I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

A/N: Christa Reiss is one of the few that escaped arrest.

Petra's hand consciously reached down to the gun to check its presence.

She had barely gotten any sleep. They arrived at headquarters at 0500, routine checks were done at 0800. Two of those hours were spent with tossing and turning in her bed, her last hour consisted of dancing on the boarder between sleep and alertness. She was always a light sleeper, especially out in the field, most Scouts had it in them anyway.

Shaking out the sleep from her eyes, she ran down the basement halls where the holding cells were.

Mike had insisted that he couldn't smell anyone just by their clothes, he needed the to be physically there so that he could memorize them. Instead, they resulted in doing their own interrogation.

She only wore her civilian outfit. The guards were, amazingly, not there at the moment as they were most likely short on men, posts were not attended to properly at this hour of the morning.

The dampness and stench had gotten to her, the torches held at the walls lit her way, and the sound of...agonizing groaning reached her ears. Agonizing? There was one, a young man, it forced her to stop at one cell. By the torchlight, she saw a mess that made her back away, her body slammed into the wall with her hand covering her mouth.

Within the cell was a pool of fresh blood. She had seen her fair share of it, she had slain numerous Titans to know, but her eyes had caught to the source of it. A young man sat against the back wall of his cell with only his left leg sticking out for support. Her eyes traced from his left thigh, to his crotch, and to his right thigh where the rest had been cleanly sliced off at his knee.

The bloody stub was all there was, a bone was clearly shone. What made it worse was that he was someone from the Secpial Operations Squad.

Wasn't I talking to you last night?

"Auruo," she gasped.

It's...a witch hunt.

She didn't know what a witch was but she understood the expression. People would go around claiming others to be the source of their problems, persecute them, torture them, and ultimately kill them. They had started with the new recruits and were working up the system, by the looks of things, they could have been pursuing anyone with connections to Eren.

A sense of guilt fell over her. She never saw eye-to-eye with the tongue-biter but she never thought of him to be persecuted, he was a good soldier when he didn't speak.

Soon they'll hunt me...maybe Mike...finally, Corporal...anyone connected to Hanji as well. Oh god, they already took Auruo. Had they seriously lost it?

She had to go on.

Gathering her wits, she moved on to the next cells. There were a total of seven different individuals. Five were rendered unconscious to speak. It seemed that those who were tested had their right limbs hacked off. Her stomach swirled when she found them by accident.

Erd Gin and Gunter Shulz, their right legs hacked off, fresh and bleeding profusely. Two other woman were there as well but she didn't know them.

Their right legs...they must have been imprisoned overnight...glad I wasn't here for that...

Shaking, she paused under a torchlight to read off the names of those who were free of imprisonment and currently loose; the pamphlets with pictures were being printed out throughout the central area of the Karanese. Speaking out any of the names may possibly elicit a reaction.

Petra cleared her throat and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Armin Arlert."

Nothing.

"Mikasa Ackerman."

Silence.

"Sasha Braus."

She paused.

"Reiner Braun-"

A dry voice came to her. "He left during the fight."

She hurried to the cell from where she heard the response. A pair of hands were sticking out from between the bars, dangling from the forearms. She pocketed her pamphlet and reached out to grab them. "Do you know Reiner Braun?"

The occupant was Bertolt Hoover. She had never seen him before. He had a defeated look but it held something that told her that he would get back to his feet when given the opportunity. She got to her knees by the metal door as he answered hoarsely,"Yeah, he's a close friend of mine. Got away in time before they decided to lock us up."

"Do you know where he is?"

"What? Like hell I'd tell you-"

"Look, I'm trying to save you guys. I want to stop this senseless slaughter as soon as possible. You saw your neighbors and-" Her eyes drifted over to the unconscious, or possibly dead, woman next door. "-they aren't doing so well."

He bitterly pulled away from her. "Get me out of this place and I'll help you get to Reiner."

"Deal." She said without hesitation as she looked at the lock. The keys were elsewhere or on some other person, she didn't have time to search for them. Her hand went to her gun, she may be able to bust through the lock if she fired. She got up and took out the weapon; Mike had loaded it and showed her the process of doing so half an hour ago. She never had to fire it before nor had she done so in her life.

