Shadows of Truth and Deception (Levi • OC)

CHAPTER 16 - Shock

shock /ʃɒk/ — a sudden upsetting or surprising event or experience

     Reinae awakened to chaos. She opened her eyes and heard people screaming, the bells on the top of the wall ringing in panic, the headquarters loud with shouts of orders.

     She sprung up in bed, the soreness in her body of little importance—the wall had been breached.

     All valuable soldiers, including Aiden and Jasper, were out on the mission, meaning the scouts who were left were in a state of hysteria. Reinae was dressed in a matter of seconds, throwing on the first pieces of clothing she'd found in Levi's room, and ran out to the hallway.

     Almost reaching the gear room, she bumped into Carter's broad chest.

     "Where have you been?!" he shouted with wide eyes, shaking her shoulders. "We've been to your room! You were nowhere to be found!"

     He was panicking. Isaac, who stood behind him, was quiet but pale. Reinae pushed past Carter to take her gear from its stand.

     "I was not in my room," she replied calmly, keeping her head leveled. "And you need to stop freaking out."

     "How can I- Rei the wall- "

     "I know," she calmly interrupted him. "Get your gear on and meet me in the courtyard."

     "But your wound- "

     Isaac cut himself off when her poisonously green eyes pierced him. "Do you want me to stand back while cadets that graduated yesterday lose their lives fighting? Do you want me to lay in bed while this city gets destroyed by those beasts?" Her bright, stern eyes darted from one to the other. "You two are my squad. We are probably one of the few capable soldiers within Wall Rose. So get your shit together, or I'll feed you to a Titan myself!"

     She turned on her heel and stormed away, tightening the belts of her ODM gear as she walked. Within minutes, Carter and Isaac joined her in the courtyard, their faces still pale but calm with resolution.

     They shot up to the sky, running over the roofs of buildings toward the center of chaos. When they reached the wall, Reinae gulped. There was seemingly no end to the Titans that casually strode through the massive hole in the wall. She could already see the blood on the streets, she could see soldiers being eaten in the distance.

     A horrifying scream got her attention. She immediately shot towards the roof, Carter and Isaac following her. The kids winced frightfully when she landed, observing her with wide eyes. Reinae paid no attention to them, looking at the screaming kid kneeling on the floor, his hands buried in his blonde hair. She squatted in front of him.

     "Are you injured?" she asked, her voice cold, commanding.

     The boy continued to scream, tears streaming down his face.

     "Cadet, are you injured?"

     When he didn't react, she grabbed him by the hair, lifting his head. His comrades around him gasped. The boy's big, wide blue eyes met hers.

     "Are you injured?" Reinae repeated, losing her patience.

     "N- no..." he managed to reply.

     "Then stop screaming like a little bitch and stand up!" she hissed at him, letting him go.

     "But..." The boy looked at his hands, covered in slime. "They're all dead..."

     "You will be too if you remain here crying," Reinae said coldly, surveying the other kids who had their mouths open in awe of her, Carter, and Isaac. "Are any of you injured?"