"Wow! You really saw one?" Misha asked the stalker. "Was it big? Did you kill it?" he was practically radiating with excitement. He and Anna were on their way to Teatr to see the famous bolshoi. They were currently on a handcar train bound for the Red Line.
"He was huge!" The stalker replied with a smile. He held up his hand as though measuring an invisible person. "He was 7 meters tall. I shot him right in the eye." The stalker pointed to his left eye.
"I hope I get to see one." Misha said. "Mama, how long until I can be a stalker?"
"When you're fifteen." Anna replied. "You and papa can go up together."
"Is your husband a stalker too?" The stalker asked.
"He's not my husband, not officially." Anna explained. "He's a ranger, he's on a mission right now, probably hunting those mutants."
"Well I wish him luck. I don't mean to brag, but I've been up there 30 times."
"And how much treasure did you find the last 29 times, Yuri?" One of the handcar operators chuckled.
"That's beside the point Roman!" Yuri responded, rolling his eyes. "The point is that my buddies and I are now the richest people on the entire line!"
"I'm guessing you made a good find." Anna asked.
"That I did, 3000 plus bullets, all pristine. We got it near kremlin, though I don't think any old stalker will have the same luck. So I'm off to the fabulous Boshoi, I've always wanted to see one of their shows."
"That's where Misha and I are headed. My Artyom has been to one, he said we had to see it for ourselves."
"Artyom sounds like a smart man." Said a red soldier, sitting across from her, smoking weed. "I used to be an actor in my day. I performed all kinds of shows. Then I became a soldier. Fighting for the glory of the red line." The soldier looked over his shoulder to the hand car operators. "Hey, how much longer?"
"We haven't even reached halfway, be patient." The operator said, pumping away on the lever. The car crept through the dark tunnel. Visibility was low, one could see no more than 10 feet ahead. 4 men worked the handles, 4 more walked beside the cart, weapons in hand. Everyone had guns of course, except for Misha. Yuri, had a large Preved, similar to the one Anna had left in polis. The red soldier had his Kalash, and Anna had an Ashot tucked into her waistband.
"Halfway everyone!" one of the operators shouted. The car skidded to a halt, the men walking would trade places with those pumping the levers. The operators had just hopped down, when a jet of steam burst forward from the darkness.
"Fuck!" One of the men shouted, his voice echoing through the tunnel. The guards fumbled with their weapons and pointed them down the tunnel. The red and the stalker drew weapons as well. Anna pulled out her Ashot, making sure Misha was behind her.
"What happened?" asked one man.
"Shit what's going on here?" another voice said.
Dead silence, the crew's flashlights and headlamps barely made a dent in the darkness.
"H-Hello?" A voice stammered out. Young and feminine.
"It's a girl! It's a person!" Someone said. A few of the men lowered their weapons.
"I can see you, I can see your lights! Do you know where I am?" the voice said, the owner sounded disoriented, maybe even injured.
Something doesn't feel right. Anna tightened her grip on her weapon. "Could be bandits." She said.
Yuri turned around. "Why would there be bandits in this tunnel?" He said. "We're a stone's throw from Polis.
"Hello?" The men turned their attention back to the strange voice. A young woman stood in the middle of the tracks. She wore white clothing with a variety of harnesses zigzagging across her body. Her brown jacket had a dual wing insignia emblazoned over the breast pocket, a red scarf hung around her neck.
"Don't come any closer bitch!" One of the guards shouted, shouldering his RPK. "Drop your weapons!" he commanded, referencing the two silver blades she held in each hand. Her body language changed immediately. Before she was dazed and confused, now her eyes were narrow, scanning the strangers ahead of her. Her stance was aggressive, ready to spring forward at the slightest provocation. She rotated her blades slightly, reflecting the light from the cart. The men winced as the glint obstructed their view. A shot rang out, a Lolife. The girl toppled backwards with a scream that echoed through the tunnel. She writhed in pain, clutching her thigh were the bullet had impacted.
"What the hell man?" A soldier said, punching the triggerman in the shoulder.
"I-I'm sorry, I thought she was about to attack."
"A little girl like that?" Anna shouted "A little girl like that was going to attack an armed caravan? How stupid do you think she is, or better yet, how stupid are you?" she holstered her weapon and hopped of the cart. "Misha, stay put." Misha nodded, clinging to his toy bear in fear. "Yuri, help me carry her back here. I don't trust any of these trigger happy bastards."
"Uh, sure." He said, slinging his Preved. He climbed down and followed Anna to the strange woman. They were no more than 6 feet away when the girl held out her sword, pointing it at them. "Easy, Lady," Yuri said calmly. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Those men back there have no trigger discipline, let alone any backbone." Anna added. Yuri took a step closer, the girl pointed her blade at him. He took a step back, holding his hands up. "Look, I get it okay. You don't trust us, but unless you want to bleed to death, you have to cooperate. Otherwise, get off the tracks, people are trying to get through."