Her aim was unintentionally at Bertolt who, upon seeing it, instinctively backed away with his hands in the air. "Don't point it at me!"

"I'm not aiming for you!" She nearly shouted.

She pulled the trigger. The recoil a was incredible and the sound cracked louder than thunder. The sound rung through her ears as she saw the lock had been burst open. Bertolt went to the door and simply pushed it open, a smile on his face. "Alright, I'll tell you."

"Hold on, I could probably free the rest of you," she said. She continued down the list. "Jean Kirstein?"

No response.

"Christa Reiss?"

"Over here," the voice of a woman came to her, it sounded desperate,"I know where she fled."

Both she and Bertolt rushed to her door. There was no need for explanation, the woman with black hair tied back by a clip quickly backed away. Petra fired another shot and the lock broke apart. The prisoner got out of her cell, brushing away a strand of hair from her face she introduced herself,"I'm Ymir."

"Yeah, Bertolt," the man said in turn. Petra gave a nod.

She looked at both of them. They were stripped of their jackets and harnesses for their Gears but still wore their pants and respective shirts, along with their boots. Both of them were unscathed and showed no signs of any sort of trauma; they were able-bodied, something she was looking for. Perhaps they were waiting for their time of interrogation.

"Alright then. Wait here." She spun around to head for the door of the jail cells, there were a storage of cloaks that were contained in a crate; she was lucky to have passed them on the way down her. She fetch three of the larger sizes and then rushed back to them, handing them each a cloak while putting on her own. "Here, wear these."

-...-

Groups mixed with Scouts and Military Police stood around in the open field by the headquarters. They were organized with one Scout per three soldiers of the MP. The reasoning behind and 1:3 ratio, according to Erwin, was to have MP soldiers keep a Scout in check during their search. Even Mike was given three MP soldiers to keep watch over him, much to his annoyance.

He was filling his canteen when three of his escorts came by to see to him.

"Your branch is giving us more work and with traitors running about, it's making you look bad," one barked out with laughter. Mike glared at them all but they continued to laugh.

In response, he got up. Mike was a tall man, standing at about 196 cm (6'4") and towering over most, even Erwin. The three men that acted more like hyenas shirked at his stature and grumbled, turning their backs away without wanting to start a fight.

The sun had just shinned over Wall Rose an hour ago, casting tall shadows that shortened as time lapsed by. He would lead his teams out after giving instructions, as ordered by Erwin.

He's not even here to personally see to his men being taken...he's not the kind to do that, maybe he's being watched himself and can't do things by his own hand.

"Mike!" Came a hiss. He glanced around and saw a hand around the corner of a building. He glanced over at the three escorts that were engaged in conversation (despite being told to watch over people, they were neglectful as ever). Deeming it safe to slip away, he rounded the corner and found Petra with two hooded people.

"This is all you can get?" He asked, trying to see who they were. Their hoods were pulled over their faces.

"The ones that are alive and breathing well enough to walk, yeah, this is all." She left out the part of Auruo, Gunter, and Erd. "I bet the rest are held elsewhere, it seems they've taken most of the new recruits."

He was stunned, his hand went to rub over his eyes. "They killed them? Oh god..."

One of them, Ymir, spoke out,"They dismember people down there to test whether or not you can regenerate. Us both were lucky enough to not be interrogated yet. Other than that, we need to get to Christa- I mean, those that managed to get away on time. Personally, I know where Christa ought to be, and Sasha, I know they fled together. Bertolt knows where Reiner is."

"And wherever Reiner is, there's a high possibility that Mikasa and Armin followed him," Bertolt added,"Jean is just an arrow piercing the dark."

Ymir and Bertolt were oddly compliant and didn't hold the same paranoia he expected from them. Petra may have explained their situation or somehow earned their trust.

"All of them grouped together, eh? Sounds comforting to know where they are. These people will be scouring the Eastern parts of the city, hopefully you all can reach your friends before we do." He reached into his pocket and took out a map, he was lucky enough to have it though he preferred to have Hanji as she was more experienced in the city's streets than he was.

