The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 49 - Bombarded

Anastasya

Squad Anvi were among the last to enter the meeting hall, which was full of various officials and soldiers from the Garrison regiment. Anya nodded to Erwin and then swept her gaze over everyone in the room. All of the Garrison soldiers were men, and all of them looked utterly terrified. Due to the fact that the city was not only located in Wall Sina, but it was a Northern district too, it was one of the most protected places within the walls. The Garrison soldiers had probably never expected to even see a real-life Titan, much less fight one.
Finally, Anya's gaze settled upon Hange, who was standing with Moblit on the other side of the table to Erwin. Her arm had been treated and was now in a sling, and yet somehow, she'd reattached her ODM gear.
"What," Anya said, strolling over to her, "are you doing here, wearing that?"
"Well, it's to help my arm he-" she began meekly.
"Don't play dumb with me, Hange Zoe. You've got a concussion!"
"Ha! And you've got fractured ribs!"
Beside her, Moblit swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably. Anya shook her head at him
"I bet you helped her with this! She should be resting!"
"I-"
"Hey," said Levi, poking Anya in the arm. "Stop bickering."
Before she could reply, Historia strode into the room dressed in her uniform without a flicker of fear upon her face. Her arrival signalled the start of the meeting, and a soldier from the Garrison Regiment stepped forward to read a report.
"We've determined the location of Rod Reiss' Titan," he declared.
"It's not exactly hard to miss," Anya muttered. "Even a blind person could do it."
From beside her, Levi's lips twisted into the smallest of lop-sided smirks while a muscle in Erwin's jaw twitched, just once. Apparently, he didn't appreciate her comment. The oblivious soldier continued.
"It's southwest, approaching Orvud. At this rate, it should reach the district by dawn."
"Understood," said the leader of the Orvud Garrison branch. "Commander Erwin, we'd all like to hear what your plan is. How do you intend to evacuate the citizens in time?"
"We won't evacuate," Erwin replied.
"Wh-what?!"
"We'll have the citizens remain in Orvud District just as they are."
Everyone but the Scouts murmured their confusion.
"Are you insane?" the man asked, taking a step forward. "What the hell are you thinking, Erwin?!"
He grabbed Erwin by the collar and Anya tensed, ready to prise the man off him.
"Keep the citizens in the city without evacuating?! By the time it's dawn, that Titan will be all over us!"
"That Titan is an Abnormal," said Hange.
"What the hell does that even mean?!"
Anya rolled her eyes at the ignorance. Still, at least they weren't Military Police, she supposed.
"The target Titan is strangely attracted to high concentrations of people," Hange explained. "Hence, Abnormal. It means the fellow will turn a blind eye to a small village, ignoring it in favour of reaching this fortified city."
"Basically," said Anya, trying not to sound too exasperated, "If you were to evacuate the citizens within Wall Sina right now, it would go after them, destroying the wall and everything else in its path. It would eventually get to Mitras, as it's the most densely populated city, and deliver a devastating blow to humanity."
Hange nodded, her expression grim.
"On our way back, we attempted to use Eren Jaeger's power to control Titans, but... Rod Reiss' Titan showed no reaction."
Anya smiled in spite of the situation. The expression on Levi's face as they'd been riding back earlier had been fantastic. As had Eren's when he'd realised that shouting Rod Reiss was nothing but a 'tiny old man' might not have been the best insult to use in Levi's presence. He'd been less than amused, but Anya had found it hilarious. Even now, she caught Levi shooting a subtle glare at her.
"If we are to stop that Titan, we must do so outside the walls of Orvud District," said Erwin. "For that to happen, we must have the people act as bait. However, this does not change the fact that our first duty as soldiers is to protect civilians. Supposing we're unable to halt the target, we'll take measures so that not a single citizen is killed. To do this, we'll announce an emergency evacuation drill for Orvud District so that if needed, everyone will be ready to evacuate immediately."
The leader of the Orvud Garrison branch scowled whilst he deliberated. At last, he met Erwin's gaze.
"It seems there's no other choice..."
"The Titan's body is the largest we've ever seen. As such, it presents an easy target. Wall-mounted cannons should prove highly effective, but... If that's not enough to bring it down...the Scout Regiment will throw everything we have at it," Erwin said, looking pointedly at Eren.
"Very well. We'll begin prepping the cannons. Unless there's anything else?"
"We need access to some gunpowder."
"All right. Someone will show you down to where we keep our supplies."
He gestured to one of the Garrison soldiers, who stepped forward and lead the Scouts from the room and down to a cellar full of crates and barrels.
"Thank you," said Erwin, taking the lantern from him.
As soon as the soldier had saluted and left, Anya shook her head.
"Amateurs," she muttered, before turning to Hange. "So, we're going to need a bomb."
"A big one," Hange agreed, eyes sparkling at the prospect.
"And water," she added.
"Yes, that's essential."
Despite the fact that they hadn't yet had a chance to discuss anything together, she and Hange bounced ideas off one another at a hundred miles a minute until they'd improved upon her and Erwin's original plan. When they'd finished, Anya turned to the others expectantly. However, her enthusiasm soon fizzled out when she took in their mystified expressions. She looked at Erwin, praying that he, at least, would be able to explain it to them. The hint of a smile passed over his face as he laid a map on a crate and translated the plan for the others at a slower pace, highlighting the key areas they'd need to be in when the time came. Levi splayed a hand over the map, eyes narrowed as he processed everything.
"So you're saying that in order to defeat that Titan, we'll stuff gunpowder into its throat and hope it's enough to blow up its nape?" he asked, looking between Anya, Erwin and Hange.
"Correct," said Erwin.
Levi straightened up and folded his arms.
"With the heat that it's producing, I imagine it'll ignite without a detonator."
"Exactly," said Anya.
"So as long as it hangs its mouth wide open for us like an idiot..."
"An explosion against its nape won't have the desired effect," said Erwin, drawing an image on the other side of the map. "Which is why the explosion must go off from the inside."
Anya suddenly splayed her fingers across her mouth, peering at Erwin's drawing. He met her gaze and narrowed his eyes, brows knitting together.
"What is it? Did I miss something?" he asked.
"Is that...meant to be a Titan?"
He shut his eyes for a moment.
"Anastasya..."
"Sorry, it's just...your drawing is terrible."
She sniggered and Erwin sighed, waiting patiently for her to compose herself.
"Sorry, sorry. I know it's not the hand you're used to writing with." She composed herself and addressed the others. "Anyway, the Titan may well be protecting itself by dragging its face along the ground."
Erwin nodded, placing his pen down.
"Yes. For all we know, it may not even have a mouth to open. That's the gamble this time."
"I wonder what our odds are."

