Author's Note: 'Sup ~Dreamers! Sorry for the wait, but writer's block + new college semester + my own laziness + surviving Hurricane Irma (cuz I live on the eastcoast of Florida) + job switching = absolutely no fuck*ng writing. Like at all. Hope it was at least worth the wait!
Enjoy ~Dreamers!
ARTS Ch. 35
The remaining MP's that hadn't left to check out Hanji's explosion were now flooding out of the supply trucks like water. In seconds, their snowy world was alive with screaming and yelling, and the thunderous echoes of gunfire. Shots were fired from above, but Petra didn't bother looking up, trusting that at least those bullets were on their side.
Six guards came at their squad, but Levi and the others were quick to disarm them, swiftly knocking them out. Petra, Auroro and Eld had all taken out one each, while the remaining three had singled out Levi as the better fighter, and rushed at him.
Flipping the first man over his shoulder as if he weighed little more than a child, Levi hurriedly directed his attention to the second and the third. Dodging the slashing knives of the second man, Levi focused instead on the third man, who was now aiming the chamber of his gun at Petra.
In half a second Levi was on him, ruthlessly impaling the man's stomach with one of the grapples of his Maneuver Gear.
The third man had tried to run away, but had clumsily run smack into Auroro and Eld, who made quick work of incapacitating him.
"Everyone alright?" Levi asked, not even panting despite having just impaled a man, though he did he made a point to step in front of the man with a grapple in his stomach. The last thing Petra needed was to see the man's guts splayed out in front of her, especially when she had nearly had another panic attack only moments before.
He hadn't wanted to kill the man, but the thought of anyone who dared to so much as look at Petra with such a murderous glare was beneath receiving any of his mercy.
"Yeah, we're all good," Eld answered, checking his Gear.
But behind Levi, one of the men on the ground had regained consciousness…and was now coming at him with a blade in hand.
Reacting quickly, Petra had pushed Levi out of the way, before firing at the man once in the chest. He fell to the ground, dead at their feet.
"…L-Let's go," Petra breathed shakily, looking anywhere but down where the man laid, now dead.
"Thanks kid," Levi said simply, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
"…Did she just? Push Levi?!" Auroro exclaimed in disbelief, and Petra couldn't tell if he was more pissed or surprised.
"What? I wasn't attacking him! I was trying to get him out of the way-" Petra began, still not believing herself what she had just done.
"Let's get to the watch tower before we get our asses jumped again. Once everyone is in the trucks, we're out of here."
Petra guessed that Levi let the action slide because he trusted her, aaand because they were kind of in the middle of a Raid.
Really, she was lucky to still be alive.
Then they took to the buildings, the Corps soon dominating the crumbling skyline of Stohess. Petra took this chance to survey the area. All around them was shooting and chaos, but it looked like the squads had everything under control for the time being. Petra fought to keep her head in the game and struggled keep up with Levi and the others, who were soaring a bit ahead of her.
She did everything in her power to ignore the fact that they had just brutally killed two people.
"Keep your head in the game Petra," she muttered to herself.
"You good, Petra?" Eld asked her suddenly, interrupting her thoughts after having fallen back a little to propel alongside her.
"No," she answered honestly, hoping Levi wasn't listening in on them. "But I will be."
"We've got your back," Eld said encouragingly, deciding to keep pace with her, just in case. If anyone noticed her lagging behind them, it would make her an easy target to shoot down.
"Scouting Squad 1 now approaching the Walls. Snipers, cover our six," Levi requested through the radio. "We can't shoot back while we're scaling the Walls.
'How in the Hell did he manage to pull out the hand-held radio while swinging around through the sky?!' Petra thought to herself, envious of his multitasking skills…and wondering vaguely what other things his hands were capable of—oh my God Petra- this is so not the time!
"Copy that," sounded Erwin's voice over the radio, which Levi was now reattaching to his belt, as he prepared to scale the Walls.
"Scouting Squad 2, on our way," sounded Armin, and Hanji could be heard laughing maniacally in the background.
"Acknowledged," Erwin replied. "All Squads, get to the trucks! The Scouts are taking the watch tower. Recovery Squads, secure the Gear!"
Erwin and the Snipers held fast on the rooftops while the Recovery and Scouting Squads piled in the trucks, giving them cover until everyone had left the boundaries of the District's Walls until the very last second before eventually falling back, before the MP's could regroup enough to chase hunt them down.
The Maneuver Gear secured, the Recovery and Scouting Squads plowed their way through snow and ice, as well as the dozens of Titans drawn to all the commotion.
Each truck was big enough to fit at least fifteen people, if not more. Eld was driving their car, which was in the front of their caravan so Petra could navigate them through the city. Petra sat in the front, beside Levi, who despite the space in the van sat arm to arm with her, attempting to keep her warm as they blasted the heat.
"These things are practically tanks!" Connie exclaimed over the radio as his truck's driver – Hanji, God help them all – ran over yet another Titan, it's blood steaming off their windshield. They were in a car behind Levi and Petra's squad, as Petra guided the caravan through the Titanous country of the abandoned area of Stohess, and towards her gym.
"If you have the energy to waste exclaiming pointless shit, then shut up make yourselves useful by taking stock of all of the supplies on each truck," Levi commanded over the radio. "I'm sure the MPs packed more than just the Gear. Get ahold of every knife, gun, and bullet. Check for any medical supplies we can use, and any food rations you can get your hands on."
"Y-Yes Sir!" Connie replied fearfully through the radio.
Petra clung to Levi's arm, trying to ground herself. In the driver's seat beside them, Eld casted Levi knowing looks, which their Leader pointedly ignored.
