The tents were too small to hold a meeting, so the superiors decided it would be best to gather around the giant campfire. Everyone was there, and it wasn't a formal or strict gathering, but the topic itself was rather serious. The soldiers sat on the moist dirt or on the wet logs dragged from the corner of the forest and near the fire. Erwin, Hanji and an old man whom Eren didn't recognize were up at the front behind the fire. It casted a grim shadow on their sullen faces. Petra was a few feet away from them, eyeing nervously at the ground and shooting looks at the old man. She smiled whenever anyone stared at her, but glared when she thought no one was looking.

"We sincerely apologize for keeping you all here when you're supposed to be hitting the sack, Hanji started as she made hand gestures. "But we have someone important here with us. Pixis, take it away."

The old man coughed before removing a flask from his pocket and taking a quick swig. Eren squinted at him. He looked like an easygoing man, the sort that wouldn't really care if something horrible were to happen. He was completely bald, but had a nicely trimmed mustache sitting upon his lip. Worry lines covered his forehead, which Eren found a bit funny.

"As you may know, a large amount of you are already taking shifts to guard the town. However, we need more of you now. Unfortunately, the number of deaths are increasing rapidly. Our people need more protection. Worry not, the Military Police will provide the correct weapons that you will all need in order to defeat them. And I'm assuming you know what I'm referring to when I say 'them'. Smith has been training you so that you can do this, and I want you to do it while knowing you might die," he explained.

Eren noticed how a few people around him started to tremble in fear. They had indeed join so that they could protect their people, but did they really want to have the risk of throwing away their young lives? It suddenly occurred to him that it was always possible for death to find its way to him, and it made it a whole lot easier since he was a soldier. He was afraid.

"Don't look at the ground," Erwin snapped as he noticed a few of them started to look away. "Face what's ahead of you and accept it. What's ahead is your future. You want to protect them, right? This is what I've trained you all for, and I don't need any of you hesitating now. Understood?"

Straightening up and removing the horror from their faces, they all slapped a fist over where their heart could be found and shouted in unison. "Yes, sir!"

"Good. Now that that's settled, I will put you all in groups of six tomorrow. Each group will be responsible for one area of the town. You will switch areas every two hours and will be expected to use teamwork if you are to come across an enemy. Fortunately, they aren't known to attack in large groups, so I am confident that you will be able to bring them down. Any questions?" Hanji spoke with raised eyebrows.

When no one bothered to raise their hand, she clapped her hand with a big smile plastered on her face. "Alright. You may go home now, or stay here if you wish. If I see any lanterns on when it's past 10, I will show you a piece of my mind. Up, up, up! Off you go now!"

With sluggish and rigid movements, they all pushed themselves off the ground. Eren stayed behind, bringing up his knees and tucking it under his chin as he watched the ember's glow begin to fade away. The cold air tickled his ears and nose, and he didn't notice until a few moments later that Sasha had come over to sit beside him.

"She's staring you down. Damn, did you get on her bad side or something?" she whispered and jutted her chin slightly to Petra's direction, who was speaking with Erwin.

He sighed and crossed his arms. "I have no idea."

"Anyways," She said, stretching her a's. "What's up? Haven't heard from you in a while. Kitchen duty is really dull without you. No one wants to do potato peeling with me."

"Tragic," he replied sarcastically.

"Seriously, where have you been?" she demanded. It was out of place to see her so serious.

"I've been in deep shit with some of the bloodsuckers. There's nothing more to it. I'm sure Jean has told the others about it already."

Sasha groaned and nudged his leg with her foot. "This is suspenseful, you know? And yeah, he did tell some people like Connie, Marco, Krista, et cetera. He didn't reveal too much information though."

Eren shifted and shrugged, and she finally got the hint that he was feeling uncomfortable about the subject.

"I hope you're alright now," she said quickly.

Far from alright, he thought.

He put his hands on his temples and looked down as he exhaled loudly. "I'm just having a very difficult time right now."

"Okay. Well, I should probably leave you now to be alone with your... thoughts. Well, goodnight. Don't stay up too late," she told him and got up. Before strolling away from him, she shot one more look of worry at him and turned away.

Everyone was worrying about him nowadays.

---

Only using the light of the moon, he attempted to find his way back to the cabin to change out of his uniform and put away other belongings. Despite not doing much that day, he felt dead tired and wished to go to sleep as soon as possible. He didn't sleep at camp very often, but they already arranged a bed for him in one of the spare tents, which made him feel lightly better somehow. At least there was a bed waiting for him.

