CHAPTER 16: NEVER TRUST DENIAL
Levi Ackerman
"Do you two have any idea how much of a pain in my ass you are?" Nile raged as he stormed into the cellar.
Though he would never in his life admit it to the man, Levi was very happy to see him. He almost smiled. Almost.
"I mean, just look at you." The military commander continued grumbling, setting his brick against the wall. "Strung up like a couple of dead men. Dead men and women, but still, here I am, coming to save your ungrateful asses.
"How did you find us?" Historia exclaimed, still dangling from her wrists. Levi's own wrists were starting to complain about holding his weight.
Nile rolled his eyes, moving over to her and helping to lift her hands off the hook. She slung down, gratefully rubbing at her wrists as Nile removed her bindings.
"It was easy." He explained. "All I had to do was follow the smell of idiocy. That, and I got drugged. Woke up to a world of noise and chaos so naturally I figured you two were involved. Followed a couple of guards down to the cellar...and looks like I was right"
"Well we owe you our lives." Historia said with gravity. "They—oh shit. Burns is on his way! Shit shit shit." Her eyes flew over to Levi. "We have to get him down and get out of here!"
Nile nodded, quickly moving to lift Levi's arms off his hook.
As his weight came crashing down, a rush of nausea welled up in Levi's stomach. The blood drained from his face as pain returned to his leg. He stumbled, catching himself before completely falling to the ground. His vision went fuzzy, but he saw red coming from the poorly wrapped injury.
"Shit…" He cursed.
"Hey...uh, you don't look so hot there shorty." Nile's face appeared in his vision.
"He got shot!" Historia hissed. "And I didn't bandage it very well."
Levi wanted to slap Nile and move for god's sake, but his body refused to budge.
"You're telling me he's got an open bullet wound?"
"Yes!" Historia moved an arm under his shoulder, leaning in to support his weight. A familiar system. "But we can discuss that later. Let's get out of here? Yes?"
"Let's go." Nile moved to Levi's other side and slung his other arm over his shoulder like a strap.
A flush of embarrassment ran through Levi as he was hauled through the room like a rag doll. Not since being two or three years old had he felt this helpless. He wanted to protest, to tell Nile and Historia that leaving him was okay. He would only slow them down.
His head lolled as they moved as fast as they could back through the base. Out of the cellar, some warmth returned to the air, but Levi's skin still crawled like someone was running an ice cube over it.
At the same time, he could literally feel his fever returning. It dragged through him, like an ox pulling a cart of flaming mortar through the mud. It spilled and splattered, leaving dregs of fiery burning waste in it's trail.
He coughed, but it racked his whole body.
"I think his fever is back." He heard Historia mutter to his right.
"Back?" Nile's hushed whisper asked incredulously. "Seriously, how long was I gone for?"
A distant clatter distracted them. It couldn't have been further than a room or two away. Someone was close.
"Here!" Nile whispered again, a more urgent tone. "Get in here quick!"
Levi was pulled through a doorway into darkness. The door closed behind them with barely a sound.
He shook his head, trying to clear the haze forming within.
Give up! His voice hissed. How much more will you take before you give up?
He didn't have the energy to even ignore it. He was weak. Feeble.
It's over…
Damion Burns
Damion hated cellars. Almost more than the underground.
Though, he mused, the underground was kind of like the cellar of the capital. Or even the entire walled kingdom.
It was rotting, stunk, dark, crowded with rats, and generally not a place most people ever wanted to spend more than thirty seconds in.
And it was bloody cold!
He sighed, listening to Zane's footsteps as the two descended the stairs to the basement of the military outpost.
"I'm sad we'll be leaving this place behind." He said somberly, glancing at the man.
As he predicted, Zane didn't react.
So he continued. "So many fond memories together here. That time we locked up half the crime bosses in the underground, when we confiscated all the codeloine and re-sold it, or what about that time we had an actual rat infestation?" He chuckled.
"You hate it here." Zane deadpanned. Always right to the point with him. It was why Damion liked him so much. You could always trust a man who didn't hide anything behind emotion.
"You're completely correct!" He laughed. "I was just trying to see things from our beloved, darling queen's point of view."
The two rounded the corner at the landing of the stairs.
"Really we're doing them a service." He declared. It was something he'd said before, but something he liked saying over and over. The more he said it, the more he believed it. "She wouldn't have lasted as queen much longer. It would have been another blood bath to put someone on the throne after that. Better to get rid of her now. Get rid of all of them."
He trailed off. Yes, getting her out of the way was necessary, as unfortunate as Historia's circumstances were, she was stopping him from seeing justice. It wasn't her fault she was chosen by the military to be put in as queen.
He honestly felt bad for her.
But his thoughts turned to the other prisoner currently locked up in the room at the end of the hallway they just entered.
Captain Levi.
His blood immediately boiled. All remorse he'd felt a moment ago was gone.
Levi should have died a long time ago. If Burns had worked his way up in power any sooner he would have personally seen to it that the man be arrested, accused, tortured, shot, hung, or really anything unpleasant and life ending. The man didn't deserve to breathe the precious air above the surface, and never should have been given the privilege to walk the same ground that Damion's parents or grandfather had.
