Survivors [Jearmin/Ereri]

Chapter 2

Jean's P.O.V

Throughout our entire walk Eren stayed in stony silence, only grunting slightly to answer Armin's question. He refused to even look at me, thus deepening my dislike for the kid. The only thing I had picked up from him was that he was extremly protective over Armin.

They couldn't be brothers. They couldn't be less alike if they had been born a different species. Maybe they were dating? It didn't seem like they were, but you never know. It confused me as to why I was slighly disappointed at that concept.

We manuvered around the huge trees as quickly and as quietly as possible, trying not to attract any unwanted attention. Armin had slung his gun over his shoulder and it baffled me as to how he wasn't struggling with the weight of it. Eren was sporting a large sack that held squirrels and other small animals alike. I have no idea what for though, when I tried to ask I received one small sigh and one irritated snort.

We reached a wire strung with tin cans and glass bottles and after furtively glancing around at our surroundings, Eren stepped over the wire and motioned for us to follow. I followed suit and stepped over the poorly made booby trap whereas Armin ducked underneath it.

We passed a few camoflaged tents and a slit trench that I really didn't want to know how it was used. We ran into a couple of people, who didn't seem surprised to see me in the slightest. They just nodded in my direction and continued with whatever they happened to be doing.

Finally reaching the center of the small campsite, I was able to drink in all the commotion around me. Eren dumped his bag of animals next to a table stacked high with small knives and guns. Armin swapped the giant rifle he held for a slingshot and offered me a sharpened pocketknife. I pocketed it carefully. I didn't want to face whatever was forcing us to walk around armed.

"Armin! You're back!" I turned around to see the prettiest girl I had ever seen in my life. She had long, silky black hair that reached just past her shoulders and dark obsidian eyes that sparkled mysteriously. I blushed as she met my eye.

"And you are?"

"J-Jean, miss," I stuttered, still frozen. Armin snorted beside me and gave me a pitiful look. A look that said 'Yeah, good luck with her'.

She sniffed impatiently and turned around, looking for someone or something. "Where's Eren?"

Armin tapped his chin. "He's probably in Levi's tent, Mikasa." Mikasa scowled and stormed over to a small tent next to the smoking campfire and disappeared inside.

Armin then gestured for me to follow him and we sat down on a thick tree stump near the fire, staring into the swirling smoke that was spiralling upwards towards the sky. He tilted his head back and gazed upwards.

"The sky looks pretty today," He mumbled quietly. I smiled and followed his gaze to where two large white birds were dipping in and out of the blue.
Breaking the silence once again, Armin then decided to adress me directly.

"I guess you want me to explain all this then?" Armin turned to look my in the eye. I nodded and he took a deep breath.

"Okay, so, for a couple of months now, scientists have been experimenting with this new concept of bring humans back to life. But something went wrong, and instead of bringing back a fully functioning human, the syrum brought to life a killing machine that will eat anything. Although, unfortunatly, its main source of food seems to be... Well, us." Armin wrapped his arms around himself and sighed before continuing. "If you get bitten by one, you turn into one, simple as that. And the only way to kill them is to destroy the brain. Otherwise it will keep advancing."

"We banded together some survivors from Shiganshina, the town up in the South. The entire place is overrun by zombies. We barely made it out alive... We decided to move North, seeing as the monsters seem to be somewhat sluggish in the cold. We pick up any stragglers that we come across. And we just happened to find you!" Armin smiled slightly. I gaped back down at him. How much had this kid been through already? What the hell had he witnessed? Probably some messed up stuff!

I'll admit it, I was scared. And not just for me, but for Armin and the other people I had briefly talked with. Except for Eren. That guy could get nommed on by a zombie for all I cared. I grabbed Armin's hand out of pure instinct for the second time that day and squeezed, trying to reassure myself mainly. Armin returned the small squeeze and smiled up at me sweetly, causing me to internally melt. Mikasa was hot stuff, sure, but this little blonde kid had me hooked- and I honestly didn't mind it that much.

A small commotion over by the tents caused us to jump apart suddenly. We spun around expecting the worst when we were greeted by the lovely sight of a fuming Mikasa.

And let me tell you, it was terrifying. She was currently aiming her glare that could make Satan cry at an extremly short, raven haired man, who was returning the dirty look without fear. I heard Armin mutter something that sounded suspiciously like a 'here we go again'. Eren also emerged from the tent, looking pretty worried. And I can't say I blame him. The two furious people infront of us were the very definition of scary.

"Don't you lay a hand on Eren, you hear me pipsqueak?" Mikasa hissed, towering over the short man. He didn't back down though, he glared right back.

"Bit late for that, don't you think?" He retorted sassily, causing Eren to blush and Mikasa to flush an angry shade of red.

"That's it shorty, you're gonna-"

"Whoa! Okay, stop!"

Eren pushed the two apart and stood between them defiantly, ignoring the angry looks he recieved from each side.

"Mikasa, I'm not your little brother, I can take care of myself. And Levi, you need to tone down the innuendos just a tad, okay?" Eren rambled. Short stuff- Levi- muttered a small 'tch' and ducked back inside his tent, leaving Mikasa and Eren alone, to have, what looked like, a very awkward discussion.

"Well then..." I breathed, glad the show was over. Armin also let out a small sigh of relief beside me, sharing my thoughts.

"They argue almost everyday, don't worry about it," Armin laughed. His laugh was really sweet and innocent. It gave me goosebumps and I really liked it. I decided that I would try and make Armin laugh as much as possible.

"Why though?" I questioned. I never understood why people needed a rival, what was the point in having someone that was merely there to insult and fight with? It was just kind of stupid.

"Mikasa is super, duper protective over Eren. The girl would probably wrap him in bubble wrap if we could find enough, just to keep him safe. But him and Levi are getting really close, and Mikasa doesn't like it." Armin explained wearily. I nodded, understanding. So it was jealousy? I knew that feeling quite well. But after hearing this news, I also became painfully aware of the fact that this meant Armin was single, and wasn't dating Eren.

And this made me positively ecstatic.

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A/N: Sassy Levi is sassy