corner. Or at least you believed so until now.
With Annie's gun, Bertholdt's axe and Reiner's wooden stake, you have stopped running from zombies and now you have the time of your life watching them squirm against the barrel of your gun.
You and Hanji head to the right, eager to kill the remaining seven zombies the blonde girl was unable to. They don't pose much of a threat so you decide to go ahead and have your fun with them, twirling around as they desperately chase after you, hoping for a slice of your flesh.
Hanji laughs at the scene as she bash one of their heads in, the putrid hair fibers getting stuck to the barbed wire on her bat. Without trying to, she covers the two of you in blood and rotting intestines, making Erwin's job a lot easier.
Instead of using your gun, you decide to be bold and stab them in the head. In the middle of the chaos, you and the teenagers have been playing a game to see who could kill the most zombies in a day. And proudly, you are tied with Annie.
Once you make sure everyone around you is dead, you walk closer to Hanji. "Bite check" You tell her. Looking around each other's bodies, you make sure no bites or scratch marks are visible on her skin as she does the same for you.
You grab two bodies and Hanji grabs two more before beginning to head towards the warehouse to meet the others. The scene you find is gruesome and the smell is enough to bring vomit up your throat but somehow you manage to swallow it.
Erwin and Levi open up bodies while Annie, who seems to be having the time of her life, pulls out every organ she can possibly find. Her hands are covered in coagulated blood and, once she's done dismembering a body, she rubs it on her arms and cheeks.
The more blood and guts she pulls out, the more the people around begin to rub it on themselves. Eventually, no body has been left untouched and the pounding sounds on the window dimmed down.
"It fucking worked." Reiner says loudly and quickly the room erupts with the sound of shushes.
"Let's leave this dump." You say, handing out bags with the supplies.
Quietly, you begin to make your way out of the warehouse, watching as the main horde dissipates before your eyes. You link your hand to Hanji's, who does the same to Moblit, followed by Levi, Erwin, Annie, Reiner and lastly Bertholdt.
Hanji's grip on Moblit is strong because the last time you formed a human chain he got left behind, but this would not be the case. You would never leave him behind again.
From the end of the group, you can hear Bertholdt's heavy breathing. The panic in his eyes is evident and you fear he will get you into trouble. He starts shaking his head desperately, removing his hand from Reiner's.
"I can't do this." He whispers, sitting on the floor while his hands cover his ears. "I can't, I can't, I can't."
His voice gets progressively louder, drawing the attention of a few of the hundreds of zombies who surround you. Annie quickly rushes to cover his mouth but he overpowers her with no problem, trapping her to the floor.
His eyes are wide and he is clearly having an adrenaline rush. The blonde girl tries to fight her way out of his grip while you rush over to the tall boy, wrapping your arm around his neck and pulling him down.
His tears quickly soak your arm, washing away the blood but you are finally able to get him off of Annie.
At this point, Erwin and Levi are already fighting the curious zombies while Moblit checks the teenage girl, making sure she is alright. Her blonde hair is now covered with dry blood and dirt but you can see a hint of pride in her face, happy that Bertholdt finally learned how to defend himself.
As he sits on the floor, he covers his ears. The tears streaming down his face don't stop for even a second and he is hyperventilating, being louder at each passing second.
When your eyes land on him, he is surrounded by zombies. His screams enter your ears as he desperately calls for Annie and Reiner, who simply cannot move their bodies.
So they watch in horror as his flesh is pulled from his bones, as the friend they knew and loved is killed by monsters who didn't exist until a few months ago, maybe even a year?
The distraught sounds leave his throat until he falls silent much like an announcement of his death. Unfortunately, there is no space for anyone to access his head so in a few minutes, he would be back from the dead.
Annie's nails dig through Reiner's arm as she pulls him away. "We're going back to our school."
"Annie, that's not a good idea." You say, trying to touch her but she's barely out of your reach.
