I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
"B-Bert!" Sasha cried. "Oh lord, Bert!"
She went over to him, hands shaking, eyes wide in pure horror. She knelt by him, hands convulsing violently, trembling to touch him yet never doing so when the steam rose from his head and neck like water being thrown to hot metal. The hissing made her shoot back, her own back slamming against the dissection table's side. Her eyes drew up to the second hissing coming from Annie's restrained body.
"Jesus, he was one of them!?" She exclaimed to Krista.
The blond stood by Annie, her gaze fixated on her blond head that was now dying itself red, dark red. "He was here for Annie, instincts told me he was. Are you scared of me?"
Sasha looked up at her, voice dry. "Hell yeah I am, you...you fucking killed two people! Well, they aren't people, but...but still! You killed, Krista, killed!"
People, huh?
She still considered them people, even after seeing what Annie had done to Franz. Despite swearing she would fight the monsters, despite hearing stories of how the girl would only shoot to kill and never hesitate, she was still human, she saw them as friends, or at least she saw Bertolt that way.
Annie had shown her true colors.
Krista walked away from Annie, she was done with her. She approached Levi, the man was still unconscious, he wouldn't get up for a while, she planned to make her escape from him soon. If she could, she really felt the need, she would kill Levi right then and there, but Sasha...she would bear witness to it, then Hanji would return, then Moblit, more would come for her.
The chase would never end for Krista, she would be chased to the other side of the country as a cold-bloodied murderer.
She didn't move him.
She stood up and drew her attention to Ymir.
The madness started with her, it would end with her.
Ymir.
"Ymir," Sasha breathlessly said as she got to her feet and went to Krista to stand by her; they watched over the body. "...she's been dead for, what, two years?" Krista nodded. "She looks as...good as when she left."
She went to touch her hair- despite nearly losing herself in front of Bertolt, she was able to bring herself to touch Ymir. She took a tuft of those brown locks and let them fall back into place.
"I'm guessing werewolves don't decompose much," Krista said quietly.
Sasha merely nodded. "...I'll have to bury her with her parents some day, when this is over. C'mon, we gotta get out of here, you're lucky I came here first before the cops- oh." She turned to see Levi. "Is he alive or what?"
"Alive, leave him, wait." Krista went to him and hauled his arm up to the table, there, she handcuffed him to the bars- nothing like a little vengeance; she kept the small keys with her. Sasha gave her a strange look. "It's personal."
"Did he...touch you or anything?"
"More like annoy me, he prodded too far," Krista bitterly lied,"how'd you get here?"
"Ymir's truck, found her keys in a pile of clothes that Ilse wore, Hanji kept it in storage and stuff and when I needed clothes, I found those," Sasah explained. She led Krista out and through the side-door as the front was boarded up, courtesy of Levi. "After I made my round and made the time, I decided to come back here, heard the gunshots, and got scared. Went in...and you know."
The old truck Ymir drove was still as rugged as ever as Sasha stuck the key into the ignition; the stench of cigarettes was still there.
"Ymir was always a heavy smoker, like she never left this damn thing," Sasha commented as they drove down the road, the engine roared in front of them as usual, Krista couldn't lean her head against anything as the frame shook. "...I miss her."
Out of everyone here, Krista felt a bit bad for her. A bit, after all, Sasha did show her kindness for the first time in her life, genuine kindness.
"Sure you do. How long have you known each other again?"
They were at the intersection, though before Sasha could move, the squad cars came zooming by them- someone delayed in reporting the gunfire; the clinic was sort of out of the way from town but considering the latest happenings, people were wary, they flinched at the mention of blood. Sasha tried to remain calm though she was gripping the wheel tightly.
"Pop the console there, I need a smoke," Sasha said, Krista obeyed and opened it, taking out an opened pack and a lighter. She lit one up for Sasha, then handed it to her, the brunette took it, inhaled, then exhaled. "...I met her after Ma died- I was real young, maybe four or five? Breast cancer, anyway, after that, she and I just hung together whenever we could."
"Childhood friends then."
"Pretty much so," Sasha said as they headed out of the town, out the direct opposite of Ymir's manor.
She drove on and on, the trees were taller here, thicker than what she had seen from the manor's lands. Out here, anything could hide within the growth, it was like Sasha's private playground in which she ruled it over anything. As they drove by, out of random, a little makeshift shake was tucked away on the far right, blue tarp acted as walls here and there, it caught Krista's eye for a moment- it was out of place, unnatural, though it was somber considering half of it was burned away to black.
"That there is where Ymir and I used to play as kids, kinda like our own little hideaway," Sasha said fondly,"Pa made it for us."
"Looks cozy," Krista commented.
"It was...hell, one time, Ymir and I were playing with firecrackers, worst thing ever. She set fire to the tarp, Pa was real made after that," Sasha laughed softly, they went on.
It felt like the road was endless, especially when the asphalt gave way to a dirt road. Behind them, dust clouds formed, leaving a billowing cloud that followed them closely, stalking them, Krista glanced back every so often.
They came across a break in the woods to where an open field sat on cleared out land. A log cabin, large enough for a family but not so much grand. It looked like it was from the old days but with a modern touch with cables running around from the roof and a gas tank outside, an electric generator in a shack kept the house alive. A workshop of sorts was build off to the right side of it, in there, Sasha's father was busy at skinning away at a deer.
"Home sweet home," Sasha declared as they pulled up between two beat up pick-ups; she tossed her cigarette off to the side.
