Strangers, Icecream, and Zombies

Armin's pov:

Petra and I have been here for a few days, at least I think it's been a few days. It's hard to tell when you're trapped in a dark building with no windows. I bet you're wondering what the hell happened and, to be honest, I'd like to know as well.

One minute Petra and I were getting dropped off in the middle of a small town and then... All hell breaks loose. Not even five minutes after the chopper disappeared a huge, what I'd guess to be cargo, plane landed.

Where these people even got it I have no idea, but maybe I should've focused on what they were doing. I only started running after Petra dragged me away from the horde of zombies shambling toward us. Like, why couldn't they just Fed Ex some zombies, geez?!

We ran through the town until we found this brick building with no windows and now that's where we're at. Just sitting and listening to the horde shamble around is nerve-racking and annoying. Like a thousand bees buzzing in my ear at once.

I wonder if the others are doing alright? We haven't encountered anyone while here, but we are surrounded by zombies, so no wonder. If I was looking at this from the outside I'd probably avoid it too. This was—

"Hey, do you hear that?" Petra whisper-shouts.

I was about to ask what sound, but then I heard it... Low talking and fading footsteps over the buzzing of the dead-heads. We rush to the back of the dark building and feel around the walls for a back exit. Here!

I grip onto the handle and open it slowly, waiting for a horde to jump at us, but none appear. The zombies are all crowding up front, so this path is cleared. Peaking outside, I see three people walking farther away.

Their backs are turned to us, but I can see two taller boys and a shorter female between them. Are they friends or foe? Would they kill us if we approached them? They were laughing and joking like friends, but we were strangers.

I hear a loud crash and we turn to see the zombies pushing through the now open doorway. The boxes we used to block the double doors lie scattered around the floor.

"Follow them!" She yells over the approaching zombies.

We run after the strangers who had already disappeared. They were headed out of this dead town and so are we. Working together seemed better than two people against a horde.

Though we ran after them, we never caught sight of them and the horde was still behind us. A few hundred zombies, even slow, they were hungry and we were food. We turned a corner and were going to keep running, but stopped at the sound of a voice.

"Hey, get in here! Quick!"

The owner of the voice was one of the men we were following, hanging from the doorway of a truck. An ice cream truck...

Okay, so I know you're never supposed to trust someone in a van offering you sweets, but if any of them were pedos... I could throw them out to the zombies as a distraction and we could escape.

Petra and I race past him, hearing him slam the door behind us as we head through the door to the back. Surprisingly, the freezer part was still freezing and I could see the other two people huddled in a corner shivering.

Fantastic! Freeze to death with strangers or zombies... I can't decide which I'd rather have. We sit as far from the others as we can while the man who shouted at us shut us in this frozen hell. Now here we are, just sitting around strangers.

The zombies could be heard walking past us, occasionally bumping into the truck as they pass. We saw how big that horde was, so we'll be here for awhile. Maybe long enough to freeze to death.

Petra wraps her arm around my shivering shoulders and pulls me to her side, trying to keep us warm. I take the chance to study our saviors. Well, saviors for now... Who knew what they'd try once the zombies left.

The one who shouted to us was tall with black hair, styled like a flat cap. The other man was tan with dark auburn hair and brown eyes that glare right at me. Between them was a shivering girl with dirty blonde hair who was also glaring at me.

The tall ravenette spoke first, "Sorry about my companions, we're a bit tense. I'm Marlow, the ginger is Floch, and she's Hitch. And you are?"

"I'm Petra and this is Armin. I'm sorry if we bothered you, we were trying to avoid the horde. We saw you guys and were curious." Petra says quietly.

Petra left my side and went to go talk quietly to Marlow since he's their leader, I think. The others glared at me like I was their nemesis or something. What is their deal?

"What's wrong with you guys?" I ask through my gritted, chattering teeth.

I was cold and had a migraine. And these people thought it was okay to glare at someone who did no wrong to them. What a bun—

The blonde stands up and gets in my face, "You're the problem! Marlow is too nice for his own good and now we're stuck with you. We don't know you!" she yells angrily and gets pulled back by Marlow.

She struggles in his arms until he whispers something in her ear that makes her fall limp. The sound of the zombies outside had disappeared and we were too busy arguing to notice.

"You don't have to know us, because we'll be leaving. The horde is gone. Let's go, Petra." I send a glare towards the angry blonde.

Petra nods towards Marlow and goes to open the door, but it's locked. She tenses and starts pulling and twisting the handle, but still nothing happens. Oh no, please say we're not stuck! I get up and start hitting and banging on the door to no avail.

Marlow places his hand on my shaking shoulder and I flinch away from him. I don't want to die like this. Not when Erwin would never know what happened to me.

"Hey, take a deep breath. Freaking out won't get the door open. I'll try the back, okay?" he says to me.

When I nod, he goes to the back and jiggles the metal doors. They rattle, but remain closed. He tracks the chain and the door rattles again. I look around and see metal against the side of the wall. This must be where the ice cream is handed to customers..

