Birdie (Levi x OC)

sixty-seven

"So there are two groups of people living in Marley?" I asked Onyankopon as we walked briskly toward the meeting point for the anti-Marleyan volunteers.

"Yes," he nodded. "There are internment zones where anyone with Eldian blood lives. That's where the titan shifters—the warriors—come from."

I gave him a hard stare, squeezing Levi's arm that I clutched with my hand. "So the Eldians that didn't get put behind the walls, the ones left behind, they treat as lepers and segregate them? Yet use their abilities to transform them into Titans to fight their fucking wars for them?"

My stomach dropped. Was that pity I felt? Pity for those Titan shifters—Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie—who had destroyed my home.

"Yes," Onyankopon replied. "And anyone who disobeyed. Anyone who stepped out of line or acted as a traitor. They were shipped off to your island and turned into a pure titan."

"Don't think too much about it," Levi whispered in my ear. "It's irrelevant to us right now."

"How are they treated in the internment zone?" I ignored Levi. I flashed Eren a look, the brief memory of his fathers journal flashing in my mind. Some stories of the internment zones mentioned in his journals hadn't been good. Eren grimaced, listening to our conversation.

"Not good at all," Onyankopon said. "Less food, more violence, guards that use their power as a tool to control and use people."

"We actually have to walk past an internment zone to get to the meeting space," Onyankopon added. "You'll see it from the outside."

We walked for a few more minutes before I saw it. The air changed first, growing heavy and stale. Large, rusting metal fences, topped with razor wire, surrounded rows of shoddy and dirty buildings. Children were playing in the dirt yard; their shirts and jackets all having identical white arm bands, signifying their Eldian blood.

I stopped short, causing Levi to stop with me. The children, who were kicking a ball in a circle, accidentally kicked the ball a little too hard and a little too far. It flew, my eyes tracking its movements, and hit one of the guards stationed at the big metal gate; not hard by any means, but enough to disrupt his game of poker with the others on duty. The guard stilled, and my eyes widened, as if I knew exactly what horror was coming. Levi's grip instantly tightened on my hand that clutched his arm.

The guard grabbed the ball and, in absolute fury, marched over to the circle of children who had begun to cower, some of them trembling but none making a move to run. As if they knew running would only make it worse.

The guard didn't say a word as he dropped the ball at the child's feet; the one who had kicked it. A young boy, maybe 8 or 9. He was a cute little thing, shaggy brown hair and freckles. My heart clenched tightly as I took a couple steps towards the fence to get a better look. The guard raised his hand. "No," I breathed. We watched in horror as his hand connected with the child's face, sending him flying to the dusty ground.

"Levi, he can't do that." I said, trying to yank free. Taking a few more steps towards the gate, intent on getting to that boy. But I couldn't; Levi's strong grip was on my arm.

"We can't," he said, his voice was tense and firm but held a note of understanding. "We cannot draw attention to ourselves in that way, not without risking our lives."

"But he needs our help," I said, my voice breathless and breaking as I watched the guard kick the child into the ground further. The boy desperately clutching his head to protect it from further damage. "Nobody is helping him."

I tried to break free from Levi's grasp, but it held firm. The beating continued; the guard now raised a baton above the boy. I glanced ahead, our group already long gone, blocks ahead as they continued to sightsee.