He found it odd how he had no home to return to no longer; he was technically homeless if not for the camp. He dressed himself in tight fitting but comfortable pants. After buttoning up a white shirt, he slipped on some worn out black boots and left. He dropped the knife into his pocket, feeling the soft ridges and bumps of the sheath through the materiel.

His eyes were not used to such darkness. It took a moment or two for them to adjust; all he could see was the faint outline of the stone paths and the tall trees surrounding him. Eren nearly crashed into supply crates on his way to the tent, and was grateful when he made it safely. He stumbled in the dark for a few minutes before finding a pack of matches and an oil lamp. He was aware that it was a hazard to light things up when he couldn't see, but he didn't care.

Once he lit it up, it was still rather dim. The shadows painted the tent walls and casted a gloomy and mysterious look on his features. He sat on the bed and took out the blade and inspected it.

It looked like nothing special, just like the ordinary knives they were all typically given, but the design of the handle was what threw him off. It had fancy swirls and shapes carved onto the silver, and had some sort of crystal encrusted in it. He flipped it around numerous times and traced the tip of the blade with his fingers.

"Ouch!" he yelped out in pain as a small bead of blood grew on the side of his forefinger.

Just when he was about to wipe it away on his pants, he heard a loud whoosh just outside his tent. He jumped up, poised and ready to react.

"Who's there?" he demanded with authority and with purpose.

When no one answered, he snatched the lamp and lifted it over his head. He could see the silhouette of someone a bit shorter than him, the figure of a female, and he immediately knew who it was. He cursed himself for being so clumsy and careless.

Without an invitation, she entered the tent and froze as soon as she spotted the blood on his finger. Her eyes were locked on it, like a watching hawk, and her fangs were out and proud. Eren's words were stuck in his throat and all his bravery vanished into thin air.

Slowly, her head rose to look at his face. There was a look of mischief and hunger written on her face. Eren couldn't control his trembling and the speed of his heart.  He always told himself he wouldn't mind death, but now that it was handed to him on a platter, he wanted to push it away. Ice ran through his veins, and sweat dripped down his temple. He raised the weapon in a shaking hand and finally spoke.

"What do you want?" he asked in a firm voice.

She didn't reply of course, but the answer sure was obvious.

It reminded Eren of the time he encountered a rogue vampire in the forest; it was all a blur, but he remembered how fast and easy it was to get pinned down, to get hurt and to have no power against his enemy. That was exactly what happened.

Before he could register what was happening, the lamp was knocked violently out of his hand and onto the unknown. He gripped tightly to the knife and yowled in pain when his spine hit the ground. Despite her small frame, she was strong- deadly strong. She had his wrists in her hands and her mouth just above his neck in just a matter of seconds. Petra's bite was nothing like Levi's.

Her bite was extremely excruciating and hard. Levi always held his neck so tenderly, and carefully bit into his skin. Petra on the other hand, bit him like she was going to chomp off his head and rip it off his body. His whole body was shaking now, and it was too difficult to try and stab her with the knife. He grunted in pain and tried to shove her off of him, but nothing worked. Realizing there was absolutely nothing he could do, he lay there. If death was going to take him, it better take him now if not later. He knew later would be so much worse...

Every part of his body was numb and heavy, and the weight of her was really pushing down on him. He felt like a tiny ant being slowly trampled to death by a stone. Despite being night, he could see a luminous white light shine, but his vision was fogging up and appearing sloppy, like having mud thrown into his eyes.

The vampire above him seemed to noticed his sudden stop in movements and gradually slowed down.

But did Eren really want to die?

He wasn't so sure himself.

He still wasn't sure as he plunged the blade deep into her torso and twisted it harshly, earning a blood curling scream from the angel-faced monster. It took every ounce of energy and motivation he had left to do one simple action, but it worked.

Petra twitched and fell to her side like a fish out of water. Her hands were balled into fists and the putrid smell of Eren's blood spread in the tent as it flowed out of her mouth. He weakly crawled back in awe and horror. A vampire had attempted to kill him again, and he was starting to find it normal. This was what his life was turning into.

Frantic and alert, he got up and blindly hobbled out of the tent. He had to get help, and quickly. He had to let everyone know that there was a threat in their territory. His chest was bruised from the pressure she applied on him and the blood wouldn't stop spilling from his neck. It was a gross and sticky feeling, but all he could concentrate on was the pain. Oh, the pain was almost unbearable. He didn't understand how he managed to survive.

Eren's bloody fingers were still wrapped around the knife's handle as he entered the area where the main tent could be found. He heard voices and knew they were probably busy, but had the need to interrupt them. They probably had no idea they were getting so close to a vampire this whole time. He swept the curtain like entrance to the side and bursted in, huffing and nearly out of breath.

