Ereri – Zombie!AU

Written for tumblr. Yup.

With Nothing Left in the World

He was walking through the forest with quick strides. His feet were heavy, deeply burying themselves into the muddy ground beneath him.

It was pouring and the rain swallowed any noises that could have possibly warned him from incoming threats and it was hindering his sight as well. If he happened to accidentally run into a group of these damn walking rotten corpses he could be done for. What a miserable end it would make to his existence. He could start roaming the forest together with them then. Stinking, filthy creatures that once were human.

He had no sympathy for none of them. He did not even have much sympathy left for the living either. That is why he had been alone for some time now. Being alone was better, it preserved you from so much trouble.

So when he reached that clearing in the forest he knew so well (a few hundred meters further north and he would get to the town he was trying to reach to look for supplies) he only stopped momentarily when he saw the body of a person lying on the ground.

Newly killed, he thought. There was what looked like a bite mark on the young boy's hip. He was already dead, there was no use wasting his time here. How long did he have left before he turned? What sort of salvation would it bring that boy if he killed him now instead?

A waste of time, he decided.

But still, something made him stop and walk over to the body. He kneeled down beside him and before he even knew what he was doing, he realized that the boy was not dead. Instead, he was still breathing shallowly.

He had short brown hair and intensely green eyes that slowly came searching for his.

"…kasa?" He whispered, voice raspy from lying here in the cold for god knows how long.

What was it? A name? A place?

"I'm not your friend." Levi narrowed his eyes. Wondering what he was doing. He was completely in the open here. He would be unable to see anyone approaching, but they could easily make him out here in the middle of this clearing.

"How long have you been here? Are you bitten?" He glanced over the wound on the younger one's hip. It did not look much like a bite mark up close, more like a scratch. It was rather deep and not looking to good from being untreated for too long. He had probably lost a fair share of blood as well. How long could it have been? A few days maximum?

"Three… days." The boy said slowly. He shuffled, his hands trying to find hold in the muddy ground beneath him. He pushed himself up slowly until he was sitting upright. It was demanding a lot of him.

"I've been… waiting." He said, glancing over to the stranger who had gone through the trouble of stopping for him.

"For your people to return for you?" Levi raised an eyebrow at the younger one. Three days, here? Without being attacked? Impossible.

"My siblings." The youth said, casting his glance down.

Levi understood then. The boy had not dared to move, he was trusting his siblings to return for him. But if it has been three days already then there was little of a chance anyone would come to retrieve him. They were probably already dead.

He eyed the wound on the boy's hip once more, before gently placing a hand on his back. If it has been three days that wound could not be the result of a zombie attack. Unless the boy was lying of course… usually people died within a few hours from these kind of wounds and then turned.

"I'm Levi." He said. Trying to form a decision in his head. Bringing this kid back with him was risky. But leaving him here like this was out of the question, as well. He looked miserable and broken and he was wounded. He would not last another day if he stayed here.

"Eren." The youth replied, looking up with hope sparking in his eyes. No one introduces themselves to you if they were just going to abandon you again, right?

"I'm taking you with me, unless you want to stay here and wait longer."

The youth slowly shook his head. His eyes were filled with sorrow.

Levi kneeled before him, stretching his hands out behind him. "Hold on to me." He said.

The other one did as he was told, tightly wrapping his arms around the older one's neck. Holding on to him with the last of his strength as if his life depended on it. And it probably did.

Levi lifted him up without much effort although he was bigger than him.

As they were walking back into the direction Levi had just come from he could feel the boy on his back carefully laying his head on his back.

"What are you doing, brat?" He hissed angrily.

"Tired." Was all the youth replied.

"Don't die on me, got that?"

He received no more reply though. But the consistent breathing he could make out coming from the youth calmed him down significantly.

He allowed himself to wish for the boy to get better. So he would no longer be alone. If at least for a while, some company could not hurt. Someone to look out for… after all this time. It was a nice thought.