Chapter 17

A few minutes after Zirken left the warehouse...

Everyone in the group still remained quite apprehensive, for as of yet Grisha had not returned or left any messages. They were also hungry, but paid little attention to it, with the exception of Mikasa who already had her stomach rumbling a bit.

*grunts*

Then Eren slowly began to wake up and slowly opened his sleepy eyes, and immediately rose to sit up.

"Eh?" - Eren.

"Eren! Thank God!" - Carla at the same time crouched down and hugged her son tightly.

"Mom? What is it?" - Eren.

"Don't you remember anything?" - Sukasa.

"Remember what?" - Eren.

"You and your father went out last night, didn't you? Where did you go? What did you guys do?" - Carla.

"Huh? I don't remember going out with Dad last night..." - Eren.

"How? What happened?!" - Carla.

"I don't know...I can't remember anything..." - Eren.

It was then that Carla noticed something peculiar that had only just revealed itself. Hanging from her son's neck was a key that she was quite familiar with.

"That's the key to the basement of our house." - Carla as she held the key in her hands.

"So that means..." - Sukasa.

"He's gone..." - Carla with an incredulous expression on her face.

"What happened to dad?" - Eren

"We don't know, Eren..." - Mikasa

At that same instant, Armin and Hannes returned to the group with 6 loaves of bread in their hands.

"Is everything okay with you, Eren?" - Hannes.

"What happened to Dad?!" - Eren, already irritated that he understands almost nothing of what is going on.

"Nobody here knows Eren! Do you think if we knew we would be here asking you?!" - Carla also getting more and more tired and losing her patience.

"I'm sorry..." - Eren.

"*sigh* It's okay Eren... He should be back at some point... " - Hannes

"What do we do now? Do we stay with the refugees? Or do we go to Trost?" - Sukasa.

"Do you guys have something to do in Trost?" - Hannes.

"Yes, why?" - Sukasa.

"*Sigh* Well, last night after I bumped into Grisha and Eren, that man who saved us showed up again." - Hannes.

"?!" - All.

"He threatened me to take you to Trost and said he had a debt to fulfill with your son." - Hannes.

"!!" - Sukasa and Mikasa.

"Good, that means at least he is knowing how to turn around...." - Sukasa.

"Brother..." - Mikasa.

"So? You guys want to go to Trost? In case the doctor comes back, he's likely to go there too." - Hannes.

"And why do you think that?" - Carla.

"He must know about that clue too, right? So if he doesn't find them here he will probably go there. Besides, I don't think that man would make me guarantee that they would go there without having a good reason." - Hannes.

"What do you think, Carla?" - Sukasa.

"I don't know...But I think it's better than us waiting here and they end up sending us to some other farm. If that happens then his chances of finding us would decrease." - Carla.

"You're right, but how would we survive out there? We barely have anything to eat..." - Sukasa.

"But... Don't you guys think it's too much of a coincidence? The mysterious guy connected to this Zirken shows up right when the titans invaded and on top of that tells us to go to a specific place inside the rose wall right away?" - Armin suddenly entered the conversation.

"What do you mean?" - Eren.

"That somehow he knew it was going to happen and even though he knew you lost the house, he still told us to go there one way or another. So if we take into account that he was indebted to your brother, he wouldn't send us to Trost just to be thrown to the lottery later...I guess." - Armin.

"You might be right..." - Mikasa.

"Then I guess the main problem is solved! We're leaving for Trost this afternoon!" - Hannes.

'I want to finish this task soon so I don't have to suffer that guy's wrath for nothing!' - Hannes is still feeling chills.

-----------------------//----------------------

The other day...

"Looks like they left just yesterday, Armin probably understood my intentions and that's why they went there in such a hurry..." - Zirken.

Presently he was again in line to get his bread, but this time he stood in the same one as Annie's. It didn't take long for them both to get their food, but the girl paid no attention to the boy and headed off somewhere to eat quietly. A short time later, she sat down in the same place as the day before.

However, just as she was about to devour her meal, someone sat down next to her.

"Hello again!" - Zirken.

"..." - Annie ignored him and continued to eat her bread.

Zirken tried contact a few more times, but then understood that a conversation wouldn't happen no matter how much he insisted, so the boy decided to start enjoying his breakfast quietly while his companion did the same.

After finishing her small meal, Annie quickly got up and made her way to her unknown destination.

'So you just decided to ignore me, huh? Well, there goes the 2nd day of trying.' - Zirken.

On the 3rd day...

Both were in the same situation as the previous day, but this time Zirken had to search a little longer and ended up arriving just after she had already picked up her share.

When the boy managed to get his piece of bread, he quickly ran to look for the girl, but he couldn't find her in the same place as before, nor in other places nearby.

'It wasn't today....'

However, furtively lurking, the girl was hiding in a nearby corner while watching him intently.

'What does this boy want with me?'- Annie.

Day 5...

The same situation repeated itself, but this time Zirken managed to catch up with her and sit beside her for a few minutes before she left again.

'Patience is the gift...' - Zirken.

Day 7...

Annie was now sitting in one of her several quieter places to eat.

"Hi!" - Zirken approaching the girl with a piece of bread in her hands.

"What do you want?" - Annie.

"Huh?" - Zirken.

"You've been stalking me for a whole week and always manage to get close no matter which place I move to, and even though I've been ignoring you this whole time, you still keep going. So what do you want with me?" - Annie.

"Like I said, two orphans together are better than one loner." - Zirken

"If you don't want to talk then it doesn't matter. We will never see each other again after they send us to the camps." - Annie about to get up and leave.

However, before she could take her first step, she felt Zirken's warm hands hold hers.

"Wait! I'll tell you why." - Zirken.

"It's your last chance." - Annie.

"Well... as I said before, I've been alone for quite some time because of some family problems. I've never had anyone who was a real friend to me, or who would even give a damn if I died or not..." - Zirken.

The girl was listening intently to every word of the young man and so far it didn't seem like he was lying, as he had a rather lonely and nostalgic look on his face.

"So when I saw you without anything to eat or even having anyone care about your hunger, I felt that you, even if only a little, were similar to me... So I thought that the solution for you would be the same one that I need so much, just someone to talk to and support." - Zirken

The boy then turned his gaze to Annie, only to find her beautiful, piercing blue eyes making eye contact with him. After some time of staring at him, the girl broke the silence.

"*sigh* You can follow me for now, but I can't guarantee that I'll respond to you or that we'll even be close for long. Don't hold grudges in case I suddenly disappear." - Annie.

"Really? Are you sure?" - Zirken.

"I'm not sure, but it's almost certain that you will continue to follow me..." - Annie.

'Besides, he might be a good source of information about what life is like in here.'  - Annie.

"Okay, so friends?" - Zirken extended his arm for a handshake.

Annie didn't respond to anything and just turned her back to walk around and explore the place, without having a specific goal.

'Yeah, I still have a good way to go... Well, at least she believed a lie of mine!' - Zirken