The Unwanted Tybur

Aftermath of Trost

Fiona POV:

I sat at a lone tree in the middle of the night, knees curled up into my chest. Small sobs escaping my lips as the pain in my chest grew and grew. 'Why does everyone leave me? Why does everyone I care about die?' I thought as I hugged my legs tighter and tighter to my chest.

Flashback:

I swept the streets with the others in my group. It had been less than 48 hours since Eren sealed the hole in Trost, and we were still cleaning the bodies and viscera from the streets and rooftops. I threw up a little in my mouth every time I witnessed a balled up glob of titan vomit and the stench didn't make any of it better. Nobody had put much thought into the aftermath of an attack, but each and every one of us had a reality check. Everyone seemed either on edge or completely dazed and dead inside as we had to pick up the bodies of our fallen and cremate them.

'Can't say I blame them though we all just experienced hell only to be reminded that survival didn't mean everything would be the same.' I thought a little sullen as I picked up another body with another trainee.

For the past couple days I haven't been able to find either Melissa nor Collin and my mind feared the worst. 'Where are you two? Where could you both have gone?' My thoughts raced as I finished loading the last body into a wagon to be cremated. 'If you don't show they'll mark you guys MIA.' I thought as I zipped up to a nearby roof to examine it for bodies.

That's when I saw it, Zach who had a despondent look on his face as he crouched down, carefully picking up a familiar gray haired beastkin. 'There's no way! Nononono!' I thought as I surged forward and got a better look at the body in question. As soon as I got close I instantly recognized it as Collin and my knees collapsed from underneath me.

Tears began streaming down my face as I screamed. I think Zach tried talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything around me anymore.

Present:

I heard footsteps from my left as I curled up tighter not wanting my new visitor to see me like this.

"Fio?" The visitor said revealing themselves to be Zach. "I had a feeling you'd be here."

I ignored his call, not wanting him to see me like this, but this only caused him to continue.

"Fio, I know you can hear me, trust me I know what you're going through. The pain is immeasurable, and it feels like the world is caving in on itself." He started, before crouching down on one knee in front of me. "But if you don't talk about it then it's going to eat you up from the inside."

I sat there not saying anything just wanting him to go away. 'Please just leave me alone.' I pleaded on the inside.

"I'm here, so please talk to me." Zach said as we sat there in silence.

"Why-Why didn't you cry when we found Collin?" I asked remembering his face in the moment we found his body. Something was off it was like he had expected Collin to be lying there.

His breath hitched and he hesitated before answering shakily with a tinge of regret. "I... H-He pushed me out of the way of a titan, losing his life in the process."

My sorrow quickly morphed into anger and I pounced onto the boy in front of me, tears still falling down my face. "It's your fault he's gone! Melissa being gone wasn't good enough was it?! You had to get him killed as well!" I screamed at him while gripping his shirt.

My tears streamed down my nose and started to drop over his face. "They never wanted to join the military! They wanted to live a normal life, but they wouldn't leave me alone!" I yelled while my hands trembled. "I was so happy when they came along! I thought we'd free us all from this prison within the walls, but my aspirations got them eaten!" My screams echoed throughout the forest.