The new dawn | Levi x Reader | Zombie AU (part 1)

Two birds danced in the air, racing under the clear sky like they always did in this time of the year. Green was once again becoming the dominant color after the dark and cold months of winter. Spots of blooming flowers painted bright colors on the bed of the all living things. Living... what a strange word. What does that even mean?

Patterns, expectations, dreams, goals. There was so much we all wanted to do with our lives. So many dreams we tried to achieve and visions of who we wanted to become.

Learn to walk, learn to talk. Learn to look in both ways before crossing the road, remember to come back home before dark, it's dangerous world out there. Do your chores, remember to thank, it's good manners. Spend time with your friends, but don't stay up too late, you have school tomorrow. Finish school, and go to another one. Have dreams, get a job. Find a partner, have children. Stay out of trouble, don't lie. Aim higher, buy a house. Work harder, but remember to also spare some time for yourself. See the world, you only live once. Raise your kids, take care of your marriage. Save money, exercise, eat healthy, and you may live the long life you so dearly wanted to...

That sounds so nice. Why didn't you just follow that plan? Oh, that's right. The life as it was, stopped existing four years ago when the pandemic wiped out the majority of human population. All your dreams and goals didn't mean anything anymore. The past life was only a fairy tale, leaving the younger generation kids gasp with wide eyes, wondering if the world really used to be like that. It was all about living in the moment now. Tomorrow was no longer certain, not to mention long range life goals or dreams of having an easy life with lots of money bulging your pockets.

Nothing, except knowing how to keep yourself alive, mattered. Trying to remember the names of renaissance painters and their accomplishments for your exam, attending meetings at your office job, paying your bills on time... everything you considered important, was now irrelevant. There were no difference in people's social status, race or religion. There were only two kinds of people left. The dead and alive.

If you fail to remember to check behind the corner before walking past it, you might get eaten alive on by a horde of blank-eyed people. If you trust blindly on the next person you meet, you only end up getting robbed and left behind to your certain doom, or you face your end fighting them back. If you refuse to eat that half cooked squirrel that you managed to catch after days of chewing nothing but the insides of your cheeks, you will starve to death. Life itself taught you the only lessons you needed to know, and if you didn't pay attention and learn, you'd be paying the highest price for your mistakes.

Luck. That's what got you this far in this cruel, new world. Well, luck, good instincts, company of right people and finding a safe place to live.

What was this place you nod lived in? Well, it was nothing but an abandoned hospital protected by walls, but you knew nothing better. Getting in here was the best thing that ever happened to you. You cherished and cared for this place from all your heart, and you were ready to protect both the building and its people with your life. This was your Home and the people were your family.

The walls are strong and people had faith for better times, but time doesn't go by alone. Just like bones grow weaker by age, not even the strongest fortress can stand tall against time without getting scarred.




You stood in front of a window, arms crossed and a puzzled frown printed on your forehead. A steady chatter filled the room you were in, but you didn't pay attention to its contents. You were more focused on watching the few groups of people at the outside. They seemed like whispering, maybe sharing gossips and worried thoughts. You wondered how many people already knew that something's wrong.

You knew you couldn't hear the answer for your concerns, no matter how long you stared at the talking people through this distance. You averted your gaze from the life outside. The meeting room was filled with people. All the seats around the table were taken. At the head, closest to you, was Jean. On the row on his left, are seated by Annie, Ymir and Eren. The opposite head was taken by Mikasa. Armin, Marlo, and Moblit filled the line back to Jean. Reiner, Bertholdt, Sasha and Hitch leaned against the wall, just a couple of steps away from the window were you stood, while the opposite side of the room remained free for passage.

You were in the middle of enjoying the little something what you called lunch, when Sasha and Ymir came to join you with news that all the seekers presence was needed later in the fifth floor. You were told that Erwin had something important matters to discuss, and it was clear to you all that it was either something big, or something bad... or both. So here you were, waiting, itching to hear about it.

