•《 '' This Doesn't End Here. '' 》• || AOT Zombie Apocalypse AU.

' We'll Make it Through. '

Notes;
Implied Aruani
Implied Eremika
Implied Levihan
--

3rd Person POV;

" Colt! " Falco cried joyfully, running into his older brother's arms. Gabi gasped and jumped up and down with joy. Pieck, Porco, Reiner, and Zeke relaxed, but the others remained tense. " It's good to see you're okay. " Zeke remarked, standing up to meet Colt. Porco and Pieck nodded their agreement, following Zeke.

Annie hung behind with the Scouts, fidgeting with her fingers. Reiner waved her over, but Annie shook her head. " I can't.. It doesn't feel right. " she mumbled. Porco glared at her. " Nothing to do with us feels right to you anymore. " He snorted.

Annie lowered her head , and Zeke waved his hand. " Let's not argue among ourselves. High-running tensions are the last thing we want right now, if we're to survive. " the War Chief stated. Porco nodded reluctantly and muttered something that might've been the word ' sorry ', and Annie focused on the floor.

" Yeah, yeah, yeah, you guys keep talking. But we're all overlooking the fact that Jean needs help! " Connie yelped. Eren darted from room to room, and eventually came out with a clean first-aid kit. He knelt beside Jean and placed his hand on his head.

Grumbling quietly to himself, Eren opened the first aid kit and dug out a cleaning wipe. " This'll sting, " He warned Jean. Then he began cleaning Jean's wound, purposely digging into the scratch marks to clean them.

Jean shrieked, yelped, and squirmed in pain as Eren did so. " Holy shit, man! Do you have to dig into my head?! " The Scout's voice was taut with burning pain. " If you want to live, yeah, I do. " Eren responded unsympathetically.

Jean bit his tongue and let out another screech as the cleaning alcohol seeped into his wound. After brief hesitation, Eren tentatively twined his hand with Jean's. The ash-brown-haired man glared at Eren, but Eren didn't say anything, and Jean didn't protest against the action. Connie and Sasha blinked in confusion, but said nothing.

(( NO I DO NOT SHIP JEAN AND EREN. EREN IS JUST TRYING TO COMFORT JEAN THE ONLY WAY HE KNOWS HOW. ))

Eren began carefully wrapping Jean's head, but then he felt a sudden tug on his hand. He looked down, terror and disbelief shrouding his mind as he noticed black veins running up Jean's arm. His skin had gone pale, and his eyes dulled. Eren yanked his arm back, his eyes widening. Nobody else was paying attention now.

Jean let out a sudden growl and lunged at Eren, pinning him to the ground. Eren grunted and twisted his neck this way and that to avoid Jean's bite attempts. Eren let out a yelp as Jean almost bit his neck. But he dodged just in time. He shoved Jean off of him and stood up at the same moment the freshly-infected zombie did.

Grief and regret dug deep holes in Eren's heart as he picked up his gun and shot his former comrade in the head. Jean fell backward and collapsed with a sickening thud. The others turned to the situation, and Connie and Sasha collapsed with unified, terrified gasps.

" Jean! " the twins shrieked, rushing to their dead friend's body. Tears poured down both of their faces. Eren stood there, sweating, blinking back tears. He cleared his throat. " Sorry. " He mumbled miserably. " He turned, and attacked me. I couldn't--- "

Armin cut him off. " It's okay, Eren. We would've all been killed if you hadn't saved us. " He soothed, blinking warmly at Eren. But the brunette sighed and turned away from the group, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

Falco let out a wail. " I told you! Jean died, and it's my fault..! " He sniffled. Colt frantically shook his head and knelt beside his younger brother. " Falco, listen to me. It wasn't your fault; Jean laid down his life on his own. He didn't have to. But he did. It was his choice, not yours. " Colt murmured, running one hand through Falco's hair, the other rubbing gentle circles into his back.

