I'm Only Human | AoT Fanfiction | Linked Sequel

Act One | The Expedition | P. 3

Signal Flares:

Red - Titan spotted.

Black - Deviant Type Titan spotted.

Purple - An emergency of some kind.

Blue - An order to retreat.

Green - Change direction of the formation: Fired by the commander in one direction to indicate a change in the direction, and then repeated by the relay soldiers.

Yellow - This lets everyone know that the mission has been terminated, be it successfully or failed.

Also, please check out Mick Harris who created this amazing, spooky piece of art, Lull. Listen to the music while reading or after reading!

Enjoy!

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Act One
Part 3
1.3
October 10th

The towering trees started to surround you as the Forest of "Big Ass Trees," continued to come into sight. The humid air and the smell of dense leaves flooded your nose and a small feeling of dread washed over you. Memories from many years ago infected your mind, making you lose focus. Suddenly, you snapped out of your daze by a loud cry from a titan. But as you looked around, you saw nothing. All you felt was soft rumbling from the ground. You looked over to Levi and noticed his concerned expression.

"Did you see where that came from?" You asked. Levi shook his head, still a little confused. You sighed and looked ahead, seeing a light in the distance. As you got closer, you felt the curiosity and nervousness creep up on you. During your whole time in the Survey Corps, you've never had reached the end of the vast forest. As time passed, the light at the end of the forest grew. Never had you ever been so adrenalized to see the end of the forest. Closer and closer, the end came near, and soon, you were passing the end of the forest..

It was debris piled on debris, stone from Wall Maria and an assortment of material from homes littered the ground. The air was polluted with thick blankets of dust, your eyes burning as you observed the destroyed lands. Levi raised his hand for the lines behind to see the way the formation was shifting. The green flare went off, followed my more, signaling the change in direction. No titans were in sight so Levi had decided to push to the right for rest and water. The formation came to a stop as many began to get off their horses to care for them. You turned, seeing Levi talking to Hanji and Atylia, Alexandre only standing by Levi. You sigh and turn to give your horse water, petting her mane in the process.

"Mom?" You hear, turning to see Paloma and her horse, "So..this is Wall Maria." You nod and look around the area. Old memories flood back from the day of the attack. Cole, mom, millions of lives taken in that one day.

"Do you think we can do it..?" Paloma asked. With hesitation, you nodded, knowing to not jinx yourself. You pull Paloma close, kissing her head.

"It'll be okay, just don't leave your dad's side."

As you said those words, Levi called for formation. You waved goodbye to Paloma and mounted your horse, moving back into your spot. You looked over at Levi, watching him. His eyes moved slowly over the area and furrowed his eyebrows. The worry in his face made your heart beat irregularly; you were terrified. Levi called for movement and you were off again, not at a fast pace but quick enough to reach the actual wall in just a bit. You had people on the outside of formation scouting for titans; none were to be seen.

As you stepped into town, Levi's expression changed. He looked bored, unimpressed, possibly he was having mixed feelings? You could hear the murmuring of the soldiers ringing in your ears. The silence; it was making you feel uneasy, making the rundown city feel eerie. Levi soon stopped, announcing the separation of the formation by commander. The groups split and soon you were riding with all the volunteers, Armin and Alexandre.

"Alright, we'll be scouting the front of the city for anything at all. Soon we'll be meeting Atylia's squad for our first operation. Another group will be circling around the Wall that is still standing, scouting for anything. Our first goal is to plug up the hole in the wall and to kill ALL titans in the wall. Are we clear?" Everyone agrees, saluting, "Good! Never target a titan alone, I do not want to be losing ANYONE today or for the next few days! Now, let us go." As you finish, you turn and begin to lead the group through the town. The old shops and homes were nothing but piles of wood and stone, squashed by the titans. It was oddly quiet but you were still listening, waiting for something to happen.

As you neared the wall, you heard a small rumble. You looked in the direction of the noise and spotted a small titan, picking at the homes. You stopped your squad in their tracks. It was small, you believed the slaughtering of it would be easy enough; you were wrong. It was nothing like you had ever seen, as soon as the titan heard you, it's head turned. Cracking bones, flesh ripping, its smile stretched from ear to ear, blood stained on its teeth. It's eyes ripped through your soul, the look tormenting your mind and everyone's around you. It's smile grew, never stopping as the skin around it's mouth looked like it was going to rip. The titan's body was bloody, it's skin not looking pale like the rest. Suddenly, its head spun to the side, still staring as a loud crack erupted from its neck. The hair of the titan whipped around, the black, oily, and bloody locks on its head fell over the titan's face. You stared in complete horror, slowly losing faith in your ability to keep your sanity. As the creature's head continued to turn, more cracks echoed from its neck, opening its mouth. You knew what was going to happen, you weren't ready for it..suddenly, a shriek erupted the once quiet city. You had never heard anything so terrifyingly vicious in your life; the titans didn't stop. You covered your ears, trying to hold onto your horse who was kicking and panicking. As soon as it stopped, you hear many more cries ripped through the air from all around you. Immediately, flares went off everywhere, red, black, purple, it didn't end. From behind you, a volunteer shot off a black flare. The rumbling on the ground began to intensify along with the screaming of the abnormal titans. Soon titans began traveling at high speeds in your direction. You shouted at your team to follow you, terrified of what would happen if you were to get caught in that stampede. Immediately you called for all troops to take cover on the wall. People traveled up, stupidly leaving their horses on the ground. Armin had packed the horses on the wooden platforms in the corners of the wall and began to have them pushed up by the platform.

All seemed okay and your whole squad, including the remaining horses, were on the wall, looking down at the titans. You collapsed, your eyes not moving from the one picking at the crushed building. It continued to stare at you with its oddly glowing red eyes, never looking away once. Alexandre sat down beside you, hugging you. From a distance, you could see Levi and his squad waving over to you. Your heart skipped a beat, seeing your love looking at you, his expression looking worried. Alexandre waved back, signaling everything was okay.

You got up, scanning your group. Suddenly, your eyes burned with tears threatening to spill. You could already see two of your squad members were missing, both volunteers. Elaine Revir and Issa Blighe; gone. As you looked back off the wall, you could see no trace of bodies. Once you looked at the titans, the one with the crooked smile was still staring. It opened its mouth, ripped up traces of human bodies were piled in its mouth. The sight had you holding your mouth in disgust. Ripped up flesh lined its teeth, bones poking out from the sides and blood colors coated everywhere.

Resting in its teeth and on its tongue were the bodies of your soldiers, bloodied and mutilated. The titan closed its mouth, its eyes never looking away from yours.

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I hope you liked it! I'm gonna try to finish this book as quick as possibly. I've been having a hard time with motivation so please, comment, tell me what you think. It will help me get motivated to finally finish the Linked series! Thank you! <3

-Lily