While Erwin appeared to keep you all waiting for his presence, people spent their time doing what was obvious in situations like this; speculating.

"What if this is about the supply deliveries? Maybe Nile has changed his mind and the zone will be helping us again?" Eren's was being hopeful.

"I doubt that." Marlo stated from his seat. "He lost his trust in you when he found out that you had let in the group of bandits who robbed his precious food supplies and ran away from the zone."

Reiner snorted. "It's not like we knew what they had done anyways. We banished the thieves, but it was already too late to change Nile's judgement from us... he's nothing but a sissy coward pretending to be something important." he cast his gaze at Marlo's head, smirking all the sudden. "And why are you talking like you're not living here yourself?" Reiner crossed his arms.

Marlo turned on his seat to face him. "I wasn't here when that happened. We left the zone after Nile cut off the deliver deal. I believe I can talk about past as it was?" he defended himself.

"Yeah, and what was that about? You had a perfect place out there to be, and yet you decided to come here where things were getting worse again?" Reiner scoffed. "Half of our food was suddenly cut off and what did we get? Even more people coming in... more mouths to feed." he muttered more to himself than anyone particular.

"Excuse me?" Hitch stepped aside to glare Reiner. "Don't you dare say that we've been just a burden to you. We have been out there looking for supplies with you. We have earned the food we eat and having the shelter under these roofs!" she retorted as a matter of factly.

"But there are others that keep coming, too. And no matter how far we look for food and other things, we're more likely to return empty handed than with something useful. We won't be able to help everyone." Jean commented in turn.

"What's that supposed to mean, Jean?" Moblit opened his mouth. "Are you saying it would be the best to close those gates for good from anyone else seeking a safe place?" he was clearly upset.

"Oh, are you saying that you have a solution for this?" Jean's eyes were wide and serious.

"No, but at least I'm not in favor of becoming a beast who just abandons people." Moblit glared at him sharply in a challenging manner.

"What a saint you are." Jean shot mockingly.

"Stop it, both of you." Mikasa tried to cool things down.

"What? Do you have an idea then?" Jean focused on Mikasa.

"I have a few ideas where I'll sink my fist if you don't shut your mouth." Mikasa sent him a death glare.

Jean didn't shut up. The argument kept going with more people taking part in it. It has been like this for a quite some time. Hunger and the other struggles have made people short tempered and these kind of fights happened almost daily. And it was not just among the people in this room, it was happening everywhere.

Before the argue reached to the verge of getting physical, the door opened. Levi, Mike, Hanji and Erwin came in the room one by one.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and turned to look at the door in dead silence. Erwin's eyes traveled around the people, as if he was curious to know what exactly they had interrupted. He didn't ask. Erwin simply apologized for the wait, and closed the door.

All four of them settled on standing by the wall next to the door, and the rest of the people waited quietly to finally hear what they were summoned here for.

"I'll go straight to the point." Erwin began after a moment of silence. "It's clear now, that the generator is not going to be fixed. Unless there's a miracle happening, we won't be having electricity and this building will remain dark and cold from now on."

The room echoed with sighs and people exchanged worried glances. You all knew that the generator was getting rusty and it was lacking the proper maintenance that could've given it a bit longer lifespan, but this was still something you didn't expect to happen so soon.

"Are you sure? The old man has managed to fix it before..." Jean mentioned from his seat. "I mean, he used to repair things for his living. Maybe if he has a bit more time and help, he could make it work?"

Erwin shook his head. "He's been trying it for two weeks now. He's had many people helping him, but there really is nothing he can do. The machine has reached the end of its line, and the only way to get the power back on, is to set in a whole new equipment. We have been trying to find a new one, but the search has been pointless, you all know this."

Everyone remained quiet, digesting the bad news in silence.

You leaned your shoulder against the window frame, observing the reaction of your friends. They all looked beaten up, and that was pretty close how you felt as well. They started muttering again, talking about the situation in hope that they would still find a solution to it.

