Faltering morale

Beneath a dark, overcast sky, a fine drizzle fell, adding another shade of despair to Trost District, the city the Titans had breached.

Crack! Yago crushed a roof tile as he landed, the retreat bells ringing in his ears. Their dull toll seemed to mark yet another human surrender to the Titans. Humanity had lost to them once again.

Yago sighed helplessly, slid his blades back into their sheaths, and looked back at Wall Rose. Were humans really doomed to cower behind these seemingly impregnable walls?

The next moment, Yago leaped from the roof and opened his gas valves all the way. He had to get to the supply depot and find out what had happened. Why wasn't there a single supply soldier in sight? He had no idea how the 34th Class was doing, either. And Annie...

Meanwhile, Titans had completely surrounded the supply depot. After their commander, Kitz Werman, fled the battlefield under the pretext of organizing the rear guard, the soldiers responsible for handing out supplies had lost all courage to resist.

On the rooftops a street away from the depot, ashen-faced cadets gathered in twos and threes. Every one of them had heard the retreat bells. They should have been relieved that they could finally withdraw, but instead, they felt utter despair.

With the supply soldiers' fighting spirit gone, the cadets had been cut off from their supplies. The gas left in their canisters was no longer enough to carry them over the towering Wall Rose.

Jean clutched his head in frustration. Much as he hated to admit it, he still voiced the truth everyone knew, his voice filled with despair. "We're finished. There's nothing we can do."

Mark stood beside Jean and opened his mouth to say something, but not a single word came out. In this situation, there really was nothing they could do.

Connie said anxiously, "Jean! What are you saying? How can you say something like that at a time like this?"

Jean retorted bitterly, "I'm telling the truth. Hear those bells? They're telling us to retreat, but we don't even have enough gas to get us to the wall."

Connie was just as helpless and furious. "Damn it! What's wrong with those supply soldiers? Did the Titans eat every last one of them? There's not a single one in sight."

Mark added, "The supply depot is surrounded by Titans. Those supply soldiers probably can't get out."

Jean said, "It's not that they can't get out. They don't have the guts to come out in the first place. Those cowards must be scared out of their minds. All they care about is saving their own skins."

"We have to do something, don't we? We can't just sit here waiting to die! Our gas will run out soon. If the Titans surround this place, we're really done for. Jean, we can only rely on ourselves now. Let's lead everyone over there together! Kill all the Titans around the supply depot! Take it back!" Connie shouted.

Jean shook his head in silence, then said, "For once, you've got a smart idea, Connie. But we can't do it. If we force an attack, we'll lose at least half the soldiers here. There are more than twenty Titans over there. There are even Titans in the depot's basement. If we attack now, the soldiers leading the charge are almost certain to die. Even the veteran Garrison soldiers in the vanguard squad were killed. Who would volunteer to lead a suicide mission like that?"

Mark said, "None of us have enough gas. By the time we reach the supply depot, we might have used it all up and be unable to move."

Jean held his head in anguish. Why was his luck so rotten? He could have joined the cushy Military Police Brigade tomorrow. Why did the Titans have to show up today, of all days?! Why?! As those thoughts churned, a figure appeared in his mind.

Jean turned his head. If that guy who was always shouting about driving out the Titans were here, wouldn't he charge ahead without a second thought for his own safety? Jean was certain he would. When it came down to it, he really couldn't measure up to Eren in that respect, much as he hated admitting it.

But Eren seemed to have... Jean looked at Armin, who sat curled up to one side, with only Mina from the 34th Class keeping him company.

Sasha was the most optimistic of them all. She kept urging everyone not to give up and was willing to lead them to the supply depot. Unfortunately, no one was willing to listen to her. There were more than twenty Titans there. A bunch of cadets with no gas charging over would only be throwing their lives away.

Seeing everyone's despair, Bertholdt's eyes briefly lost focus. In this single day, he had watched dozens of friends he had lived alongside die in the jaws of Titans. He had even personally... Bertholdt could barely bring himself to look at his old companions anymore. Once, like Reiner, he had firmly believed that everyone on the island was a devil.

But after five years of living here, it seemed that they were the devils destroying this peaceful life. All of it tormented Bertholdt. Normally, he hardly seemed to show any emotion, but neither of the other two knew the confusion and anguish inside him.

"Reiner, is what we're doing really right?" Bertholdt had lost count of how many times he had asked that question. To his surprise, Reiner, who had always answered with absolute conviction that everything they were doing was right, did not repeat those familiar words this time.

Bertholdt raised his head and only then noticed that something was very wrong with Reiner. His eyes stared blankly ahead, as though his soul had left him, and his lips seemed to be murmuring something.

Bertholdt moved closer to Reiner and heard, "I'm a warrior. Exterminate the devils. I'm a warrior. Exterminate the soldiers. I'm a soldier. I'm..." Reiner was practically babbling.

"Reiner, Reiner!" Bertholdt gave the rambling Reiner a few nudges. "Huh? What?" Clarity returned to Reiner's eyes. "Reiner, what do we do next?"

Reiner's gaze suddenly darkened. "Wait a little longer. Once they gather together, Rose!"

Before Bertholdt could say anything else, Reiner suddenly asked with concern, "But what do we do without gas? Bertholdt, how are we supposed to fight the Titans without gas?"

Bertholdt was stunned. Reiner, what's wrong with you?

A little way away from the two of them, Annie braced herself against a wall. Where no one could see her face, she was deathly pale. Her fingers dug hard into the wall, and a film of tears shimmered in her eyes.

Apart from those three, no one knew what had just happened.

Armin curled into a ball, his body trembling uncontrollably. He hated himself for being so weak. What should he do? It was all because of him. How could he face Mikasa and Yago?

"It's all my fault... It's all because of me..." Armin murmured in anguish.

Mina couldn't bear to see him suffering like this. She tried to comfort him. "Armin... Don't do this to yourself. Eren and the others would be disappointed to see you giving up like this. Please pull yourself together and think of something."

"No! Someone like me will only drag everyone down!" Armin had already sunk deep into self-doubt.

Was there truly no hope of turning things around?