"Please, let us go." Reiner pleads, any sign of life in his eyes is completely gone. "I need to tell our friends that Bertholdt is...." His voice dies in his throat, the word simply won't come out.
"He's dead, Reiner." Annie completes, "Just fucking say it, he's dead and he almost got us killed with him!"
Before you have time to respond, a scream rips from behind you and your heart sinks into your chest when you realize it comes from Erwin. Your mind tries its hardest to remain positive but as soon as you turn around, you notice the piece of his arm that is missing.
When you look back at the teenagers, they are already gone. You sigh, quickly rushing back to the blonde man and wrapping his healthy arm around your shoulders in an attempt to support his body.
While you and Hanji drag him back to the warehouse, Levi angrily clears the path. His eyes are sharp and, if looks could kill, there would be no bodies remaining around you. You know him well and he is using his knives to cover up the despair in his heart.
As Moblit closes the massive doors shut, you place Erwin on a metal table covered in rust. Cold sweat runs down his face as his skin turns paler by the minute, blood oozing from the wound much like a waterfall.
"We have to cut it off." Levi says, holding Erwin's left hand. He plants a gentle kiss on his skin before rushing his hair through his dirty golden locks.
"You are not doing anything, just go somewhere else and Moblit and I will take care of it." Hanji says, putting her hand on his shoulder. He is clearly annoyed but he knows that this is Erwin's only chance of remaining alive.
"Do we have anything not infested with putrid blood?" Moblit asks, searching the bags for one of the cleaning wipes Levi carried everywhere: their best bet of cleaning up the wounded area. "Fuck yes."
When he begins to clean the area, Erwin covers his mouth before letting a scream rip from deep inside his chest. You know it hurts, God you can't even begin to comprehend the kind of pain he is in.
"Bertholdt's axe!" You say, looking through the broken glass and seeing the weapon on the floor and right next to it, you see a tall zombie with black hair and you feel like you are going to throw up.
His skin is pale and his once green eyes are now clouded. Drool drips down the corner of his mouth as his hands rest beside his body, parts of him are missing due to the zombies's hunger but not enough was taken for it to stop him.
"Can you cover for me?" You ask Hanji and she nods, pulling out one of Erwin's pistols.
She positions herself by the window, aiming at every zombie that dares get anywhere near you. It takes you less than a minute to run out and grab the axe but it feels like it was dragged out for as long as it could.
Once back inside, you hand it to your girlfriend and she gasps sadly. "It's dull."
"That's all we have. He doesn't have much time." Moblit says, pointing at the tall man. Unfortunately he is right and both him and Hanji must act quickly if they plan on saving his life.
"Can I knock him out first?" Levi asks and a couple of tears stream down his face when he hears that the answer is no.
"He will lose more blood if he's asleep. I'm sorry." Hanji says. Her eyes land on you as she silently pleads for you to take Levi out of the room.
You take the short man's hand, pulling him towards the doors. "Let's go kill some zombies while they do their job."
But it wasn't enough. The sound of dragged footsteps and pained moans was not sufficient to hide the screams coming from inside the warehouse. No matter how many zombies he killed, nothing could cover up the feelings Levi hid in his chest.
They try to do it as fast as possible, always making sure he is awake and responding. Even when he's begging for the sweet relief of death, even when they have to cauterize some of the wounds with matches, they refuse to let him die.
You have no way of knowing how long it has been since they started, but it was enough time for you and Levi to single handedly kill every single zombie around. The small hordes? Gone. The massive horde coming from the north? Decimated.
Unlike Mikasa, Armin and Eren, the teenagers left when they were needed the most. And in that moment you realize how alone the five of you actually are.
It's been too long, you have to reach the lab. Maybe there you will find enough supplies to take care of Erwin. Maybe then you can put an end to this hell.
Maybe then you will find the answers you have been desperately looking for. A year and a few months have passed.
Once Erwin is alright enough to walk, it's time to end this once and for all.