The noble, self-sacrificing shit show the captain put on for the rest of the Scouts and humanity sickened Damion. He'd never met a man more selfish, one who cared for others only enough to see them fall while he never suffered a scratch.
Yes, he mused as he turned the knob to the cellar turned prison cell. Levi's actions condemned him, and he would pay the ultimate price.
Historia Riess
The howl of rage that echoed from the basement cellar was loud enough that Historia and Nile both heard it from the floor above.
"There goes the element of surprise." Nile commented darkly, adjusting his hold on Levi's unconscious body.
"Did you really expect us to keep it?" Historia replied dryly, trying to disguise the jolt of fear that ran through her. The anger in that scream was...terrifying.
"No."
The three vagrants crept through the shadows of the military police outpost. They'd passed through the rest of the basement after hearing the footsteps subside outside the door they hid behind. Now they just needed to get out without being spotted.
"This way." Nile whispered, pulling them towards a side room. Historia was beyond lost at this point. The holding cell she and Levi had been locked in was somewhere on this floor she thought, but they seemed to be in a completely different area from that. This one was full of boxes and old uniforms and supplies. Cobwebs filled the dusty area, nothing like the earlier cells—
Oh god. She gasped, freezing in place.
Nile noticed her outburst immediately. "What? What's wrong?"
How could they have forgotten? Even with everything going on?
"Patrik's kids." She whispered, horrified. "They're still locked up."
She met Nile's eyes, exposing her pure fear to him. His expression spoke of another weight, worry for their own lives.
"What are you talking about?"
"We met a bartender and he had these kids. They helped us." She tried to explain, rushing the words together. "We were with them before we got captured, but they took his kids. There are three of them, they were just down the hall from our cell."
Nile swore, swallowing and looking at the ceiling.
"Nile." She said, choking back tears. "We can't—we can't leave them." But she already knew…
We can't get them either. There's no time. We'll be caught.
He turned back to her, eyes surprisingly moist. It was something she never expected to see from the hardy military police commander.
"I'm so sorry Historia." He blinked back tears. "We have to go…"
I know. She wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words. Hell, she couldn't even find the strength to nod her agreement. All she could do was follow Nile, blindly, numbly, as he led them through the old base.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry.
The words screamed in her mind, screamed so loud it was deafening. She wanted to match it with her own voice, let her throat burn and scratch as she yelled her frustrations and guilt to the world. She deserved to feel that pain, to suffer in the smallest amount to pay for the pain she caused others.
The pain she had caused Levi and Nile. The pain Patrik must be in right now.
The pain those two kids would suffer.
Her silent tears plummeted to the ground, leaving a trail of drops in their wake.
Nile led them through room after room, footsteps sounding rapidly on the floors above them. Each room they came to was empty, as if the entire floor had been abandoned. They continued until they came to a set of stairs going up. After a quick survey of the room, Nile propped Levi against the wall and motioned for Historia to stay put with him.
"These stairs lead out." He pointed up. "But I'm going to check the other side, there's bound to be patrols."
She nodded, still unable to speak.
Nile crept up the stairs, careful to stick to the sides to create less noise until he reached the top. He pressed his ear against the wooden door, listening intently for a minute.
They would only have one chance to make a run for it. If they were spotted or made too much sound, there wouldn't be a second chance. It was already a miracle that Nile had found them.
"I think we're in the clear." Nile whispered as he descended the stairs. "Let's get out of here." They picked Levi back up and made their way, carefully, up the stairs. Nile waited a moment to listen at the door at the top.
"On three." He breathed.
Historia nodded, barely able to breathe herself.
"One."
Her heart thundered in her chest.
"Two."
They had to make it. They couldn't afford to not.
"THREE!"
Nile pushed the door open, and the three of them burst out into the cool air of the underground.
Historia sucked in the air, never expecting to be glad for it. She hardly thought as she ran. For everything she was worth, which wasn't much, she ran. For her comrades. For those she'd met in the underground. For Ymir. For her kingdom.
The stairs let them out onto a back lot, a considerable distance away from the next set of buildings. Of course, leave it to the Military Police to build their outposts as far away from the rest of the underground as possible. It was like a diseased corpse, something everything else skirted around.
"Head towards the buildings." Nile ordered, tugging them on.
Not a soul in sight, she noticed. Even at the line of businesses, hardly anyone occupied the streets.
The two of them ran in big awkward strides as they juggled Levi between them. The poor man stirred in and out of consciousness as they jostled his body, not caring about gentleness. Historia hoped they weren't furthering his injuries any more, but decided that it was actually the least of their worries right now.
As soon as they made it to the line of buildings they would be safe.
"Wssss...gonngg on?" Levi slurred. His head lolled as he tried, without success, to hold it up.
"Just running for our lives." Nile panted. "Not that you're being much help. Of course you managed to find trouble. Why am I even surprised?"
"Not helpful." She snapped back at the commander, shutting him up. "Where are we going? Do you know of a safe spot?"
Nile pursed his lips, thoughtful. "I think I know a place. It's not far from here, and Burns wouldn't know it. He always avoided the grungy field work underground so he doesn't know the area as well as I do. That means it should be safe." He trailed off. "But honestly I can't think of anywhere else."
