"Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states,

which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession.

The disruption in identity involves marked discontinuity in

sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in

affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning."

― American Psychiatric Association

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The penetration hadn't been as excruciating as he had been preparing his mind for, but it was horribly painful nonetheless. It drove its way inside of him with all the stress and tearing he had expected, and gasping was the least he could manage to try and preserve his dignity. Despite his situation, he was almost glad that he had been shot; the blood loss was messing with his brain to the point where the entire world seemed numbed. The man who he had heard was named Kevin must've been without action for at least a few years; he was working as hard as he could to make sure that Joe knew exactly what was happening before he died. And maybe, that was why he didn't care.

I'm going to die.

It was real this time, no fakery, no tricks, just this agonizing punishment before a bullet in his head sent him on his way. His body would probably be buried under one of these trees; no one was going to know what had transpired here. His single regret was that he knew it had all been for nothing as well. He had tried so hard to make things right, to do what he could to help the people he cared about, but as he listened to the hollering and whooping through the trees mixing with his own pained moans, he knew he had failed.

At least now… it can be over.

That was something to consider all by itself. He had spent so much time running, he hadn't even bothered to consider what would be waiting when he finally hit the end of the line. And this was it. Getting ass raped in the middle of nowhere, followed by what he could only hope would be a quick death. It was frightening to consider that this was the end, but Joe realized then just how tired he was of it. Of everything.

And now it could just end.

Maybe this is for the better…

"Really."

It wasn't the smarmy voice of Kevin who had spoken; he was still plowing Joe to the best of his abilities, but he hadn't said a word.

"Really now."

Turning his head weakly, Joe looked up to see Dust leaning against a tree and looking down at him with a mixture of disappointment and disgust; for once, he wasn't smiling. He watched the spectacle for several seconds before shaking his head.

"You made it so ridiculously fucking far. And now, here you are, ready to accept the end, even though it means the last year of your life was meaningless."

Joe wondered why Kevin didn't seem to care about Dust's presence as the shadowy figure paced slowly, snow crunching under his feet.

"You really are just ready to give up? Knowing that your friends are likely suffering the same fate, or worse?"

Feeling regret and pain well up, Joe closed his eyes.

"I let them down. I always let them down."

From behind him, the voice of his tormentor came, out of breath and unstable.

"Don't start with that shit, boy, you're gonna throw my mood."

Dust ignored the words as Kevin gave a hard thrust and Joe barely managed to hold in an embarrassing groan; the phantom spoke then with a mocking inflection.

"I always let them down. Please. Maybe just once, this could be about you. You, not getting shit on because of your disgusting obsession with helping other people. You, doing what's best for YOU."

The more Dust spoke, the more Joe wished he would shut up and let him die in peace. The shadowy figure above growled as his words clearly hadn't the effect he had so desired.

"I can't do everything for you, you know, no matter how much you try and shirk… "

That struck a chord and Joe furiously tried to straighten, getting as far as pushing himself to his knees before his assaulter wrapped an arm around him and under his shirt, feeling up and down his chest; despite this, and that what was being painfully thrust into him, he managed to shoot a retort.

"You killed an entire family the last time you tried to HELP… "

"Goddamn kid, if you're gonna go into shock and start shouting shit, don't be accusing me of shit I didn't do… "

Kevin's voice was now being just as ignored by Joe, however, and he glared back at Dust waiting for a reply. The figure before him stared back, looking almost sad.

"I've tried to let you do what you want to, regardless of how insane or illogical it's been. When you fell for that Ackerman girl, I knew it was only going to lead for trouble, but I didn't interfere. When you decided to fake your death and skip town instead of fighting back for yourself, I didn't interfere. When you stupidly came BACK to town and almost lost everything saving that girl and her child, I didn't interfere."

He crouched and Joe was able to stare into the dark pits of his eyes.

"See, you never got it. Every decision you've made has led you from bad to worse. And now, even as your girlfriend, or girlfriends it seems, are across the way getting fucked in the ass probably just as bad as you, you STILL can't just do what you need to do to survive."

Straightening, Dust seemed to come to a conclusion of some kind.

"So now, I'm done enabling you. This is not going to happen; every single one of these Klan pricks is about to get exactly what they deserve."

As he spoke, Joe started to realize what he meant; his ghostly counterpart leaned in close.

"And now, I don't care who gets hurt as a result."

