Escape

The forest was quiet, little more than the occasional chirping of a bird breaking the air. The team had yet to see anything, but it was surely only a matter of time until they did. Each of the Survey Corps members that had joined the expedition were tense, waiting for the first sign of a Titan to appear.

Robyn kept her distance from the others, as was protocol, but remained within sight of Peter, her best friend. From an elm tree some few hundred yards away, she could just make out the man giving her a thumbs up, a quiet encouragement for what was to come.

Today was the day. They were going to escape the Survey Corps once and for all.

 

The idea was simple enough: they would go MIA during this expedition, disappear up North for a while, where the Titans were loath to go. It would be safe there, and so they would hide out for a few months, with no more than each other’s company.

Robyn was fine with that - Peter was her best friend, and she could ask for no one better. He understood her complicated feelings towards Commander Erwin and Captain Levi like no one else had. They had shared many late night conversations on the direction the Survey Corps was taking, and their disappointment in it. Having no one else to talk to didn’t seem like a curse, so much as a blessing.

 

The escape would be the hard part. Living out on their own, away from Titans, away from the Survey Corps...that would be child’s play. Finally, after those few months on their own, they would return to sneak into the Walls and assume new identities.

It wouldn’t be Robyn’s first time starting over, but at least she had control over this one.

​

A series of hand signals went down the chain of command, eventually extending to Peter and then Robyn. A Titan had been spotted. No...two. Three.

 

Robyn frowned as more information came down the line. All three were 7 meters, to be observed for a short time while Commander Erwin devised a plan. This would be the perfect time to put a plan into action, but the specifics would certainly depend on the Survey Corps’ overall strategy.

​

It was a struggle to wait for the final verdict. Thirty minutes passed without a word from the Commander. Robyn waited upon her branch, chewing her lip anxiously, and watched the trees rustle in the wind.
Their leaves sounded more like the wails of the damned today.

​

Finally, the orders arrived. Robyn watched Peter’s quick hands spell out a message only a Survey Corps member could decipher, and signaled her assent back to him. It was time.

 

To Robyn’s dismay, Commander Erwin’s plan would put another soldier in danger. It wasn’t an uncommon ploy to send one soldier out to gain the Titans’ attention, but there was a significant chance that the play would end badly...at least for the bait.

 

Through another series of hand gestures, Robyn was able to ascertain the identity of who would likely soon be a dead man: Luis Meyer, a boy hardly a year older than Robyn and Peter. She felt like she might be sick, but managed to push the nausea down...with effort.

 

This was not how she wanted her final day in the Survey Corps to go. She would remember that poor man’s face for the rest of her days, however long they might be.

​

There was a brief warning through the chain of command when the battle started, but the real indicator of a fight was the horrific roaring that echoed through the trees. Both Peter and Robyn took off, soaring through the scattered forest on their 3DM gear. This would be their last fight for a long while, if things went well. In the trees around them, the rest of the Survey Corps all but flew, with Commander Erwin leading the charge.

 

It didn’t take long before the screaming started. Luis’ voice echoed throughout the woodland. Robyn winced, close enough to hear the snapping of bones. Peter was ahead of her, though, briefly catching a Titan’s attention, so Robyn took a breath as she rushed past a seemingly endless expanse of branches. It was time to focus.

​

Robyn raced through the woodland, using expert techniques and extremely precise movements of her body to control her rapid speed and velocity. Peter was still within sight, perhaps a hundred yards away, narrowly avoiding the swinging hand of a Titan.

 

Although she had seen them before, it was always a shock to see the creatures up close. This one was particularly ugly, with a misshapen cherubic face and strangely long limbs.

 

It took extreme care to lop the fingers of that Titan off, releasing an intense burst of painfully hot steam, but Peter had managed it as he escaped the monster’s grasp.

​

Right behind him came Robyn, watching his back and propelling herself upward, soon reaching the back of the Titan’s neck. From there, all she had to do was follow her training - one deep slice to the nape of the neck and the Titan was done for. It stumbled forward once, twice, then collapsed to its knees with a roar. When it finally fell the rest of the way to the ground, more steam released in an incredible burst of hot, misty white.

 

Their battle had ended.

 

Peter and Robyn were free and clear.

​

Without needing to confirm with Peter, Robyn let out a scream of feigned agony. Peter responded with another, as the two slid away into the darker sections of forest. Behind them, the battle continued, but it would be ended without their assistance.

 

Although Robyn didn’t know it, Peter was biting down a bitter thought.

 

Commander Erwin and Captain Levi have done this to themselves. They all but asked for our ‘resignation’.

​

The two traveled into deeper and darker woodland without trading so much as a single word. They weren’t needed, at least not for the moment. Each other’s company was more than enough.

 

After a few hours of silence, Robyn and Peter began trading hand signals again. They were made in short bursts, quick questions and even quicker responses. If one heard a sound, they would relay it to the other without hesitation, and there were occasional questions about which path to take through the trees.

 

Another two hours went by before they reached the plains. Just in time, as well, since both of their 3DM gear had run out of juice.

​

The two landed lightly at the base of a tall, thin oak tree. Both had passed right over it, almost not seeing its thin branches and ruffled bunches of leaves. When their feet hit the dirt, they looked at each other.

 

Peter touched his gas tank in silence, and Robyn understood the combined question and statement.

​

Are you out? We should leave these behind if you are.

​

She nodded her assent, and the two began the process of removing their gear. It was, as they already knew, a long and arduous ordeal, but once Peter had most of his off, he moved closer to Robyn to assist her in removing and hiding hers.

 

Unable to stop herself, and not willing to, she smiled softly at him. She was glad she had her best friend out here with her. This would’ve been impossible, unthinkable, without his company.

​

Their 3DM gear was hidden in a shallow hole the two dug together in the dirt beneath the young oak tree. It was another time-consuming process to both dig the hole and then fill it in. By the time they’d covered the dirt again with leaves from the surrounding trees, the sun was nearly entirely set.

 

“We should camp here for the night.” Peter’s voice was quiet, but Robyn still jumped a little when she heard it. They’d gone so many hours in absolute silence that it had startled her. Once the initial shock was over, she smiled again - it was, actually, very nice to hear his voice again. It solidified the idea that…this was over.

​

They had left the Survey Corps for good.

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