Chapter 16

The next day...

Mikasa Ackerman slowly opened her beautiful eyes after a well-deserved night's sleep. It seemed that she had finally recovered somewhat from the various shocks she had received in just one day. When she awoke fully, she quickly stood up and looked around her.

What appeared before her vision were most of the refugees already awake, and that included Sukasa, Carla and little Armin.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything?" - Sukasa.

"According to Hannes, they left last night in the direction of a forest near here..." - Carla.

"And where is he now?" - Sukasa.

"He went to look for them... But it's very strange Grisha leaving like that with Eren without at least warning me..." - Carla clearly worried.

Not understanding anything that was going on, the girl decided to ask her blonde haired friend who until then had remained silent while listening intently to the conversation.

"What happened?" - Mikasa approaching Armin.

"I don't know, but it seems that Mr. Yeager and Eren left during the night and so far they haven't returned." - Armin.

"What do you mean?" - Mikasa is completely confused.

"I don't understand why either, but Mr.Hannes saw them leave and is now after them." - Armin.

"How strange..." - Mikasa.

A few minutes later, Hannes suddenly appears and rushes into the warehouse, carrying the unconscious Eren in his arms.

"I couldn't find Grisha, but Eren was unconscious in the middle of the forest."  - Hannes as he placed Eren on the ground.

Carla immediately approached her son to check if everything was okay with his body. Her expression lightened a little after confirming that everything was in order.

"What happened for him to disappear just like that? Without even telling us, and still leaving Eren sleeping unconscious in the middle of a forest?" - Carla.

"I don't know, but when I found them yesterday, Grisha was in a great hurry and Eren didn't seem to know where they were going." - Hannes.

'Darling... What have you done?"- Carla.

"Don't worry Carla, he should be back later today. I don't think Mr. Yeager would leave us helpless at this difficult time." - Sukasa.

'Tsk Tsk, and didn't he do almost exactly that?'- Zirken, now with golden hair and eyes, watching them from afar.

Believing that their husband would soon return, Carla Sukasa and Mikasa chose to remain inside the warehouse until the moment Eren woke up. While Armin went out together with Hannes to get food for everyone.

However, Zirken also left the place to fulfill his other objective. In no time she was able to reach the place where they were distributing loaves of bread to the refugees and get into one of the lines.

"Hey lady, can I get 2? My brother is not able to walk and..." - Zirken pausing in mid-sentence to make a sad expression.

"You must have suffered a lot, little one. You can take it and make sure your brother eats it all." - Garrison troop girl.

The young man took his loaves of bread and left calmly as if he hadn't even lied in the biggest face a few seconds ago. He then held one of his loaves of bread in his left hand and began to eat the one in his right hand.

'I used to eat bread every single day when I lived with the old man, so I can say for sure that this one sucks...' - Zirken.

The golden haired boy continued to walk and remain attentive to his surroundings .After checking more for a little longer, he finally found what he wanted.

'I'm glad she's still here. Now I just have to try to approach her amicably... Even though I'm pretty sure that won't be effective if I don't insist.' - Zirken.

The young man quickly ate his short breakfast and walked calmly towards the girl he had spotted the day before. This time, she was about to grab some food from one of the lines.

"Sorry little girl, the last boy who came took all that was left." - Garrison trooper.

The girl's eyes widened for a moment, but soon returned to normal and she nodded. Consequently, Annie covered her head with her hood and left.

After a short walk she reached a wall of one of the surrounding houses and simply sat down on the ground, leaning her back against the wall as a support.

"Eeerrr... is everything alright? Looks like you didn't get any food..." - Zirken.

Annie didn't answer and just ignored him.

"You're not one to talk, are you? It must have been quite a shock to suddenly have to leave your house because of those damn evil titans!" - Zirken.

"..." - Annie.

"Hmmm... I have some extra bread I picked up to eat for the night, but here." - Zirken, as he offered his other loaf to her.

"..." - Annie trying not to make eye contact.

"You don't want to mes-" - Zirken interrupted by the sudden noise.

*Groooooow*

"That...came from you? Then you must really be hungry. I'm going to get a bitter taste in my mouth that an equal is starving while I have something left over..." - Zirken.

Then the girl finally, with her piercing blue eyes, began to stare into the boy's smiling face. After a moment's hesitation, she finally reached out and took the bread.

"Thank you." - Annie.

"You're welcome!" - Zirken.

The boy wasted no time and quickly sat down next to the young girl. Annie was left understanding almost nothing, as she thought that soon after accepting the food, they would part ways.

"Seeing how so far no adult has shown up to talk to you, I'm pretty sure we're in the same situation..." - Zirken.

*glup* - Annie swallowing her food.

"What situation?" - Annie.

'So she finally interacted...' - Zirken.

"Your parents were devoured by titans too, weren't they?" - Zirken.

At that instant, Annie's eyes widened a little, and right after that her expression turned a little sad.

"Oh, I'm sorry for reminding you of that... "Zirken.

Annie didn't answer anything, but nodded and her expression had just returned to normal.

'They are all just demons disguised in sheep's clothing. I won't get carried away by emotions after we've already started...' - Annie.

"'Well, how about we help each other then? I guess two orphans together are better than one lonely one." - Zirken a little smirked.

"No." - Annie.

After that short refusal, in a single instant she devoured all the bread and got up to leave towards somewhere.

'That one won't be easy at all...' - Zirken.