Hanji was leaning over Erwin's shoulder as he was scribbling down something on a few notes, and they looked up immediately.

"She..."

"Oh my god," Hanji said and straightened up. "Erwin, do you think..."

"She snapped," he said, not needing to hear the last of Hanji's sentence. "It's broken."

"Wait, what?" Eren said "What do you me-"

"We need to hurry. The treaty is broken," Erwin said and rose up quickly, knocking over his chair. "They're going to be here soon."

"What's happening?" Eren demanded as he pressed a hand to the fresh bite marks on his neck.

"It's none of your concern right now, Eren," Hanji said solemnly. "Go to the medical tent."

"But there must be something I can do to help, right?" Eren said.

"No. All you need to do right now is heal. Get going," Erwin told him in a hard voice.

Swallowing, he stomped out of the tent and winced as he felt the cold wind hit his new wounds. He dragged his feet to the medical tent, and sat in the same bed he was put in just that morning. Eren had so many worries on his mind, like what could possibly be going on, or where Armin could be. Was Levi watching him somewhere? Was he safe? Was he dead? There was no telling what happened to him.

He could hear shouting and the low rumbling of panicking voices and the crunch of boots on twigs and leaves. It filled his ears, and he had a feeling that something horrible was definitely going to erupt. Had he done the right thing by stabbing her? He was sure it was the correct thing to do because after all, she was a vampire. He was a soldier. He was supposed to kill them, it was his duty.

Tired of hearing all the chaos outside, he rummaged through the boxed and bags of equipment and supplies until he found a small tin box with the label "first aid kit" and opened it with impatient hands. He threw off the lid and retrieved a roll of thick gauze. He refused to stay still and not do anything to help. He had been trained for a long time and he did not plan to throw all that time away just because of one measly injury. He had been bitten countless times; this one was almost no different from the others, and he wasn't going to let it stop him.

After wrapping the gauze gently around his neck, he secured it, tied it up and he was set. All he had to do now was find his trusty bow and quiver. He thanked the heavens above that the commander had allowed everyone to keep their weapons wherever they wanted, which meant yet another trip to the cabin. He swiftly made it out of the tent and almost screamed in horror when he discovered what was happening outside.

Just minutes ago, it as a calm and soothing dark night with a soft breeze and twinkling stars, but now it was a clash of swords and had the scent of gunpowder wafting in the air. Eren couldn't see any vampires, but he knew everyone was preparing to fight them. He figured it was probably all his fault that they were to stop by and pay a visit, and it was not going to be friendly. He sprinted as fast as he could to the cabin and snatched his weapons from a chest and went out once again.

The tent he had been prepared to sleep in was on fire. The smoke danced up the sky like ghosts, and the smell of ash and wood entered his nostrils, reminding him of the accident that had occurred in the underground cavern when he was with Levi and Armin. Eren jogged over to the edge of the camp just near the trees and stood there to think.

It was all finally real. After years and years of being in the camp, something exciting but dangerous was going to happen. He wanted to decapitate a vampire's head so badly.

"Hey," he could hear a voice whisper. "Hey, Eren. Over here."

"Armin?" he questioned in shock.

"Yeah. Uh, just thought I'd warm you that a giant mob of them is coming your way. I can sense them, and they're very, very angry," he told him as he revealed himself from the thicket of leaves. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to tell you. I'll try my best to help in any way if I am needed." His blond locks bounced as he moved around to get a clear view of his friend.

"Thanks. Do you have any idea where Levi is?" Eren asked.

"I'm afraid no. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm sure he'll turn up soon," he replied. "I need to get going now. See you later, and stay safe."

And just like that, he was all alone again.

"Everyone, get ready! There's not a lot of us, so we need to stay together," Hanji announced loudly as she raised a sword to the sky.

She was right. Half of the army returned to their home for the night, and there was no way they could alert them or call for help. Eren guessed that there was around a hundred of them, which was a lot but not enough. He strolled his way to where everyone was huddling and listened attentively to the next orders. Erwin was handing vials of holy water to as much people as he could, and Petra was nowhere in sight. He looked at the people around him. They were all tired, but they had their brave faces on.

"I want you all to know that if something nasty breaks out, you might die tonight," Hanji told them frankly. "But you will die in honour. You will die for the sake of protecting the people. Every single one of you play a special role. At the moment, we must wait until our visitors a-"

Hanji was cut off short as the rumble of marching broke out in the direction of the forest entrance.

---

AN:

i swear this fic is so slow.

i intended for eren and levi to get together around chapter 14-15 but now i'm moving on to 18.

i'm so sorry, but please be patient! the good stuff is coming very soon. thank you very much for reading!

~your best friend takeshi