Ymir lifted a hand up and pointed at a section to the South. "I got her on horseback just in time and told her to go to the canal, there's a bakery on the street near the water. She'll be there, hidden in the alleyway across the forth post from the docking area."

"Reiner took off for the bar West of here," Bertolt began, Ymir stepped away so that he could indicate the specific area,"it's the one where we usually hang by."

"No one's checked there yet, and it's on the way to the Flora," Mike mused,"once you get your friends, I want you to go to the tavern over to the West, it's thirty-seven kilometers from here. It's basically across the city but we're going to give you a wide berth for about three hours. You-" He pointed at Ymir. "-are going to be pressed on time because after an hour, we'll be sweeping South for the docks and cable boats. From this place, it took us two hours to reach the Flora."

He pointed at the tavern's location and they took the time to memorize it until a sharp cry came out,"Zacharias! Where're you!?"

Someone had called his name. It was one of the soldiers that was supposed to keep an eye on him. He took the map back and whirled around the corner without letting another word pass through his lips.

As they hid in the shadows, they heard Mike calling out orders to everyone. Ymir leaned against the wall with her arms folded her arms under her cloak and said with suspicion in her tone,"Why are you helping us?"

Petra turned and looked at them. "...what? Springing you from your cells isn't enough to convince you that Mike and I aren't on your side?"

"We watched people scream and beg to not have a limb be hacked off in the early hours of the morning, we're obviously traumatized," Ymir sarcastically said, but the meaning was clear. She seemed to be the less fidgety out of the two though she showed her anxiety through the fiddling of her sleeves and heavy sighs.

"So you hadn't heard about Hanji Zoe?" Petra questioned, she didn't want to deal with trying to earn their full trust. There was a generation gap between them, they would be predictably wary of authorities, especially one like Petra. They perked up at the name. "Commander sent Corporal to kill her, something totally different from your friends."

"Then you're from the Special Operations Squad meant to keep Eren in check," Bertolt surmised, she nodded.

"Yeah, well, I was but not anymore. Persecution of Hanji had lead to our team being under suspicion; Auruo, Gunter, Erd, they were the three men in the holding cells," she said, then she added quietly,"it's only a matter of time before they seek me out."

Ymir concluded,"Comrades are placed before orders for you people, and I thought there was corruption all around."

"That's the Military Police," Petra interjected.

"Hm...anyway, your comrades were brought earlier this morning but I think most of them could last long with the amount of blood lost," Ymir reported to her, though she looked away,"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'll drink to them later, we'll all drink," she said, crestfallen with a grimace.

Ymir decided to change the subject. "Well, what about Hanji? Is she dead?"

"No, she's hiding at the Flora. In fact, she's the one who wanted to save all of you. Instincts told her you were guys were in danger, guess she was right. After getting you all, we're going to get you out of the Karanese and to my father's residence in the countryside...or you can go off on your own if you have somewhere else in mind to hide."

"What about Eren? Are we going to get him out of jail too?" Bertolt suddenly asked.

Petra gave a thoughtful look, then quickly said,"Mike and I decided to leave him here, it'll keep the military from panicking and sending for more reinforcements."

Shouts and cries of horses came about, orders were being relayed and the search parties were scouring. When the last men were gone, Petra lead them to the stables where the ostler (unknowing of the two, cloaked escapees) gladly handed them horses under the assumption that they were part of search party as well. Ymir and Bertolt were each given an extra horse as Petra reasoned that they would be carrying more people.

By the time they had mounted their horses, Petra looked contemplative once again. Citizens may have not been informed of recent events (a way to avoid hysteria) so the fear of risking discovery had lessened very greatly, Mike had even driven the men in other directions. She looked at each of them once more, then told them,"Ymir, you're going to be on your own. I'll be with Bertolt since he'll be having more people. We head to the Flora once you get your friend, if you get caught or lost...then you're on your own, this is as far as I can help you."

"You don't have an extra gun?" Ymir asked as she grasped the extra reins, she seemed unfazed by the fact she will be independent but it was odd for her to ask for a weapon. "I need protection! I'm going alone at this and you have Bertolt with you!"

