Our Garden of Dismay

Part 10

I focus all my senses on moving swiftly with my ODM gear, dodging and weaving by other Titans who are wandering by, not paying much mind to all eight of us. One Titan vainly swings towards Jean-Paul and she manages to dodge it just in time, cutting it very close.

"You good Jean-Paul?"

Dietrich shouts out to her as she begins to regain her balance.

"Yeah, it was just a love tap!"

She shouts back, obviously joking but it still gets a nervous laugh or two from us. When the Abnormal is just in front of us, we form up and prepare to attack.

"Alright, everyone! Squad Olven flank left and Squad Engel flank right!"

Olven gives the orders expertly but right when the last word leaves his mouth, the Abnormal lurches forward and dives at the gap between the two squads. We all flip through the air, using the gas to give us a boost as we evade.

"That was close!"

Barrett shouts out as all of us land on a large tree just beyond where the Titan was standing. We look at the Titan and it slowly turns its head over its shoulder, my blood freezes in my body at what I see. Hanging out of its mouth is a pair of legs, one of us wasn't fast enough. We all immediately zoom after it and I spot Sinclair attempting his signature jaw slash but it fails when the Abnormal, in the blink of an eye, snatches him out of the air. He grips Sinclair tightly and holds him to its face as if inspecting the tenth-best Cadet. I draw my flare gun and fire a round at its face, managing to hit its right eye. Barrett swoops in and frees Sinclair, he is noticeably hurt but he doesn't retreat. Novak manages to slice the left jaw muscles and in quick succession, Olven slashes the other side. Steam begins emanating as it begins healing its jaw muscles, the time to grab whoever is in there is now or never. Dietrich, Jean-Paul, and I all make a beeline for its mouth but the Titan begins waving its arms sporadically, disabling us from getting anywhere close. Finally, we see who is in the mouth as Engel begins squirming out, doing all he can to slide out of the mouth. The Titan places one of its hands over its mouth, blocking his escape while continuing to swing with its other.

"Engel! Just hold on!"

Dietrich screams as he uses an absurd amount of gas to propel himself at an unbelievable speed. He makes it past the Abnormal's hand and anchors onto the front of its face. Dietrich slashes its hand away and sets his eyes on Engel who is distorted and in an uncomfortable position within its mouth.

"Engel, reach out for me!"

He shouts, the rest of us begin to target the ankles which are abnormally tough and require multiple strikes.

"I can't!"

Engel shouts back, obviously in heavy pain.

"Why not!"

Dietrich responds, wincing at the stray steam that singes his cheeks.

"I can hardly move my arms or legs! I hit my head on its teeth!"

Dietrich just grunts to himself and he prepares to reach in to grab him. Engel makes his way to the front and manages to flop his arm forward, Dietrich grabs the scarred extremity and begins to tug. When Engel has his upper half sticking out of the mouth, the Titan's jaws fully heal and it chomps down with a mighty force. Engel doesn't scream or groan, the only sound is the loud crunch as his torso slides away from the monster's dozens of teeth and falls to the floor lifeless. Dietrich, his upper body covered in Engel's blood, is completely stunned.

"Move it, Koch!"

Jean-Paul screams out as she swings by and drags him by his coat away from the Titan's face. As they fly away, the Titan slams its hand onto its mouth, an attack that surely would have crushed Dietrich if Jean-Paul didn't carry him to safety.