CHAPTER 7

The clumps of trees were becoming more and more frequent, showing up left and right. We took advantage of it whenever we could, trying to push ourselves as far as we could. The unmistakable thunder of titan feet slowly became louder, the din starting to grow.

I sprinted as hard as I could, the physical exertion making my head throb...throb...throb.

Levi too was sprinting, and I could tell that he was physically taxed, not speaking, only running, his expression deadly.

We had so few blades left—we had broken too many during our past fights, and now, with a herd of titans, it'd be impossible to fight all of them and survive. I had but three blades left, one set and a half. Levi had two blades. Nothing else.

The wall started to consume more our view, revealing the bell up top, and all of the tiny Garrison members, next to the mounted cannons. Had they seen us yet? They must've seen all the titans, but had they seen us yet? If all the titans caught up to us before they saw us and opened up the gate...with that many...killing them would be difficult, and given that there are usually other titans around...we might just end up scaling the wall.

I turned my head around, glancing over my shoulder, just to get a glimpse of what was happening behind us. I wish I hadn't. They were all running at what seemed like full speed, and though we had a good lead on them, it wouldn't be long before they caught up to us.

"Oi, Petra! Pay attention, and keep running. Don't look behind you." I snapped my head back, and continued running, gasping for breaths of air. My lungs were burning, and my legs felt like they were going to fall off, my knees about to buckle.

I reached up to wipe some sweat from my forehead, only to be greeted by the nasty sticky liquid that was blood. And it wasn't too old either. I held in my gasp, and put away my blades and handle. I reached up underneath my hair, fumbling to find the knot that Levi had tied. When I finally found it, my hair and hands were covered in my blood.

I was shaking, but I managed to loosen the knot. I held firmly on the ends, then retied it, trying to make it tighter, trying to staunch the flow of bleeding.

I tripped in all of this chaos, landing hard on my shoulder. I grunted, forcing myself to crawl back up, despite this urge to just fall back down, and fall asleep.

I felt miserable. I was covered in a layer of sweat, blood, and dirt. I felt like I was going to fall apart at any second, and that my head might just crack open if it decided that it wanted to. I felt like I was going to burst into tears, and scream out in rage, all at the same time.

The only thing holding me together, was the sight of the walls.

Levi grabbed me by the elbow, giving me a hard stare. "Petra, we're close to the walls. Just pull through."

I nodded woozily. I started running slower, feeling exhausted. Just one break...a little break…

Our sprint had slowed to a jog, which worried me greatly. The only other thing that worried me was that we might collapse from exhaustion if we sprinted. But if we jogged, the titans could catch up to us.

The walls finally came into full view, revealing all the titans swarming the wall, desperately clawing at the stone surface.

Levi whistled loudly, trying to get the attention of the Garrison as soon as possible. I followed suit, placing my muddy blood covered hands in my mouth, shoving my fingers into it. I whistled as hard as I could, repeatedly whistling.

I looked up from the grass, squinting past the sunlight, trying to make out what was happening on the wall. I focused, concentrating. Then, I saw them.

Several members of the Garrison were rushing over to the edge of the wall. I heard snippets of distant cries, drowned out by the titans behind us. Now, it was like a tree was cracking right beside us. They were awfully close.

I wiped some of my saliva onto my cloak, then started whistling again. Finally, I saw someone come up with a telescope, pointing down at us. I waved desperately.

"Oi." Levi muttered angrily through gritted teeth. "Don't they see us? Those bastards better not let us die."

They started running frantically around the wall. I could see people in position, standing behind cannons.

"Psh," Levi scowled. "Idiots."

Then, something good finally happened to us. I heard the sound of the bell. I was ready to collapse with relief, or start laughing out loud. This sound, the continuous ringing of the bell announced our arrival. I had a big grin on my face, and I finally felt like I could start relaxing. We were so close. In just a few more minutes, we'd be back.

Levi grabbed my arm, and started pulling me around. "Now, we sprint to the finish." he announced.

As we ran, I observed my surroundings. How could one be so free, even though they are being continuously hunted? Like an animal.

I threw my head back, and almost screamed. The titans were approaching, and the closer they got, the more a large dread started to fall on me.

"Levi, they're close!" I cried out over all the noise. The first cannon shot off, hitting one of the titans behind us.

"Petra, I told you not to look back. Have faith in the Garrison." he replied calmly. He sped up a bit, and we were sprinting once again.

