LIfe's Too Short

Chapter 12

Petra woke up to the sound of chaos on the streets outside her home.

She quickly got dressed and rushed outside, her father nowhere to be seen.

The people were shuffling along the streets, panicked expressions on their faces, talking among themselves.

"What's going on?" Petra said.

"Move," a man shouted gruffly, knocking her back.

An old lady, the same one that had helped her find the library, ran after him desperately yet to no avail, she was much too slow.

She broke down in tears.

"That was the last bread I had," she sobbed. "M-My family..."

Petra helped her to her feet.

"Wait here a minute, please," Petra said, rushing back into her house.

She came back out with an extra loaf of bread, placing it into the lady's arms.

"Keep this for your family."

The lady looked up at her and burst into tears of joy.

"Thank you so much, dear," she wiped her eyes. "You have no idea how much it means to me."

Petra nodded.

"What's going on here?"

The old lady's eyes widened.

"You don't know?"

The girl shook her head.

"Wall Rose has been breached," she explained, terrified. "Titans were spotted in the main territory."

"What? That can't be!"

"Nobody knows what happened," the lady said. "But now Trost is nothing more than an island waiting to be cornered by the titans! We're all trapped here!"

Petra looked down.

If the titans breach the gate, it's over...

"Petra!" a voice hollered.

"Daniel!" she called out to the direction of the voice.

Daniel ran over to her.

"Daniel, you know this young lady?" the old lady asked.

"Yeah," Daniel replied. "We've been spending time together at the library."

Despite the current situation she laughed. "Oh, I see. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Thank you, again, for the bread."

With that she spun on her heel.

"It's not like that!" Daniel's cheeks flushed.

She waved her hand.

"Don't mind Charlotte," he scratched his chin. "She likes teasing me."

Petra laughed.

"I can see that."

"Anyways, they're ordering us to stay here while they try to somehow seal the hole in the wall. I'm not sure how they'll do it though," he glanced in the direction of the sealed gate. "It's not very likely another boulder's gonna show up out of nowhere. Even the Survey Corps probably won't be able to-"

"They can do it," Petra gritted her teeth. "I know they can."

She looked away. "I'm sorry."

"You really want to go back, don't you?" Daniel asked sadly.

Petra nodded.

"I thought about what you said earlier. But nowhere is safe for long, not even the walls, if no one fights. Even if I did stay here, especially given recent events, it's hard to imagine that I'll be safe. But thank you," she added. "For the offer."