Epilogue >> Chapter 02
¤ u n e d i t e d ¤

The morning air was briskly damp. Morning birds chirp and insects buzz. The sun stretched across the bright blue sky, tickling Eren's face. With his eyes still heavy, Eren lifts his upper body, his shoulders slouching over.

He lie in a tree, high above the ground. Just hours ago he had been alert and guarding his peers below, along with Armin. After Jean awakened, they traded positions and the two friends were allowed a few hours of rest.

Eren groggily rubs his eyes, yawining quietly. He moisturizes his mouth, glancing around the area to notice he was the only one awake. His face remains with a drunken expression as he peers below him at the slumbering male. Jean is sleeping soundly below a tree, causing Eren to frown as he scans the area.

Everything appears normal in his eyes. He scans a second time, this time he squints to create a clearer image.

Shit.

Eren's first instinct was to scream, but that would only alert the others and cause the crawling infected to attack sooner. Instead, he quietly reaches for his pistol attached to his belt.

Quietly, he aims at his target as it inches closer to Jean. He inhales and exhales deeply though his mouth, his eyes focusing on the creature who crawls only feet away from the light, ash hair colored male that snoozes soundly without notice of his possible end.

Eren only has one shot to kill this infected, if he were to miss he would not only endanger Jean, he would most likely alarm other infected to come. Eren can't endanger everyone, he will not allow that to happen.

Eren places his hand on the trigger, his target locking on it's head. As if time were in slow-motion, he pulls the trigger and the bullet pierces through the morning air and straight through the skull. A small noise escapes the lips of his target, bringing relief to Eren.

Jean's head tilts as he stirs in his sleep. Slowly, he awakens to a course in front of him. Immediately, his eyes widening in shock. His first instinct was to check his body, in case he was wounded. Everything appears normal, no scratches or bite marks were visible.

He let's out a held breath as he lifts himself from the mossy floors of the forest. Eren whistles, catching the teens attention. His golden orbs met Eren's teal ones as he waves the pistol. Jean felt his face fluster in embarrassment.

Armin slowly awakens, clicking his tongue. He blinks several times before fully awakening. He notices his friend is already awake and he yawns, a small, quiet noise escaping his lips.

Eren begins to make his way down the redwood tree. Jean is already inspecting the corpse as Eren walks closer.

"This one seems to be a class A infected." Eren says aloud

Jean raises a brow in confusion, "they have classes now?"

"Well, yes." Eren says in an unsure tone.

Armin leaps the last few feet to the ground and clears his throat. "Well, Jean, each infected was once a human which meant they had brains. How do we distinguish one person from another?" He asks, but before anyone could answer he began to speak, "by appearance, personality, and intelligence. When Eren said this infected was a class A, he meant that his intelligence was higher than other infected." Armin explains.

"I say he is intelligent because before it was about to attack you, it crawled around for a bit instead of diving in; which meant it knew that there were other humans and if it were to spark attention," Eren pauses and glances at the corpse which already began to decay, "it would surely meet it's end."

Jean nods as he began to understand what Armin and Eren were explaining. How they knew this information was still unknown to him, but that didn't concern him.

Connie leaps from the tree, just feet from the mossy earth. "Wait, so you're saying that these shits can be smart?" Connie dusts off his hands.

"I didn't believe either," Eren admits. He crouches next to the corpse. "You have to shoot it through the head to kill it's braincells. That's the only reason why these things function."

"You two seem to know a lot about these things," Jean says suspiciously.

Eren glances at Armin. Armin blinks, his eyes hinting worry. Eren slowly stands,his eyes locking with Jean's.

"Well," he pauses for a moment, trying to think of an excuse. "I had a friend that knew a lot..." He glances at Connie, then at Jean. "He died..." Eren says slowly.

Jean was unconvinced, but he saw Eren struggling so he let it go.

"Connie, wake the others," Jean orders.

Connie nods firmly and begins to climb a tree. Jean eyes Eren with a fixed expression. Eren swallows down his saliva nervously.

Jean narrows his eyes, his golden orbs flickering. Armin clears his throat.

"I'll wake Mikasa," he announces.

The tension between the two teens lighten slightly.

"Good idea," Eren says.

~

The group stands in a half moon position, Jean and Eren are in font. All eyes are on them, making eren feel uncomfortable. Jean steps forward.

"We are heading to the city. Brooks is the nearest town and the most high-tech town in Missouri, we will refill there before crossing the Mississippi."

Armin and the others listen closely. Mikasa and Eren exchange glances. Eren nods, understanding her concern. Her shoulders slouch, her senses easing. She glances at Armin who firmly nods.

They had to reach Florida, even if it meant betraying their new allies. It was humanity or them, and Eren wasn't planning on losing anyone else.

"Our new allies," Jean continues, "have a lot of knowledge of the infected. They will help us reach Kentucky."

Eren steps forward. His eyes scan the others.

Connie has a frown fixated upon his face while Sasha's eyebrows furrow as she stares at him. Marco remained expressionless, his dark orbs fixated upon Jean. Mikasa and Armin also stare at Eren, their emotions unreadable.

Eren gulps, "we have several theories that have been proven to be true." He pauses, glancing at Armin who nods. "The infected are divided into three groups. Class A are the most intelligent while class B remains average. Class C are, well, idiots." He says flatly.

Connie scoffs, "how idiotic can they get?"

"Well, we've encountered a class before," Armin says. "They seem to have no common sense and no sense of direction. They often run into walls and are usually the most common to die." He explains.

Connie nods, understanding his explanation.

"If we continue to stand here, we won't get anywhere. Let's start moving." Marco commands, walking forward.

The others follow while Eren, Armin, and Mikasa stay behind.

"Do you have the satchel?" Eren whispers.

Armin nods turning his back, "it's in the backpack."

Eren sighs in relief.

The satchel contains information and maps concerning the possible cure that lies in Florida. Armin had found it days after the evacuation of California. The teens had spent a year together to prepare for the long journey across the United States.

Inside the leather satchel were several maps, notes, a journal and files of some soft. Some were written in English while others were in German, a language that Eren new well. The journal was written in a language that none of the teens could read, which frustrates them.

Did they find the satchel be chance?

By fate?

Was it destiny?

Who knew.

No matter how this information reached their hands, the three of them are determined to reach Florida. They will do anything they have to do to get their hands on that cure.

The fate of humanity is in their hands.

Author's Note:

Wooh! Chapter two! Things are slow, I know and I apologize ;-;

I'm trying my best to make this story interesting.

I promise that the next chapter will have more action ^.^

~Freek
07.20.16