Chapter 8: Paranoia

It's been a full week since those events.

As it turned out, the Ackerman family had been attacked for some unknown purpose, but later I learned about the slave traders. If the attackers were such, they apparently wanted to get rid of the father and sell the wife and girl. Not a bad plan, to be honest...

Or just kill and butcher them, which is apparently what happened to me at the end of my previous life. The sight of my guts spilling out and other unpleasant sights became the cause of my nightmares a couple of times, from which I gradually recovered, but I still remember that pain very well.

After that incident, the Ackerman family moved to town because of the condition of Henkel and Clara(1). The former had suffered injuries that were not too serious but took time to heal, in addition to which he had decreased sensation in his hands because of nerve damage. The latter, although it sounds like a minor injury, has a major impact on his life.

With Clara, the situation was simpler, she was just in the penultimate month of pregnancy and expected a boy, to this conclusion came Grisha because of a couple of factors that seemingly have nothing to do with the fetus: she is often hungry and eats a lot. Perhaps there are others, but such a topic does not really interest me.

The family lived in a house not far from us, so we saw each other every day, absolutely every day.

After that incident, I began to think more and more about the danger of these titans coming here, and about the danger in the forest, because now the fact that there are bandits living and operating there is quite proven, but there was no presence of them here. And if there were, it was impossible to distinguish them from an ordinary person, because it would not be possible to stare at each of them for a long time.

- Everybody got everything?

Now I stood in front of three children, each of whom I gave a task, or rather, told them to take everything they needed: a couple of sheets of paper, two pencils and two charcoals. The last two items could have been taken one at a time, but I decided to be careful.

- Yes! Uh-huh. Do-o-o-o-o.

Eren was both progressing and regressing in his spoken language, for in addition to the good and euphonious words, he was using more and more of the slightly specific ones that I used in jest.

Mikasa and Armin got to know each other quickly and easily, as they were both friendly with each other thanks to us.

- Great, let's go then.

Without asking questions, which I had taught them not to answer, we moved through the streets of the city while Armin drew the path we were taking, and Mikasa and Eren drew arrows on various surfaces that were difficult for people and weather to reach. The latter ensured that the drawings would last more or less as long as possible, though I intended to check them every week. And I had to do the hardest thing of all: supervise them.

- Andrei, do you need one here too?

- Yes.

After a positive answer from me, Eren drew another arrow while I realized that I was doing the stupidest shit and was slowly going nuts doing it.

Yeah, that's really paranoid, but I'm not going to do anything else like that, because it would be too dangerous and if I'm spotted, there's no telling what will happen. So I'm just going to ignore my anxious thoughts. Yes, I will, although it's good to have a plan for every outcome, but I don't want to become a human flying mouse. Hmm, maybe sew an assassin costume and learn how to park properly.... That's not a bad idea, but I'm too lazy to do the costume.

- Aah!

Mikasa's sharp cry caught her attention as she staggered up the hill and almost fell, but Eren was able to jump up in time.

- Got him.

- Thank you...

They tumbled to the ground together, but at least he cushioned the fall.

- Be careful, I don't want you to break anything else. Don't climb too high from now on.

I rubbed my head in thought, contemplating what to do next. It's fun to play every day, but even that's getting tiresome, though after we're done I'll have to do it anyway, so as not to hurt their morale. Nah, my eagerness has also severely undermined their level of play, and they've reached the same skill level, making me lose any advantage. As disgusting as it sounds, I liked to win all the time.

- That's enough for today, we'll come back to it sometime, so we can relax.

- All right! / Yeah.

We made our way to the river, where the occasional ferry sailed by, marking out all the way to it. If the wall breaks through, the most feasible option for evacuation will be by boat, but the possibility of leaving the city through the forest is also quite relevant, as space on the ferry is very limited.

- Let's go to the gallows.

Armin pointed to the remaining two sheets, where she had already drawn a figure of a man and a strip of squares, where in the first and last square there were letters - l and a.

- Well, since you've already drawn... / Yes!

While Eren replied dejectedly and Mikasa was in favor of any game, I proceeded to pick a word.

Considering, the beginning and the end, as well as the number of letters, which is 8, it's...

- Stairs.

Armin nodded in agreement, while the others just started thinking, moving towards the house.

- Yeah... As expected of you, a very quick guess.

- Since that's the case, it's my turn to guess the word.

