Survivors [Jearmin/Ereri]

(Jean's P.O.V)

I woke up suddenly. I didn't jolt up out of bed, or scream, I just opened my eyes. I was covered in sweat as I gingerly touched my face. I had been... Crying?

The dream I had been having haunted me.

Oh god. Marco...

I thought back to the beginning of March, two months ago now. That had been when Marco had begun to get sick. They had ignored it at first, passing it off as a simple cold. But when he started getting steadily worse, the two began to worry. But worry didn't save Marco, and... And...

I wiped my eyes furiously. Crying was a sign of weakness, and I didn't allow myself to show weakness, not anymore. I had promised Marco I would be strong.

As I clambered out of bed, I noticed how quiet it was this morning. After checking the clock, 7:56, i knew something wasn't right. Usually by this time my obnoxious neighbours were outside, eating, having strange cooking competitions or just genrally being extremly loud. Silence was non-existant in my neighbourhood.

I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a slice of bread out of the bread bin. I popped it into the toaster and went to check if anything was wrong outside.

What I saw was complete carnage. Cars had been overturned, fences pulled down and a disgusting stench was lingering in the air. What the hell had happened here?

"Holy shit..." I whispered. I should probably check on those who lived next door. I stepped outside my garden gate and precariously made my way over the street, making my way around the piles of rubbish and omnious brownish stains on the road. I entered the Springer's garden. Take away containers and food wrappers littered the grass, all blown out of the large black dustbin.

"Sasha? Connie?" I called out, pushing at the door into their house. It creaked open slowly, revealing the chaotic mess inside. Someone, most likely Sasha, had raided all of the cupboards that contained edible goods and all the photos of the couple had been taken out of their frames. A smashed plate lay on the floor. Looked like the couple had cleared out pretty quickly.

Wonder what it was that had got them so worked up that they decided to scram...

I checked upstairs and as I had expected, all the clothes drawers had been emptied out, and after a quick survey of the garage informed me that their Land Rover was indeed gone. I was almost certain they hadn't gone on a sudden holiday. Why would you take family pictures and food on a trip away?

Something was wrong.

I walked back out into the street and looked around. My toast would be all cold now. I sighed and started back towards the house when I heard a sound behind me. It seemed to come from the woodland next to the house that housed the local crazy, a brunette with a slightly terrifying loyalty to all things scientific. Her car was also gone from the front yard. Why was everyone leaving so suddenly?

A figure became visable, a tall man stumbling out from behind a big-ass tree. He walked in a strange way, dragging his feet and leaning slightly to the left, almost as if half of his body had ceased to function.

He seemed oddly familiar. The sun finally came out from behind a thick grey cloud and the man's face came into view and i choked back a sob.

And for the second time today, one thing came to mind.

Oh god. Marco...

There was no mistaking that dark hair, the splash of freckles across his nose and those chestnut brown eyes I loved so much. But... It couldn't be! Marco was dead, and he had been for a good three weeks now. But the staggering man infront of me was quite clearly Marco. Only... Something was wrong.

The once twinkling eyes were lifeless, his mouth was sagging and a low throaty growl came it. I stumbled back, away from the horrific view. But the sickening clone of Marco was picking up pace, lurching towards me in jolty steps, that disturbing groan becoming louder and louder.

I couldn't move, I was paralysed and completly helpless. I ran backwards a few more shaky steps and tripped over a small pile of rubble and sat down suddenly. This was reminding me of all the zombie video games I used to love. With trembling fingers I picked up a brick that was just to the right of me and aimed at the undead monster steadily making its way closer.

A gunshot rung out making me jump and drop my weapon. But it wouldn't be needed anymore as Marco dropped to his knees, a small hole in the side of his head. He fell to the ground, dead.

Still being in shock, I was unable to stand but I looked over to where the shot seemed to have come from. A small blonde boy, maybe a little younger than me, was running over. He clutched a large black gun to his chest, a weapon that looked way to heavy for his thin arms. When he got over to where I was slumped in the mud, he stuck out a hand and helped me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" He asked, still holding onto my hand as if to steady me. I nodded, stunned. He took a shaky breath and took in my appearence with his large, shining ocean blue eyes. He turned and yelled out to someone I couldn't see.

"Hey Eren! I've found a straggler!" He cried out. His voice was higher than most, I noticed, and he had a very feminine face and body. A distant shout was heard in reply and the boy, my saviour I guess you could say, nodded to himself. He then turned back to me and smiled sweetly.

"Hi. I'm Armin Arlert!"

The boy seemed trustworthy and I shook Armin's hand, introducing myself.

"Jean Kirstchein"

Another boy, taller than Armin by quite alot, but still pretty short from where I was standing jogged over, presumably the Eren that Armin had called out to a while ago. He had dark brown hair that stuck up all over the place and bright green eyes that, I had to admit, were surprisingly pretty for someone with such a sour expression.

Eren took in the situation before his scarily green eyes focused on mine amd Armin's hands which were still joined and he scowled. Armin quickly let go, blushing slightly.

"Who are you?" Eren barked, still glaring at me. He stepped infront of Armin protectively, ignoring the shorter boy's protests. I really didn't like this kid. What the hell did I do to piss him off so much?

"I could as you the same thing!" I retorted just as angrily. I stepped forwards, ready to teach the brat a lesson when Armin intervened.

"Guys! Stop!" He hissed, looking worried. "They might hear us!" Eren's expression softened when he saw how scared Armin looked and he nodded, reassuring the panicked blonde.

"Who's 'they'?" I questioned, trying to sound urgent. Armin shook his head, as if to say 'drop it'. I was still confused though, and gave him a funny look.

"We'll talk about it later," Armin promised. "But for now we better get back to camp. Mikasa will be worried if we're out for too long." Eren snorted at that.

"No kidding..."

Armin beckoned for me to follow and we headed into the thick woodland. We passed Marco's corpse and I averted my eyes, tears stinging my eyes. I took a deep breath and composed myself, before the three of us headed into the dark forest where who knows what awaited us.

~Hello there! Thank you for reading the first chapter of Survivors. I sincerly apologise for killing Marco off before the story even started, but I assure you, it is important to the plot. Just thought I would let you know, I have another story called 'You're In The Gray...' if you wanted to check that out. And thank you once again <3