I push and pull on it a few times, but it doesn't budge and there is no chain to pull it up. What are we going to do now?!

A smaller hand on my shoulder has me turning to face the blonde who yelled at me earlier. She has something extended in her hand toward me. I take the white package and unwrap it to find an ice cream sandwich, still cold.

It probably has freezer burn, but I haven't had ice cream in so long! She passes one to everyone and bites into her own.

Once she finishes chewing, she says, "If we're gonna die, my as well enjoy some fucking ice cream." then she goes back to eating.

It seems we all agree, because then we're all sitting together and eating ice cream. Apparently the freezer were full of different types of ice cream bars, sandwiches, and pops. So much ice cream for us to eat!

My fingers are almost numb and my skin burns from the cold, but I'm more worried about the exhaustion seeping into me. When someone's body is freezing and they start to feel tired, it means their body is shutting down. The others seem to be feeling the same thing.

The door slamming against the wall has us all jumping up sluggishly and turning towards it. Standing in the doorway is my lover with a concerned look on his face.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Get the hell out of here before you freeze to death!" He orders before picking me up and carrying me outside.

The others are following close behind, all sharing a confused look except for Petra who was grinning. My shivering started to ease up the longer I stayed in Erwin's warm arms. He was staring down at me with so much love that my heart hurt.

I leaned up and kissed his cheek, before wiggling down from his arms. When I looked around, I saw that he was leading us back into town. It was early in the morning, so how long were we stuck in there?.. How many days passed us by?

"Erwin, where is Gunther? And do you know how far we are from the escape? What about—"

His lips cover my own for a chaste kiss, leaving me standing there, speechless. Petra giggles and punches my shoulder while we keep following Erwin.

"We slept in a store for the night, but now we're going to continue. As we walked, we started meeting up with everyone so they're there too. Who are your friends, love?"

"Love!" Hitch screams excitedly.

Geez, not another fujoshi! Petra and Hange were enough as it is. Erwin just grins and looks over at them.

"I'm Hitch, the cap-headed idiot is Marlow, and that grump is Floch. We got stuck in that ice cream truck with your friends, because of a horde." she states excitedly, ignoring the glare Floch sent her way.

Erwin nods and grabs my hand, leading us farther into town. We stop at a big metal building that says Jack's Hardware. My quiet lover knocks hard on the metal and the door opens quickly, Petra and I instantly getting pulled into hugs.

When I look around, I see everyone just standing around waiting for their turn to hug us. Wait, where's—

"Hey" I yell. "Where's Eren and Levi? Thought you said everyone was here?!"

Did something happen to them..? All the different outcomes flood my mind, making my eyes blur with tears. My best friend could be dead and I wouldn't know and I HATE that feeling of helplessness.

A hand on my shoulder and his soothing voice, "Love, they are fine, we just haven't encountered them yet. We'll see them once we get to the meet up spot, okay?" Erwin whispers in my ear softly.

The tenseness in my shoulders instantly disappears as he soothes my fears. Yeah, Eren and Levi are badasses, so I'm sure they're fine. Erwin introduces the others to our new friends and then we're leaving, heading towards the escape place Eren was talking about.

Personally, I don't know where or what they're talking about is. It is knowledge only the Levisquad has, I guess.

"Erwin, how far are we?" Petra asks.

"It's actually only about a day's walk."

That's good, so we're close to Eren... And Levi, of course! If it's a day's walk and it's early morning right now, we should be able to make it there by tonight. I look back to see Hitch with her arm around both her friends' waists while they're laughing.

Hitch looks up at me and winks before turning back to their conversation. A blush stains my cheeks at the fujoshi's actions. I look toward the front to see Mikasa holding Jean's hand. That's different...

I did notice that, after Marco, Mikasa got closer to Jean. He was smiling down at her, which was another change from the Jean I remember. He may be kinda a jerk, but I'm glad he's smiling again. My friends seem to all be in one piece, which eases more of my stress.

Gunther was laughing and joking with a smiling Eld. Both were so clueless of the others' feelings and it was so aggravating to watch. Gunther was the only one that could make Eld act less serious and Eld was very protective of Gunther. It's funny how clueless they are.

Hange and Petra were giggling, blushing messes, pointing at Erwin and I's joined hands. His hand was so large that it completely hid my own, but it was warm... And safe. Something hard to find in times like this and I had it.

Everyone was kind of doing their own thing in their own small groups, but we stuck close and kept walking. Wouldn't want to separate at a time like this. It was warm outside, but windy. The wind was roaring in our ears and leaves were flying around us.

Even close to each other, we had to basically scream to be heard. My blonde hair was getting blown around my face, obscuring my view and bugging the shit out of me. With hair in my face, I bump into Erwin's back yet again.

I swear this is the third time I've done it. Since he isn't holding my hand anymore, it was hard to tell where he was. I go to apologize, but stop when hands grasp my shoulders tightly and someone launches themselves at me.