You blinked your gaze at Levi, Mike, Hanji and Erwin. They just stood there, eyes darting in various directions. You observed them in turns, narrowing your eyes in wonder. Levi lifted his chin, and your eyes met. The look in his eye was sharp, but distant at the same time. You knew that gaze. You shifted your attention on Erwin, just in time to witness how he clenched his jaw.

"Are you gonna tell us the rest?" you asked, recognizing from their appearance that they were hiding something.

The chatter stopped. Everyone looked at you, and then one by one turned their attention back to the quartet. Erwin gave you a side-eye, before counting all the other people staring at him with more or less worried expressions.

"The truth is... we can't keep living like this." Erwin gained everyone's full attention. "There too many people to feed and treat properly with our little resources. It could've been possible with the help delivers, but we all know that's lost. The nearest city has been searched through. There's nothing left for us. Our hunters have to travel twice as far to find pray, and they might still come back empty handed." Erwin kept going with the list of troubles, when Sasha raised her arm.

"Um, but... we do have our farming? Isn't that still something?" she was concerned, but there was also hope in her eyes.

"There's over a hundred people living in here. It's nowhere near enough." Erwin told the fact, and the sad truth made Sasha lower her head in defeat.

"And that's not all." Hanji spoke next. "It's been more than two months since we've heard a single word from Dot Pixis, his Organization or any news from the outside world in general. We can only assume that something bad has happened, and we're once again on our own." she crossed her arms and started strolling around the room restlessly. "And I mean literally on our own. I'm talking about the vaccines. The latest refill came in with the last help packages. We still have them in store, yes, and we did inject the few new people who came in here a couple of weeks back."

"But... one of the new ones left with the hunters to find food. He got bit by a man he mistakenly thought was actually a dead one, and the vaccine didn't save him." she paused, letting the people have her words sinking in. "Once the power went out, the infirmary refrigerators warmed up. We moved the vaccines to the cellar, since the air is a bit chillier down there, but I believe the warmth had already spoiled the doses... or it's something else that ruined them. Whatever the reason is, the vaccines we have here, won't work anymore. We can't protect any more people from the virus." Hanji stopped by the row of windows, and went quiet.

"So, the growlers might come scratching our gates again among with the unprotected people we take in?" Annie guessed.

"This is bad..." Armin brought his palms up to his face. He remained in his thoughts for a short moment, and popped his head up again. "What are we going to do?" he asked Erwin.

"There's not much to do... not in here at least."

Armin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We can try search for supplies from new locations, or look for people who might be able to help us. Anything." Erwin's voice was steady and firm. "But, our location is pretty much isolated. It was an advantage when we needed a place to hide, but now... staying alone like this will only get us killed. We either wait and hope that we'll get help eventually, or we must leave this place to find it ourselves."

There was a moment of silence, before the realization and shock finally hit the ground and the room exploded with gasps and words spoken over another.

"What?!" Eren staggered up. "Leave this place? And go where? But this place is still standing and --"

"How long do you think it takes until people start dropping dead from starvation or being too weak to recover sicknesses because we have nothing to treat them with?" Levi's snap silenced the sudden chatter.

"We're short in everything, and this whole damn place is starting to fall apart. That generator is just the first thing on the long list of things that can go down. It won't take long until our supplies run empty, and there's nowhere to look for refills. No ammo, no food, meds, nothing. Time to face the facts. We're all fucked if we don't do something quick."

Eren stared Levi with his mouth ajar. He took a few sharp inhales as if he was going to say something, but he couldn't find the words. He leaned his palm against the chair, and dropped down on his seat again.

"So... how exactly are we going to proceed?" Marlo's voice eventually broke the silence.

Erwin crossed his arms. "We will begin by expanding the expeditions. There's a town in the northeast, and it'll be the first place we'll search though. We have already discussed about it, and Levi and Mike have agreed to lead the first quest." Erwin gave a glance at the two said persons on his right. "but obviously they can't go alone. Six volunteers will be needed for this mission. So, who'd be willing to leave?"

