Glory For Mankind | AOT [book 1]

Ch.25:Missing Pieces

Two days have passed since Eren sealed the wall, which meant it's been two days since both the Scout and Garrison Regiment had successfully exterminated all the titans that were remaining within the Trost District. It took them half a day to accomplish this, but they did it. Humanity had regained it's town, it was possible to beat the titans after all.

With the titans no longer roaming around inside Trost, that left the soldiers with finishing the clean-up operation. Which means taking care of collecting all the bodies that were laying on the rooftops, leaning against buildings, or sprawled on the streets.

It was the worst part about war, having no time to grieve over the loss of one of your comrades in battle. They had to finish the task as soon as possible in order to avoid an outbreak of disease that could cause a harmful plague to occur.

Ruvik had his lower face wrapped like everyone else, required to wear this along with a pair of gloves to prevent spreading disease from happening. He was walking down the street before he stopped when he saw something familiar catch his eye. It was the small stuffed rabbit, the same one that girl he rescued was holding before they escaped. She must have dropped it when he flew off, when they left the wet nurse behind.

Ruvik looked around, he realized why it was here where he had found the doll. It was because this was where he found them. The massive broken part of the building that crushed the woman's legs was still there, the woman on the other hand wasn't. All that was there was a puddle of blood and organs, the titan must've not been able to remove her body, resulting with its lack of patience and just tearing her exposed half.

Ruvik was happy he was able to get to Wendy before the titans did. He didn't fail, he saved her--his niece...

What a foreign word, Ruvik thought.

He still needed to wrap his head around it all, the life of his other family members. Ruvik use to think learning any information about them was just a waste of time, but after he met his half sister and her daughter, he started to reconsider it.

Ruvik took the rabbit, dusting it off, before placing it in his jacket. He'll have Levi help clean it later.

A few minutes later, Ruvik caught sight of Jean walking ahead of him. Since Jean's back was facing him, Ruvik called out. "Hey, Jean!"

Jean jumped, startled by his name being yelled out. He turned around, surprised that it was Ruvik. When Ruvik caught up to him, he asked the Cadet how he was holding up.

"I...I'm not sure, it's just hard to know you use to talk to these faces, but now they're just..." Jean couldn't finish his answer.

"I get what you mean. That's why I think this is the hardest part about the job..."

"Yeah..."

Before the two could conversat further, the two stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed someone--who was now something instead.

"What...?" Jean stared at the body in horror and disbelief. "...Is that really you... Marco?"

The dead body of their fallen comrade was leaning against the wall of a building, but what really made this hurt to witness was that only the right half of Marco's body was eaten.

"Jean..."

"W-What happened to you? Was this where you've been the entire time? How?!"

"Jean--!"

"Excuse me, do you both know this young man?" An elderly lady asked, Ruvik recognized her by her clipboard as one of the people who was in charge of recording the body count of the soldiers in battle.

Jean had trouble registering what she asked. "W-What?"

"Can you both identify this body? I need to write his name on the list." She elaborated.

Ruvik watched Jean's behavior, can't help but compare himself when he first came across one of his friends bodies, completely torn by regret and grief.

"Jean..." Ruvik hoped he wouldn't seem cruel for what he was going to say next. "Tell her his name."

"C-Captain...but--"

"Hurry up and tell her, as cruel as it is, we don't have time to be sentimental. We need to get burn our dead before their bodies kill ours." Ruvik stated, staring Jean directly in the eyes. "He was your friend, you can say his name."

Jean turned to face what was left of his dear friend's body. He started wondering how Marco died in such a cruel way, he wondered how scared Marco must have been before his final moments, questioning what Marco's last thoughts were.

"His name is--was...Marco. Marco Bodt."

The elderly woman scribbled her pen on her list full of dead names. And thanked them before she continued her job, identifying everyone that sacrificed themselves for this District.

Ruvik watched the lady walk away, but redirected his attention on Jean when he heard his voice. "Why...Why did you make me answer. Why did you make me give his name."

"Later on, you'll look back and be thankful that you did." Ruvik's brown eyes were locked on his as he spoke. "It may not seem that important, but the names of those we lost are one of the things that hold us back from letting them go."

"So, what? You expect me to just forget him?!"

"Not forget, but to accept the truth and say goodbye. This is why I believe this is the hardest part of the job, because it doesn't matter how long I've been here, it always hurts the same..."

Ruvik watched Jean's pained eyes, the only thing visible to see due to their masks. He sighed before speaking again. "Here, I'll take care of this, you can go switch shifts with someone else, this isn't uncommon so you won't be reprimanded for needing a break."

Jean nodded before walking back to base.

Ruvik closed his eyes, trying his best to keep himself in control. He opened his eyes and turned his head to face Marco's corpse. He couldn't believe the boy he watched grow as a trainee become--this.

As he was taking in the reality of one of his fallen soldier's, Ruvik realized something strange. There was something Marco's body was missing--something else besides the other half of his corpse.

Where the hell is his ODM gear?