Krista got out, her feet hitting gravel, she looked around; the land that was cleared was only large, at best she could estimate five acres. The rest of it looked like she were in the middle of some ocean, lost in a sea of trees.
Sasha slammed the door and went up the steps to her cabin's porch. "Come on in, I'll fix you up a drink. Water? Whiskey? Wine?"
"Water," Krista said as she entered the living room. All around her were paraphernalia of games. Near the door were portraits of Sasha and, who she assumed next, her mother. Elsewhere, by a set of stairs that led to an upstairs loft, was a stuffed elk head- it was very much like Ymir's study room, only with more animals to adorn the walls. One the other side, parallel to the elk was another elk above the fireplace.
Sasha plodded by, going to the kitchen to fetch a glass.
"Make yourself comfy, just stay calm," Sasha entreated her, though it was more to herself that she was telling.
Instead, Krista went to her- in Sasha's hand was a pitcher, her hand was shaking. "Sasha...you go sit, I'll get you water."
Sasha shook her head. "No, no, I'm alright...just a shock, you know, seeing two of them like that. I just...I grew up with them, so did everyone else that gone. They grew up with them too, and...they just kill and kill, over and over, uncaring. I dunno what they were trying to accomplish, did they even feel guilt? It's very...very hard to get my head around."
Krista didn't touch her or offer her a hug, she just watched as Sasha stared directly at a vase with dying flowers.
"...Krista, why did they have to die?"
"Who?"
"My friends."
"Which friends?"
"All of them," Sasha somberly said to her. She placed her cup down.
Krista looked away.
"Sorry, I need to...I need to calm down," Sasha said, she walked away into a hallway- her body disappeared into one particular hall in which it led downstairs to some sort of basement.
Krista was left alone.
Sasha was clearly at her limit. But Krista went to sit at the sofa so that she could rest from the morning's insanities. The light poured over the green field, illuminating it brightly- the skies above had a bit of fog clearing away, typical of the weather. Krista snorted- no matter how beautiful it was, she had to leave. At first she loved the scenery of trees, of skies, of the songs of birds, but now they had all lost their charms.
She closed her eyes, she was tired...but then a blare came from a radio, the setup was made right by the dining table.
Krista got up, curious about what the noise was- it was static at first, then nothing. A voice popped up, a man's.
"Someone! Come in, someone, anyone!"
Krista stared, she didn't know how to use a radio.
She reached for what looked like a mic, then flipped one of its many switches. "...hello?"
"Some-Krista? Oh god, finally, someone!" He sounded relieved, it was Moblit. "Krista! Where are you, exactly?"
Krista flipped the switch again. "I'm at Sasha's place, why? What's wrong?"
"W...we were on our way to tell Mikasa about the whole thing, about the cure. Then...the same werewolf from the other night, the guy who attacked Eren, he was on the road, drove us off to a cliff. H-Hanji, she's not doing too well, she needs medical attention, I can't deal with this on my own!"
"...aren't you guys the only clinicians here?"
"Yes!"
Oh dear.
"I don't know if I'll make it, send for help! Our coordinates are..." He counted off the numbers, Krista had no grasp about what they meant but she wrote them down on some paper with a pen she found nearby. "...Sasha should know, if you can, travel up the road, tell Mikasa everything she needs to know. Hurry!"
Krista was urged to do this. She wondered how badly Hanji was hurt, how severe it was, and even if help got there, the kind doctor wouldn't make it. They were too far for help to arrive and whisk them away on time. In her mind, she doubted Hanji would last.
Clutching the paper, she rushed down the stairs for the basement. She went into the left to where a room for storage was, she closed the door and went to the one of the right, free hand turning the nob, only to find it locked.
"Sasha?" Krista said. "Sasha, we have to go!"
She jiggled the door nob.
"Sasha!"
No answer.
"Sasha, what the fuck, we need to go, Hanji's in trouble and we gotta help!"
Krista pounded at the door with her fist- she needed Sasha alive to get out of this place, she didn't know the way anywhere. She cared less about Sasha's friends.
"You lost a lot of friends, but there's Mikasa, Eren, Armin, even Hanji, aren't they your friends? They're all you have left, right? C'mon, if you just coop yourself up in there, they aren't going to be alive much longer!"
Nothing.
"Sasha! You can change this! Sasha!"
She resorted to bringing her foot up. With all the strength she had, she kicked at the door. Once, twice, at the fifth time it gave in, and the hinges burst under the floors and the wooden door fell out of place.
Inside, Sasha was standing upon a chair, just under a support beam. Around her neck was a rope- the woman was just about done with her life that she decided to try and throw it away? Anger built up within Krista, she sprinted to Sasha's place and pulled up a chair next to her, she didn't fight back nor protest, she was quiet- whatever was going through the woman's mind, Krista could care less; she needed her help.
Only after Sasha had wore down her usefulness would Krista let her go.
Krista was able to get the rope off of her neck.
"I'm sorry you had to see me," Sasha dryly murmured.
Krista waved it away, they didn't have time for this- now it was up to her to manually go about this business.
She held up the slip of paper in front of Sasha.
"If you want your friends to stay alive, you need to take me there, is that clear?"
Sasha couldn't bring herself to say anything, she merely nodded, silent, eyes closed- she couldn't look at Krista.
Sasha agreed to kill werewolves but she never agreed to the death of those she cared for.