Joe shouted as he realized what Dust was about to do, but by then, it was far too late for him to do anything to stop it.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Sasha's breath came in thudding heaves as her feet pounded against the snow and evaded roots and fallen branches. She didn't know where she was going; she wouldn't even have cared if not for her cargo. Had it all been the same to her, she would rather have just dropped against a tree and let nature consume her, but Annie's shaky breathing advised her against that. She didn't know where the strength to keep moving had come from either, though as her mind raced, it was a safe bet that it was from there.

How… how could they do that to us? After… after everything?

She truly despaired to think about it; tears had frozen against her cheeks as her thoughts had seared the memory of Petra's dead face to her mind's eye. The only other thing she could even begin to think about was no less distressing.

Reiner… Bert… why?

These were two people she had known since middle school, people she had hung out with, seen movies with, gone on trips with. And now, they had just tried to kill her and Annie. They HAD killed Marco and Petra. While Sasha tried everything to force herself to think that Zeke had somehow forced them to act by his accord, she knew that, no matter what he had said, Reiner and Bertholdt had acted on their own volition.

That might have hurt the most.

Realizing that she had been running through the dark, frigid woods for what must've now been near ten minutes, she slowed carefully until she reached a small clearing, as far as she could tell in the sheer darkness. Gently lowering Annie against a tree, she drew her pistol and dropped to her stomach, directing it back the way she had come. Her breath was painful and raw as it came in great heaves, her heart pounding a violent beat against her chest and ears. No pursuers materialized from the black however, and after a minute of waiting and trying to reign in her breath, Sasha rolled onto her back, trying not to cry. It took only several seconds more for anxiety and fear to begin conflicting with her grief.

Annie… I don't know how bad she's hurt… I don't know where to go from here… Levi never said exactly where the last safe house was… I can head in the direction they were going… but… maybe Annie… I should get her to the hospital, that's what I… shit, how am I supposed to get her there without a car? We're in the middle of fucking NOWHERE, what the hell am I talking about, you fucking stupid…

"… Sash… "

The quiet voice was only audible by way of the completely silent forest that surrounded them; sitting up fast enough to cause her head to spin, Sasha quickly made her way to Annie on her hands and knees. The blonde wasn't shaking anymore, but Sasha wasn't sure if that was entirely a good thing; she was horribly pale, more than usual, and her eyes were drifting in and out of focus. Starting to feel panic creep up, the brunette swallowed, trying to think of something comforting to say.

She couldn't manage even that.

"Annie… what do we do?"

Even in her wounded and likely exhausted state, the blonde still spoke with more conviction than Sasha could have ever dreamed of summoning.

"You know the direction of where they're heading. You know how to navigate the outdoors better than anyone."

Shaking her head, Sasha tried to keep the desperation from her voice.

"How are we supposed to catch up? Even if you could walk, we still… "

"Sash."

Her voice was now calm and flat, despite the three bulletholes that suggested it should be otherwise. Annie looked up at her, and as Sasha saw the stars reflected in her chilling blue eyes, she somehow knew what her friend was about to say.

"You're going. Not me."

The four words should have shook Sasha more than they did, but for they to do that, she would have first had to believe them; she shook her head fervently, ponytail whipping back and forth.

"No, no, we're both going, we're both… "

"I'm not. You know I can't."

It was impossible to believe, impossible to consider, and despite all of that, Sasha couldn't think of anything to say as the blonde blinked up weakly at her.

"Do you… do you remember the day in high school when… when we had to all give presentations about what we thought was an unpopular opinion?"

"Yeah… yeah I do."

"Everyone talked about politics, or economics, or some shit that anyone could have thought of, but you… you didn't have any slides. Or notes. Or anything."

She coughed and dark scarlet appeared on her lips, visible only by the light of the stars.

"You went up to the front of the room, and talked for almost twenty minutes… about how we are being too pressured to do things for other people."

The blonde gave a laugh that sounded so raw, Sasha worried her lungs would give out.

"Shh, shh, don't, don't laugh now, just… "

Annie kept talking, either ignoring or not registering Sasha's words.

"Sasha, the girl whose kindness was only ever outdone by Krista, but who never had a problem sleeping around or doing stupid shit, was preaching to everyone about how we were too focused on helping others, and never helped ourselves."

Laying her head back against the tree, her breath came in shallow heaves as she continued.

"I thought it was so stupid. We live in such a selfish age, no one cares about anyone more than themselves… "

Taking Annie's shoulder, Sasha drew closer as her friend's voice started to grow fainter.

