Chapter 55 - Improvisation

                                    

                                          
Lara ran her hand over her face and finally got up.
She, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Connie, and Sasha had their ODM gears attached around Eren's Titan's neck, watching the trail of destruction the Colossal Titan left around them.
Burning houses and buildings were flying everywhere, as if they were meteors from space.
"It seems that Bertholdt doesn't know our location..." said Mikasa.
"Yeah..." replied Armin, anxious. "He's trying to spread burning debris to turn Shiganshina into a sea of flames..."
Connie and Sasha were still asking Armin to give them any orders. But, he was completely scared.
"I cannot do this..." he thought, anguished. "Lara... You made a mistake... I'm not ready for this responsibility yet..."
Armin looked back and saw that his Leader was already on her feet, wide-eyed at the Colossal Titan. Crestfallen, he walked towards her.
"Lara..." he said, almost in a whisper, "Forgive me..."
She looked at him deeply. Her chin was trembling.
"What...?" Lara was also almost whispering. "What are you saying, Armin?"
He just shook his head negatively, with an expression of extreme pain.
"I... I can't do this... I can't lead anyone... Please, forgive me..."
Armin then looked back to his other friends.
"Jean..." he called, looking very tired. "Jean! Can you... Take my place? I... I just have no idea what we should do... I put ourselves in this condition because I misinterpreted Bertholdt... You'll be a better Officer than me!"
Everyone looked at Armin in bewilderment, including Lara. Jean looked to his Squad Leader, seeking help. Automatically, everyone also turned to her.
Lara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, covering her face.
After a long pause, she finally said:
"Exceptionally now, no one is a Leader, no one is an Officer, and no one is a subordinate. At this moment, we're equal. Now, I want all of you to give your opinion of what we should do. I'll obey your orders myself, if necessary. We're all facing the same situation and we need all the help we can get. So..." Lara felt a strength grow inside her chest and raised a determined look, "Let's get to work!"
"Yes..." she thought. "That's what my mother would want me to do!"
"Jean!" exclaimed Lara. Now, her voice tone had changed to something more confident. "You're very good at reading situations. Please, if you have any plans in mind, let us know!"
He widened his eyes at Lara. Slowly, he looked around.
"The river!" he exclaimed. "Let's move to the river that crosses the city! Let's all get aboard Eren's Titan and conserve our gas!"
Jean sought Lara's eyes for approval and she nodded with an encouraging smile. They walked a little, always trying to stay hidden from the Colossal Titan, behind the houses.
	"Eren," began Jean, in a low tone, "We wanna get Bertholdt's attention at the right time, so do not let him see you for now."
Jean then looked at Armin and Lara.
"You two..." he said. "Yes, I'm good at reading situations, but I have no idea how we can get out of this... We're still counting on you both to come out with a plan."
Lara and Armin looked at each other, with worried expressions. Despite being a little more confident, she still felt a great fear in her heart.
It was a pathetic situation. A bunch of teenagers having to face a literally Colossal monster, where his only goal was to exterminate them all, without even giving a plausible reason for it.