A group of evacuees stood by, waiting as a shop owner tried to push a wagon wider than the gate through. Most of the people in the crowd must have been either underage or couldn't apparate for other reasons, because nobody tried apparition.
"Push! We'll get it through faster the harder you push!" he ordered.
"We can't get through! We're supposed to evacuate!" cried a woman in the crowd.
"Look behind you! There's a giant! We can't get the wagon through, so we'll all die!" screamed a man in the back.
Mikasa turned around. A giant was coming from behind them, running in a waddling path towards them. The aurors next to her took off on their brooms. She followed, passing them with the skill of a seeker. She shot a reducto curse at the giant's neck, and it toppled to the ground. She turned back to the people. They had to get out. If they didn't move the wagon, who knew how much longer they could wait? Another giant could come along at any second. She didn't know if anyone would be able to kill the next one.
She strode up to the merchant, pointing her wand at his face. "Move the wagon. If you don't, nobody gets out."
"The contents of this wagon are more than all of these people make in a year. It's more valuable than any of them," said the shopkeeper.
"If you don't move the wagon, all these people will die."
"Yes, the contents of this wagon are more valuable than they are."
Mikasa punched him in the face. "I can do much more damage than that if you don't back the wagon up out of the gate."
The shopkeeper was doubled over, clutching his cheek where Mikasa had hit him.
"Sir? Should we back it up?" asked one of his workers. He nodded.
The cart was backed up and the people poured through. One woman holding a little girl stayed back.
"Thank you," she said. "You just saved all our lives."
Mikasa gave her a salute like she'd seen muggles in the military do on TV. "You're welcome."
"Mikasa, was it?" asked one of the aurors. "You should evacuate now that we have the gate clear."
"I have to find my friends," she said, taking off on her broom to search the buildings for them.
She flew over buildings, scanning for people she knew, preferably Eren or Armin. She spotted some fourth and fifth year students standing around on roofs. Didn't they hear that the gate was open? Then she realized. They were surrounded. They weren't in immediate danger, so she kept going.
On another roof, she saw more students. Upon closer inspection, she found it was Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt, and Marco.
"Annie!" she called. "I know it seems selfish, but have you seen Eren?"
"I've seen a lot of people come by, but I haven't seen him," she replied.
"Armin's over there, though," said Reiner, pointing behind Mikasa. She turned around.
Armin was curled up against the wall, staring blankly at his boots.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
"Armin, where's Eren?"
He lifted his head, tears streaming down his face.
"Mikasa… Eren's dead. Along with Thomas, Mylius, Mina, and Nac Tius. He was eaten by a titan while saving me. I should have died instead. I'm sorry. It should have been me. I'm the useless one."
Mikasa couldn't believe Eren was dead. She stood in shock.
Armin collapsed again, sobbing. Mikasa put her hand on his. "It's OK. We'll be fine. We just need to get out of here. Eren would want us to fight." She stood up and walked to the edge of the building. "We can get out of here if we fly over the giants. There is a gate that we can go through. We just need to get there."
Sasha put her hand up. "There are children trapped in Honeyduke's, and it's surrounded by giants."
Mikasa looked over at the candy shop. That was definitely a lot of giants.
"We can't possibly kill them all, even with you," said Jean.
"We can kill them. I'll kill them all if I have to. I'm good at magic. Really good. Better than any of you. And I'm going to fight those giants whether you help me or not."