Friends with Benefits (Levi x OC)

Ch. 3: The 41st Expedition

Chapter 3: The 41st Expedition

'Okay squad, you heard the Commander. Roll out,' I called. There were exactly 24 of us, all on horses. Keeping formation, we brought the horses to a run. We kept on the trail for half a mile and then split up into halves. I was in charge of this half and Commander Erwin took the other.

'You know, for a moment there I thought we'd have the rest of the month off.' Sarah yelled over the wind and loud galloping. I laughed.

The sun is out, the birds are chirping and man, I love it out here. Part of me wants to abandon everything and make for the horizon, I would just keep going forever.
Suddenly, there's a bang. We look to the right, above the forest is a stream of red flare smoke. Titans.

'Shit.' I muttered. 'Keep the formation goi-' And suddenly there was a titan before us. It must have jumped from the trees, there was no other way. A 15 metre class. We would have seen it! I wasted no time, immediately swerving my horse out of the way. The titan was clearly abnormal, there was something about it's eyes. It wasn't recklessly trying to kill us all, it stood perfectly still, watching us avoid it. It surveyed each one of us, as though it wanted to see our faces. And then it found mine. The abnormal made a lunging swipe at me. I fumbled and used my ODM gear to propel me off my horse and back to a tree. As I was in mid air, the titan slipped on the muddy ground and fell, crushing my horse and punching me hard in the front. Spit and blood fired out of my mouth so hard no air could get in. All I saw was darkness. And then an image. Many images all at once, running into each other and toppling over each other. A gold key. A purple eye. A blonde titan with a huge grin. A crystal maze. A short abnormal with brown hair and a massive head. The wall Maria. A crushed house. The church. The King. Erwin? An old photograph. A seashell. A short blonde girl with long hair and blue eyes. A titan so tall it touched the sky...

And then I saw the sky. My sky. The normal sky. I tried with all the power left in me to take a breath. What.. what was that?
I felt like I knew the truth of the whole world. Events fitting together like puzzle pieces. Everything making sense. I felt that sensation, the sensation of stepping back, and seeing the finished puzzle. The satisfaction of seeing the picture complete, nothing left to to add.
Like a dream, it faded fast. The truth of the world we live in slipped through my fingers like water dropping into the ocean, impossible to find again.
My back hit the tree trunk I was attached to. The pain in my chest was so great, I could only allow myself to go limp. I knew if I stayed there I'd die. Red flares were going off left, right and centre. The formation completely broken. I looked to my right to see only blood. I could feel my heart having palpitations. What if I never find my way back? I'll die out here. Where'd they all go?
I lowered myself to the ground and leant on the tree.
'Uh. FUCK.' I yelled in anger.
The pain was absolutely tremendous, as though the titan was still crashing into me at full speed.
I think I might have broken a rib. This thought immediately brought tears to my eyes.

No. I can't die here. I've got to find the others.

I took a cloth out from my inside jacket pocket and put it in my mouth. This was going to be very, very painful. I stood up with much difficulty and before I could chicken out, used my ODM gear to get through the forest and get to anyone I could find.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuckkkk!!!
My throat was unbelievably hoarse from growling and wincing at the continuous and torturous pain of moving my chest so much.

Finally! I could see horses through the trees. Then a swipe of a hand. A lone horse running away. Blood exploding onto the floor.
I swung around the tree, withdrew my swords and advanced. This titan wasn't the one from before, this one was a 7 metre class. I slashed the nape of it's neck and continued forward. It fell to its knees, and then face forward to the floor. I could feel the adrenaline seeping out of my body, the pain returning. Moving my arms hurt. Breathing hurt. I looked around at the casualties. And then, I heard a blood curdling scream on the other side of the clearing.
Maybe that's where Erwin is and maybe Sarah found them. She could be there right now. Maybe the rest of my half could be with Erwin right now!
Somehow, I found the will to ODM my way through. And the sound of galloping horses became music to my ears. People on horses! I'm not abandoned!
I was soaring among the trees to catch up with the horses. Erwin's team was a quarter of what it'd been ten minutes ago. And far behind was a smaller group who'd come from my side. Even further behind them were at least 6 titan corpses. Did they really kill that many?
I could feel the titan blood evaporating off my skin.
I managed to get myself lower down the trees to see the soldiers better. I needed to find Sarah. After a few seconds of checking and double checking and dodging trees, I couldn't find her face. One of the soldiers made a diagonal to the trees so I swung onto the back of their horse, landing with a bounce.
'Thank you!' I hollered, my voice clearly not hiding the pain I was in.
The horse swerved back in with the others.
'I need to find my friend. A titan got to the - the team but,' I paused to quickly breathe and moisten my throat which was incredibly dry.
'I don't know who made it. Or where they are. We need to find them,' I was starting to black out. It felt like I couldn't breathe anymore. I slumped forward, my face smooshed into this person's back. My eyes rested low and my breath became the wheezing of a broken squeaky toy - broken and left to slowly die.
My arms fell limp.
My heart kept beating in the most unpredictable pattern, sometimes skipping beats entirely. And then my chest compressed and forced me to cough. I say cough, but it was more of a vomit from the lungs. A spew of sticky, wet blood just splattered out of my mouth. God, I feel sorry for this guy's jacket.

Sarah. Where are you? I miss you. Please, please, please come back. Sarah...

'Hey! Hey!' no matter my intentions of a loud, clear voice, my voice was merely a raspy whisper. 'I need to speak to Erwin. I think it might be important.'
I tugged at the guy's cloak.
And a millisecond before I blacked out I remembered the key. Oh, I have to tell Erwin!