Several members of the Garrison eased themselves down the wall, trying to lure the nearby titans away. They caught the bait, and were slowly moving away. The bell kept ringing. I could feel the tension in the air. Trying to save two Survey Corps members, who had been stranded outside the walls for five days, being pursued by ten to twenty titans. How would they do this?

We ran towards the gates, and when we finally made it there, they wouldn't open. We began to bang desperately on it, continuously looking back at the approaching group of titans.

"Shit!" Levi cried out. "Open it up!" We looked up, and they made several signs, motioning in different directions. They continued doing it, and then finally I got it. They were pointing to the left, where a bunch of titans who had been lured away. Those titans had started moving towards us once more.

"Dammit." I murmured. I looked behind me. The titans were so close, that in a minute, they'd already be able to consume us.

"We're switching to 3D Maneuver Gear." Levi ordered. He took out his blades, and shot himself up. I did the same. I shot myself up the gate, narrowly missing a five meter class. Its hand shot out past me, grazing my cloak. I bit my lip, forcing myself to keep calm. Several other titans gathered up below me, reaching their hands out. It took all of my power to dodge them, avoiding their groping hands.

I was reaching the end of my wire, and Levi was already far ahead, almost at the top of the walls. Damn…why would I be moving so slowly now? I shot myself up, regaining my bearings, sprinting for a few seconds, then shooting myself back up.

In less than twenty seconds, I had caught up to Levi. We were a good thirty meters up—almost at the top. He had started slowly down, no longer in a rush, now that we were a little more than twice the height of the tallest titan down there.

My blades pierced the walls, and in another short burst of energy, I eagerly reshot my wire. If my blades had hit that wall, had pierced it, in that last run, I would've made it back up to the top of the walls. But I didn't. I didn't have anymore gas.

I started to fall, and at first, my only emotion was this longing, like something was missing. Why was I not already on top of the walls? That should've done it, but for some reason, it didn't. After the shock set in. I was falling. I had run out of gas, and was falling down to my dearest fans down below—the titans. They would eat me up, and I bet right now, they were full of anticipation. Finally, the fear set in. All in a couple of seconds.

I plummeted like a rock, falling past Levi.

I felt weak. I was going to die a horrible death. If my body didn't splatter on the ground down below, it would've meant that a titan had caught me, and that it would consume me, if not tear me apart and share with its friends.

I couldn't cry. All I felt was fear as I gazed up at the sky, and at the edge of the wall. So close. Right at the gates of heaven. But for some reason, I was falling. Heaven had faded away, and now I was falling back down to earth. To this miserable earth. Or worse, down to hell. But we lived in hell didn't we? Earth was no different than hell. We were in a living hell.

My descent was surprisingly slow, and this gave me a lot of time to think things through. I revisited my memories of my family, and growing up. I saw Carter and my other friends. Then…Ben.

He smiled down at me, offering his hand to me from where I laid, almost dead, on the ground. On this hard earth. He was dressed in his Survey Corps uniform, extremely proud looking. I smiled back at him. How was this happening? He's dead. I remembered seeing his broken body being carried back in the carriage, being brought over to our home. I had been waiting in the kitchen. Waiting for him to come home and hug me. He would tell me what it was like outside, in the outside world, outside these walls. But he didn't tell me anything that day. He wasn't able to speak his own words. Those words came out of an officer's mouth. They announced that he would get a proper military funeral, and would be burned with his comrades. At the time, I didn't understand. I didn't understand why mother was crying. He was surely coming home later. So then, I waited. Five years later, the truth finally set it. He wasn't coming home. Even after attending his funeral those five years before, I still wasn't able to comprehend what was happening. I had managed to convince myself that he would come home again. Three years after that, I was sixteen. That year, I started training to be a soldier. I would avenge my brother. I would go see with my own eyes the things that he had told me about with such excitement.

The year I joined, Carter died. I remembered seeing him when I was a training. He was so surprised, and he too, was also incredibly proud. "This is going to be great!" he had said. "We'll be able to explore together! You won't be disappointed, Petra!" And I had believed him. And I still did.

I snapped back to reality for a brief second. I was already halfway down. My hair was flying up past me. I heard a faint cry, vaguely resembling the sound of my own name. I closed my eyes again. My head throbbed, but was starting to feel freer, like I was escaping out of a pile of hay, swimming through all my problems. I was beginning to accept my past, and I knew that once I was consumed, that there was a chance that I'd be able to die in peace. My memories continued, making Carter fade away, and replacing him with my parents. The day I told them that I would join the military.

