He Told Me to Live

44 | A Red Ledger

The bird flew past me and Cinder grabbed me from my spot on the ribcage.

While I was glad to see him, my head snapped to the additional passengers.

"Blade?!"

The man I once knew as a ruthless man smiled a bit. "Kid, outside of work it's Jameson."

The people seated beside me on top of Falco were people who experienced the same as me. They had as much blood on their ledger as I did, but they were here, pledging to save humanity which they tried to cleanse with death.

There were three others. While I specialized in long distance hits and simply not being seen, the three with us specialized in something else.

Viper specialized in poison, hence the name. He poisons people through their daily habits, like pouring a cup of tea, biting the arm of their glasses, or even just biting their fingernails.

Scythe was more messy than the rest of us—he made it seem like it was less of an assassination, more a brutal homicide. He was also called Grim Reaper, solely because some people see him holding his signature weapon.

Scarlet was only named because of the red around someone's neck after he strangled them. Everyone thinks he's a woman.

Obviously, these aren't their real names. It feels weird for your birth name to be the same name one calls you when you kill.

Viper was an older brother to three girls, who called him Ian, and never his title, for they didn't even know.

Scythe worked as a bartender at a bar, where his best friends call him Eddie and not the weapon he's known for holding.

Scarlet liked to paint and his mom liked to show off his paintings with the name Alexander at the bottom left corner of the canvas.

No matter how bloody the ledger, somewhere underneath all the crimson lies a normal life.

At least... what would be a normal life.

Admittedly, it would be odd fighting alongside these people. Given, everyone here has killed people one way or another, whether it be because of justice, being paid, just the urge to do so, or self-defense.

I looked at Levi, who's brows remained furrowed as he gazed upon those I used to work with.

I recalled when he was once helping me put bandages along my shoulder when a branch had sliced through my skin. I had felt his hands trace over the whip scars on my back.

He held more of a grudge against the organization I worked for than I did.

Everyone gathered on Falco's back and we flew up where the titans couldn't reach us.

"Y/N, how many titans can you see?" Hange asked.

I squinted, my eyes travelling from one figure to another. "Currently? Nineteen. But there's some hidden behind the skeletal structure, I can tell from the shadows."

"Where's Armin?" Annie asked, examining each of our faces as if one of us would turn into him. "And Pieck? What's their status?"

"Armin's in trouble. He's been captured by the titans. The titan that took Armin should be by the tailbone."

I looked back at the Founder, spotting the titan that scooped up Armin in its mouth scurrying down the spine.

"What about Pieck?" Gabi mimicked Annie, turning to each of us.

"She's by the skull," Reiner replied. "She tried to blow the neck up, but the Warhammer Titan was waiting for her."

"Who're you planning on saving first?" Ian asked.