Petra noted that Ymir was going be on her own and, by chance, would be the one most likely to be pursued. She thought of Mike giving Hanji a chance by providing her defense. In turn, hoping she could rely on those with their Gears already equipped, she she decided to unhook Rivaille's holster; she tossed it to Ymir, along with the pouch of powder.

"Here, take mine- whoa there!" Her horse began to prance around, anxious at the knowledge that it'll be running soon. She gave a sharp kick to the side and it started to canter, she turned its head to bring it down to trotting in a circle. "Good luck!"

And then, without warning, she had sped off. Bertolt, without any other choice, raced his steed to be beside hers, he then overtook her as they disappeared into the streets. Ymir gave a hard kick and she went down her own path.

-...-

Sasha snuggled up to Christa with a groan, though it wasn't a pleasant one; it sounded like she was having a nightmare.

Her hand reached to trace the brown locks, a meager attempt to comfort her.

The young blond had awoken a few minutes earlier, her body sore from the training she done from yesterday morning. The strain from training also resulted in their Gears being rendered useless; their gas had run low from excessive use. They had removed them and propped them against the wall without the intention of using them.

Their horse was tied off nearby to a tie-down post in the alleyway, it was meant for customers for the bakery but they were the only ones there. Her traced back to the events that lead them to tuck themselves away within a hidden entrance way for the bakery; essentially, it was the back door. They clung to the walls and to one another...

Ymir and her were getting ready to retire for the day but then they were called upon by Erwin. In the courtyard, in their sweaty uniforms, they were arranged in rows with their friends from training days while elder members lined the walls, watching them.

Mikasa and Armin stood ahead of her in the front row, along with Jean, Reiner, and Bertolt. Christa was situated by Ymir and Sasha in the third row. They had only called up the nineteen out of the twenty-one trainees. It occurred to her that Connie was nowhere to be seen, along with Eren.

"The military has declared," Erwin began, standing before all of them,"that there is a Titan amongst all of you."

There were murmurs coming from the crowd of fresh recruits. Christa glanced over at Ymir, the taller girl looked like she had gone pale in the face. Before she could say anything, the Commander carried on.

"It will be an easy procedure as this is all based on suspicion. Worry not, we will only be interrogating you with questions, nothing more."

Then the elder Scouts along the walls began to approach with iron cuffs. They would have complied quietly without struggle if there wasn't a distant scream from the other end of the courtyard. Everyone halted, it was bloodcurdling, it was enough to make Reiner lose his place. Sasha whipped her head around towards the source and uttered,"That's what a dying animal sounds like...but it sounds like..."

And she took off, running for it. No one moved to stop her, even Erwin was unsuspecting of it. They were transfixed by the screams. Sasha had reached a corner where the screams resonated from. They saw her skid into a full stop and she too, upon seeing whatever she saw, let out a piercing shriek,"CONNIE!"

The peace shattered when Reiner bellowed,"Run!"

"Don't let them escape!" Erwin shouted over the younger recruit. The Commander was obviously confused, perhaps what Sasha saw wasn't what was meant to happen. Mikasa had taken out her blade, preventing the other Scouts from coming near her out of fear, Jean stood by as well with Armin though other soldiers were willing to engage them in battle.

The rest of the trainees scattered in the confusion.

Christa felt her hand taken by Ymir.

Bertolt was easily subdued though Reiner threw heavy blows at two Scouts that had closed in. He shouted over his shoulder towards Mikasa,"Get out of here!"

"Not without Eren!" She argued stubbornly.

They bantered on about their comrade though Christa couldn't catch the rest of it. Ymir had pulled her away from the crowd as they were focusing on Mikasa, the strongest one. However, two men managed to take a hold of Christa by her shoulders and waist. Immediately, Ymir whipped her whole body and delivered a punch to their faces, forcing them to release her.

"Thanks," Christa said, but Ymir went on. They went to the stables adjacent to the courtyard, from there, Ymir picked up Christa and threw her small form onto a tacked horse. "What about you?"

"I'll hold them back! Head for the bakery, you know which one! Get out of here!" She unsheathed her swords and ran into the fray that had escalated. Christa could have run for the outside but she turned her horse, quickly following Ymir and then overtaking her. "CHRISTA!"