Falco began to sob and buried his face in his brother's shoulder. Gabi's shoulders sagged, and Reiner immediately moved to comfort her. Sasha and Connie still cried over Jean's body, while Mikasa, Levi, and Hange looked on from the sidelines. Pieck, Porco, and Zeke were chatting as if nothing had happened, and Annie was nowhere to be seen. Eren huddled in a corner, overwhelmed with unexpected guilt at having killed Jean. Armin knelt beside him, stroking his back.

No words were shared between the grieving Scouts. Eventually, night fell, and they had to say goodbye to Jean. After clearing a space outside, they buried his body. Once they'd gone back in, they set up their beds. Porco relieved Pieck of guard duty and took over. Pieck gratefully settled in a sleeping bag, and was quickly out cold.

Colt and Reiner got Falco and Gabi settled in, then took up their respective places beside the children. Zeke and Hange took their places in a sort of line, separating the warriors from the Scouts. After some hesitation, and an embarrassing realization there weren't enough sleeping bags, Annie settled in with Armin. 

Porco glared at the seeming traitor, then snorted disapprovingly. Annie returned his glare, unflinching. Then Armin rested his hand on her shoulder, and she settled down. Eren and Mikasa shared a sleeping bag, as did Connie and Sasha. Levi ended up settling in beside Hange, who curled herself around him.

( Basically who's sharing a sleeping bag; Falco & Gabi (in a wholesome way bcs they're literally f[] CHILDREN.), Eren and Mikasa, Armin and Annie, Levi and Hange, and Connie and Sasha. The rest have their own.)

After they all settled down, most of them fell asleep. Even Levi had knocked out. But Eren couldn't sleep, and seemingly Armin couldn't either.

Both men sat up, staring at each other. Porco was growing drowsy. Mikasa rested peacefully, her head in Eren's lap. Armin hardly dared to take his eyes off Annie, who he considered beautiful.

Zeke seemed suddenly restless. He was twisting and turning in his sleeping bag, before his eyes shot open and he sat up. He quickly cleared his vision by blinking rapidly, and looked around.

Disapproval shadowed Zeke's eyes when his gaze passed over Annie and Armin, and the latter flinched. Zeke snorted and moved on, finally landing on Porco. He got up and waled over to the guard.

" Go rest, " Zeke ordered. Porco blinked in confusion. Zeke pointed to an empty sleeping bag beside Pieck. Suddenly understanding, Porco nodded and hurried to the empty sleeping bag, quickly settling in and falling asleep.

Eren glanced over at Armin, but his friend had fallen asleep. An annoyed grunt left Eren's mouth as he realized Armin was cuddling Annie.

I don't get what he sees in her. Eren thought, glancing at Zeke, then at Levi. The Captain was curled up beside Hange, sleeping peacefully.

Then Zeke spoke up in a whisper. " Hey, Eren. "

Eren looked over, narrowing his eyes. " What? "

Zeke shrugged. Eren rolled his eyes. " What do you want, you damn monkey? " He demanded. Zeke put on a look of hurt. " Since we're brothers-- "

" Half-brothers, " Eren corrected sharply. Zeke sighed. " Yes, well, since we're half-brothers, I thought we could have a little chat. "

Eren rolled his eyes. " What would we talk about, huh? The way you killed 199 Scouts? Or the way you killed Commander Erwin? " His tone was unfriendly. " Oh, I know! How about the time your mother killed mine?! "

Zeke stammered. " I- I just wanted to know what father was- was like with you. "

Eren scoffed. " He was a good dad to me, why? " Zeke blinked, looking slightly shocked. " Oh.. No reason. "

Eren snorted and settled down again, hugging Mikasa tight and burying his face in her hair. Eventually, he fell asleep.
---
finally done TvT

I hope you guys liked this chapter! you wouldn't believe how hard it was to capture s4 Eren in that scene with Jean-- but I tried my best!

Totally insignificant, convenient word count; 1345