Chapter 14:Danger is near
An hour before Eren and Ozaki first met, Levi was looking out the window in his hospital room. He had his left arm and forehead bandaged up, but he felt fine anyways. Levi stopped looking out the window and stared at the messy room. There was dust everywhere and pieces of trash that missed the trashcan.
He thought to himself, "What kind of hospital doesn't clean the rooms in this place ? I guess I have no choice."
Levi got up from his bed and started to clean the room. He picked up all of the trash and used a wet rag to clean everything else. With only one arm that hasn't been injured, it took Levi about an hour and a half to clean everything in the room. After he was done, Levi went for a walk outside to clear his mind. On his way out, he heard two soldiers at the entrance talking about Eren.
Levi stopped and listened to them, one of the soldiers said, "Can't wait until the guy's execution. We can finally be more safer without that traitor."
The other soldier said to him, "Not only is he a traitor, but I heard that he stole from the nobles in this district. He was caught in an alley with some jewelry and food also. That guy can't be trusted."
The soldiers went away and continued their conversation elsewhere.
Levi walked out of the hospital and thought to himself, "God damn it, Jaeger ! What the hell were you thinking ?!"
He went to the Military Police headquarters to see if Eren was there. Levi became upset and ran as fast as he could until a man bumped into him on the streets. The man fell to the ground and quickly got up, brushing all the dirt off his brown trench coat. He had short, dark hair and a bold mustache. He also had a weird-looking crane that he dropped on the floor.
Levi then yelled, "Hey ! Watch where you're going, dumbass ! Can't you see that I'm fucking injured here !"
The man picked up a crane and replied, "Considering that you've been injured, I suggest that you should be the one to be more careful."
Levi became angry and shouted, "What are you talking about ?! Don't you know who I am ?! I'm-"
The man interrupted Levi and said, "I have no clue who you are and it's none of my business. I'm just simply saying that since you've been in some accidents, you don't realize that you should be the one who should watch where you're going."
Levi became more angry until he remembered about Eren and said to the man, "It doesn't matter anymore, I have something important to get done."
Levi went away and continued to run towards the Military Police headquarters. The man looked at him with curiosity and followed him. About ten minutes later, the man hid himself from Levi and watched his actions. Levi waited at the front entrance of the headquarters with confused soldiers looking at him. Nile Dok walked to the entrance and asked what Levi was here for.
"I came to get Eren. As if you didn't notice, he belongs to the Scout Regiment," said Levi.
Nile just sighed and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this now, but I guess I have no choice. Since you and Erwin had recently failed the expedition, the Military Police now has custody over Eren."
Levi has a shocked look on his face and replied to Nile, "What ?! Nobody told us shit !"
Nile pulled out some papers and said, "We received these documents just this morning. Darius Zackly has written to us that we are able to do anything with him now. By five o'clock today, he'll be executed by our hands and will never lead humanity to danger again. Now leave or I'll have to use force."
Nile went away, but Levi ran and grabbed his uniform. Soldiers in the area went and took Levi away. He was struggling as much as he could, but his injuries kept worsening. Afterwards, the soldiers took Levi and threw him on the ground. About five soldiers started to beat Levi up and kept kicking him, making him bleed a bit.
One of the soldiers said, "So much for the strongest soldier, you ain't shit."
The man then came out of hiding and started whacking the soldiers with his cane. Levi struggled to get up from the ground and watched the man fight the soldiers. The man took four of them down with one of them trying to load a gun. The soldier was about to fire until the man revealed a sword from his cane and slice the gun in half. The soldiers gave up and fled the fight.
As Levi was trying to get up, he said to the man, "Who the hell are you ?"
The man went to help Levi up and said, "Name's Douglas, but some of my associates like to call me by my last name, Gordon."
Levi stood up and asked him, "Why were you following me all the way here ?"
Gordon put his sword back inside the cane and replied, "I wanted to know what an injured person like you had to go. Besides, you can't win a fight all by yourself with those injuries you have."
Levi tried fixing his bandages and said, "I'm fine, I don't need your help."
Gordon held up Levi's left arm and said, "Are you kidding me ?! Look at this, a man can't fight with only one hand you know."
Levi pulled his arm away and said, "I said I'm fine ! Now leave me alone !"
Angrily, Levi went back to the hospital and Gordon went elsewhere. While walking the streets of the Stohess District, Levi was covered in his own blood, causing many people to look at him. Some people mentioned his name and asked each other about Levi's injuries. Eventually, Levi's title as the strongest soldier was slowly vanishing and was considered a weakling, fraud, or coward. People began to have second thoughts about Levi and he ignored all of it until he reached the hospital. Levi lost a lot of blood on his way and almost lost consciousness. Just before he did, doctors ran to him and took him back to his room.