"We're almost there," Petra announced after a few minutes, amazed that they made the journey to her gym through the snow that ordinarily took her several hours, and that was under much fairer conditions. Petra asked Levi for the radio.
"The gym should be coming up on our left soon. But we'll have to drop the trucks off at the parking garage first, so just keep going another two blocks. Everyone be careful and watch your backs, the gym is only partially blocked off, so there's a good chance it'll be swarming with Titans. Don't leave the trucks until we know just how many there are." Levi took the radio back.
"In the best-case scenario, there are no or only a few Titans in the garage. Once we secure the area, block off all the entrances so that no other Titans get in. We can't see them now, but the sound of the trucks probably has every Titan in the city on our asses. As soon as we're in the garage, kill the engines. We can make out way to Petra's gym after the trucks are taken care of."
"Okay? And the worst-case scenario?" Jean inquired, ever the optimist.
"If you or anyone else fucks up, someone becomes a Titan. And then we'll have no choice but to take them out," Levi said flatly, as a warning to everyone how fast they needed to act. "Don't let it come to that."
Levi found himself holding Petra's hand a little tighter beside him.
"Alright, the gym is that blue five story building guys," Petra said over the radio. "Two more blocks to the gym." Their caravan drove on for another moment. "Okay there's the gym. The entrance should be around the back. Go down that alley over there and you should see it."
Eld lead the caravan, driving up into the parking garage, deciding it was best to park the tucks on the 4th level up, so that the 5th level could act as the roof; far enough up there wouldn't be any Titans, yet sheltered from the snow.
"The coast seems clear for now. Everyone grab the Gear and all the supplies you can carry. We might not have enough time to make a second trip today," Levi warned everyone over the radios. "Kill the engines. We can always come back for the trucks later." And so they did.
Everyone climbed out of the trucks, Levi having to help Petra due to the height of the trucks. But after another moment spent trying to get their bearings, they all heard it.
The ominous roar of hundreds of Titans.
"Everyone get ready!" Levi commanded, charging his gun and readying his blades.
"Everyone go up one floor!" Petra yelled. "Take the stairs- the fire escape! The gaps between the rooftops here and the roof to the gym aren't too difficult to jump." And everyone started running, Gunther kicking open the doors to the stairs.
"Those that can, use the Gear. If you don't fell one hundred percent confident using the grapples, then don't risk it and make the jump," Levi commanded, as the Corps pounded their way up the stairs. Adrenaline surged through Petra's veins, and soon everyone had reached the roof, ie the 5th floor, whose parking lot was not shielded from the sky.
Levi made a point to be the last one to enter the stairs, to cover the Corps from behind. Like a shadow, Petra did as well.
"What are you doing?! We need to move?!" Petra asked him frantically.
"Covering out asses," Levi replied simply. It was through the windows of the doors that they saw them: the dozens of Titans pouring into the 4th floor parking lot.
In seconds, he had unzipped his backpack, and had produced a rope, which he began furiously attempting to loop through the handles of the doors to the stairs.
"Guys! Help! The Titans are here and we need to keep the doors shut!" Petra shouted up the stairs. All at once, the Titans began ramming their steaming bodies into the metal doors, which were now the only things dividing them from certain death. Around eight or so of the guys came to their aid, while those at the top of the stairs struggled to get their sole escape route open.
But they couldn't open the next door. Some of the guys had tried kicking it in, but it wouldn't budge, completely frozen shut.
There was nearly a foot of snow covering the entire parking lot.
"The doors aren't budging!" Berthold yelled down from above. There's like a foot of snow up on the roof!"
"Fuck!" Eren yelled, struggling with the others to keep the doors closed, while Levi fought to tie off the rope. But finally, he did.
"Do the doors up there have windows too?" Levi yelled up at the others.
"They do! We'll have to break through them if we want to get out of here!" Hanji exclaimed.
The doors at the foot of the stairs buckled unsettlingly, and Levi knew the rope wouldn't hold for long. Someone would have to be left behind to hold them closed while everyone made their escape. He glanced under his left arm, where Petra stood at his side, pushing against the doors with everything she had.
"Help them out, kid," Levi told her. "They don't know their way around up there as well as you do."
"But-"
"Don't even try," Levi warned her. When she still hesitated, he added, "Go. I got this." But even as he said this, Levi could feel a bead of sweat trickle down his temple at the exertion of trying to keep the doors closed.
Not caring who was watching, Petra gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before sprinting up the stairs to help the others onto the roof.
Reiner had used one of the gas tanks from his Maneuver Gear to take out the large square windows of the upper doors, and once by one, each member climbed through the opening, feeling the icy wind from outside intrude upon the hallway.
"And how in the shit are we supposed to jump in this?!" Auroro exclaimed, horrified as the sound of Titans could be heard just behind them. "There's like two feet of snow up here!"
"Make it happen!" Levi yelled up at everyone. "You know what happens if you don't, so stop bitching and adapt!"
"Looks like we're gonna have to use the Gear after all," Annie said simply, as if unaffected by the terror the rest of them were feeling.
"Yeah, not like we can get a running start to make that jump in all this snow," Connie said, voice literally shaking in fear.
After making her way through the edge, Petra planted her feet, before aiming her grapples at a nearby chimney, over on the next roof, before launching herself across the gap.
"You guys coming? Or do you want to die?" Petra yelled over. "Now isn't the time to chicken out! Aim your grapples and use the clutches! You can worry about your landing after you've crossed the gap!"
After more bitching from literally everyone still too afraid to make the jump, the sound of Levi and the few left down stairs struggling in the fire escape motivated everyone enough to get moving. It wasn't until the last member was across that horror struck her. Levi was still down there, holding the lower doors shut, unable to make his escape on his own.
Then Petra did exactly what Levi had no doubt prayed she would do.
She went back for him.