(F/N) disinterestedly picked at his nails from where he sat on the taller roof of the duplex, looking down on the other recruits as they continued to sink further into despair. "So," he said as he swung his legs back and forth, "anyone got any ideas for their epitaph?" Predictably, they all ignored him. "Epitaph. You know, the thing carved on your tombstone. Like, 'Here lies Reiner: His only muscle lacking in size was the one between his legs.' Any takers? No? I guess I'll come up with 'em for ya. Let me see." He said. Leaning forward, he pinched his chin thoughtfully as he scanned the group. "'Annie Leonhart: Resting bitch face even in death.' Or, 'Connie Springer: The brightest thing in life was his shining bald head.' Really? No one?"

Groaning in boredom, he leaned back and supported himself on his elbows. "So y'all are really okay with just becomin' worm food? I mean, come on, don't any of you have a reason to fight? Somethin' worth dyin' for? Armin, what happened to all that shit about findin' the sea? You never used to shut up about that. And Bertholdt, Reiner, I thought you guys wanted to go home. And not in the religious sense of the word.

"Goddamn, what a fucking waste. We're young! We got our whole lives ahead of us!" He shouted to the sky. "Mina, remember when we used to talk about settlin' down? Startin' a family? I know we're not together anymore, but that don't mean there ain't someone out there just waitin' for you to come along and sweep 'em off their feet. Marco, Jean, I hear ladies in the interior go crazy for a guy in uniform. The MP's are still waitin' for ya. Same goes for you Annie. Annie, oh, A-nnie." He said in a singsong voice. "Annie, Annie, sweeter than candy, lurin' ever girl and dandy. You know, it happened in a dream once." The stoic girl turned so her back was completely to him. Annoyed? Or maybe she was hiding a blush. Either way, it made him laugh.

"Speakin' of," he said in a rumble, "Sasha. Sorry darlin', can't think of anything that rhymes with your name, but that don't mean you can't make me sing." The girl in question was blushing furiously but winked at him all the same, flashing him a rather sultry look that made him hum lowly. "It'll be a shame to see Titans picking you from their teeth. What a waste of a body. And damn what a nice body you have, Braus."

"Would you cut it out already?" Jean growled irritably. "No one wants to hear about you and potato girl hooking up, it's disgusting."

"So's the fact that all of you have gone and pissed yourselves, but I was bein' kind enough not to mention that."

"That's it!" Jean shouted, pushing himself to his feet. "I'm done listening to your bullshit."

"Yeah?" (F/N) pushed himself back into a seated position before hopping down onto the lower roof. "You gonna do somethin' about it?"

"I will unless you shut your mouth!"

Marco, who had been eying Jean nervously for the past five minutes, quickly stepped between the two and raised his hands. "Hey guys, I think we're all just a little tense here." He laughed nervously. "So why don't we just drop the whole thing and forget it?"

After a few tense seconds of silence, Jean finally backed down from his and (F/N)'s staring match. "Tch, whatever." He muttered as he began sulking away.

"Come on, seriously?" (F/N) shouted at Jean's retreating figure. "That's it? God, you're pathetic. But I guess that's pretty much par for the course for you, ain't it Jean? All bark and no bite. Same goes for the rest o' you dogs. What the hell was the point of the past three years of your miserable lives if all you were gonna do is roll over at the first sign o' trouble? Whatever," he sighed, "world's probably better off without you quitters. What a waste of food and air you all turned out to be. Hopefully you're born with spines in your next lives."

Clenching his fists and teeth, Jean angrily turned around and started towards (F/N) again, ready to punch him square in the face. But when he saw the crazed glint in the other man's eyes he faltered.

"Yeah, that's more like it." (F/N) grinned maniacally as his (E/C) eyes locked with Jean's. "There's the fire! Well, what are you waiting for?" He shouted, spreading his arms. "Hit me already! Come on, come on!"

What the hell was wrong with this bastard? Jean always knew he was a little off, everyone did, but this was something new. It was like he got some sort of sick thrill at the prospect of being killed. The way he ran towards the Titans reminded Jean of the way he ran towards the knife during combat training. It just didn't make any sense.

(F/N) let out a frustrated groan when he realized Jean wasn't going to make a move. He was so goddamn bored, not to mention sick of everyone's defeated resignation. "I can't stay here anymore." He said with a shake of his head. "Y'all are too damn depressing. Do me a favor and leave a list of your names somewhere. I'll pick it up later and give it to one of the officers."

Walking over to the edge of the rooftop, he was just about to pull the triggers on his ODM gear when a small hand grabbed him by the elbow.

"Wait." Mina said, looking at him through her scared, slate-grey eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Where do ya think?" (F/N) scoffed. "They gave the order to withdrawal, so that's what I'm gonna do. I don't have enough in my tanks to make it back to the wall, so I'll be making a little pitstop first." He added. Lifting his blade, he pointed at the supply house off in the distance, overrun with Titans. "You're welcome to join me, if ya like."

"Don't listen to him, Mina." Jean called out from where he had resumed his position lying on the roof. "You'll just end up Titan chow."