Mikasa was the first to raise her arm, and Annie copied the motion almost the exact same moment. Reiner said he'll go. You looked at those who'd volunteered so far, and raised your arm. Ymir clicked her tongue, and her arm rose as well.

"I'll go, too." Eren was the last to sing up.

Erwin counted the people, and nodded. "Good." he stepped on the space between Ymir and Eren, and he unfolded a map on the table. "The town you're going to, is called Karanese." he pointed the location and backed away to give room for the people to have a better look. "You will split in two teams in order to search the place faster. Levi has agreed to take his team to the center, and the rest of you will look through the outer areas with Mike. Which one of you will join Mike to the outer lines?" Erwin let his eye visit through the volunteered ones.

Your arm was the first to rise. Levi glanced at you as soon as you made the gesture, and you answered to his look with your own. You gave no visible hints from your steady gaze, but you knew that Levi knew exactly why you chose Mike over him. You lowered your arm and turned your head to see who else would be joining you and Mike. Reiner was the next to copy your gesture, and Mikasa said she'll go with you as well.

"The rest of you will go with Levi then." Erwin told the rest.

The plan was simple, no different from any of the previous trips outside. You go there to look for supplies and anything considered helpful, and come back as soon as the search is over or if something goes wrong. The meeting ended soon, and you were sent to prepare the supplies ready for the morning when you'd be taking your leave. No words were meant to be spoken about your trip's true reason. Erwin didn't want the people worry before there was a real reason for that.

You all gathered outside to load the cars. There were two of them again in your use. Moblit, Hitch and Marlo drove the new one here after they left their zone to join you. The faithful minivan was parked just inside the gates for some repairing, and most of the people were scattered around it. You closed the trunk of the car outside the wall, puffing out a tired breath before you turned around to lean your hip against it. With crossed arms secured over your chest, you cast your eyes at the top of the walls, and continued up until it was just the blue sky that you saw above.

"You're done?" Mikasa's voice sounded from the roof of the car, where she was sitting and watching the surroundings.

"Yup." you lowered your chin again. "Are you seeing anything? Dead people? Magical clouds that would drop us five course meals?" you joked.

Mikasa chuckled. "Keep on dreaming." she watched the distance through the riffle sight, aiming imaginary enemies to keep herself from getting too bored.

"Are those idiots thinking that they can fix the car by just staring at it?" Annie mocked from the ground where she was sitting at, facing the opened gates.

You glanced at Annie, before checking out the guys around the minivan. Eren, Armin, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt and a couple of older men stared down at the engine. Their looks gave you a thought that they had no idea what they were doing, and they just hoped that the engine would fix itself. Levi was sitting at the driver's seat, ready to hit the engine roaming when needed. Mike stood beside him on the outside, and they were having a conversation while there was nothing else to do.

"Can I ask you something, (Name)?" Annie asked.

"I hope you're not asking me to assist you in the training routine again. I wanna keep my ribs in one piece, thank you." you snarled with a smirk.

Annie hummed a short chuckle. "No. I was just wondering... you chose to go in Mike's team. Does that mean that you're still mad at Levi?"

Her question made you hold your breath. You gave her a hasty glance, finding her eyes being locked with yours. You blew out a breath in defeat. "Yeah. I didn't want to go with Levi because he's a... he's... ugh." you rolled your head, not knowing how to speak up your mind. "I just wanna keep a bit distance to him, that's all."

Mikasa turned around on the roof. "Is it because of the... you know, the baby thing?" she inquired carefully.

You could feel the big vein pumping on your temple. "Are you kidding me? Almost everyone else knew about it, except me!" you snap as the triggering matter was now being mentioned. "A year. He waited more than a year before he thought it was fair to finally tell me about it?!" you barked bitterly to yourself, but kept your voice tamed so it wouldn't reach too far. You puffed beep breaths, having your blaming gaze at the gates again.

Levi still sat in the car, talking with Mike and paying no attention to anything else going on around him. Mikasa and Annie both just stared at you in silence. It was awkward for them to just sit there and say nothing, but they really couldn't figure out anything they could do to make you fell better.