***

Once everyone was clear on what they were supposed to be doing, they sprang into action. There were just a few hours left until dawn and then the monstrosity would be upon them. Hange and Moblit had taken Squad Anvi to transport supplies for the bomb, while Anya and Levi found a quiet room in which to finally sit and write their reports.
"Think this is gonna work?" Levi asked, dipping his pen into the inkpot.
"Hope so, or else we're in serious trouble. At least that thing's slow."
"Mm." Levi stopped writing, and Anya was acutely aware of his eyes upon her. "How do you feel?"
She tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling.
"Fine."
She heard Levi's chair scrape along the floor. Moments later, his warm fingers lightly gripped her jaw, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"Don't lie to me, Anya. You're not 'fine'. No-one is."
He let his hand drop, but stayed standing beside her.
"And yet here we are, about to go and risk our lives again," she said. "I think I should set a limit on how many times I'm allowed to get into a life or death situation each month."
He huffed a laugh.
"You'd have to quit the Scouts."
"Never gonna happen." A smile pulled at her lips before disappearing as quickly as it had come. "The real answer to your question... is not good. I'm afraid of not being able to stop that thing out there. My ribs are killing me, and I feel like I'm on the verge of collapsing and not waking up for a month. And no, I'm not sitting this one out."
Levi returned to his seat and took a sip from his tea, doing his best to hide his worry.
"As soon as this is done, you're not working for two weeks. No matter what happens," he said.
"But-"
"No, Anya. Enough is enough. You were out beyond the walls for months. You came back in a terrible state and thanks to all this shit, you've never had a damn chance to recover. Hell, you've probably encountered worse situations inside the walls than you did out there."
She ran a hand through her tangled hair.
"I think you're right about that. No-where...no-where's safe anymore." Panic fluttered in her stomach, and she did her best to calm it. "What about you, anyway? How are you doing?"
"Guess," he replied, resuming writing his report. "It's just one shitty thing after another shitty thing."
Anya studied him and frowned at the cuts and scrapes on his face and the tension in his shoulders.
"Maybe you should join me in not working for a week or two."
"Making sure you actually relax will be a job in itself," he said dryly.
"Tch. I wonder what's happened to Kenny. We'll have to send out a search party to look for any survivors."
"Yeah."
"D'you think you might be related?"
"I don't know, but it might explain why he bothered to raise me, if you can call it that."
"How will you feel if you find out he's dead?"
"Glad."
Despite Levi's callous responses, Anya wasn't convinced. She dipped her head and began to focus on her report in earnest, but she noticed that Levi had once again stopped writing.
It took him a long time to continue.