She saw that Mikasa had taken down two men, maiming them but not killing. Jean and Armin were locked in swordplay; Reiner had used his Gear and escaped, cuing the prodigy of their year to do the same. Bertolt was pinned down with his hands behind his back, it was a wonder how they managed to do that to the tallest graduate in their former training squad.

Half tore after Reiner, Mikasa, and Armin, Jean had somehow slipped from their hold and had gone ahead. The rest had brought their focus on Christa as she rounded by the group holding down Bertolt. The Commander had attempted to pursue her, but then Ymir lunged into his way, her swords lashing out at him to faze him temporarily, a warning.

She spotted Sasha and cantered towards her, her hand stretching out for her. "C'mon!"

Sasha didn't hesitate, she took it at the first chance and swung on behind the saddle; Christa rounded her horse once more, causing its rump to swing against an oncoming soldier. She kicked the horse sharply and clucked her tongue as swords began to swung after her. Ymir sprinted by to clear a makeshift path to prevent anyone else from closing in on Christa as she made her getaway.

Within seconds she was free of the fighting as she tore down the field with Sasha holding to her waist, saying something about Connie though words were drowned out by a horrid sound.

It was a roar, it was inhuman, it was Ymir's battle cry .

Why were they fleeing all of a sudden? What did Sasha see-?

"The horses are coming," Sasha voice said, breaking her from her thoughts,"we better run."

She tried to get up but Christa held her back. "No, it's Ymir, she said she'll meet us here."

The sound approached, it wasn't sounding any signs of stopping. Sasha's usually goofy face grew increasingly worried as the clops of horses neared them. "Christa, I hear three horses, not one. Besides, she could have been captured-"

"Ymir's strong," Christa confidently told her, but Sasha got up and began to put on her Gear (it gave her comfort to know she had a weapon despite that nobility was no longer an option). Once it was strapped on, Christa tried to press,"She can get out-"

"They cut off...Connie's leg," Sasha admitted, Christa's eyes grew wide at this. So that was what she screamed about. "I'm scared, I want to go home. You can come along too but...I'm not staying in the military anymore, I quit. These people, I don't..." She was losing words when she got into the saddle. "Run with me, I'll offer you whatever you want, I'm not a part of this now, I give up."

Christa stood there, she grasped the headstall of the horse to prevent it from moving. "I saved you, you ought to listen to me-"

"Yeah, now I'm trying to repay that debt by giving you something!" Sasha shot back at her uncharacteristically. "I understand...our work with Titans, but doing this, killing one another, that wasn't what I signed up for! Let go of my horse!" She yelled. Without a second thought, Christa released it. The horse snorted as Sasha pulled its head around to test its willingness to give to pressure. Once doing so, Sasha sighed,"...I'm sorry I yelled."

"It's understandable," the blond murmured.

"You've been so kind to me, to everyone, I just don't want you to end up like..." She trailed off, not willing to say Connie's name. "...you sure you don't want to go?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright, just go," Christa said, though it was spoken with uncertainty. Sasha gave her a worried look before kicking her horse's sides. She broke her horse into a gallop down the opposite way from the main road that they had taken to go into hiding. Within moments of Sasha's departure, a cremelllo came running around the corner without a rider.

From a distance, she heard Ymir's voice yell,"Get on!"

There was obviously no time for them to reunite nor ask how she got out, Christa couldn't even grab her Gear either.

The cremello was closing in on Christa, the young girl prepped herself so that when the horse came, she would leap into the saddle. A few seconds pass and the horse came to her, she kicked off the ground with one foot narrowly getting into the stirrup while her other hand grasped onto the mane, pulling her up into the seat.

She took the reins and slowed her new horse down. She turned her head to see Ymir rushing by atop a black one, her cloak covering her though Christa knew it was her. She called to her, but the raven haired woman showed no signs of slowing down. "Ymir!"

Ymir passed her but her cremello, already anxious, tore after her rather closely, keeping up by her side.

"Were you followed?!" Christa asked, throwing a glance back.

Her answer was questioned when she remembered Sasha's warning of hearing three horses, not one.

Ymir was on a black one. Christa was on a cremello. Around the corner came the third and final one, a gray.

Atop the gray was Annie Leonhart.