Opening his eyes again, Levi saw more bandages on his body. He had them on his torso and his left leg. Using all the strength he has, Levi tried to get up from his bed. Looking at the clock in the room, Levi saw that it was four o'clock. Eren's execution was in one hour and Levi tried his hardest to get up. It was useless as Levi always became very tired and hurt to get up. Erwin went inside the room and saw what Levi was doing.
He rushed to him and said, "What are you doing ? You shouldn't move with those injuries, they'll become worse."
Levi stopped moving and said, "I have to...reach Jaeger. At f-five, he'll be...killed by those damn..Military Police."
Erwin said to him, "Eren ? You mean that they've capture him or something ?"
Levi couldn't say anything and became drowsy, causing him to feel sleepy once again. Erwin tried to wake him up again, but Levi was already starting to sleep again. Once Levi woke up again, he was in a different room. In fact, he was in the lobby of the hospital with Hanji next to him. As Levi looked around the room, Erwin was confronting three Military Police soldiers, who have Mikasa and Armin held captive.
One of the soldiers said to Erwin, "Don't try to fool us, we know that one of you did it."
Mikasa was struggling to get free and said, "We didn't do anything. Can't you see that we're covered in bandages ?"
The soldier replied to her, "Bandages or not, you're all suspects ! At least one of you freed the damn traitor since you're the only people he knows best."
Hanji helped Levi up and shouted, "What proof do you have ?! We've been in this hospital the whole goddamn day !"
A voice then said, "Not exactly true. The only person that left the hospital today would be Levi."
The voice sounded very familiar to Levi and he tried to remember who it was. The three soldiers turned to the entrance of the hospital and saw a man standing at the doorway. The man revealed to be Gordon, who stared at the soldiers with an intimidating look.
One of the soldiers said to him, "So you're saying that Levi could have done it ? You must be blind, old man. He looks too injured to rescue Eren by himself."
Gordon started walking towards them and said, "I'm not accusing him or anything. I'm just simply telling you what I know. Besides, I know the person who could have taken Eren anyways."
The soldier then said, "Well, spit it out already. We don't have all day."
Gordon grabbed the top of his cane and said, "I'm afraid that I can't tell you, it's basically classified."
He took his cane and whacked the three soldiers with it. After the soldiers fell unconscious, Gordon went to Levi and held a piece of paper in his hand.
Gordon showed the paper to him and said, "One of my associates was the one that freed Eren. It was under my orders, so I technically hold responsibility towards everything."
Levi looked at the paper and saw a picture of Ozaki on it.
He said to Gordon, "If you ordered this guy to save Eren, then where are you guys meeting up ?"
Gordon put the paper away and said, "To be honest, I haven't exactly told him to take him anywhere. I only said to help him escape."
Erwin went up to Gordon and said, "You mean to tell us that they could be anywhere in the Stohess District."
Mikasa also went up to them with Armin and said, "Then we need to find him. For all we know, Eren is in danger by the Military Police."
Hanji fixed her glasses and said, "If Eren is in danger, how do we know if the Military Police are after us as well ?"
The room became silent and Gordon said, "Look, you guys can't fight back with all your injuries. You basically have me, blondy, and glasses here to protect you."
Erwin then said, "I appreciate if you didn't call us names, but we need to take precautions. The Military Police could be after us right now."
The conversation ended when a group of seven soldiers started to enter the hospital, armed with guns and 3DMGs. Gordon, Erwin, and Hanji quickly took everybody away and went to get the others. As the soldiers were chasing them, Gordon decided to buy time and fought the soldiers with his sword. Erwin, Hanji, Levi, Mikasa, and Armin went to get everybody out of their rooms and took them outside the hospital. When they all returned to the lobby, Gordon successfully defeated the soldiers with only a few scratches on his face. Gordon, Levi, and the others ran out of the hospital, trying to find a place to hide.
After hours of searching for a safe house, they all went to a school that was next to a grassy area with a large pond. Gordon told everybody to wait and went to the doorsteps of the school. Gordon knocked on the door and a woman came out. It revealed to be Miki, who seemed to recognize Gordon as a friend. They started talking to each other and she allowed everyone to come in.
Once they got in, Armin said to Miki, "Wow, I never thought that I would see you again."
Miki smiled and said, "Neither did I. It's probably fate or something. By the way, how are the Shobijins ?"
Lora and Moll were walking on top of a desk and said, "We're right here, no harm has come to us."
Miki sighed in relief and said, "That's good, I was worried something happened."
