Promise Me | Book Three

Chapter Twenty-Two

Eren's POV

"Is that so, Eren Jaeger?" The holo-man questions me, and I reply with a singular nod. "I won't take any of your offers. Do with me what you want, but wake her up and let her make her own choices. That way, you get your precious viewers and Mikasa has a chance for freedom for the only time in her life." I state.

The smirk Holo once degrades into a disgusted frown. That was obviously the answer that he wasn't looking for. "We gave you three options. Yours was not one. If you refuse-"

"If I refuse, what?  You gonna kill me? I'm sure your viewers will be happy about the death of their personal favourite among the general consensus, right?"

Holo stares at me, his eyes slightly fuzzy from the hologram. "So be it." Then, he phases away. I look to Maxx, and I merely receive an awkward stare from him.
"What now?" I ask, but do I really expect an answer?
I turn back to the pod, and desperately press my hands to it, staring at her face.

I grip onto the sides and try to take off the lid, and then I try shoulder barging the door, but there is no use in it.
I curl my fists into a ball and bang onto the glass, allowing one single tear to slip out of my eye.
"Maxx, please?" I mutter, but he probably didn't hear me.
I hear footsteps behind me, but I don't bother turning around. I look up to her once more, before I feel myself sink down to the floor and onto my knees.
"Mikasa..."

So quickly, the tube holding Mikasa jerks back, away from me, and then it shoots off. This happens so fast, I fall to my back.
"Mikasa!" I yell, and how I wish she could hear me.

The lights one by one shut off all around me, and then I can barely see a thing. I feel the platform I'm on begin to vibrate frantically, and I have nothing to hold onto.
I stand up, but my weak legs can barely stay up.
The vibrations begin to lessen, and I find it easier to maintain my balance. Maxx is no where to be found, so he must have left when I heard the footsteps. Did he know?

A sudden loud click sound echoes throughout the room, and the hissing sound of gas surrounds me.
Before I could even think of covering my face, I feel myself go dizzy and lose consciousness.
As much as I try to stay with it, I lose the battle.

* * *

The sharp pain in my back is what awakens me. As I sit up, groggily, the first thing I do is cough, the taste of the toxins still in my throat.
I turn to my side and vomit, and chest burns with acidity. I wipe my lips with my arm to get rid of the residue around my mouth.

I look around me, and I realise that I am on some sort of dump. So much scrap metal all around me and thick dust coated my throat. I could barely see, but when I looked up to the sky, there was no sky, just a massive thing that blocked the sun from the earth.

So... This is Dystopia, huh? Nice going, Holo. That makes me think: if I am here, where's Mikasa? I force my legs to stand and scramble around, some hard chunks of rocks and metals piercing my feet, stray hairs flying in my face. I'm not used to having long hair, so it's becoming easily irritating. 

"Mikasa!" I yell, secretly hoping that they put her down here with me. As I yell her name once more, rummaging further through this dump, I don't see her. She's not here.

It's a blessing and a curse. Mikasa must be up there, in Utopia, if I am down here. But, what if she's not? Did my refusal affect the deal? What if she's still not awake? What if... No, they wouldn't kill her. The viewers would...

"Fuck!" I yell, stomping my foot into the rubble, but only to have myself pierce my foot through a rock and I fall backwards to examine my foot: bleeding. Great, just great.