"I'm sorry, (Name) That really sucks." Mikasa didn't know what else to say, and she turned back to pretend being busy with keeping an eye on the forest.

Annie opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, before she got the right words on her tongue. "You know... maybe he just didn't want to hurt you? I can only imagine it must've felt terrible and all to hear about it, but--"

"Don't." you stopped her. You didn't wanna talk about the whole damn thing anymore. You sighed, feeling a bit calmer. "I know he probably just wanted to protect me. He's always been so eager to keep me away from danger and bad things, and I understand that he only meant well by not telling me. I'm not sad or particularly mad at him. Well, I am, but not really, I mean... I don't know." you lowered your head.

"Hearing about all of this just left me wonder... could he do it again? Lie to me? Keep secrets? I don't even know for sure if what he told me was the full truth. What if there's something else he hides from me because he thinks I can't handle knowing something?" your eye darted up to follow the few clouds that slowly hovered past your sight.

"Sometimes he comes to our room after the dark when I'm already asleep. I ask him where he was, but he just tells me not to worry. That it's nothing. I pretend going back to sleep, but in reality I just stay awake for hours, thinking about if he's keeping something big hidden from me again." you cast a sad, longing look at Levi. "He feels like a total stranger to me sometimes. I just feel like it's better if I stay away from him. I can't stand having these paranoid thoughts messing my head every time I look at him." you admitted in the end.

Mikasa averted her gaze from the distance. "I think I understand what you mean. But... I don't think Levi is keeping any secrets. Well, he does have his private talks with Erwin, Mike and Hanji, we all know that, but they always tell the rest of us what's going on as well." she pulled the riffle to rest against her back and jumped off the car. "I trust Levi. I trust all of them. We wouldn't be still standing here if we couldn't count on each other." she continued, taking a stand beside you.

You turn your head and open your mouth, but the car engine's sudden roar cut your trail of thoughts. Levi sat in the car, pressing the pedal to have the engine rumble a few extra rounds, just to make sure that it worked fine. The men were all satisfied with the results, and the older man who actually made the magic happen, dropped the hood back close. Jean turned to give the three of you a smug smile and a thumbs up.

"Well shit. They actually did it." Annie gave a few lazy claps to show how proud she was the boys were able to fix their toy.

You stepped away from the car, chuckling at Annie's act. "I guess we can finally go and have something to eat." you lured Mikasa and Annie to follow you inside.

You made your way to the minivan, stopping to ask if anyone else was hungry. The guys all agreed to grab a bite and they started picking up their stuff before leaving inside the building. Mikasa and Annie were already continuing their way, and you planned to catch them up, when you caught the sight of Levi pulling himself out of the front seat.

"You got everything ready?" Levi asked as he saw you looking at him. He closed the door, and crossed his arms while you failed to speak up right away.

"Yeah. All set." you tell him, keeping your tone neutral. Even if there was tension between the two of you, you still didn't want to act like a pouting jerk, especially now when you had an outside mission to go to. Now was not the time to argue over personal things. "I'm going to grab something to eat. You wanna come, too?" you offered him your company, because it was polite.

"No, you go ahead and go with the others. There's still few things we need to check." Levi nodded towards Mike, who already left his side to take care of this mentioned business.

Or he left because he didn't want to get in the middle of any possible awkward-problems-in-relationship talks, you thought to yourself.

Levi stepped past the space behind your back to follow Mike, but stopped all the sudden. He looked at the back of your head. "I'll see you later, okay? Get some rest."

You recognized the glimpse of care from his tone, which made you look at him over your shoulder, just to check if his expression matched with the impression you got from his voice. There he was, hands in his pockets and his emotions secured behind a blank expression, giving you zero hints to help reading his mind.

"Okay." you nod. "I'll see you around." you pulled your lips to form something that resembled a hasty smile, and left to catch up the others before your poor interaction would get even more awkward than it already was.

