𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚂

12

Except for the teasing from Farlan and Isabel, Y/N was quite content being with Levi. They hadn't really talked about anything in detail, but that was okay, at least for now. They were just going with the flow. After all, a relationship really wasn't their priority at the moment. They had to continue sourcing supplies, Y/N had to go and study those books she had found and she had to make sure she made enough money to survive. But it sure was more fun with Levi around.

They were on their way to get some food at the moment, just wandering through the marketplace lazily, before they would get back and work on more plans to get supplies and read more books. It was all the same at the moment and Y/N was glad to fall into a bit of a routine, especially because she found it difficult to get the picture of her uncle's dead body out of her mind.

The routine at least helped her to focus on something else. And even though Levi acted annoyed about having to keep her focussed and on track, she knew that he was more worried than anything else. Levi always worried way too much about everyone but himself and it was sweet, but sometimes Y/N wished he'd take more care of himself, too. He looked tired lately.

"Anyway, I'd say we'll have to be really careful of the MP from now on. I don't think they noticed you stealing any of the books - as long as they don't publicly resurface. Can you make sure no one is going to make a big deal of them?" Levi asked her. Y/N - holding his hand, because she tended to get overwhelmed in big crowds - nodded slowly. She couldn't make sure of that 100%, but if she thought that someone didn't know what they were doing with one of her books, she obviously wouldn't sell to them. And her gut feeling had never failed her so far.

"Sure. I'm doing my best, anyway. I can't guarantee anything 100%, but I'll obviously make sure that I have a good feeling about the buyers. Especially with the books that are rarer. Haven't had any problems so far." she replied. Levi nodded and Y/N turned around to him with a smile on her face. He looked grumpy as usual, maybe even a little more so, because he had been doing a whole lot of thinking today and that usually led to him being in a somewhat foul mood.

"Stop worrying for now, okay? We got this. No one's come for us this far, they probably have no idea... Shit."

As she was saying this, Y/N noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Uniforms. And not just any uniforms. Those were military police uniforms. They were down here and they looked like they were looking for someone specific. And they didn't look like they were going to fuck around much.

"What's wrong?" Levi wanted to know.

"Don't turn around now, but there are MPs here. They don't seem happy." she told him quietly. What was worrying to her was that they were right in their line of sight. They had to get out of here. They had to get away as soon as possible and not draw any attention to themselves.

"Fuck. Where are they exactly?" he asked. Y/N glanced up again and saw them looking directly at her. She felt like she was frozen in place, especially when one of the officers stopped and mustered her from afar.

"They're looking directly at me... I made eye contact... Fuck..." Y/N answered quietly. Levi raised his eyebrows and looked at them, meeting their eyes as well. And that's when they seemed to realize that it was them that had stolen the supplies. They were talking to each other excitedly, pointing and moving towards them (which wasn't made easy by everyone around, since no one around here liked the military police too much). Y/N's heart was beating wildly.

"They saw us. We have to leave. We have to leave now." Levi told her, tugging at her hand. Y/N still felt like she was frozen in place until Levi pulled her arm with more force, sending her tumbling forwards.

"Now, Y/N! Move your fucking ass!" he yelled. Y/N snapped out of it, finally, and caught herself. She followed Levi through the crowd at a brisk pace. They were still trying to blend in, so they might lose the MP's attention. Y/N really hoped that this was going to work, but she wasn't too positive.

"They're trying to get away!" she heard one of them calling out. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She exchanged a glance with Levi.

"This is where we run, isn't it?" she asked. He just nodded and they both started to run, shoving people aside, bumping into almost every single person that was on the street, Levi still holding her hand so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. There was commotion everywhere around Y/N - in front of her, because Levi was trying to find his way through the crowd and behind her, because the military police were trying to catch up with them. It was a mess.

"Here's the plan: When I say jump, you fucking jump and don't think about it twice, alright?" Levi shouted. Y/N gulped audibly and nodded. It wasn't like she had much of a choice, and she trusted Levi. But what the hell was jumping going to do to get them out of this situation? She sure hoped he had a good plan.

"Right, we're going up here!" Levi said, letting go of her hand and climbing onto a windowsill before pulling himself further up onto a ledge and then a second windowsill. Y/N watched him breathlessly. They were going to climb onto the roof? Really? She looked behind her and saw the MPs catching up quickly. Looked like she didn't have any choice either way. She climbed up as well.

It was easier than she had expected initially. She climbed onto the window, pulled herself up onto the ledge and climbed onto another window. Levi was up on the roof already, waiting for her to get up there. He didn't look the most patient and Y/N could understand his predicament with that. The MP seemed a little confused, but it probably wouldn't take them long to catch onto the fact that they were on the roof. And they had ODM gear which Y/N and Levi didn't have at the moment.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Levi yelled, as she pulled herself up onto the roof. She barely had any time to catch her breath when he pulled her up to her feet before running ahead, climbing over the little railing on the flat roof, before jumping onto the next roof. Y/N followed, almost missing the ledge. They kept on jumping from roof to roof like this, getting closer and closer to the edge of the town.

It didn't take too long until Y/N noticed the sound of the ODM gear. They were onto them and they would catch up with them quickly. But Levi didn't look back, he just kept on going. Y/N felt like she knew what he was planning and why he had told her to jump. They were making it to the edge of the city and at the last house before the cave narrowed, Levi stopped her in her tracks.

"Right, run up to the ledge and jump as far as you can. You know where we are. With a bit of luck we won't die." he told her. Y/N nodded, although she could feel the fear closing up her throat entirely. She took a deep breath and ran as fast as she could, jumping off the ledge. And then she was falling, falling, falling into a dark pitch for what seemed like forever. After a few seconds she took a deep breath and held it - just in time before she hit the ice cold water beneath her.

She felt like she was in shock, but she had to move and get out of there, ignoring her beating heart. This clearly wasn't the best plan, they could easily have died doing this. Not jumping far enough, hitting the water at a bad angle, not having enough air to come up again, the shock of the cold water killing them... Y/N was coughing and gasping for air as soon as she reached the surface, trying to swim to the small outcrop of rock that was there somewhere. It was hard to make out with the minimal light down here.

She figured she had just about found it, when she felt a strong arm pulling her up onto a ledge and she was pulled on top of Levi's body, heart beating fast and breathing heavily. Y/N felt around her, finding that there was enough space for her to lie next to him, so she rolled to the side, still holding his hand tightly in her own.

"Well... That was fun..." she gasped.