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The Box, 01-08-2020
W-where am I?
I hear loud noises and the floor seems to vibrate. My head hurts like hell and I feel like I need to puke.
I open my eyes and lights are flashing by. I'm in some sort of cage, which is either going up or down. It smells like raw flesh and I'm surrounded by wooden boxes.
How did I get here?
I press my hand against my head; it feels like I bumped it on my way in here. I don't remember how I got in here, but I have the feeling it wasn't fun to go inside.
I look up and see that I'm going up at full speed. The box I'm in is not slowing down even though it's almost hitting some kind of ceiling.
"Stop!" I yell, as if someone can hear me. Of course no one replies, but it was worth trying. "Help! Help, I'm... This thing won't stop!"
Suddenly the elevator stops going up. A sour taste rises from my chest and I bend forward. An impressively big amount of vomit clatters down through the grating on the bottom of the box. I cough a few times to get the leftovers from my mouth and lean back against one of the smaller boxes.
I can hear people talking and before I'm able to scream for help the ceiling opens up. Bright light of a torch shines into the box and it takes my eyes a minute to get used to the light. At least fifteen people, probably even more, are staring at me. Some of them talking to others, some of them laughing and some of them are even looking like they're angry with me.
One of them sticks out his hand. He looks like he might be the strongest of all of them.
I stare at his hand and frown.
Is he helping me to get up?
I look away from his hand and push myself up with my own hands. "I don't need your help," I say when I'm on my feet and I wipe with my hands against my jeans.
The muscular, blond man turns around at his friend and chuckles. "Wow," he says with his deep voice. "We haven't had someone so chatty since Oruo."
I frown, I have never heard that name before, but somehow I feel like I should've. Someone in the crowd of people starts talking loudly, but everyone seems to ignore him. The blond man ignores him as well and turns back to me. His face is serious and there's not even a trace of a smile on his face, but despite that he looks nice. "I'm Reiner," he says and the corners of his mouth curl up a little, but not quite enough to say that he's smiling. "So, what's your name kiddo?"
Is he being serious! Kiddo? How old is this dude? Like one, maybe two years older than... Wait my name?
I haven't even thought about what my name is yet, but I suddenly realize that I have no idea. Tears start to well up and before I know I'm crying.
"What's wrong?" a high-pitched voice I haven't heard before asks.
I look up and shrug. I see a shorter boy with quite long blond hair. I assume he's about the same age as me although he looks younger due to his large, blue eyes. The boy walks past Reiner, jumps down into the box and lands on his feet next to me. He lays his hand on my back and carefully rubs over my t-shirt with the palm of his hand.
"I-I don't remember my name," I cry and I try to wipe away the tears with the back of my hand, but new ones keep rolling down my cheeks. "Why don't I remember my name?"
"Hey," the boy whispers. "You don't have to worry, you'll remember it within a day. It's happened to all of us."
I look at the young man and nod, while wiping away another tear. I can't believe that all these young men had to go through this, it's awful to not remember your own name.
"Armin, don't be too nice for the kid!" One of the other boys steps forwards and pushes Reiner aside to show himself. He stares at me with his horse face and chuckles. "He might go soft if you keep doing that."
"Who are you calling a soft kid?" I yell at the boy, arrogance can be read from his face.
"You, of course!" he yells back at me and he crosses his arms, proudly grinning.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Wha-, you've got nerves!"
"Jean, please, stop it!" Someone yells from the crowd. "He's just new here and you're already giving him a hard time."
"What!? Are you serious, Marco!?" the arrogant boy – whose name apparently is Jean – confused asks, while the boy who just stopped him from yelling at me appears behind him.
"Lets just bring him inside and wait until Levi's back from his daily run so he can teach the new one his way around within Wall Sina." The boy with the freckles smiles at me from behind Jean. "Come, get out of the box and we'll take you inside."
I nod and then carefully climb out of the box with a little help of Armin. When I'm on my feet I look around me. It's dark outside, but torches light up a few places up. There's a wide field all around us. In some places there are small wooden buildings, while in other places a few horses graze, grow crops or randomly grow huge trees. There's a huge wall all around the field.
With opened mouth I stare at the wall. It's like fifty meters high, if not higher. Four massive gates are the only things that seem to lead outside of the walls.
"What are those walls for?" I ask.
"That is Wall Sina," Armin says. I frown at him, not knowing what the hell he's talking about. "It keeps us save."
"Save from what?"
"Titans," Armin replies, he sounds scared, but I don't know why.
"What are Titans?"
"Mo..." "Titans are human-eating monsters," Jean says, interrupting Armin. "They're about three to five meters tall and they're really strong. Only the strongest and fastest of us are allowed to go outside of Wall Sina, people like Levi." Jean tells me and I don't know whether he's trying to explain what Titans are or if he's just simply insulting me.
"Why would someone go outside if it's so dangerous?" I ask, curious to know about the outsides.
"To find a way out, of course," Jean replies and Armin tells him to shut his mouth, before he says too much.
"Is there a way out of this place?" I ask, now even more curious than before. It seems like an okay place in here, but I'm sure that the – already cracking – wall won't keep those monsters outside forever.
"Yeah, there is," Reiner quietly says. "We just haven't found it yet."
"How long have you been looking for it?"
"For years, but it's a maze out there."
"A maze?"
"Yes, the place is covered in huge trees," Reiner explains. "You can't see where you're going and they're too thick to cut down."
"I'm strong," I say. "I want to go out there, I want to help you find a way out."
Jean chuckles and shakes his head. "You, my friend, are by far not strong enough to go outside Wall Sina. It's better that you stay in here and, I don't know, work with crops."
I angrily glance at Jean.
Like he's strong enough to go outside?
"If I'm not strong enough to go outside," I say and I turn around to the group. "Who is?"
People start whispering to each other, it's like none of them wants to talk to me.
"Who is strong enough!?"
One of the men who I haven't seen before steps forward. He's a lot shorter than me and he's carrying some kind of long blades. People step aside for the moody looking boy, no one says a thing.
"Who are you?" I ask, looking down at the boy. He's about nineteen years old, but he looks like he's been through a lot.
The boy looks back at one of the people in the group, his black hair moves in the wind. "Is this the new one of this month?"
"Yes," one of the men answers.
"Hello, I asked you something!" I yell at the boy. "Are you deaf or something!?"
I hear someone gasp, followed by whispers.
The moody short one walks towards me without making a sound and stops right in front of me. His eyes stare at me.
What a freak.
Then, suddenly he punches with his left foot against my knee. I fall to the ground, screaming from pain. I feel his foot on my back, keeping my on the ground.
"I am the one," he says. I try to look up at him, but he's holding me in my place.
"The one what?" I ask.
"The one who's strong enough."