The wind was starting to die down so everyone heard my scream when I fell to the ground. A middle aged zombie missing half of his jaw was snapping at my neck. My arms were wobbling with all the strength I was using to keep him from biting me.

The smell of rot reached my nose when he was inches from my face. My arms are so close to giving out. Where is everyone?! A gunshot echoes and blood and pieces of brain splatter the side of my face. The zombie's body falls limply over me, weighing me down.

The smell is so bad and I can feel the bits of brain clinging to my cheeks and even in my hair. I feel the body get thrown off me just in time for me to turn my head and throw up. My body trembles while I heave and wipe at my face and hair with my shirt.

Okay, you try being covered in brains and blood then laugh at me! Hands rub my back while I finish dry heaving. I wish I could just collapse and sleep, but we need to meet up with Eren. Arms under my armpits lift me up and hug me from behind.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I tried to shoot it faster, but I didn't want to accidentally hit you. I'm so sorry. So sorry." He mutters against my neck.

"I-it's okay. L-let's j... Just let's go."

He lets go of me once my trembling stops and Petra goes to walk next to me. That was so close and I would've been zombie fodder. It takes one second, one mistake, one bite or scratch, to make a zombie and I almost was.

The thought wasn't settling, but I'm alive and that's all that matters. What-if's won't get me anywhere.

"Where did that zombie come from anyway?" Petra asks me quietly.

I was just as confused. One zombie just walking around wasn't usual. Was this part of the game those sickos were making us play?

We were just reaching the outside of the town when I heard gunshots. I looked up to see Erwin and the others shooting at the horde that was approaching. There was over a hundred right there! Where did they come from?!

Petra and I were in the back of the group, shooting stragglers, when a hand gripped my shoulder. It left after Petra let off a shot, but that wasn't what scared me. We were surrounded by hungry zombies. A group is nothing when they're surrounded like this.

We didn't have enough ammo to even put a dent in a horde this size. I yelled out to Erwin and we got into a close circular formation while we continued shooting. Petra pulled out a sword and started clearing the zombies closest to us. I didn't know she could use a sword...

"Stay close and keep in formation. We'll clear a path out of this and you guys just keep them at bay." Erwin yells.

The sound of groaning and gunshots fills the air along with the smell of rot. This was bad, very bad! Every zombie we killed was replaced with three more. Nothing was making a dent big enough to slip through.

"Levisquad, shift to the back and try clearing a path." Erwin orders above the sounds of the hungry zombies.

There was a shift in the circle and Petra pushed me to Erwin's back. Now the Levisquad, aside from Erwin, we're at the back beating the zombies back. They were a one-minded team that worked in unison against their enemy.

Soon enough, there was a big enough gap to escape through.

"Okay switch formation again. Levisquad at the front to watch our tail!" Came Erwin's authoritative voice.

The switch was flawless, not giving the zombies enough time to fill the gap. We were fighting, shooting, killing the zombies while we pushed through their rank. We were finally out! Now we could escape!

Time seemed to slow. One minute the Levisquad was at my back and the next... Zombies were filling in their spot, blocking them from the group and their escape. How...

I pulled out my machete and started slashing at the zombies, desperate to give my friends a path back to us. They were fighting desperately to reach us, but there was just too many. Erwin saw this and so did Petra.

"Don't you dare get our group killed, old man! Go! T... Tell Eren we love him.." Petra yells before getting dragged down.

We saw nothing as the zombies blocked our view, but I could guess at what happened. The last thing I saw was the others fighting toward where Petra dropped and then we were running away. Running from our dying friends.

I look back forward with tears in my eyes and see three more people missing. The three people Petra and I met must have been surrounded with the Levisquad. So many of our group dead.. Dead because of those fucked up scientists.

We run and run without looking back again until we're in the forest next to our old settlement. Everyone is panting and crying, including myself. We just lost so many of our friends and we had to run.

"We... Let's keep going. We're only about a two hour walk away now." Erwin's voice is low and quiet, cracking near the end.

Those were Erwin's squad mates and, as a Commander, he must feel like shit. He had to choose between them and the rest of the group. The rest of the walk is silent, except for the occasional zombie that breaks the tree line.

I can't hear the horde following us, so they must have been satisfied with what happened... Our friends getting devoured saved us.. Tears kept my eyes blurred for the whole walk.

The atmosphere was tense and somber, almost suffocating me. What would Eren and Levi feel when we had to tell them? Oh God, they don't know! I don't think I could bring myself to tell them we failed to save them.

Gunther and Eld would never get to have a relationship. Never realize they had feelings for each other. I would never get to make fun of Oluo biting his tongue again. And Petra... She was always so happy and fearless.

She was there for Eren in ways I just couldn't. Her death was going to affect Eren the most. Petra was like an older sister to Eren and he was like her little brother. Eren has already lost so many people he's cared about and I don't think he'll survive this...