"It WAS stupid! It was a stupid idea, I don't know why I said any of that… "

"You were right though."

In an act so unlike her, Sasha was sure she was dreaming, Annie reached out and took her hand.

"We're not fighting for anything that's worth this. Not anymore. I need you to find the others. Tell them… tell them to run away, start over. Live for themselves… they can live for each other, but it's time to stop doing that to the point where… it consumes us."

There was an odd gurgling from her stomach and she gave a small shudder.

"I'm dying, Sash. I know I am."

The restrained tears broke through then, and Sasha's view of Annie became blurred as she looked past them.

"Don't… don't say that, Annie, please don't… "

"I need you to get up and run. And Sasha, beyond all of that, just promise me one thing… "

She pulled Sasha down and took a deep shaky breath.

"Live. Just live."

Then, her hand released its grip on hers and she leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes.

"Now, go. Run."

Sasha found her head shaking uncontrollably like a broken record.

"Don't ask me… to just… leave you like this… "

"I'm dying, Sasha, that's not changing, no matter where you get me, by the time I get there… "

Stars twinkled in her eyes as they opened, and Sasha realized there were tears in them.

"Besides, they won't be taking me. That's one thing I have control over."

She flinched and her body shuddered.

"So you get up, and you run. You don't stop until you find them or you know that you're safe."

She smiled, blood on her lips.

"And don't you dare look back."

Sasha was now finding it difficult to breathe, let alone open her mouth to refute what she was hearing. It was disgusting to even picture herself leaving Annie here while she moved on ahead, but while she couldn't accept it, she knew what the blonde was saying was true.

"I can't… I won't leave you… I'll die here with you if I have to… "

Another rasping laugh.

"Don't be stupid, Sash, you've come too far since to do something moronic like that."

"Please… please, I can't… we can't lose anyone else… "

"You don't have a choice, unless you are going to be so fucking stubborn that you're willing to die alongside me."

Sasha was crying now, desperately trying to think up any way out of this, out of leaving her friend for dead, out of essentially becoming just as despicable a person as Reiner and Bert had become.

"This isn't… this can't… "

Angry steel entered Annie's voice as repositioned herself weakly, not looking at Sasha anymore.

"Go. Now."

All but one word failed her.

"… Please… "

Annie suddenly sat up, eyes flashing.

"RUN YOU STUPID CUNT!"

Gasping in shock and grief, Sasha toppled backwards; the moment her rear hit the ground, she twisted and scrambled to her feet, dashing her way into the trees. Tears streaked along her face as she bounded past trees and snow, running as fast as she thought she ever had. Her lungs began to burn almost immediately, but their pain was ignored as her feet pummeled the ground in her effort to move as quickly as physically possible. After several minutes of sprinting that had her crossing a small river, tumbling down a hill and narrowly missing enough trees to be considered miraculous, she stopped, but not because she couldn't run anymore. She stopped because, no matter how fast she moved, no matter how much she dipped and dove, she couldn't outrun the grief and self-hate that had been on her tail since she started running.

She stopped then, stopped moving, stopped blinking, stopped crying and breathing as the sound of a gunshot from behind her blasted its way through the black wood of the forest.

Annie, you…

Crashing to her knees, she gasped for air while fresh tears rolled down her face.

It was perhaps fortunate that she had no pursuers; the agonized screams Sasha released at the stars were more terrifying than any armed force could be.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Her assaulter pulled out just in time for Mikasa to take a huge breath of air, something she wasn't sure she would have been able to manage before passing out. Beneath her, another one of them shifted to grind against her insides and she stifled a moan as a fresh member positioned itself in front of her. It was forced inside without hesitation and once again, she was restricted to simply trying to draw in breath as her mouth was punished along with the rest of her body.

Underbarrel flashlights had been jammed between branches or strapped to tree trunks to cast the small clearing in a harsh light, the silhouettes of the rape casting obscene shadows about the forest.

Can't believe this almost feels… normal…

She was disgusted by what was being done to her, but after so many nights with her father, culminating in that night in California, her body seemed so much more resilient to this kind of torture.

At least more than hers.

"Stop screaming, bitch!"