(F/N) shot Jean an irritated scowl before turning to address the girl. "Look, if you do come with me, well, I'll do my darndest to keep you safe, but I can't guarantee what Jean said won't end up true. What I can promise you though, is that you've got a better shot at livin' if you're willin' to fight for it, rather than sittin' here and waitin' for the Titans to come to you."

"Look man, if you want to go runnin' towards your death, be my guest." Jean said. "But don't be dragging others along with you."

"I'm just makin' sure you understand all your options." (F/N) said to Mina. "I won't lie to you; truth is I probably stand a better chance at livin' if I didn't bring you along. You'd honestly just slow me down. But I'm willin' to take that risk. The question is, are you?"

"Oh, please. Like anyone in their right mind would..."

"I am." Mina nodded.

"What?" Jean roared disbelievingly, sitting upright. "Mina, don't tell me you're actually serious about this."

"He's right, Jean." She said. "I don't just want to sit here and wait until the Titans finally find us. If I die, I want it to be because I tried my best to live."

"Then you're just as crazy as he is, cause if you really think the two of you..."

"The three of us."

Jean looked up again as Sasha went to stand by (F/N) and Mina. "Oh, don't look so surprised." She laughed, trying to hide the sound of fear from worming its way into her voice. "If we're talking about crazy, we all know I play second fiddle to (F/N)."

(F/N) smiled sincerely at the two girls, gripping each of them firmly by the hand. "Anyone else?"

He looked out at the rest of the cadets. Armin was still huddled up with his hands over his head, and the darkness that had crept onto Connie's face had not left. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were still huddled together watching the sun, and Marco was kneeling next to Jean. The others were all still hugging themselves, avoiding making eye contact with him.

"Alright." (F/N) whispered. "Well, guess this is goodbye, then. See you all on the other side, some day." Turning their backs on the others, (F/N), Mina, and Sasha all hopped off the rooftop and fired their ODM gear off in the direction of the supply house.

The district of Trost was completely destroyed. In just over an hour the once flourishing hub of business and commerce had been reduced to a crumbling pile of rubble. The many buildings that lined the streets were nothing more than ruins of broken glass and fractured stone bricks, and the streets themselves weren't any better. Cracks spread in the cobblestone from the craters all the chaos had left behind. Even more unsettling was the amount of red that stained the landscape. Despite the carnage, they encountered no Titans on their journey, at least for the time being. It seemed they had all been attracted to the supply depot turned slaughterhouse.

Perhaps fate had decreed that the hell they were about to step into was punishment enough, and thus cleared the path for them as a small mercy. Or maybe the Titans were just lying-in wait, preparing to pounce once they had been lulled into dropping their guard. Whatever the case, (F/N) found the quiet unsettling. Maybe he should have appreciated the respite like Mina and Sasha were, but he just couldn't help it. He preferred the noise of battle; at least that way he knew his enemies weren't trying to conceal their presence, not that Titans were capable of that level of intelligence. Still, he'd heard the phrase about 'the calm before the storm' enough times to be wary.

"We got Titans incoming!" Sasha shouted as they drew nearer in proximity, her eyes fixated on two twelve meters lumbering about on their right.

"Don't engage!" (F/N) instructed. "Avoid fighting if you can help it. We can't afford to use anymore gas than absolutely necessary. We're runnin' on fumes as it is. Just keep an eye on 'em and let me know if they get any closer."

"Right." Sasha nodded. "Got it."

Given the sheer number of them, avoiding the Titans completely was impossible, but (F/N) did his best to keep the number of encounters to a minimum, continuously altering their course to limit the number of fights to only those that were absolutely unavoidable. Thankfully, because they were such a small group, they didn't attract much attention, and managed to make it safely to the supply house's shadow. Landing on the streets, (F/N) grabbed Sasha and Mina by the shoulders, pulling them into the shadows just in time to avoid the gaze of a lumbering ten meter. Eyeing the beast cautiously, the three kept completely still until it had moved a relatively safe distance away.

"Alright," (F/N) whispered, poking his head around the corner of the brick wall they were up against, "There's no getting in on the ground level. Too many Titans swarmin' the place for that to work. Our best bet is gonna be the windows on the upper levels, only have to worry about the big ones that way. Once we're inside, we head straight for the gas. Just a quick refuel and then we're outta there."

"But aren't the extra gas canisters stored in the basement?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, that's right. And there's no tellin' how many of the littluns are creepin' around the place." Retreating his head back around the corner, (F/N) turned to face Mina and Sasha. "Right, here's the play; once we're inside we lose any remaining advantage our ODM gear gives us, so you two need to be on me like a shadow. With any luck, we'll be around to see the sunrise tomorrow. Maybe we can watch it together, if ya catch my meanin'."

The blush on Mina's face made him laugh. He gave the small girl a hug around the shoulders and nudged Sasha in the sides before launching his hooks up the side of the building. Looking back to make sure the other two were with him, he refocused his attention on the windows on the upper floors, an adrenaline thrilled grin on his face. Live or die, it would be one hell of a ride. And, he supposed, there were worse ways to go out than in the company of two beautiful women.