The girl lowered he sword after a brief pause. Anna and Yuri approached carefully, ready to jump away if she lashed out at them. "It went straight through, missed the bone too." Yuri said, inspecting her leg. "You should be fine, just needs some stitches." He pulled a roll of gauze from his satchel. He wrapped it around the wound.
"Can you walk?" Anna asked, helping her to her feet.
"I don't know, it hurts but I think I can manage." She said. Anna and Yuri helped her back to the cart. Anna glared at the guard who had fired the shot in the first place.
"So who is this girl?" the red soldier asked, his joint still clutched between his teeth. The girl took a seat on the end, leaving a few feet between Yuri, who was sitting next to her.
"Well, if there's nothing else, let's get moving." A handcar operator said. The men took their positions, four worked the levers, four walked beside the car as it rumbled down the tracks.
"So… do you have a name?" Yuri asked. The girl looked the other way, staring at the wall of the tunnel. She looked back a momentlater.
"Where am I?" She asked.
"Right now you're on the Red Line, between polis and Teatr." Yuri answered.
"I'm sorry, where?" She asked, her face contorted in confusion.
"The Red Line. You know… commies…reds…the Bolshoi?"
The girl processed those names, but recognized none. "I have no idea what you are talking about. You people, I've never seen anyone like you before. I don't think this is an area I'm aware of. Are we outside the walls?"
"The walls?" Anna chimed in, "We're underground. The walls are all around us."
"No, I mean THE walls, Maria, Rose, Sina." the metro dwellers were puzzled by the names. "Their big, 50 meters high! Don't tell me you've never seen them!"
"I've heard of buildings that size, but never any walls." Anna said.
"Tallest thing I've ever seen was a building about 30 meters high, of course a good deal of it collapsed, so it could have been bigger." Yuri added, trying to help the girl get her bearings.
"Maybe she hit her head on the rails or something." The red suggested, jumping into the conversation. "Sounds to me like she's lost it."
"I know what I've seen!" the girl shouted, standing up in the hope of intimidating the soldier. Her injured leg couldn't support her weight she tumbled forward. Anna and Yuri shot up and caught her.
"Easy, take it easy. Anna said, helping her back into her seat. "We'll get you to a doctor when we reach teatr."
"Here," Yuri said, handing over 2 clips of military grade cartridges to Anna. "This should cover the doctor's expense."
"No, you don't have to." Anna said, pushing his hand back. "My boyfriend and I are rangers, I have the bullets to pay for it."
"If you say so." Yuri replied, stuffing the bullets into his pocket. "We still never got a name."
"Mikasa Ackerman." The girl answered.
"So, Ms. Ackerman, how did you wind up here?" Yuri asked.
"That's, a good question. I don't know." Mikasa answered. We had just got back from fighting titans, when there was a puff of steam, and now I'm here.
"What the hell is a titan?" Anna asked.
"They're huge monsters," Mikasa explained. "They resemble a giant naked man, they eat—"
"Wait!" Yuri cut her off. "I've seen one of those! Up on the surface!" Mikasa's widened in surprise.
"Artyom is up there fighting those things as we speak!" Anna added.
"I heard Comrade Morozov launched an attack a few hours ago!" The red said.
"So, the titans are here?" Mikasa asked.
"They just appeared 2 days ago!" Yuri informed her. "I was first to see one!"
"So, they just appeared, huh?" Mikasa asked. The group nodded. "Well there are some things you should know, for starters, the weak spot is the back of the neck."
The caravan pulled into Teatr a half hour later. Mikasa had told them everything she knew about the titans. Anna needed to get word to her father, or Artyom. They could relay it to Kornayev, leader of the Spartan Rangers.
"Do you know when the next train to polis is?" Anna asked the customs officers. The guards looked at each other. One pulled a small brown book from his back pocket and paged through for about a minute.
"Danila and his men should be coming through in a day or so." The guard answered.
Anna sighed deeply, she would have to wait until then. She flashed her passport and she and Misha were allowed through. Yuri was behind them, helping Mikasa across the platform. He displayed a passport, but the guards refused to allow him in.
"How old is that girl?" the guard asked.
"I'm fifteen." Mikasa answered.
"Shut up!" Yuri hissed under his breath.
"Fifteen or over requires a passport, we can't let her in." the guard said.
"Look, she needs a doctor." Anna said, pointing to the bloodstains on Mikasa's leg.
"I'm sorry, she has to wait on the platform." the guard answered coldly.
"Mikasa? Mikasa!" a voice shouted over the noisy crowd of the station. Mikasa looked to find the owner of the voice, it sounded very familiar.
"Dammit! Get back here!" a voice followed. A dark haired boy pushed his way through the crowd, wearing the umistakable survey corp uniform. As he came closer, Mikasa recognized him.
"Eren? Is that you?"