COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 40: Punishment

This contains spoilers that happen right after the last episode of Season 4, Part 1.

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RAIN DROPLETS drumming onto your bruised cheeks gently pulled you towards consciousness. Despite its coolness, you fought to return to sleep. Wrapped in a warm blanket that smelled like home, the inkling that you had a bad headache entered your mind. Possibly you had the flu, and this was why Levi allowed you to stay in bed while he left to make you a cup of tea. Eren's hand stroked your cheek and you didn't want to push it away, as you would in wakefulness, never wanting him to know how much you craved his caring touch even though you didn't see yourself agreeing with him anymore.

Then there was a low voice, and it wasn't Eren or Levi, and uneasiness raked over you.

"The only way... to save Eldia... is to put us... out of our misery."

"That was your plan?" another voice sneered. "Mercy killings? Well, you're about to die inside a Titan's rotten mouth to the sound of your own body being chewed to pieces. It's a pity I won't be vivisecting your insides with my own hands."

Your eyes shot open and the sense of security vanished. You were drenched cold from head to toe, not at home, not with Eren, but on a creaky wooden carriage being handled by none other than Captain Levi himself. You laid beside Zeke, shivering in the cold rain. The air was tainted with the unmistakable scent of blood. You turned to look at Zeke beside you. Your soul nearly flew when you saw the thunderspear lodged in his stomach. A string was attached to the end of the spear, with the other end noosed around his neck. One move, and a blast would kill you both.

He was steaming below the knees. You saw bits of something raw and meaty sliced up where his ankles should have been. It took you a moment to realize the chunks of flesh were actually Zeke's feet, skillfully butchered by Levi himself. The haggard, pale face of the captain slid into view. He was looking down at you, green cloak over his head and a look of mild disgust painted on his face.

"Awake already?"

When you opened your mouth to speak, you found that your throat was dry and raspy. "I don't seem to be asleep."

Levi ignored you and continued to insult the cut-up man beside you. You gingerly lifted your head to find your hair and clothes completely drenched. You attempted to bring your hands to your temples where you had been hit, only to find that they had been tied with thick rope behind your back.

"Considering that you stole the lives of so many of my friends, I'd say that being eaten is a pretty merciful death for you."

"Your friends," Zeke continued weakly. "No, I saved them. Them and their children would be—they wouldn't be a burden to the human race, and they wouldn't have lived in suffering. From this cruel world—"

"Where are... where are you taking me?" you interrupted, squinting at Levi through the raindrops in your eyes. He looked back at you for a moment before he swung his legs over the seat and rested his elbows on his knees as he bent down to look at you.

"Away from Eren and this idiot here. I don't quite know what they've done to you yet."

Levi gave you a hard look, searching for the cracks in your voice, the evidence that you hadn't been corrupted.

"You would never abandon the rest of us," he said. "I've always known how bad you are at telling lies. I can see you don't want to do what you're trying to do right now. You hardly put any effort into fighting me."

"You just caught me at a disadvantage."

"Maybe that's true. But you're hard-headed. You don't let things like that faze you. You said it yourself that you worked your way up to be the standard of a member in the Ackerman clan."