Gordon went up to them and said, "Well, they all technically have a problem right now. The so-called Military Police may be after them and I had to hide them here."
Erwin sat down on a desk and said to Miki, "This school is our best hope to stay cover for now, but the Military Police will find us soon."
A knock was heard on the door and Miki went to answer it. The person at the door was a Military Police soldier with a loaded gun. Miki and the soldier discussed about Erwin, Levi, and the others. When he asked to come in, everybody went hiding in another room. The soldier came in and looked around for them, checking everywhere in the school. Levi and the others did their best to hide from the soldier until Krista fell to the floor and made a loud thump. The soldier went to investigate the noise, but he found nothing. Afterwards, the soldier left and everyone came out of hiding.
Connie was sweating and said, "That was a close one, I never thought that guy couldn't find us."
Jean laid down on the floor and utters that, "I really don't want to keep doing this stuff with all of these injuries."
Miki went to her desk and pulled out a stack of papers. She placed them on her desk and began to read them.
"What are you doing ?" Ymir asked.
Miki kept on reading them and replied, "I'm reviewing the children's homework. Just because you guys are here, doesn't mean that I have to stop doing my work."
Sasha's stomach growled very loudly and everyone heard. Miki put down the papers and said, "Oh, right. If you're hungry, just go in that room over there. It's the school kitchen."
She pointed at a door and Sasha rapidly ran into the kitchen. Connie, Jean, Ymir, and Krista also went into the kitchen, but everybody else stayed behind. Levi sat back on a desk, but the dust in the school caught his eye. He stood back up and looked at the whole room. The floor had dirt on some parts, the windows had smudges on them, and the desks were partly dusty. Levi stood up and walked to Miki, but the injuries slowed him down a lot.
When he got to her, he said, "Is there any cleaning supplies in this school ?"
Miki looked at him with a confused look and said, "There's some cleaning stuff in the kitchen. What do you need them for ?"
Levi left the conversation as soon as he learned the location. Once he went into the kitchen, Sasha ate most of the food and the others only had a little bit of it. Levi ignored them and carried the supplies back into the classroom. Before Levi started to clean everything, he removed the bandages from his body and tried to move his injured limbs. They hurt like hell, but Levi bared the pain and began to clean the room. Erwin, Hanji, and his squad tried to make him rest, but he kept fighting the pain and continued to clean the room.
An hour passed and the time was already 7:10. Levi was sweating heavily and his limbs were all tired. He sat back down on a desk he recently cleaned and rested. Gordon sat down on a desk next to him and stared at the ceiling.
He said to Levi, "You know, you're one tough son of a bitch. You only fought through your injuries...just to clean this whole place."
Levi turned to him and said, "Why does it matter ? What's wrong with cleaning things all the time ?"
Gordon replies, "I'm not saying that it's weird. It's just that I'm amazed that someone like you would be a clean freak."
Hanji laughed and said, "I know, right ? A lot of his fans would think of him as humanity's strongest, but they never knew that he can be such a clean freak sometimes."
Feeling a little tense, Levi said, "Alright, enough about me. Let's just go to sleep already."
Levi and everybody else closed their eyes and slept, but Gordon and Miki stayed awake. Two hours passed and Levi awoke to the sounds of a door opening. He looked to see Gordon and Miki leaving the school. Levi got up from the desk and followed them, leaving everyone else behind. Gordon and Miki went to a tunnel that lead to the Underground District, unaware that Levi was secretly following them. He kept on following them until they reached an abandoned building, where a man was waiting for them. He had an eye patch on his right eye and wore an opened lab coat with black rubber gloves. Once Gordon and Miki went up to him, they started talking and Levi couldn't hear anything. Instead, he decided to see what was happening between them.
About three more hours passed and Levi wasn't able to find out anything. He became tired of staring at Gordon, Miki, and the mysterious person. Then, someone came by with a 3DMG and landed near the group. The person with the 3DMG was Ozaki and he began talking to them. After they talked, they all went inside the building and closed the door. Levi went after them and headed inside the building.
Once he was inside, they were all gone. Confused, Levi looked around for a clue of where they went. So far, he only found a bookshelf full of dusty books. Levi looked at the titles and remembered reading them. Although, he only found one unfamiliar book that read "EDF" and pulled it. To his surprise, it opened up a secret entrance that revealed a staircase. Levi wasn't sure where it leads to, but he closed the entrance and left.
On his way back to the school, he thought to himself, "Those guys are hiding something. I'm not sure if they need to be trusted or not, but I'll find out what their up to."
He continued to run back to the school, making sure that no one was following him. Levi didn't know if he should let the others know about it, but he kept it a secret until the time was right.