"Farlan, I don't know. How do we even get there?"
Zeke glanced sideways, tension in his jaw. Isabel, mounted proudly on her horse, gave him a look that said everything: Are you serious right now?
After a long beat, Zeke forced a decision. "Then tell me this. Where will the refugees from Shiganshina go after boarding the boats at the dock?"
Farlan scratched the back of his head. "Uh… no idea. I'll have to ask Captain Keith." He tugged the reins and rode toward Shadis, voice nervous but clear.
"Captain, where are the evacuees bound once they set out?"
Keith didn't hesitate. "Shiganshina Town. That'll be their next port."
Zeke barely had time to absorb the name when a piercing scream split the air.
Female. Familiar. Annie.
His head whipped around. Two Survey Corps soldiers stumbled from the alley beyond the safety perimeter, faces flushed scarlet. Their hands slapped over their eyes as they fled. "S-sorry!
Didn't see anything!"
Zeke's stomach dropped. No. Not this.
Of all things in the world, social humiliation was deadlier than Titans. Not the nakedness, not even the shame—no, it was worse: he had assumed they were dead.
He had spoken freely, spoiled the future in front of others, believing it didn't matter.
But they weren't dead.
And now?
Now he looked like a lunatic, a man who "knew too much." Who would believe in rebirth? No one. Best case, they'd call him mad.
Worst case—he'd end up in a padded room. Maybe Paradis had hospitals like Marley's, and he could share a ward with Grandpa…
"Isabel! Over here!" one of the soldiers shouted from a safe distance, still refusing to uncover his eyes.
"What do you want?" she asked, puzzled, but she swung down from her horse anyway.
Her eyes widened the instant she saw. "Ah—!" Heat colored her cheeks, and she turned quickly away. When she returned, she wasn't alone.
Two figures followed. Annie, draped in Isabel's Survey Corps cape like a makeshift skirt, and Bertolt, bare-legged, his face pale but determined.
No one asked where their uniforms had gone.
They were alive, and in this world of endless hunger and death, that was miracle enough.
A shadow fell across them. Another soldier descended from above, the twin roses of the Military Police insignia flashing briefly on his cloak.
Reiner staggered at his side, wounds hastily bound.
Zeke's mouth went dry. Three of them. All alive. All here. This just got worse.
His thoughts spiraled. Bertolt had already transformed twice today. His body wouldn't sustain a third. Reiner's wounds—he had deliberately kept them raw, preventing regeneration so the Survey Corps wouldn't notice his Titan power. Which left only Annie.
Annie… with the anti-Titan rifle still in her grasp.
At this range, if she fired—he wouldn't escape.
His mind whirled. How many rounds left?
One at the roof. Two at Carla. One into… right, the giant. Nineteen hit…
Seventeen.
Three shots left.
Three he'd need to dodge.
Before he could steel himself, Reiner's gaze burned into him. "Who are you? How do you know the future—"
The words never finished. Annie's fist struck him hard, cutting him off in a burst of violence.
Zeke froze, baffled. What?
Reiner struggled upright, blood on his lips. "Annie—"
She hit him again.
"That's enough!" she shouted, voice breaking. Each word punctuated by another blow. "Shut up! After everything—what more is there to say?"
Her fists trembled as they struck.
Tears rimmed her eyes. "We failed! We failed the moment Marcel died! No matter what we do now, going back means punishment! Marley, Eldia—it's all lies! All I wanted… I wanted to go home!"
Her voice cracked into a scream. "My brother promised—he promised to take me back. And because I listened to you—he's gone! If I can't see my father again, it's your fault!"
She rained down blow after blow on Reiner's battered frame, sobs tearing free from her chest.
Zeke stood motionless, unable to track the sudden shift of events.
Then—something pressed into his hands.
The rifle.
He blinked, staring down. Annie had thrust it toward him without hesitation.
Instead of raising it herself, she offered it to him.
The weapon felt heavy. The bErence hadn't changed. Loaded, then. Not empty.
Her message was clear.
Goodwill.
Zeke looked at her in disbelief. Annie didn't even glance back. Her eyes stayed locked on Reiner, fury still simmering. She drove her boot savagely into his wound.
Reiner's scream ripped through the courtyard, raw and agonized. Birds scattered skyward in a panicked cloud.
And Zeke, Beast Titan of Marley, stood frozen with the weapon in his hands, caught between survival and a truth he could no longer predict.
...
🌟 Join My Patreon & Read Ahead! 🌟
Hey everyone!If you're enjoying the story and can't wait to see what happens next — Patreon is where the adventure continues!
By joining, you'll get 30 advance chapters ahead of public release
https://www.patreon.com/adrianross