Of course, my parents were fairly reluctant. My mother began bawling when I told her I had enrolled to become a Survey Corps member. Originally, I had told them I was aspiring to be a part of the MPs. They were proud. Imagine that, little Petra, an MP! But that had never been my true motives. I had wanted to join the Survey Corps from the start. When I finally told them what I actually wanted to join, it was the day before my departure for training. My mother dropped the ladle she was using to cook with, spilling soup all over the floor.

My father didn't seem surprised, and as my mother cried, he remained placid. When I asked him what he thought, he told me he suspected that I would change my mind. I thought he would yell at me, or scold me. To my great surprise, he didn't. "Petra," he said. "You're growing up. You're sixteen, you're practically a woman. I believe that you should have your own liberties. Your brother too wanted to join at a younger age, but we didn't let him. When he grew older, I suspect that he held a sort of bitter resentment towards us. The last expedition he went on, was perhaps one of the best to him. He came home while you were away, and told me that he didn't care about my rules, and that he wouldn't die a merchant. Being in the hell outside, was better than the hell inside. He told me he wasn't a little boy anymore. It was when he left that I thought for a second, that maybe I controlled that boy too much. I'll never be able to tell him that, but I want you to have the satisfaction of knowing that you can make your own choices."

"But what does that mean, dad?"

"Petra...I'm proud of you having such courage. Just come home. Come home."

Home...I opened up my eyes. Then glanced down at my hands. Empty. I grabbed my swords, and spun myself around so that I was facing the titans. Their heads were lifted up, welcoming me.

I had to go home. I told my parents I would go home right after the expedition. I would fight these titans. I would kill them. If I were to die, I would die fighting.

My boot hit the wall, and I ran down, speeding up. The closest titan was approaching, and as its arm made its way towards me, I jumped off of the wall.

I sliced its hand off, trying to reach the nape of its neck.

I kicked myself off of the stump where its hand used to be, the steam burning my body. My head wound was bleeding again, but I didn't bother fix it. I sliced its eyes out, blood spilling around me. I felt the body shift as more titans grabbed at the single titan I was battling. They reached out towards me, trying to grab me.

I was in the air again, ready to kill it. But as I descended, I missed. I missed? I missed. No, I hadn't missed. I moved. But, how? I had shifted way off of my mark.

Levi. His name rang through my mind, like the bell, ringing once again.

We flew in a curve, flying back towards the wall, raising ourselves higher up. I looked up at Levi, into his grey eyes. They were fixed on me, his face a mixture of emotions.

I shifted my gaze back down to the crowd of titans, who almost consumed me, then back up at Levi. I placed my blades back in its holder, feeling the blood drip past my eyes. Levi had saved me once again. Is this how it was going to go for the rest of my life?

Levi was gripping around my stomach, fastening me to his side. My head was slumped slightly on his shoulder, mostly from the pain and exhaustion. I wasn't sure if I was ready to fight another titan...in a long time.

Levis fingers moved to my chin, touching the part where some blood had dripped. He turned it back over so that I was facing him. I tried to say something, a thank you, but nothing could escape my lips. I choked on my words, and tears filled my eyes. I was going home. I smiled at Levi.

He bent down towards me, casting a shadow over my face. He brushed some of my hair out of the sticky blood, staining his clean hands.

"You're safe." he said softly. Then his face turned back to the sky.

We landed on the wall, and were greeted by a throng of Garrison members. Levi kneeled down on the wall, cradling my head in his arms. When he pulled his arms away from my sides, I noticed that my green cloak was stained with blood.

I glanced up, and saw a deep bloody gash carved into his arm, the jacket sleeve completely torn apart. When I touched his skin beside the wound, his expression reflected no pain, but instead amusement.

"Shouldn't there be bigger things to be concerned about?" he seemed so amused, gazing down at me.

I touched my bloody forehead, my fingers recoiling at the touch of the soppy bandage. "No." I whispered.

Levi closed his eyes in contemplation, but before he could say anything, I was being lifted off of him. His arms parted to let the Garrison soldiers lift me up, and I was placed on a stretcher. I still held tight to Levi's hand, gripping it tightly. I closed my eyes, feeling relief.

I began to feel sleepy, and the last thing I remembered hearing, was the sound of the canons, firing away.