Hate's a Type Of Love (Jean X Reader)

14. Tempting Fate

Reader POV

Finnian quickly pulled me to my feet and over to the side of the nearest building, backing me up against the wall and placing my hands firmly on my shoulders. "Snap out of it! We gotta get these people out of here and to the inner gate! We aren't going to die here." He raised his voice at me and I flinched a little, blinking a faw time at him as I fully came back to my senses. He was right, there was no time to be freaking out like this. We had to help as many people as we could before titans started pouring in through that huge hole in the wall that had just been created. "R-right... let's go." He gave a curt nod and let go of my shoulders so we could hurry back out into the middle of the street. "Everyone please hurry to the inner gate! Leave your belongings and run for it!" Finnian yelled over the crowds of panicking civilians.

I looked around me as the people passed by, trying to follow Finnian's directions and noticed a very pregnant woman having trouble running all by herself. I wondered for a split second where her husband might be but quickly realized he was either dead already or perhaps got separated from her in the initial panic. She was trailing farther behind the main crowd that Finnian was now following back down the main street toward the inner gate. I glanced back at the crowd and then to the woman once more before I cursed under my breath and ran toward her. "Here, I'll help you. We need to get out of here before titans start showing up." I urged her forward, placing her arm around my shoulders and one of my arms around her waist to try and support her in her run. She easily accepted my help and we moved a bit faster than she had been going before. But even so, it wasn't fast enough to catch up with the rest. "Thank you..." She said between heavy breaths as we moved down the street and I was about to reply that it was no problem but fast, thumping footsteps snapped my attention over my shoulder.

A titan was running right for us. Shit. They must have already started to come through the hole in the wall. I let go of the woman and she stumbled a little but didn't fall and turned to see what made me stop. "Go! Don't stop! Get to the inner gate!" I shouted at her, getting my blades drawn and ready as I turned to face the humanoid beast. The woman must have listened because the titan stopped and focused on me and even though I knew I needed to get to higher ground and avoid it, my legs refused to move from their spot. This was the first time I'd ever seen a titan up close. It was truly terrifying. It smiled down at me with a sickening grin, bending down to reach for me. That was the only thing that shook me back to reality. If I didn't move right now I was going to become titan food...

My feet finally listened to my commands and moved from my spot just as the titan's hand reached it. I barely dodged it as its fingers closed around the air. It made a gutter noise of annoyance. Or at least it sounded that way to me. I ran between two houses, shooting my wires up to the rooves so I could get up off the ground. Landing on one of the rooves a bit roughly, I chanced another look at the titan just in time to see its hand reaching for me once more. I took a step backward and nearly slipped from the edge of the roof but I managed to catch myself and turn, jumping across to the next roof just as its hand slammed down onto the roof where I had been standing. I was really playing with fire here and needed to get away, deeper into the city. But if I did that, wouldn't this beast just follow me straight to where the mass of civilians was?

I ran along the rooves of the homes and shops in this part of town, hurrying my way away from the titan though it just followed me as expected. Damn it. I could feel tears of frustration and fear threaten to make my vision blurry. Why did Finnian have to leave me behind? Why did I have to play hero and help that one woman instead of saving myself? I cursed at myself as I continued my run, hopping from one building to the next when I needed to, trying my best to avoid the titan following me closely and also the other titans that had somehow gotten this far into the city and farther. Where the hell were the other cadets and Garrison members that had been on patrols in the area? Were they all dead? Had they been taken out that quickly? It hadn't been but a few minutes since the initial attack the Colossal Titan launched...

A titan hand came from the left instead of behind me and it caught me by surprise as it snatched up my leg as I jumped across an alleyway. I screamed in shock at being yanked from the air and moved directly above a titan's face as it began to open its mouth slowly. I stared down at the huge maw, eyes wide as I watched a string of sticky, slimy drool attaching its top and bottom teeth stretch and snap. Another bead of drool left the corner of its mouth as it raised me up and positioned me directly above the opening. I panicked and pulled my upper body toward my legs, carelessly swinging my blades at the fingers holding me in hopes I could cut through them and let myself free to use my gear and avoid being dropped into its mouth. It kind of worked. I managed to cut through its lanky fingers and let myself free but I gritted my teeth in pain as I'd cut too deep and given my own leg quite the nasty looking gash. But I couldn't worry about that right now. I narrowly got my wires to take purchase in a building roof nearby and fling myself out of harms way before the mouth snapped shut only a few inches below me. I winced as I landed and somersaulted, catching myself on the lip of the roof to pull myself back up onto it and push myself to my feet once more. After that it was a mad dash to meet back up with Finnian at the inner gate. My leg was bleeding quite a bit but I'd have to bandage it up later, right now all I could do was run from roof to roof.

Upon reaching Finnian's location, I frowned. He was nowhere near the inner gate. I landed on the ground roughly a few feet away from him and limped over in a hurry. "What're you doing here?! You should have stayed with the civilians!" I worried at him and he waved it off. "A few Garrison soldiers told me they'd take it from here so I was going to come looking for you. What happened to you? That leg doesn't look too good." He changed the subject and I shook my head, biting my lip as nervous tears threatened once more. "I almost got eaten. It happened when I cut myself free. We can't worry about it now. We need help. There's way too many Titans out there for you and I to handle. I couldn't even move at first. It was terrifying." Finnian placed a hand on my shoulder and tried to calm me a little before he let go to grab a scarf from a nearby open air shop and bring it back to me. "We need to get to the Supply Base then. We need to warn the other soldiers and cadets if they don't already know how far into the city the titans have gotten." He told me as he knelt down and wrapped the scarf around the wound on my leg, tying it tightly so it wouldn't fall off as we moved. I nodded in agreement and took a few deep breaths to try and calm down fully. I wasn't going to be any use if I was panicking like this the whole time. I had to force myself to be strong right now, to keep my movements sharp and my mind working properly. One stupid mistake and I'd be dead...