A yard or so from her, Mikasa watched Florian scream and suffer at the sexes of three rough-handed Klansmen. Her face was wet with tears and blood streamed down her face to her bare neck and chest from the hits she had taken for resisting. She had fought back much more strongly than Mikasa had, and that had put her in perhaps a worse place; one of her eyes was nearly swollen shut and a switchblade had slashed at her stomach and breasts, her back as well, was covered with bruises. At first, Mikasa had found herself almost relishing in the pain of the other girl before blinking aside her disdain for the blonde, amazed at her own cruelty.

Who knows what she knows… what she thinks she knows… I can't hate her for what Joe might have…

As it did whenever she had thought of him within the past half hour, her heart increased in pounding against her breast.

That fuck… whatever he does to him… the motherfucker is going to hurt if Joe is…

She closed her eyes as her rapist jammed himself further inside; he couldn't be dead, he wasn't dead, he couldn't die now, not after everything that had happened. He still had so much to answer for.

And I still have so much to tell him…

"Keep that kid quiet man, he's ruining my mood."

The hooded man who was currently groping a silently crying Krista snapped at the man who was holding the baby; he regarded the child in his arms as though it was the most disgusting thing in the world as it cried quietly in his arms.

"The fuck do I do that?"

"I don't know, let it suck on your titty or something."

The man flipped him off.

"Fuck you, man."

Mikasa's eyes moved to Jean and Levi, neither of whom had said a word since the altercation had begun; Jean's eyes were wide and panicked, as he clearly had never anticipated having to see something so unsettling, at least to this degree. Levi on the other hand, as she had expected, had the look of silent calculation, a look she had seen before. Though if he could come up with a miracle to get them out of this situation, she would be amazed.

"Can you hold her still, for fuck's sake?"

"Tryin', man… "

She couldn't see Frieda as the two men argued, but she did know the older girl had been taken down after rushing the men who were raping her sister. Ratty underwear had been shoved in her mouth and she was now out of sight behind a log, with who knows what being done to her. Ymir and Krista seemed to have it the best next to Jean and Levi; their captors seemed content, at least for the moment, to simply grope them or, in Ymir's case, grind against them. Mikasa found herself surprised at the calm, collected look on Ymir's face; if anyone would have been ready for blood, she would have thought it to be her.

"Hey, HEY! Focus."

Looking up hatefully at the man who was assaulting her mouth, Mikasa tried looking past the eyeholes in the hood, but found nothing but darkness. He responded to her livid glare, however, and slapped her across the face and then the breast.

"Don't give me that look, slut, just take it."

Despite how much she would have loved for the ordeal to end, she feared what would happen when it did. The head Klansman hadn't been participating in the group rape, but he had been eying Florian ever since she had started struggling to the point of being hit. Turning now, he looked to the man holding the baby.

"Go tell Kevin to wrap it up, we shouldn't take too much longer here."

Grunting, the underling marched off to do as he was told; Mikasa watched the fear in Krista's eyes as her baby was carried away yet again, then saw it morph into disgust as the man behind her slid his crusty fingers down the front of her pants. Watching his companion wander away into the trees, shouting the name of Joe's rapist, the leader then sighed, stepping forward, tapping a hatchet he had unsheathed against his open palm.

"Alright, well since we're nearing a wrap here, I'd better get my kicks in before that. Now… "

The black pits of his mask rotated between Florian and Mikasa; the blonde had taken a fresh punch to her mouth and blood now spilled from it as well as she glared up at him through her bruises.

"… which one of you beauties would like to be taken to fifth base?"

Florian's eyes widened as the interpretation of his slang got to her; Mikasa thought to the only time it had ever been done to her. Had it not been for drugs that had been forced into her, she imagined it might have been one of the more painful things she had ever experienced. The member pulled out of her mouth and she tried to ignore the taste that lingered as she caught her breath. Neither she nor Florian made any sort of reply as they remained in the grips of their current captors and the leader then sighed again.

"Alright."

He turned his head to look at Levi.

"You. Which one should I take?"

For the first time since meeting him, Mikasa could see that Levi genuinely didn't have a response. Nothing he could say or do to remedy this situation. His mouth opened and closed twice before the man sighed for a third time.

"C'mon, just pick one."

Very reluctantly, he turned his head to look at the two battered young women and Mikasa watched the franticness behind his eyes unveil more emotion than she had ever seen in him.

"I don't know."

"You don't pick one, and I do em' both."

At that moment, Mikasa decided there was one last thing she could do before the end of the night, when Florian would be killed alongside her sisters; she caught Levi's eyes as his gaze flicked between them, and gave a subtle nod.

I'll at least save her from this.