She nodded. "Then let's get there."
Every nerve in her body screamed at her to turn around and make sure no one was following them. Every step she took sent a vibration in the dirt, a trigger to their former captors. They would be caught. They would die here.
But no one came.
And as they reached the buildings and ducked behind them, back into the streets of the underground again, Historia glanced back.
The outpost stood undisturbed. It looked abandoned, safe for small flickers of light within.
An uneasy feeling sunk into the pit of her stomach.
"Nile…"
"What?" He glanced at her.
She opened her mouth to answer when she caught the eye of a woman hovering in a doorway. The woman's eyes darted away from Historia the moment they connected, flicking to look further down the street. Then she looked back. She slowly backed into the house, but Historia saw the fear within.
It was only then she noticed the still emptiness of the street around them.
"Shit!" She hissed. Her brain triggered like a rabbit. She was prey, being hunted, and even though they had just escaped death, the predators were close.
She could feel them.
"We have to get off the streets!" She turned to Nile, but wasn't met with his gray eyes back.
No, Nile's eyes were trained on something in front of them. Something towards where the woman had been looking.
Historia immediately turned to look, and was met with a single man, looking figure blocking their path. His cold expression burned with ice within, his arms poised to fight, and his pale skin almost glowed as flickers of light reflected off his bald, gaunt head.
Zane Randor stood in front of them.
He cocked his head, teeth splitting his face, but not in a smile. "Going somewhere?"
His arm flexed and Historia saw the unmistakable glint of a gun barrel, pointing at the ground. In his other hand, she spotted a knife.
"Get down!"
A force shoved her to the side.
Nile, pushing her and Levi down as the first shots rang out.
*BANG*
Up was down and down was reversed as Historia landed with a thud to the dust. She coughed, scanning for Nile.
*BANG*
A wave of pure adrenaline tore through her, drowning out her terror.
*BANG* *BANG*
Tufts of dust sprang up around her in coordination with the explosions in her ears.
*BANG*
A red hot sting slashed her arm. One of the bullets had grazed her.
She crouched on her feet, leaping away from the spot she'd landed in.
*BANG*
Another spray of dust powered her face. It had been right where she was a moment ago.
Heart hammering, she scanned the area for Nile and found him charging straight at Randor! The commander leapt off a pile of boxes, hooking his arm and catching the bald man around the neck. The two went crashing to the ground, the pistol flying from Randor's hand.
Historia watched it fly, frozen, unable to do anything but watch as Nile and Randor wrestled in the dirt.
Randor drew his knife back, slashing at Nile who jerked away from him. He slammed his knee into Randor's chest, making him drop his knife, centimeters away from Nile's face.
That was enough. She didn't have much formal training with guns, but she knew how to hold her own with a knife. She dashed over, knocking the gun with her feet in the process. It slid across the dirt and out of sight.
Reaching the two men, she deftly avoided a leg lashing from Randor as Nile attempted to get the upper hand on the man. No such luck. Randor easily bested Nile in muscle. For every push Nile made against him, he pushed back harder. It was like watching a bird fly against a hurricane.
She made a grab for the knife.
Then Randor suddenly screamed, leaping off of Nile and onto her like a tiger.
Prey. She was prey. And she was about to be killed.
"No! Get off!" She screamed in pure terror as she was pummeled to the ground.
His weight was crushing on her small body. She struggled in his grasp, willing her muscles to just be stronger. Fight! Push back! But then Randor reared a fist back and drove it straight into her skull.
*SMASH*
Stars blinded her vision. Oh god...he'd punched out her eyes. Her lungs...she couldn't breathe.
Another scream spilt the air, maybe her own. She groaned, head filling with poison and acid. Thick lead split her skull in two, a fierce headache battling against her consciousness.
And then…
The crushing weight was gone. Replaced instead by the icy cool air once again. Her vision cleared and she groaned, feeling blood trickling from her nose.
Next to her, Nile and Randor wrestled again. Nile initially had the upper hand on the man, pushing him off of her and keeping a tight grip on one of the man's arms. But it came to no avail as Randor flipped the older man off of him, rolling the two of them further away from Historia.
She clutched her head in her hands, world spinning as she rolled to tuck her feet under her.
Nile let out a cry of pain as Randor crulley bent his arm around his back.
"Nile—" She rasped, coughing.
*BANG*
Historia's heart skipped a beat.
No…
The two men in a heap stilled, one sliding off the other.
"Nile!" She choked. She willed herself to move, pushing off the ground and stumbling to her feet.
No no no no no…
But then…
Nile sat up, pushing the motionless body of Zane Randor off of him. Shock ran across his face.
And a bloodied red bullet hole sunk right through the other man's chest.
Zane Randor was dead.
As if time froze, both Nile and Historia turned to face the unknown assailant who had fired the gun.
But found Levi.
Somehow, he was standing, but was paler than ever, with blood running down his leg in a wobbly stance and a pistol aimed out in front of him. He blinked once, looking confused. A violent shudder ran through him, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap, strength spent. The gun landed in the dust with a light clink beside him.