Chapter Text
There is a certain brand of panic that comes with waking up in a pine box. The earthy smell pushing in on you from all sides and not the slightest bit of movement, unless you count the bugs. Eren jerks when he feels something skitter down his arm. It's too dark to tell if it was real or just his imagination. Maybe the candle went out, he thinks, trying to rationalize the situation and null his fear. But when an attempt to sit up ends with a hard slam against the wood of the lid Eren can really only come to one solution: he was buried alive.
That's when the panicking starts. Frantic hands slam against the walls trying to find any weak spot in the wood. Eren can not imagine how he got here; the last thing he remembers is seeing a crowd of people all cheering for the executioner to drop the floor out and leave his life to the mercy of the noose. Then his hands find purchase on something: there was a splinter in the roof of the coffin, with just enough room for him to grab and pull. There was a loud snap, followed by a cascade of dirt flowing in. It was moist and Eren was sure he could feel more bugs crawling into him. He slowly pushed a hand up, his eyes pressed shut against the gritting soil. He tried to pull himself up, but as he was only holding on to loose dirt, it only caused more to fall into his coffin. Just thinking my coffin made the whole situation worse. It gave the rock of anxiety nestled in his stomach a couple extra pounds. I'm dead. He thought. They don't bury the living.
Eren leaned back up against the dirt wall behind him and pressed his eyes together even tighter. Would he die again? Starve? Go mad? His mind was suddenly flooded with pictures of his his mom. Her hair pulled back and apron loose around her waist. Eren could see it clearer than he had in years, since her death. Green eyes sparkling as she told him a story, or taught him his numbers. Would he see her again if he gave up? Let the earth consume him. It was tempting to stay there with his mother, in the comfort of her arms. To go back to learning letters at the table or playing in the garden with Armin.
…..Armin
A red splattered wall outpaced the vision of his mother, blood dripping down and clinging to the pores in the cement.
No.
Armin, what....
A sudden gasp filled his throat with dirt.
With a force of adrenaline he didn't know he still had, Eren began to climb.