Levi swallowed calmly before looking to the Klansman and nodding in her direction; he looked down at her and grabbed a fistful of her hair. She yelled in pain as he pulled her head up to stare down into her eyes.

"This one? Fair enough."

He undid his pants and pulled them down; Mikasa had to look away as his bare waist came into view and the surrounding Klansmen made noises of excitement. He was large, far larger than she had been expecting and she couldn't stand to look at it before it entered her rear; the man beneath her pulled out and forced her onto her hands and knees. Steeling herself and preparing as mentally as she was able, she grabbed fistfuls of snow and dirt and clenched them tight. She listened to him position himself behind her and she fixed her jaw; she would not give him the satisfaction of making her scream, but as the tip lay itself against her, she knew then that she couldn't promise herself that. The wood of the hatchet's handle came across her throat, pulling her head up and stretching her back. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of some relieving memory.

"Do you believe in God?"

Mikasa's gaze flicked to Joe, as he leaned forward on the bench, staring out at the lake; as their previous topic of conversation had been about bad restaurants, this question caught her slightly off guard.

"Well… my mom is Catholic. She tried raising me that way a little bit, but my father never took that well. It definitely didn't stick with me. I guess… I don't know. There could be something out there, but I've got no idea what."

Looking to him and realizing his eyes were still transfixed on the lake, she furrowed her brow.

"Why?"

She realized she wanted desperately to reach out and touch him, brush her fingers along his back, but didn't want to alienate him.

"Are you okay?"

His face stretched with obvious consternation briefly.

"I just… wonder how all this could exist without something… or someone putting it in motion. But… I also don't know how that same someone or something could be so… heartless."

Snapping back to the moment, Mikasa realized that had been the same bench Ilse had tried convincing her to talk to Sasha, the day before the girl was beaten half to death; unbidden tears of grief sprung up as the man behind her began to push inside of her.

Her eyes opened as a very strange gurgling noise graced her ears and the penetration behind her stopped. Every other set of eyes in the clearing glanced around for the source of the curious noise. Looking up, she turned to her right, where the sound had originated from and her stomach roiled as she saw what had happened.

Ymir had somehow twisted herself around her captor and after what must have been a moment of grappling, her mouth was now soaked red and the front of the man's hood near his throat was the same color; he wobbled a moment, before beginning to slide down. The men who had been holding down Frieda and had been the closest yelled as they saw their companion missing a good portion of his neck. Ymir's eyes were wild as she reached for the falling man's gun.

"MOVE!"

And as pistols and rifles came up to face in her direction, Mikasa realized what Ymir's intention had been and as Frieda, who had somehow come up with a knife, rose to plunge the blade into the chest of the man closest to her, hell broke loose.

"HOLY FUCKING… "

As the voice behind her started to shout an obscenity, Mikasa half-rose, spinning on her knees and reaching for that which had just tried to insert itself into her. Wrapping her hand around it, she felt a moment of disgust before she yanked down on the erection as hard as she could; something gave and the Klansman's voice jumped an octave as he screamed. She followed this with an open palm hit to his throat and he choked, falling backwards, missing a swing with his hatchet towards her head. She tackled him for the rifle that was slung over his back and in her peripheral, she saw Levi squirming out from under his captor to then flip him over his shoulder.

"KILL THE BITCH!"

The rifles of the man holding down Jean and the two holding Florian came up to direct themselves at Ymir who managed to pull up the man she had just killed as a shield; Krista screamed as all three thundered and the body was ripped apart and it and Ymir went tumbling backwards. Managing to wrestle the gun from the man she had near immobilized, Mikasa turned halfway and brought it up to her shoulder; seeing her, Krista lifted her feet from the ground and curling to a ball. The man holding her didn't bend nearly enough with his arms around her to use her as a shield and Mikasa put a burst through his head.

"FUCKING WHORE!"

Hearing the shout next to her, she saw the Klansman holding Florian smash his fist into the side of her head, bite marks obvious on his forearm, before turning his rifle towards Mikasa along with his two partners. Her heart missed a beat as she realized there was no way she could turn her gun on them in time; then, blood splattered her face as Levi sent a bullet from the gun of the man he had downed through one of their heads and the other two Klansmen's heads snapped to the left as two bullets from somewhere beyond Mikasa's sight punched through their temples. She fell then, trying to wipe the blood from her face and saw the man whose cock she likely had rendered useless for life rise up and bring his hatchet back; she fumbled for the rifle desperately.

