What Is A Mob To A King - CHAPTER ONE PART TWO

We had finished our potatos after a while, savoring them over small talk. For a while, I kind of forgot what it was like to be the most wanted criminal of the democracy. Armin is counting up our savings as I clean up the scraps. I can hear the soft, rushed whispering as he counts them by hundreds. We are saving up for vaccinations, or any emergencies. We could run, or buy new identities. I run my hand through my abnormal beach blonde hair. Usually, only leaders can have such hair colors, which is yet another reason why I make it dirty. People here work all day. Digging through trash to find food, working in factories. Building houses, but not for them. For the the rich people who are sent to keep an she on us. For the soldiers.

A long, monotonous beep is heard from outside, and Armin and I hardly exchange a look as we exit our house. There are people standing on the side of the road, looking up. The screen on the skyscraper for my sector shines bright as it clicks to life.

"Please stand for the pledge of allegiance." The monotonous computer-like voice begins.

My neighbors had placed their right fist over their heart, thumb outwards and their left arm behind their back. This was our salute for a while, and I remember "offering my heart" to a completely different cause just a few years ago. However, it was during these thoughts that I realized I was in public with my blonde hair. I sent Armin an odd look, and his eyes widened with terror. But he quickly shook his head, mouthing the words to the pledge. I followed.

The wait seemed tremendous, but no one complained. There were soldiers everywhere, with their guns up. The words show up on the screen, and the repeating of the memorized words was all I heard from my neighbors. Even Armin whispered the words.

"I pledge of allegiance, to the land, of the United Forces of Sina. And to this democracy, in which we stand, one world, one nation, under strength and power to all."

I mouth the words, my green eyes focused on the screen. I know the things that could happen. I can hear the gun shots, the screaming and the collapsing of bodies. But nothing happens to me. I must've been convincing enough. I can't pledge to this. The life we are living now. We love out of fear, not from the titans, but from ourselves. Our own corrupt society. I gave my heart up for the strength of humanity. And this isn't our strength.

I remember that my father used to say there was a world outside from here called America, which is where the Democracy Of Sina based their pledge off of. This was one of the very small amounts of things he said.

My father is dead now, however. He got caught trying to sneak me and a few of my closest friends, along with my mother,  into the neighboring lands. We had reclaimed the land from the titans, and he says that there is another settlement over there. However, the Democracy Of Sina has told us nothing about this. Everyone was sure that if another place was open to settlers, we would be told. After all, that would solve our overpopulation problem.

But we got caught. My father was always in trouble with the government. He was too concerned about the outdoor world. The President and the few other Elites said that he would "bring danger to the land within the walls". Where we used to have three walls, Maria, Rose and Sina, we live in one big one. Sina. Or so they say. We built more and more walls, and even though we are seperated, we don't call them 'districts' we call them 'sectors'. I live in the Quartz sector, one of the poorest. Most of the sectors are named after types of rocks or gems. The sectors inside of the old Sina are generally the well-liked gem sectors, while everywhere else are rock sectors, or nonprecious gems, like, as I said before, quartz.

But throughout the pledge, this is all I can think about. It's not until Armin pinches my arm that I look down at him, and he sends a dangerous look to my hair, I quickly nod and I'm walking back to the house. Slow, to not look suspicious, but fast enough to be quick. Sometimes Armin gets in trouble for his hair color, but people realize that he's born with it. Most of the patrols are nice to him. He did well on his trials, but his family all passed on and he had no money. He would've been a great military general.

We slowly enter the house and click the door shut, and we release the breath we were holding. "I need to get my beanie back," I mumble, my left hand running through my hair.

Armin looks up, frowning. "I can't believe you lost it... But I can make you a new one. Brown. Maybe green. Hazel. Whatever is on sale."

I feel awful about losing the beanie. Armin makes them for me sometimes, when we have a lot of spare money. I lost the last one on a previous run, where I had jumped out of a three story building, use a sheet behind me as a parachute. The wind must have knocked it off or something. I'm not worried. All they can find out is that the DNA belongs to some dead person, and finding a possession of a dead person from the lesser valued sectors is not a big surprise.

"I'm sorry," I say, looking down. My green eyes are downcast, but Armin just shakes his head.

"Whatever," he says with a sigh. "Like I said, when we have more money I can go out and find some string for sale.

I nod, moving towards the bedroom. It's just a simple mattress on the floor, with a few tattered blankets that we either found, stole, or bought. It keeps us warm enough. My bare feet are cold against the wood, and I slowly pull the blankets onto the bed. Though I didn't really enjoy doing chores, Armin and I liked things a specific way. Even in runs, I liked to stick to a plan. Yes, I can run off track and I can improvise, but I would prefer not to.

I pad over towards the solitary window in the room and pull up the blinds so I can see out. There is the house with my mom. My brothers. I smile as I think about them, but I feel myself getting envious and upset when I see my mom hugging them. That could've been me, if none of this happened. I hear shuffling behind me and I turn, relieved to see it was only Armin. I grin at him and flop onto the mattress. "I made it," I say, lifting up the pile of blankets and slithering under.

Armin smiled and pat the blankets gently before laying on top of them. "Well done!" He said nearly sarcastically. Silence filled the room, but it was comfortable, our shoulders touching gently.

"Be more careful about your hair," was all he said, and looking over at him, I realize that he is still worried about that. He shouldn't be worried for me, but I'm glad he cares.

"I'll try," I say, grimacing. "I just heard the noise and figured that I had to go immediately. Next time I'll grab a hat or something. Promise." I smile at him, my head turning slightly to look at him, and he does the same.

Our smiles mirror each other before he looks back up at the ceiling. "Good night, Eren."

I close my eyes, a distant smile on my tired lips. "Good night, Armin."