Eruri | Beyond the Walls

Chapter 3

~Day 3~

"A little help, blondie?"
Levi was hanging from the trunk of the tree just below Erwin's branch, suspended by his two daggers. They were different sizes and the climb up must have been painfully difficult. He had blood on him again: rabbit's blood, this time. The dead rabbit was tied with a strap of his ODM gear to his back and he held Elias's gas canisters with his teeth. His words had been so slurred by it that Erwin only knew what he wanted from him because it was obvious he was out of gas and struggling to pull himself the rest of the way up.

Erwin reached down and helped pull Levi up, trying not to move too much and disturb his leg. Levi rolled gracefully onto the branch, quickly pulling his knives from the wood and sheathing them.

"I found a rabbit," Levi said, like that explained everything.

"You're out of gas," Erwin stated, pointedly ignoring Levi's obvious statement.

"Yeah. Well, Elias looks like he had three-fourths of a tank left, so that's something. How much do you have?"

"A fourth. Maybe a little more if we're lucky."

"Figured," Levi said with a nod. "I'll take your tanks and you take Elias's. I should be better at conserving gas since I weigh less."

Erwin made a pained expression, and an uncomfortable silence settled between them. "Levi, my ODM gear is broken. There's no point."

Levi stared at him blankly, his hands frozen where they had been outstretched to take the gas canisters from Erwin. "What?"

"I'm wounded. I probably can't walk. My gear is broken. I'm expendable, Levi. But you? If you don't let me slow you down, you can still have a chance of getting out of here."

"What the hell are you saying?" Levi snarled, leering over Erwin.

"I'm telling you to take my remaining gas and save yourself. You can do so much good for humanity, Levi. Don't let it go to waste here."

"And you think you can't?" Levi grabbed Erwin's bolo tie and yanked him forward. Erwin winced as his leg moved, his hand flying up to grab Levi's shoulder to take the pressure off his wound. "Fuck that," he continued, "you've barely even started! It would be a waste to let you die here. I. Won't. Let. You." He enunciated each word with an aggressive pull to Erwin's tie.

Erwin's gaze hardened. "Let go of me, cadet."

Levi loosened his grip instinctively, Erwin's dark tone shaking him. Somehow he had let himself get used to the easy friendship with the blonde. Being reminded that they were different ranks felt... wrong. He felt heartbroken for a reason he couldn't place. His anger flared again, and he gripped Erwin's bolo tie harder.

"No."

"Leave me here and save yourself. That's an order."

"I refuse."

"You realize that directly disobeying me out here, in the field, isn't simply insubordination but treason?"

"So be it," Levi growled, shoving Erwin back against the trunk of the tree.

Erwin grit his teeth, his mind racing, and his head spinning. "You'd really commit treason to save my life?" Levi looked at him angrily, his brows furrowed. "Obviously. It's safe to eat raw rabbit, right? I don't want to start a fire in this tree-"

"What?"

"I asked if it's--"

"I heard you."

"Oh."