"You… fucking slut… I'll… "

Mikasa's heart caught itself in her throat as she saw someone appear behind him.

Like some twisted, psychotic dream, a half-naked Joe so smeared in blood that his eyes were the only visible part of his face seemed to appear at the man's side to rip the hatchet from his grip; the man had time only to blink at the intrusion before the hatchet sliced at his neck and then came in an arc down into his skull with a terrific crunch. In his other hand, the revolver that Krista had given him all those months ago, smoke still spilling from the barrel. His face was still pale, his hair still matted with cold sweat and he looked just as near death as he had after being shot, but there was a new look in his eyes. A look she had never seen before.

And one that terrified her.

The man holding Jean pulled up his gun, wide eyes visible behind his hood; Joe saw his movement, and whipped the hatchet around, sending it flying from his hand. The sharp edge buried itself in his shoulder and his gun roared as he did whilst he tumbled backwards. It continued to spray fire, slapping through the snow and dirt as he lay on the ground, finger wrapped around the trigger; Mikasa reached forwards and grabbed Florian by the shoulder and pulling her to cover behind a slightly upraised piece of land. The blonde wrapped her arms around her, all hostility forgotten as she buried her bloody face in Mikasa's shoulder; there came then a howl and the gunfire ceased.

"STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP, ST… "

Mikasa slowly straightened to see Joe over the man, gun tossed to the side. He reached down and pulled the man up by his shoulders before throwing him headlong into a tree with a bark-rending crunch; before the Klansman's body even hit the ground, Joe pulled out the hatchet and swung it around, digging it into the side of the man's throat. Pulling it out, he brought it up to strike again.

"DROP THE HATCHET OR I KILL HER!"

Everyone halted as the raw voice bellowed out; Krista stopped trying to pull the body off of Ymir, Levi stopped trying to pull Jean to his feet, and Joe stopped bludgeoning the likely already-dead Klansman. The only remaining hooded man standing had Frieda by her hair and had a knife to her throat. Her face was badly beaten, almost as much as Florian's, but resolve still gleamed in her eyes. The Klansman looked around at all of them shakily, but his eyes locked on Joe, the looming, bloodied and horrifying entity that he was.

"Put… put down the hatchet. I WILL do it."

Joe had frozen in place, but his eyes betrayed no fear or concern for the life that was being threatened before him. Only hate steamed from the slits they had become. Mikasa swallowed as he didn't falter to the demand; the Joe she knew would have surrendered immediately to try and prevent a life from being taken.

"DO IT!"

Krista took a step forward, eyes wide with shock that he hadn't submitted to the demands yet.

"JOE!"

He made no move but to further narrow his eyes; Florian tried to make her way towards him, but her legs gave out and she slumped against Mikasa who caught her and held her as she shouted.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, LISTEN TO HIM!"

This almost seemed to convince him, but as the muscles in his arm twitched, two words were spoken.

"Fuck him."

It became deathly quiet. Frieda's voice was strained, but strong; her eyes looked to Joe, as the Klansman shook her head violently.

"SHUT UP!"

She didn't.

"Kill him."

Joe stared back at her, unblinking and appearing almost curious. Then, after what seemed like minutes, he shrugged.

"Alright."

He broke into a sprint towards the man and pulled the weapon back; the Klansman's eyes widened, but his resolve turned out to be stagnant. As Joe took the last step that would bring him within swinging distance, the blade drug its way across Frieda's throat. The blood that spilled from the scarlet line along her neck cascaded down her front, and her eyes glazed while the Klansman's grip on her hair was released as Joe brought the hatchet down on his face. There was the crunching of bone and a scream followed as the man practically flew backwards at the force of the hit. Coldness on his face, Joe grabbed him by the collar and threw him out of sight beyond the glare of the lights, and lunged after him like a starved predator.

"FRIEDA! FRIEDA, NO!"

Florian had thrown herself from Mikasa's grip and crashed to her hands and knees beside her sister, howling through her bleeding mouth. Krista had stopped moving, her face drawing a complete blank, hands still on the body of the Klansman that had fallen on top of Ymir. She wasn't crying, nor did she seem to be breathing.

Why… what's even left… to die for…

Mikasa remained there, standing in shock as she listened to Florian's screams mingle with that of the Klansman's as the dull whacking sound of hatchet on flesh resounded, again, and again, and again.

She realized Joe was laughing.