I took a sheet of paper and drew a new 7-letter strip that started with m and ended with i. The whole trio rubbed their chins as I covered my eyes waiting for the wrong answer to draw the beginning of the gallows.

- Ugh, I don't know...

Eren threw his head back, staring up at the clear sky.

- Hmm, maybe... No, it doesn't fit.

Armin wanted to voice an option, but changed his mind as he continued to brainstorm.

- Can I get a clue?

Mikasa decided to use the help, to which I had no objections.

- Okay, this word is similar in meaning to the word children.

- ...

This didn't help them in any way, so I decided to remind them of the normal game of hangman, not how I normally act.

- You don't have to guess the word right away, you can just say the letter and slowly scroll through the options.

- Okay, then, uh.

Armin finally made his move, which turned out to be correct, so I wrote the guessed letter in the second box.

- Now, uh.

But he couldn't guess the second letter, so I started drawing the base of the gallows while another player's turn came up.

- Л.

- That's right.

Mikasa guessed the third letter, and when I tried to fit it in, she named the full word.

- Babies.

- Yes, that's right.

The abrupt answer surprised me a little, as it did the other guys.

- Wow, you're really something. / I agree.

All the way we played in circles until we reached the house, after which I was finally able to lie down, feeling mentally tired. The others were still playing something, but I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I couldn't tell what they were playing.

Now I just wanted to lie down, or better still, to sleep, but my consciousness wouldn't go away, so I was entirely my own thoughts, swarming around in my head like worms in rain-damp soil.

Could it be that this was depression? Or was it just that I was tired and needed to take a break from worrying about the titans to regain my mental strength? Definitely the latter, because the former had never visited me, but burnout had been realized more than once.

- Grisha and Carla are not at home, almost with a hundred percent probability they are at Ackermans. Shit, it's so bad, and sleep is not in one eye, although I feel tired. It's such a bad feeling. Huh.

Among the endless nonsense and useless information I found a real treasure that can help me - hanging upside down.

I had to go outside again for that. Of course, I could have hung on the window frame, but the possibility of falling from the second floor greatly reduced my ardor.

- What are you doing?

Eren came up to me with a wooden stick from somewhere, while I was climbing up on the bar.

- I thought I'd work out.

- Uh-uh, okay.

He left quickly as I got into position. The sharp rush of blood to my head was an ambiguous sensation, but still mostly pleasant rather than uncomfortable.

It was a good thing I hadn't eaten before, or I would have been nauseous. It is also necessary not to overdo it, otherwise the blood flowing to the head may not return to the circulatory system, it will cause some problems. I'll hang like this for about five minutes and that's it.

I felt better by the minute, and a smile of happiness involuntarily appeared on my face.

My spine feels better too. Man, why haven't I done this before, it's a real imba! You can do abs too.

With a boost of mood and energy, I started doing the exercise, trying not to overdo it. After about 10 minutes, I finally got down and went back to the three still playing gallows, joining them.

Time continued to move at its usual pace. Clara had given birth to a boy, who was named Edgar. A name like that made me chuckle a little because of one memory of a character of the same name from a game whose reputation was not in the best of health.

- Let's stay! Please!

Eren and I involuntarily witnessed the following scene - Mikasa asking her father to stay to live here in the city. Her mother and her little brother were now in another room, but it was already felt that a serious conversation would take place later.

- Oh, I... I'll talk to mom, but in the meantime, go play.

- Yay!

She happily hugged her sagging father, who was now facing a conversation with the final boss, the outcome of which would affect their future. After that, we left the house, deciding to stop by Armin's house to play a full game of ladder on the bar.

Mikasa, surprisingly, was also very strong, though not up to my level, but the result was very good for a girl.

During the walk to my friend's house, I stared again at the incredible size of the wall, which seemed impossible to build, as if it had been erected by an alien civilization.

Something similar happened to the pyramids in my past life, but there everything turned out to be much simpler - it was not slaves, but the population of the country, among which there were highly skilled workers who had been engaged in the construction of the pyramid for several decades. Here the situation is more interesting, in fact scales differ to asburd figures, in fact to erect such walls it is necessary centuries and hundreds thousand people, and also there are no exact mentions about construction.

- Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

When I just started yawning, a powerful rumble sounded, accompanied by dozens of yellow lightning bolts behind the wall. An earthquake was added to such a performance, which made everyone around me fly like soldiers from a blow on the table, and the strongest of them staggered.