The rest of the day was just a blur. There was nothing else to do than wait and prepare yourself mentally for tomorrow. You remained in the company of others. The conversation topics didn't really have much to offer. It was just random chatter to keep your thoughts busy and time running, but none of you really had the energy and mind to do keep the talk up. The night came eventually, and you only wished that the day had been tiring enough to make you fall asleep without much of an effort.

You shared a room with Levi. Two beds were secured together to provide you a more comfortable space to sleep. You had your own drawer at the left side of the bed with nothing but a single candle on top of it. There was no solid memories for you to store in it. You came in this place with nothing but air in your lungs and Levi by your side, and not much had changed from those times.

The room was empty when you came in, but it didn't surprise you. You went to the simple table at the end of your bed, where a bowl of water and a small folded towel waited on top of it. You washed your face, pulled the old curtains over the window and dropped on the bed.

You just laid there, eyes closed but not really sleeping. The nights before leaving outside the walls have always been the most difficult to sleep on. The clatter of the door handle snapped you out of the blank state. Levi came in, you knew this without looking. You remained in your position, back facing the door and eyes darting the white, cracked paint of the wall. You listened Levi's silent steps and the rustle of clothes being removed. He washed the sweat out of his face and the dirt from his hands, and then he lowered his weight beside you, carefully, so he wouldn't wake you.

You heard a tired sigh and felt the bed moving as he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep.

"Do you think well find anything from the city?" you muttered.

Levi froze his movements. He gave up the effort of finding a good position and simply relaxed on his back. "I thought you were sleeping already." his heavy voice rose up to the ceiling.

"Since when have I been able to sleep before going out there?" your sigh, cheek pressed against the thin fabric you called a pillow.

Levi figured your question was rhetoric, and he let your words fade in the silence. "We can't know what we'll find until we go there and see for ourselves." he answered to your actual question, now turning on his spot again.

The silence drowned the room, and you almost believed Levi had fallen asleep, when he suddenly spoke again.

"Are you going to hate me forever?"

You blinked your eyes. Your lips parted for the deep breaths and choked words that yet failed to come out from you. You could feel how Levi's waiting stare burned the back of your head. You turned, just enough for being able to angle your neck to see his face.

"I don't hate you." you whispered at those heavy eyes you so rarely found the strength to look at lately. You meant what you said, and you hoped he believed you. You turned back. "I just hate how you're right there, but still so far away." you pinned your lips and shut your eyes close, wishing to catch your sleep soon.

The bed moved among the shifted weight, and his palm landed on your shoulder.The light touch tickled you, like a feather hovering above your skin. He was hesitant to put more strength to it, expecting you to just move away from his touch. It had happened before.

But this time, you didn't.

"I've just been trying to avoid having that foot of yours being showed up in my ass." he said with a hint of mock in his tone. "You were so convincing when you told me you'd do it and I didn't wanna risk making another big mistake." he added, leaving the jokes aside. His thumb caressed your skin lightly. "I'm here now. Punch me a black eye if that makes you feel better. I know you've wanted to do that for quite some time, and you have all the rights to do that."

You choked back tears. You have wanted to kick his ass, but now when you heard him saying that he deserved it, you felt bad for ever wanting to hurt him in any way. His hand didn't leave your shoulder, and you couldn't help but to admit yourself that you didn't want it to. You missed him too much, and you were too tired of being angry. For now at least.

You lifted your head from your pillow, and pushed yourself back until the length of his arm reached over you and you felt the warmth of his body against your back. You snuggled your cheek against the pillow once again, sighing deeply. Levi relaxed his arm around you, and you smiled to yourself. You remembered the one cure for sleepless nights. It was this right here. Being close to him. Falling asleep with his breath warming your neck, his arm around you.

"Idiot." you muttered softly, reaching out your hand to lock your fingers with his. "Promise me you'll be careful in the city."

"Mm." Levi hummed against your neck. "You, too."

He gave you a soft peck on the skin where his breaths landed, and you wrapped your digits more securely between his in response.