Attack On Titan: Pure Blood

Epilogue

At noon on the second day, following the completion of the 57th Survey Corps Expedition, the Karanes District was in utter chaos.

The streets were packed with people running terrified toward the inner gate amid cries of panic and horror. Families did their best to stay together while being pushed around by people. The children's cries could be heard, crying out for their parents, but no civilians stopped to help them as they ran in an attempt to save themselves after the news they had received.

Wall Rose had fallen.

The news spread through the city like a short fuse that detonated on contact with a powder keg.

The bells at the top of the tower had not stopped ringing since the alert to evacuate as quickly as possible had been issued. The Garrison soldiers were doing their best to guide people to the inner gate, but they were just as scared, if not more so, than the civilians themselves.

Panic, fear, despair, and sheer terror were almost palpable in the air of the Karanes District.

It was in this city engulfed in chaos that, high on the wall above the outer gate, were embedded two pairs of hooks that held the cables of the ODM. The characteristic sound of the cable being retracted, along with the high pressure gas being released, was the signal that announced the arrival of two soldiers.

One of them was a tall man with short sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. The second was much shorter, barely reaching the other soldier's chest. He had unkempt black hair, silver eyes, and a deep slash cut above his left eye.

The characteristic that both soldiers shared was that their uniforms were full of dirt and scratches, but on the back of the dark green cape they wore over their soldiers' uniform, the symbol of the Wings of Freedom could be clearly identified, waving freely proud with the wind.

Two Scouts had arrived at the top of Wall Rose in the Karanes District.

But they were not simple Scouts.

They were Lieutenant Alphonse Dreyse, a man whose ingenuity was recognized by all mankind. And Victor Ackerman, a soldier so outstanding that his skills were said to be worth more than 100 soldiers.

"Finally... we've arrived..." Alphonse panted, bracing himself on his knees as he gasped for breath. "We did it... we escaped from that hell. On more than one occasion, I thought we would not make it. Especially when that 8-meter abnormal Titan started chasing us."

They had been jogging for hours to reach the wall. Although they had moved mainly during the night, where the Titans were inactive, when they finally saw the wall rise in the distance, neither of them slowed down in order to finally escape the Titans' territory.

It was that desire to finally be able to return to the wall, without caring that it was already dawn, that caused an abnormal to notice their presence and begin to pursue them fervently.

"It didn't help at all that you started screaming like a bitch when it started chasing us," Victor reproached slightly, frowning at his brother.

Even though it was Victor who took it upon himself to kill several Titans on their way to the wall, he didn't look out of breath. The only thing that indicated that he had been fighting for two days to survive in Titan territory were the scratches on his clothes, along with his cloak, which was tattered at the ends.

"Hey, you can't blame me. That bastard had a really creepy smile." Alphonse defended himself, who shuddered slightly at the memory. "I almost shit my fucking pants when I saw it. I will have nightmares the following days."

Victor decided to ignore Alphonse's childish complaints as he watched his back, narrowing his eyes suspiciously and warily at his brother.

Since the two of them had stayed behind in the forest of giant trees two days ago, Victor's attitude had become increasingly somber and somewhat suspicious towards his brother. It had all happened on his first night at the top of one of the giant trees, where he had decided to rest. That night, he discovered that in Alphonse's waistband, hidden by his Scout cloak, was a loaded flare gun.

All this time, Alphonse had had a flare gun that he could have used to send out a distress signal for the others to come to their aid.

But he didn't fire the distress signal.

Why didn't he?

Why didn't he send the distress signal?

Victor wanted to know the reason, but when he took a step towards Alphonse, he saw the city of Karanes and his eyes widened in shock and alarm at the number of people evacuating through the inner gate.

"What the hell..." he muttered.

The tone of his voice caught the attention of his brother, who turned to look at the tumult of people evacuating in terror. His attention was then caught by the constant and distant sound of bells high in the city tower. His expression turned serious and hard.

"The bells... and people evacuating in fear..." Alphonse commented in a somber tone.

Victor nodded beside him, looking just as grim.

"This is not a drill... Wall Rose has fallen..."

His mind wandered to what happened a month ago in Trost. People evacuating in fear and panic. The dead soldiers in the streets and the blood that stained the walls of the houses.

He thought of Marco's death, the way his blood drained, and his eyes closed forever.

"We have to move," Alphonse said urgently, snapping him out of his gloomy thoughts. "If Wall Rose really has fallen, then they'll need us. Let's go to the Headquarters we have in Karanes."

Alphonse wasted no time jumping off the wall and firing his grappling hooks to propel himself towards the inner door.

Victor let out a small sigh as he calmed down. He had wanted to get to Headquarters and take a shower, eat his fill, sleep for a whole day, let his father and his friends know that he was alive... and talk to Annie. He wanted to meet her again.

But there was no rest for him. He was leaving one battle to enter another. He was leaving one hell to enter another.

Victor frowned in annoyance and couldn't help the bitter comment that escaped his mouth:

"Ah shit... Here we go again."

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