It was the first time I felt the effects of an earthquake.

As we got to our feet, the other people started staring at the wall, behind which a huge puff of smoke was rising. But that was only half the trouble; the main attention was drawn to the incredibly huge arm, devoid of skin, which made the red flesh of the creature's limbs perfectly visible.

- Oh-ho-ho-ho.

I was speechless at the sight of such a behemoth, but the next events would be remembered for the rest of my life.

The entire street was covered with the shadow of the monster's head - the same naked flesh, but white in parts, with steam oozing out of it. The creature's eyes looked like a normal human's, just devoid of skin and hair, which were not there at all, the same situation was with the ears.... But the mouth, devoid of lips, stretched almost from edge to edge of the head, studded with a hundred or more teeth.

- Fuck.

I wasn't allowed to finish, because this titan, apparently, kicked the wall with such force that people were simply thrown back by a powerful stream of air, which caught up with us already weakened, so that we were only thrown back while the houses near the hole in the wall became ruins, and people turned into a shapeless mush.

- Something doesn't feel good... - I leaned against the wall, touching the back of my head, "Shit.

I could see drops of blood on my fingers.

- Eren, Mikasa, are you okay?

I walked over to the children already on their feet, who were watching the titan's disappearing head.

- Ow, why don't you say something?

Instead of answering, they pointed to a hole from which a five-meter long, distorted human figure emerged - an oval head, half the size of its entire body. This monster also had a wide mouth, but had skin and hair on its head like a normal human.

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! THE TITANS HAVE GOTTEN INSIDE!!!

People's screams filled the city as the monsters infiltrated the city and started devouring people. They just grabbed them and ate them, sometimes even biting into them as if they wanted to savor the taste of the desperation of defenseless people.

- Let's go!

I grabbed the kids by the hand and ran toward the house when I remembered Armina.

Fuck, I'm not an insensitive asshole enough to leave a child, much less someone I know, to be eaten by monsters.

- Ha-ah, you run to your parents while I run after Armin. If something goes wrong, then run to the ferry, there will be a better chance of survival there, because the gate can be closed.

- А-.

Eren tried to say something, but I turned him around and kicked him while Mikasa was looking around with a shocked face and tears were already starting to appear in the corners of her eyes.

- Run already!

I rushed through the streets, where the maddening crowd of people were rushing everywhere, and I had to be careful not to fall down and become a flapjack.

I realized only now that my fine motor skills had slowed down.

What the... Was it the head bump? Fuck!

I continued on toward Armin's house, but fate was on my side and let me meet him running, just in my direction, while I dug up a couple of buried grenades.

- Let's go!

I pulled him behind me, taking the short route to the ferry we'd marked earlier.

There were several routes, some of them from Armin's place of residence, so that there would be no mistrust.

- Where are we going?

Amid the constant cries of despair that made my gut shudder, I heard Armin's voice.

- To the ferry. If we can't make it, we'll go to the gate, and if we can't make it there, we'll figure something out.

- Okay.

There was a panic in his voice that he tried not to show.

We sped up because of the ground shaking under our feet, which did not bode well. It was only a hundred meters to the cherished ship. As expected, there were a lot of people crowded around it, and almost nobody cared whether you were a child or not, because now people were ruled by the desire to survive at any cost.

It was a hard task to push the people around, but thanks to my height, not too wide build and the help of the men who helped us, we managed to squeeze through.

- Faster.

I pushed Armin out of the way and was already following him down the gangway when some creep grabbed me and pulled me backward, causing me to lose my balance and fall into the cool river, but I managed to grab the hand of the culprit who had caused me to end up in the water.

- A-a-a-ah!!!

When I just managed to poke my head out from under the water, the fucker was already screaming and grabbing at me to get access to oxygen, cutting him off from me.

Fucking asshole. He's a grown man, and he can't fucking swim.

It was getting harder by the second not to breathe, and I couldn't swim to the surface because of his grip on me, so I concentrated and caught the moment to strike him in the armpit. It was enough for him to let go and I was able to push myself away from him. As I got out of the water and onto the shore, I stared at the river.

- Holy shit.

The ferry had already traveled over a hundred meters and kept moving, putting me and the remaining survivors behind.

___________

From the author:

1 - Die's from cringe - In the French version of the Lost Girls Manga, her husband, Mr. Ackerman, addresses her by her first name. Her name is Clara.

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